Francie,
Welcome to aviation and the long road to an ATPL!
Like many others whom who you will meet on the flight deck, I had a previous life in a completely different field from flying. I was a conductor and pianist in London's West End. I'd been to University and done a degree in Music, but ended up flying when Showbusiness lost its charm and I looked to build on my PPL. With a very supportive wife, we sold our flat in London (our only asset) and spent the equity on getting the CPL/IR and an FI rating. I did it as a modular course. The ATPLs by distance learning are hard work – sitting at the kitchen table alone everyday with only your books for company is pretty lonely!
Six months after instructing at weekends as a Flight Instructor, (working in the week for a certain fruit-named computer manufacturer) I started a type rating on the Airbus and have been airline flying for eighteen months for a UK carrier.
I was 31 when I started on the ATPL exam study and have just turned 35. I fly with a couple of Captains who are younger than me (one is 29), but it really doesn't matter. In a few years time, the age difference will be even more irrelevant. Being a bit older can be quite an advantage sometimes; no experience in life is wasted and it certainly makes for a more interesting time in the flight deck with some war stories in your back pocket!
As with anything in life, there will be hard decisions to make during your training; the worst one for me was starting my type rating course knowing that my wife was expecting our baby only two weeks after the course was due to finish. Having been in a holding pool for six months and needing to move on, I decided to do the course. Naturally, AppleMacster Junior arrived just as I was about to go into the sim, 200 miles away! It was another two days before I saw him.
With a half-decent plan, the humility to accept that you will make mistakes, but the ability and determination to correct them and improve your performance, it can all work out in the end. Be under no illusion that 90% of the job is routine – for me, it's the people who make it interesting. I was well-briefed on this by a couple of well-worn pilot friends, and it has actually turned out to be much more rewarding than advertised!
Good luck!
AppleMacster
Last edited by AppleMacster; 21st Sep 2008 at 11:05.
Reason: Spelling