Live the dream my friend
Dear Mr Tucker,
You will always get alot of folks whose galsses are always half empty. As Flingwing says, why they are still doing such a dead end job is anyones guess.
My suggestion is to give it a go. Life is not a rehersal, you won't take your wealth or your debt with you when you buy the big one - but you can spend the last part of your life wondering "what if?"
I gave it all up, sold the lot and went overseas to pursue the dream of flying Helicopters for a living - and now here I am, at the bottom of the ladder and now working my way up and smiling every minute of the day.
My suggestion to you is to work out first where in the helicopter insudtry you want to end up. Do you want to work overseas, or stay in the UK. Once you have made that decision, do the licence for that country.
The facts about doing a JAA license in the USA are long and arduous, and you can PM me if you want a British Guy currently in the states opinion. Much of the training options need to be weighed up carefully, assessed in the cold light of day and then the decision made. But believe me - once you get thopse ratings - wow, it is SOOOOO COOOL.
Keep your glass half full mate - its worth every penny.