Hmm hmm hmmm....that's my thoughts on the holding off fATPL.
Can someone give me a link to the GAPAN test info please? Can someone also explain GAPAN?
I don't start the ATPL ground school until November this year. It runs until July '09 where I'll sit the remainder of the exams. Following a successful pass, then I'll start the flying training. Most probably in the US due to costs etc.
So give it another 18 months from now, I should have a JAA fATPL albeit low hours.
So where do I go from here? I could do what others have done and get an instructor rating and instruct until I have a lot more hours, or I could pay for a type rating in the hope that I'll get lucky and get into an airline...who knows.
A friend of mine who flies an airbus from the UK, suggested it might be easier to get a job flying a citation etc..it could be based out the UK but at the end of the day, it's jet hours! And if needs must, could apply to an airline after a 1000 hours or so.
At the end of the day, I'm 33, have 13 years IT experience, no mortgage, no kids and no strings. If it all fails, I could at least fall back into IT until something else comes up.
You know what also and I'm not sure of the reasons why a lot of pprune users aren't flying in an airline, but at the end of my fATPL, I'll be the guy out there buying Flight International each week, emailing my CV to each and every airline listed...doing something about it. Afterall, I've just spent a bloody fortune, I'm not going to be sitting around waiting for them to come to me!
With all those 50+ year old captains out there that will be retiring soon, airlines will be recruiting younger FO's - I plan to be one of them.
Out of interest
Tony Hirst 
a lot of expense (much more than whatever number you have in your head right now)
- how much are you thinking in your head?
These are my current fATPL calculations (all include some contingency, especially the ME IR)
ME IR (UK) - £20000
CPL (USA) - £8000
ME / Night - (USA )£2700
ATPL (UK) - £2500
MCC (UK) - £2000
Exams (UK) - £1000
CAA Flight Test Exams (inc 1 resit) - £2000
PPL Hour Building - £3000
Type Rating (USA/UK) - £15000 - 25000
Any takers?
Re-Heat Thanks for your advice