Hmmmm, interesting stuff Whirly and Airborne.
Ironically, my brother has just left the aircraft manufacture industry (which is pretty dead in this country) and trained to become a plumber. Allegedly the 'plumber shortage' hype is pretty much 'hype' unless you live in a blackspot. Sadly, it has major headaches too, like getting people to pay. It's certainly something I've considered, albeit briefly.
However, I'm single, own my house (which is worth a fair old crack) and have money to spend on heli's if I want. I expect several people would think me insane NOT to try the heli route as I have advantage and disadvantage in equal measure probably. I think perhaps I'm a bit too cautious by nature, but learning abroad could be great I should imagine.
I live not far from Manchester Airport and even at the anoraky age of 39, I still love to watch 747-400's taking off etc, so I guess it is in the blood.
What are the CPL exams like ? Is it mainly interesting stuff ? I'm actually quite interested in navigation 'cos I do a lot of hill-walking with a GPS/compass etc. I expect air law is somewhat 'dry' ................................