Thanks for the replies - they're both much appreciated.
At least I won't be kidding myself that I will find work in the UK. I've pretty much decided to go the FAA route and try to find work abroad (but probably not in the USA) to build up experience.
Fair weather flyer - I'm glad LASIK worked out for you. If my eyes did not have this 'endothelial abnormality' then I would also risk LASIK for sure. I've seen 2 eye doctors and 2 opticians and they can't agree whether there is a risk of accelerated corneal changes or not and the two that say there is a risk are unable to even give an indication of what that risk is. Frustrating! The last eye doc I saw said his conscience would not allow him to operate. Not exactly reassuring.
You say you will fly anything for a living; believe me, once you have, you may well have a change of heart.
LOL. I suspect you may be right. The thing is, tonight I'll be spending 10 hours flying my desk in a call centre. Being a pilot is my dream, I have to do it any way that I can. I don't want to spend the rest of my life beating myself up for not making it happen.
I would be very interested to find out about 'bottom of the ladder' flying jobs, (what they are like) especially ones that I could get with a new FAA CPL/IR. Are you able to point me in the right direction? In any case, thanks for your reply.
B200drvr - Thanks for the reply.
if you are prepared to travel the world, there are lots of U.S. companies that do contracts on C208's to 747's that you could work your way up in to get the required experience.
This sounds like a realistic way to achieve my ambition. Can you give me some idea of what my first job might be like?
Thanks,
Alex.