PPL & CPL questions
Hi,
I've searched and read through many of the previous threads re pilot training and particularly the ways in which people have funded this. These have been very interesting and informative, however I'm still unsure about a few things and have some questions I'd like to put out there.
I'm very keen (and always have been) on learning to fly, however the high training costs have been a major hindrance, and have to this day put me off the idea. This is a big regret of mine given that I could've used the past 7 years of my working life to save money i.e. I could easily have financed at least a PPL with additional ratings during that time. Anyway, now 27 years old, I find myself at a stage where I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with my current non-aviation related career and looking for a way out.
I'm posting today in the hope that people out there might be willing to share their training experiences, especially those people who started the modular route in their late twenties and did so from a non-aviation related background. My main questions and concerns are as follows:
1) Rough length of time taken to complete the PPL (in the UK) when combined with commitments of a full time 9-5 job?
2) Once PPL qualified, what next? i.e. for some people, occasional pleasure flying might be the goal, for others (like myself) establishing some kind of flying career is the goal. So in order to do this, how far beyond PPL level do you have to go? Is a CPL the bare minimum level? NB. I would consider all flying careers from instructor through to airline work. What I am trying to do here is get a clearer understanding of all options out there, particularly those options that might minimise cost and time.
3) Implications of large gaps between training when doing modular route. i.e. for me, if I was to embark on a CPL after doing a PPL, it would probably take a good couple of years to save the necessary cash. During this time, how often would I need to fly to keep my licence valid? Also, what would be the best way to keep this flying purposeful and developmental, as opposed to merely doing flights to keep your licence valid??
I appreciate that the answers to these kind of questions will vary greatly from one person to the next and are dependent on individual circumstances etc, but any feedback would be a big, big help.
If you're still with me, many thanks for reading.
kind regards