Martin - I agree with Tourist - get back to college ASAP. Arkroyal, who is now a Captain with a civilian airline, was a London bus driver. He went to night school, got the academic quals needed, joined the RN with weeks to spare before the age limit, served as a Junglie pilot and on leaving the RN got his ATPL and so to the airlines. He was on the course ahead of me at Dartmouth, so I've known him (and Toddington Ted, but that's another story
) since April of 1978.