hi I am 18 in July and will have had my PPL a year. I went solo at 16 and qualifyed before my 17th birthday, just had to wait for my licence to be issued. Its a great feeling of success, one that you will find many won't believe you. I too got my licence before i even started to drive which was an acheivement in itself and a possible loop hole it seems in the law system, but worked to my, and our benifit it seems. Congratulations on funding it yourself! that is very impressive, i myself did not, i am going into NATS and so had no need for university, therefore the money that was for university was invested elsewhere. Even though there wasnt enough for uni anyway, barely enough for a PPL and it wasnt all payed up front. I had to do hour by hour also, and got a little job in which i contributed half with my parents. I passed in 45 hours, which although good financially i still believe there is sooo much in a never ending process to be learnt. I have managed to get up to 62 hours now, which isnt bad. Although this is possible due to contributions made by fellow passengers that i have taken flying. tip... ask for contributions when you pass and take people flying. You're not allowed to ask for more than equal share, so for instance if there is 2 of you, you must pay at least 50%, if there is 4 you must pay at least 25%.
Well done again!! Fantastic achievement!!!