This is for 'Interested' - a
précis of the life and times of a another 'spoilt little rich kid' - NOT - who became an airline pilot.
My mother is from a very poor Irish family, e.g. my maternal Grandfather was a farm labourer, and Grandmother was fully occupied bringing up all of their 11 ( yes, eleven ! ) children - so to say that they were poor would be to understate it, e.g. as a child even I recall no running water, and an outside bog.. .My father grew up in an orphanage - so no family.
So my parents didn't exactly have the best start in life (certainly not from a financial standpoint) indeed they've had to struggle all their lives just to get-by because of it, and accordingly (out of necessity) my brother, sister, and I, were all brought up to have a strong work ethic, to be honest & decent people, and to always to help those who were more needy than yourself, i.e. to lend the helping hand ( hence why I love PPRuNe - it allows me to pay back some of my good fortune ).
I didn't exactly have the best education experience ( we were always the 'poor kids' in a school within a very 'well-to-do' neighbourhood - which probably explains a lot about how my sister, brother, and I turned out ) and so when I left school my very first job was in a cardboard-box factory ( seriously ! i.e. I used to have to put the cardboard through the roller & cutter machines ), whilst at night I went to night-school to better myself - but at least I was able to bring some extra money in to the house.
I was lucky and managed to earn and save enough to then allow myself to go to Technical College ( plus the fact that I had to continue to work evenings, weekends, and holidays - in pubs, factories, farms, building sites, trawlers, diving in crap filled harbours in winter, i.e. you name it and I did it, to make ends meet ).. .I did well at college, indeed managing to get good enough grades to go to university - I was the first person in all of my family tree to have ever made it that far in education - but whilst there I still had to work all the hours there were to feed and cloth myself - lectures all day, work all evening, study during the early hours of the morning - but I did it !
Now I'd always wanted to be an airline pilot - indeed one of my earliest childhood memories are of visiting one of my Aunties who then lived in Hounslow ( near Heathrow ) and when ever we went to visit I would insist on being taken to see the aeroplanes from the roof of one of the airport car parks - Tridents, VC10's, 707's DC8's etc (ah nostalgia) - and that was as close as I ever came to an aeroplane until my early 20's when I'd saved enough to have a flight in one - and from which point I was 100% hooked !!!
During the subsequent years ( whilst fortunately now working in the IT/Systems business ) I managed to pay for and do my PPL, as well as build hours, do the CPL written exams ( who else remembers penalty marking ? ) , the CAA GFT and IR.. .It was going quite well - given that it was all a huge risk - but I'd timed it all completely wrong ( I did say that it was a risk - but that's aviation ) by just getting my license at finish of the '91 Gulf War - need I say more ?
Over the next 6 years I stuck with it as best I could, tried to keep current (spent a small fortune doing so), did the ATPL exams, did a CRM/LOFT course, Perf'A, etc... but you name it and it went wrong........ but still I stuck at it.
Ultimately, and whilst the effort to get there nearly destroyed me, I finally got my break ( with Go, thanks to Hamrah ) at the age of 38 !
For the record, in my whole life I have had NO financial assistance by way of gift or grant, and a result of which is that I still live in very modest circumstances because of it
Though let me clear, I would not change any of it. Along the way I've learnt loads, eaten humble pie in huge amounts, been to hell and back, travelled and worked all over the world, met some fabulous people, and had a blast too - I could write a book, I really could ! ....... and it's not over yet !
But, 'Yes', the ride has often been a roller-coaster of emotion with many a moment of seemingly being so close, but yet so far...... but hard work, perseverance, and
luck paid off in the end.
And Danny is right - nothing (yes, NOTHING) beats the rush you get when blasting out the top of the solid overcast into clear blue sky and bright sunshine at +400Kts, plus the knowledge that you're now - finally - getting paid to do this !
Ps. Perhaps the biggest joke of it all is that, when I was a young lad at primary school, my then headmaster one day pulled me aside and said "......you'll never amount to anything, because boys from families like yours never do !" - to which my reply now is: Hahahahahahaahaha - coz I've had the last laugh - or there again perhaps he did, e.g. maybe he saw something in me and knew how to ignite my fire ?!