UAS and gliding
Hi Adam,
You appear to be treating the UAS as a 'given'. It is many years since acquaintances of mine joined the UAS, but my recollection is that to fly with the UAS you needed first to pass the RAF Aircrew Pre-selection Tests, which took three days (half of this a very searching medical) and from which there was a heavy failure rate. (Anybody comment who has been in a UAS recently)?
The medical standards for CPL and ATPL are much lower. You can even pass if you wear spectacles.
Also, I would not discount UAV689's post. Gliding will give you useful basic flying skills (especially in relation to forced landings) and an appreciation of the behaviour of airmass movements that power pilots don't always have.
The best way to get PPL is to save up the entire cost, with some money to spare, and then go to the States and do it full time for a month or so.
Regards,
BP.