Dear all,
I am a very long time reader, first time poster. Also I have had a go with the search button for "IR revalidation" but it turned up nothing, so forgive me if this has been answered before. Just post me a link, please.
I'm going to make my post in two parts here. The first is why I am asking, the second is what I am asking.
So in 2006 I had my own home, a great job and nice girlfriend. But I cashed in all my chips and began integrated flight training in Jan 2007. Well you guys know what happened at the back end of that year. Now I am not here to moan. I may now be unemployed, 33, living with my mum, totally broke, single and unable to get work of any sort ... even McDonalds don't want pilots, but I am one of the lucky ones.
One of my friends never found pilot employment and his wife just left him because he keeps chasing his dream, ploughing any money he has into it. He had 2 young kids with her. I know a young woman who trained and having not found a job in 3 years and heavily indebted, is severely depressed. But rather than seek help because she is afraid taking anti-depressants will invalidate her medical (which in all honesty doesn't get used anyway) she sits around cutting herself and removing her hair strand by strand in case an airline might call.
But as I say I am lucky. I have my health, my sanity and whilst I don't have two pennies to rub together, I have no debt.
I thought I'd mention that to deter the ever optimistic noobs who will tell me to hang in there and keep my chin up, because I just want an honest answer.
I have an fATPL + 500 hrs, but am never going to afford a type rating. I'm also quite sure there will be no opening of flood gates, desperate airlines grasping for anyone that can spell pilot or that I will win the lottery. I can't afford the pound each week. So waffle over ... my question
My license is up for renewal again. Now having been sold a dream that 4 years on is still only that, I kind of resent paying an annual tax to a flight school to renew my license. I am forever told of the horror letting it lapse.
"If you don't get a renewal, you have to revalidate ... with a CAA guy!" shock horror.
I have to get back in the aircraft again this time around anyhow and I don't care who sits next to me. What I am thinking is I will just snowball flying and get on with my life. If I carry on waiting about, I won't have one. I'm sick of applying for jobs that take hours to fill in online apps and never hearing a reply. I'm tired of searching through thousands of jobs that always want more experience than I have. I have kissed enough arses and gotten nothing in return. I just want to fly in my spare time for fun and have a life now.
However if a miracle should happen and 16000 pilots are killed in a freak accident at a pilot's conference, I would like to be able to go get my license revalidated. Long story short, what is the difference between renewal and revalidation in terms of effort and cost? I couldn't give two hoots that "An airline might not view that very well on your CV", that bridge when it comes.
I'd rather someone who knows the answer gives it than idle speculation (here's hoping), and that its not answered by either a troll or an air school stooge pretending to be an ex student. I would ask my old school but they would undoubtedly try to terrify me into doing it.
Thanks to anyone who helps, any link to back up your advice would be awesome. I just can't find a definitive answer
