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Old 28th Nov 2006, 22:55
  #19 (permalink)  
Wings
 
Join Date: Oct 1998
Location: Brunei
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I must admit to being a bit slack first time around and not reading your post as carefully as I should have. Sorry.
I didn't notice that you are based in Singapore, and I assumed you already had a PPL.

That changes things a bit.
The fact that your callsign has you based in Singapore, and the fact that you have just sat your A Levels (an English set of exams) leads me to assume that you are English, living in Singapore.
This also fits the idea of going to an Australian University (closer than a UK one, and probably cheaper).

The problem working against you at the moment seems to be that you can show no record of a long term committment to aviation as a career.
Have you had any flying lessons at all ?
How much time have you spent hanging around the GA airports (Seletar) just learning to recognise aircraft, talking to pilots and engineers and just picking up random aviation knowledge.
When was the first time you wrote to an airline telling them about your career ambition ? I know of one guy who wrote in crayon to a major carrier when he was about 3 or 4 years old - just learning to write - telling them of his ambition.
If you went down to Changi and sat in the spectator's gallery, how many aircraft types could you identify ?
Have you ever picked up a basic level book to learn how a jet engine works ?
Look out the window and identify the cloud types you can see. What weather do they suggest you will have in the next 6 hours ?
In flying we don't use kilometers per hour, we use Knots. Why ?
Do you know Morse Code ? ( it's not essential to know it nowdays but it still shows committment - effort on your part).

What I'm getting at is:
whichever airline was looking at you as a potential cadet were considering investing upwards of 100 00 pounds or dollars in you. Smart guys are a dime a dozen. You needed to have something else. You needed to have a demonstrable committment to a career in aviation.
If you ever saw the Month Python film 'The Life of Brian' there is a scene when Brian is trying to prove his hatred of the Romans so he can join a revolutionary group.
The conversation goes;
"How much do you hate the Romans ?
"a lot"
"OK you're in"
That's what your airline saw.
Just talk.
They needed to see more.

Go and pay for a Class One Aviation Medical. It will be expensive first time around, but it will prove that you are medically fit to hold a licence. It will prove that you will not be excluded from holding a licence because you are colour blind, have latent epilepsy, are diabetic or whatever. If you do fail the medical, you will have the advantage of knowing you have a medical condition and do something about it. You can also start considering other careers sooner rather than later. If you pass the medical, it is something else to prove your committment.

Flying lessons are expensive and I don't know your financial status (it's none of my business) but you really should have a least some lessons, if for no other reason than to find out if you really do like flying, or just like the idea of being an airline pilot.
Again, if you are living in Singapore, you might like to consider flying training in Australia because the weather is generally good, it is close to Singapore and the airspace in Australia is generally not crowded. This all allows for good continuity in your training - which makes it better and cheaper.
It should be noted however that an Australian Licence will not get you a job in Europe or the the UK. You will need a JAA Licence for that. Some Australian Flying Schools do offer JAA Licences - check out which ones do.

If you can't afford flying training, buy yourself a set of flying training manuals to at least learn the theory of flying. The Aviation Theory Training Centre set of books (originally by a guy called Trevor Thom) are among the best around.
Also get yourself a copy of microsoft flightsim and use that to put what you read in the books into practice.
It's not as good as the real thing, but it's beter than nothing and it shows committment.

A final note; the fact that an airline was prepared to consider you as a cadet despite your 'lack of credentials' indicates that
(1) you must be academically bright enough
(2) you are physically coordinated enough and
(3) the airlines are in need of pilots.

None of these will change in the near future.

Good luck.

Cheers
Wings

Last edited by Wings; 28th Nov 2006 at 23:03. Reason: spelling errors
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