What the heck is this age thing
Is it just me, almost daily I see posts from people who are in their thirties (or even occasionally late twenties) and are frightened about being too old to learn, change profession and become an FI/ATP/etc.
Please folks, you aren't on the scrapheap - at 40 you will still have 20+ years working life in the cockpit so long as you look after yourself. Yes you are starting with people a lot younger than you, yes they have a bit of a head start and more years at the end of their flying career than you will - so what !!!!
RJ Mitchell was Chief Designer at Supermarine at 26, a good friend of mine (I shall spare their modesty by not naming them here since they are Ppruners) became an FI at 50ish, and by all accounts is doing a good and professional job of it - and being paid. I know somebody still doing annual air tests on other people's aeroplanes who flew Hurricanes in the battle of Britain.
If you are 35 and worried that you are too old to do anything (except maybe join the RAF who have a very low limit, and arguably an artificial one, of 23) you have a problem, but frankly it's not your age - knuckle down to doing something difficult, but no more difficult than it would be at 20. If you have children, mortgage, significant_other, etc - yes that's a problem, but one that many other people have coped with, and you could have been in that position at 22 anyhow.
Sorry, I just really had to get that off my chest, it's been bugging me.
G