THirtysomething,
I find myself in a pretty similar position to you.
I'm 30 years old and a chartered accountant but am considering taking the plunge in the next 6 months. I have about 70 grand saved up. I have done quite a bit of reseach but still have alot to find out.
Try looking on
www.gapan.org for an article called 'so you want to be a pliot'
I get the feeling its gonna be a hard road ahead but the end result would be an amazing career if all went to plan.
Some initial thoughts I have (others please feel free to shoot me down if you think I'm wrong):
- I am 30 and would like to get quilified ASAP so will be prob go for an intergrated course with one of the big flight schools. This will be quickest route to frozen ATPL
- Take what the flights schools say with a large pinch of sale. I had a long chat recently with OAT and they told me the market was buoyant and that 95% of grads were gaining employment within a year - I find that hard to believe when looking at the threads been posted on this site
- Cabair seems to offer pretty much the same package as OAT but at 10 grand cheaper.
- Stapleford in Essex seems to be about another 10 grand cheaper than Cabair
- If I can get qualified at 32 I dont think age would count against me. I'm sure I could put a positive spin on it and work it to my advantage over other candidates when applying to airlines.
Would be interested to hear how you get on/progress with your plans
Also would like to know more about type ratings:
- How do you decide which one to do?
- Does it vastly improve your chances of landing a job?
Good Luck
Rob