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Old 16th Jan 2009, 18:59
  #20 (permalink)  
Justiciar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk
Age: 68
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Llen:

The grass is always greener ....

I have been a lawyer for 27 years and the attraction is not what it was, but it brings in a good living. I have several friends who are commercial pilots - one left the RAF and walked into a job with Virgin flying long haul: he is bored to tears and hates being away for long periods from family and friends. Another in KLM refers to himself as an arial bus driver!

I am doing a CPL in order to eventually earn a (very) little from some instructing and get some of my flying paid for (and for the challenge) and I have other strings to my bow when I really get fed up with the law. Even if I were 20 years younger I would not try for a commercial career. What you are thinking of paying for your training will buy you an awful lot of flying and you can enjoy it without worrying about getting a commercial job. Think about what you can do with a quarter of what you are going to spend!

The sad truth is that you are very likely to earn more in your current career than you are likely to earn as a commercial pilot, certainly in the years immediately following your ATPL. Someone out there will almost certainly come in now and tell you how they got a job at once, but I am sure they are the exception.
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