ATPL Theory and Hour Building whilst holding down full time job...
Hi,
I am a PPL holder with about 20 hrs PIC time and have been reading around the topic of hour building and ATPL study for a while now. I am going to have to make a commitment soon, so I was hoping for a bit of advice from anyone who has juggled ATPL theory with a full time job.
I am working on the assumption that full time employment and studying for ATPLs is not going to allow enough time for any meaningful flying, so as far as I can see the options I have are;
1) Build the majority of my hours first then hit the ATPLs, which I think will take me just over 18 months distance learning, then build up the small amount of remaining hours before starting CPL.
2) Hit the ATPL theory hard now, whilst doing bare minimum hours to stay current. Then embark on all hour building once they are complete. (Possible downside here is that the clock will be ticking on me completing all hour building & CPL/IR issue before the theory credit expires)
3) Some sort of compromise whereby I fly about 40 hours, then do the ATPL Theory, then finish off with the remaining hours.
I’m thinking of the last option as I am not in any great hurry to qualify and I would like to enjoy some more flying and maybe get my IMC too, before I get bogged down with the serious matter of ATPL study. But on the other hand I think doing the flying consistently at the end may leave me in a better position for my CPL course, as I have already noted how rusty I become when I don’t fly for long periods.
Would be interested to hear how others have done it.
Cheers.