Poker player aiming for the skies!
Hi everyone.
I'll start with a brief introduction of myself as it might help potential posters give advice as to what my best options are.
I am a 22 year old norwegian, currently living in Daytona Beach, FL, attending one of Florida's many flightschools. I just finished my FAA PPL yesterday, after 2 months and 58 hours (Would have been 1,5 month and a couple of hours less, but I managed to catch a cold and had to do refresher flights etc etc). The course I'm currently on includes PPL, PPL-IR, Multi-private, CPL, CFI and CFII. I've been "working" as a professional pokerplayer online for the past two years, and it is my way of funding the education. I knew little to nothing about flying prior to coming here, but now that I have gotten the taste, safe to say I'm hooked and loving it. I should point out that my goal with aviation is to sometime in the future become a professional pilot flying whatever necessary to build hours and keep current, be it airliners or air taxi in southern africa.
However, having spoken to other people who are nearing their CPL's, CFI's and so on and so forth, I've concluded that I might not be at the right school. Additionally, if I were to move to a UK-based FTO, I would benefit from the fact that they don't tax poker players at all. This means I might actually make some money whilst getting my licenses. Thus maybe have sufficient funds saved up when the day comes that I receive my
CPL and everything is "set" (in terms of the paperwork and licenses, I'm well aware that I will still probably be in a ****ty market with few to none available jobs), I might actually have some money saved up for a TR or just a general safety net to fall back on.
So, having that in mind, I've concluded that I'm probably best off continuing my training in the UK. Now comes the question on what school to go with, how I can convert my american PPL to meet european standards, and whether to go for integrated or modular training. Initially, having browsed through these forums and having my father go through his endless pile of aviation magazines plus speak to some of his friends who are airline pilots or in other ways involved with aviation, I've laid my eyes on Cabair and OAA. I would love some insight regarding UK based FTO's, these two in particular, and if someone could clarify the converting process when I only have the american PPL that too would be greatly appreciated.
I basically have two options the way I see it;
A) Move to UK, continue my pilot training there, play poker part-time while doing so, and come out of it with all the licenses and ratings required to start building hours and/or get a TR, and likely have some money to my name when the day is over.
B) Continue with my training here in Florida, become CFII, and go home with anywhere ranging from 4-800 hours and basically no money to my name, nor any debts.