My story so far: From 0 to CTC Cadet in 9 months.
I started the research process, looked up some flight schools and gave a couple a call, here in Europe I went for the big guys, found out that no major airlines had a Sponsorship program anymore and looked at Intercockpit, the commercial Lufthansa flight school, I gave them a call and sent an email. A couple of days later I received a full brochure and I decided then and there to go for it, to make it my goal to be a pilot, I then read the fine print... 90 thousand euros for the whole training, ouch, that kind of cash is kind of impossible for a 21 year old.
I then started looking for options, to see if I could take a loan to pay for it and all the banks I went to here in Switzerland required some collateral, a house or 500k dollars to back up the loan, man, If I had a house or 500k dollars to my name Id' move to an apartment and pay for my training in cash.
Delta Connection had a pretty good deal in which you could work there for a year or so after getting the FAA ratings and then they would point you to a flight school in Europe where you could convert all the licenses and hopefully find a job. I decided to go for that approach, getting experience on the way.
It was then that I joined pprune and saw in the wannabes forum all the info on CTC and immediately I sent my application not really paying much attention to it since it seemed like such a long shot that they would take someone who wasn't in the UK and with no flying experience, just as I had come to an agreement with Delta Connection, CTC invited me for phase 2, so I put everything with DC on hold and just went there not giving too much thought to the issue.
If you are reading this you are familiar with CTC and the whole process so I wont go into much detail, Phase 2 was very fun, the PILAPT (pilot aptitude test) was challenging but easy in some respects... I had some flight sim experience so flying the little plane through the boxes or keeping the cross centered using the joystick were not hard at all.
I received the phone call that same day, I had passed with flying colors and was invited to phase 3, just 2 weeks from the date, I was so happy, I called everyone I knew and told them I was on to something.
Phase 3 was the hardest I did without a doubt, they have 2 group exercises, I won't go into detail because I wouldn't like CTC getting mad at me for disclosing the process (Specially now that im in) but let's say that I didn't know what they were about and what they look for in a candidate so I ended up focusing in the points that were not important to them, in my interview I had however done my homework and came across as passionate and confident, I enjoyed the interview, it was more of a chat.
That same day I went to nursling because I had my phase 4 provisionally booked, they do that when you come from outside the UK so you can do both phases on a single trip, checked into my hotel and waited, the call came very late... 8 pm or so and the words were “Mariano, I am afraid the answer is no... you are not chosen for phase 4 tomorrow, but you can reapply in 6 months if you decide to do so”... I was devastated to say the least...
I went to my room and after crying a little (yes... men cry when their dreams are shattered too, at least I do, heheheh), I decided to reapply, called DC and told them that I wouldn't be going (I had a start date set and everything) and I remembered then and there that some cadets on my phase 3 had PPLs, so I thought Id' give it a go at getting one, it could show CTC that I really had the conviction to be a pilot, so I hit the web again looking for fast track JAR-PPLs, I found none in Europe, my local flight school in Basel took 6 months from 0 to PPL and I wanted to do things fast so I stumbled on to European Flight Training in Florida, they offer all the JAR ratings minus the IR so I called them up and made my arrangements, even if I didn't get into CTC I still would enjoy the experience, and enjoy it I did, loved it actually, and for those who know Spanish you can read my blog on the whole ordeal here
http://flightschooldream(dot)********(dot)com
After I had made the decision to go get my PPL my CTC feedback came back and I instantly understood why I had failed the phase 3 and it was really simple, I wasn't paying attention to my team-mates during the second group exercise and focused solely on completing the task given to me, which pushed out the worse parts of me that even though can be useful in some circumstances, are best kept under a close leash... leadership can be a double edged sword, specially when you don't know how to use it, and boy... I didn't know how.
So, in Florida I learned everything I now know about being a pilot in today's world, met a lot of people who were also chasing the same dream as I was and learned tons from them, EFT has the same scheme as DC in which you get to work for them, you also get all the euro licenses with the FAA ones for the same price (minus IR, you convert that once you're back), I started toying with the idea of doing my ATPLs and going back to EFT to become an instructor for a year or two and then I would have that Instructor job to fall back on if I didn't get my way with CTC or the airlines, I studied hard and flew hard too, enjoyed every minute of it and in the end I finished with a better understanding of the whole study process and the flight industry as a whole (as well as a shiny new brown book with a night rating).
When I came back from Florida and waited for the UK CAA to issue my PPL, I started getting itchy feet again and called Bristol GS, I might as well start the next step so I could use the momentum that I had to keep going, so I paid for the first module and started eating through it every day, learning all those things I know I will need in the future (or some that I won't need so much), basically, I started planning on the EFT route, it would cost me some cash but I liked the outlook of it, met some guys who were on the program and they were all happy, and most of them had 1000+ hours on their books while earning some cash in the process.
While studying for the ATPLs I got my PPL and went flying here in Basel, got a check ride on my school's Cessna and did a mountain flying course on the Alps, by far the best flight scenery I've ever seen.
So, there I was... going back to my phase 3, this time I was a whole different person, in the first one I had no idea about CRM and why they do all the exercises they do, I had no idea what it would be like to fly an airplane for real and now I had 70 hours flying experience to go along my new shiny PPL, I also did not know anything about the other options that exist such as doing the modular/instructing route, this all contributed to me being much more relaxed, I went there thinking that if I didn't get it I could still go back to Florida and enjoy myself there as well.
My phase 3 was a blast, the group exercises are a lot easier once you relax and just play with the team, if you can be a team player it's no problem at all. I am a VERY introverted person, but after reading up on CRM I polished my social skills and my team skills as well, it CAN be done if you know what you need to do.
The interview was way shorter this time, they had a big folder with my name on it and I suppose they had everything about me on it, so the questions this time focused on my change during the 6 months and some others that were not hard to answer, it took me like 20 minutes to do the interview instead of the normal 45.
I went to Southampton, once again on a provisionally booked phase 4, waited and the call came, my heart was pounding but I tried to keep my composure, it seemed my cellphone wasn't working correctly in the UK so they reached me after 3 tries, this time it went like this “Mariano, I was worried I tried calling you 3 times!!, good news though, you've passed!! congratulations, be at 7:30 tomorrow for your phase 4”... I hung up... screamed into a pillow and once again cried... this time of happiness, I settled down quickly though, knowing that I could fail the next day and it would be just the same, called my mom and some friends to let them know and most of them offered to pray for me to be successful (we are mostly devout catholics in my country), I personally don't consider myself a very religious person but hey... you never know.
My assessor turned out to be one of the guys that was on my first phase 3, he did not remember me and I didn't tell him, I didn't want him to remember anything bad, I then met another candidate who was also doing his phase 4 and we went to the briefing room, Eg, as my assessor told us to call him, explained the whole process in a very detailed manner and told us EXACTLY what we needed to do, if you pay attention you can't fail, he gives you tips on how you should fly the airplane, after half an hour or so of explanations he asked us who would go first and my colleague volunteered himself, so I had another hour or so to wait.
The other guy came out of the sim sweating... all nervous, left his papers behind, his passport, everything, I blocked that image out and went in with Eg, looked at the sim and just enjoyed the fact that I was going to be playing the best flight simulator of my life.
It all happened pretty quickly really, climb, turn to this heading, don't lose altitude, maintain 700 feet per minute on the descent, look, we've landed.
Once again, left the place with a big smile and boarded a train to London, as my flight would depart from Luton the next day, I was expecting the call in the evening as usual, I was wrong, one hour later I was on my way sitting calmly on the train when the phone started ringing... and I said the most horror filled “Hello” in history, I bet the lady who was sitting next to me thought that I was a bit weird when I closed my eyes and made a gesture equaling “Oh my god here comes the pain”...
She: “How'd you think it went Mariano?”
Me: “I've got no idea” *Cue fore said facial expression*
She: “Well I am going to put you out of your misery (Oh my god misery!!, I thought darkly). You've passed!!! congratulations!!!”
Me: “Wait what?”
She: “You've passed!! you said you wanted to start ASAP?? how does November sound??”
Me: “wait... what?!?!”
She: “You'll be in contact with one of my colleagues from now on, congratulations!!!” *click*
Now the lady next to me started thinking I must be mad or something as I started laughing hysterically...
-MRL