Alex, many thanks for your comments and advice. Option 1 would appear to be my best option from a financial, currency and experience point of view. I can see very little wrong with this option to be honest. A few questions though -
1. What are instructional hours viewed like by the airlines?
2. Are they actually taken into account when considering total time?
3. What is employment like as a FI, no point pushing very hard for the qualification if I can’t actually get employment.
4. If my memory serves me correctly to earn money as a FI I need to have a CPL and as a result of this do I need an IR and CPL theory. If CPL theory is needed surely doing the ATPL theory would be more sensible?
5. Would working as a FI manage to keep all my currencies up to date i.e. ATPL/CPL theory (don’t want to have to repeat 5 yrs later) IR, Yearly check etc.
6. What sort of wage can I expect as a FI (just so I can add this to my spreadsheet for my budget)
7. What are the likely costs of this option from start to finish? I anticipate roughly £30k-£35k minimum.
8. What are the eligibility criteria for FI and IR instructor?
9. What is the likely time span from start to my first student if I have most weekends available? I know weather and aptitude play a big part in this however the aptitude part im confident I have. 4 days of tests with the RAF have told me this and I already know how to calculate IR holds, read TAPS, Tech, weather, etc. etc.
Option 2 – Money is not a major issue, I have £35k in equity and looking to save/invest £4.8k a year for the next 7 yrs. This figure is a minimum for planning purposes, when I deploy (approx 6 months a year) I will be able to save £1500 a month. I’m working on a worst case scenario though of £400 a month. The big problem I can see doing this is actually affording to live while training.
Option 3 sounds the worst of the all 3. I had pretty much discredited this option from the start.
Thanks again guys
Heights good