Learning to Fly in late 30's
I'm 38, and have finally secured sufficient spare funds to fulfill my ambition to learn to fly!
When I was younger and at University I wanted to become a commercial pilot. However, I didn't have any money to fund the training, and there were no subsidised programmes available. However, I went on to qualify as a solo glider pilot, and over the years have completed 10 hours of fixed wing and one hour of helicopter flight training.
I'm now ready to complete a full fixed-wing flying course, and possibly a helicopter course too. I'm considering doing all this in America, as with the weak dollar the costs are very cheap at the moment - £3k for fixed-wing, or £5k for helicopter! However, I have a family and probably can't spare the 3-5 weeks being away from home. Hence, I 'may' consider paying more, and training in the UK.
I'd be interested to hear from any other members who are in the same position ie. learning to fly a little later in life.
I suspect I'm now too old to consider a career as a commerical pilot, though I wonder whether I might train to be an instructor and do some work (if only part-time) teaching others. I've heard (especially for helicopters) that older instructors are often favoured to younger ones as they might 'appear' to be more knowledgeable/professional (even though they may not be). In any case, they are likely to have more advanced skills in other areas, such as empathy, teaching skills and other personnel skills.
Look forward to your feedback.
Cheers,
Don