Hi AT_WORLDS_END, I'm from the UK, I went to Bristow Academy in March 2005 and did all my ratings (FAA only) to CFII. It's a great school & I can highly recommend it. Unfortunately I wasn't taken on as a CFI at the end of my course (out of my CFI class 2 out of 9 were employed) but I got a CFI job at Rotors of the Rockies in Colorado and flying there was the experience of a lifetime.
I now have 1100hrs TT and over 100 in twins and I'm back in the UK studying JAA groundschool at Bristol GS, 8 exams done and 5 to do next month. The JAA to FAA conversion process has been quite straightforward so far. If the economic situation was better I'd be doing a JAA IR next but it's too much of a risk right now (zero cash
) so I think I'll need to head off overseas again.
Make no mistake, it's a tough and expensive road you're thinking of embarking on, but if you love flying then you won't regret it. Definitely do your homework before you spend a penny though. For example - to fly offshore in Europe you will need to self-fund a JAA Instrument Rating ($40k for the conversion FAA-JAA, even more for an initial rating)...
Cheers
Kris