Yes, I know you've heard it all before! Advice please!
Hello to you all,
Well, I've just joined after lurking for on and off for a few months...took me some time to bite the bullet lol...
This forum, its members have a wealth of knowledge and I look forward to learning and gaining much needed advice. I am hoping I can also contribute positively to this community while I am a member here (your going to be stuck with me for the foreseeable future!)..
I am currently 19 and studying a reputable degree at reputable University. A degree which is I.T. focused.
Like many of you I've wanted to be a pilot since I first saw that massive 744 climb out into the night sky at Heathrow at age four. The only worldly passion in my life which has remained (other passions have come and gone during my 19 years...) is aviation. My love for aviation has remained constant like an aircraft flying steady at FL350 (as cliché as that may sound...).
Why am I writing this post I hear you ask...
Well I'm just lost...I'm at a crossroads in life, I don't know which way I should go to be a pilot , before I always had people in my life nattering on saying "Oh no just go into XX.", "Forget being a pilot, look at the economy", "It's not a viable career path" and in the end I just had to drown their advice out, I used to let them talk, say what they want to say and then forget what they said. I didn't want any negative advice hindering me from being a pilot. It hurt me when they said stuff like this...
Then after all this advice I start questioning myself..."Hmm maybe these people are right", "Hmm, I do wear glasses maybe they won't accept me (I am within the CAA limits) or maybe Airlines prefer someone without glasses"...."I'm not a particularly exciting guy, just your average Joe, why would an airline want me as a pilot"..."My degree isn't good enough!"....these kind's of stupid thoughts go through my head..
Unfortunately, as I have now grown up, and for the first time in my life I am questioning my chosen career as an Airline pilot, I seek solace and reassurance online from forums but even by looking at the posts on PPRUNE the outlook for aviation looks bleak...all this modular vs integrated malarky (which I don't understand?), airlines going down under (and I don't mean starting services to Australia), pilots being made redundant, pilots not being given the hours makes me feel like the aviation industry is collapsing all around me, but a part of me still wants to go for it, despite all the bad stuff happening. How does one balance a passion with real life?
I'm planning on getting a job for which I hope to pay for a PPL with over the next few years while I am at University..
But when I get out of University at around 2012 I'll be at those crossroads...what will I do? How will I get an ATPL?
Thank you for reading my post...if you have any advice..please feel free to contribute. Thank you in advance.
It's weird, I feel slightly better after writing this post..like a weight off my shoulders?..