Johnbeevor,
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, there are some things you can't be taught but have to learn. An awful lot of pilots will tell you that the job is not what it is cracked up to be, you'd be better off as a lawyer etc. etc. etc. But every pilot has been through the obsessional bug that you are going through right now, and the fact is that if you really really want to be a pilot then nothing we say will put you off, so go and do it and find out for yourself. There will be times when you will regret ever having started it, but there will also be times when you are very glad you did. Don't be blinkered into thinking that BA or the RAF are the only ways in, Air Atlantique among others offer a sponsorship scheme worth a look. Don't be afraid to ask questions which you think might show you in a bad light, anyone who mocks you for not knowing who OATS are is only showing their own lack of willingness to be helpful. Sod it, if you don't know what an aileron is for, ask!!! If flying aeroplanes is what you really want to do then good luck to you, but make sure that you are really certain because the industry is generally insecure, difficult to get into, easy to be pushed out of, riddled with people who hide behind seniority lists and convince themselves they are something special. But I like it.