Have you ever thought about going into the forces? You could join the RAF as an engineer or apprentice engineer for a number of years, while you're working you could pay for your flying lessons and by the time you've completed it all you would still be in your 20s with the licences completed and a huge amount of knowledge on the aircraft.
One of my mates is doing it, and loves it.
Last edited by Aerouk; 26th Jul 2009 at 19:54.