Aces Low. Thanks for that. One of the best posts I have read in a long time. All very very true.
I myself was lucky and managed to go Modular and pay under £17,000 using various RAF sponsorships and ATC flying. I have witnessed many people start on the pilot route with barely a fiver or a week in reserve. You wouldn't take off with that little reserve and the same degree of redundancy need to be built into your plans.
Clive Hughes £20,000 estimate is no longer valid post JAA as he freely admits. By my reckoning it now requires £32,000 as a bare minimum to go modular. A realistic budget is actually £37,000 as I tell people all the time.
Its very different sitting down and doing the sums than it is standing in WHSmith reading the back pages of Flyer/Pilot...
Good luck one and all,
WWW