hi steve,
one of the other recommendations from my pilot friend was to only start the course once i had secured a mentorship scheme (ie. you do well and pass well, and we'll give you a job afterwards), with the advice not to give up as securing his took 7 tries. this is apparently what he did with BACF and he says it caused a fair bit of controversy when he went straight into a job and some others were left stranded after having passed the course.
as for money up front.. well, this whole idea is a contigency plan for me not passing my first year of aero eng exams here at bristol (im really good at aeronautics and mechanics but i suck at fluids, thermodynamics and electronics). as i have been reliably informed that this summer would be good time to start training due to the beginning of a general upturn, as well as the creaming off of senior pilots to the east, both making lots of vacancies. also i presume i can transfer a fair bit of knowledge gleaned from my year on this course to passing the ground exams.
i have a few get rich quick schemes i could employ in the summer hols involving restored vintage motorbikes (a family hobby) but i dont hold out too much hope.
please do tell me if everything ive just said is utter bull.