Hye you guys,
Well first of all it must suck that HSBC has pulled the plug on loans for aspiring pilots, I don't think that how much money your parents have or a really friendly relative have any inpact on who are good pilots and who are not...
I thought I'd give you the low-down on the situation here in The Netherlands. Here in Holland the situation has existed for quite a while with only 1 or 2 banks giving loans for aspering pilots and only after they have enough security (like a house or a lot of money).
The Dutch flying schools came up with a solution as a lot of potential pilots where not able to find the financing to start their training.
The solution they found was the guarentee fund, it basicly means that if you get past all the entrance tests the school will post the security for your loan at the bank. As these schools have enough money the bank gives pretty good rates (4,25%) at the moment plus that you don't have to start paying back untill after 2 years after you finish your training.
An added bonus is that the school has an extra guarantee, if you don't have a job within 2 years (as a pilot) they will start paying the bank and you only have a loan with the guarentee fund and not the bank (who are not as understanding of the ups and downs in the industry).
You might wonder what the use of this information is, seeing that the most readers of the board don't live in Holland. Well the 2 shools doing this sceme are :
KLS (KLM Flight Academy)
EPST
EPST does all their training with OAT in Oxford, so basicly you'll be having all the benifits of flying at OAT while not having to put up your house in security. I have no idea if this all applies to UK residents, but you could always ask them...