+1 here too, as long as i will then be able to pay off the loan (assuming i can get one).
I know the addictive power of flying and yes there are commercial pilots past and present at my gliding club, some long haul, mostly lower budget holiday airlines etc. Some of them are extremely negative about the industry, job satisfaction etc, the rest less so. None are enthusiastic about it although some do acknowledge they’re pretty lucky - mainly that they got in before the industry went t*ts up. One i spoke to today basically said it would be madness to consider it nowadays and unless i could come up with £100k i could forget it anyway (heart-warming stuff!
). Anyway i get on with most of them quite well so hopefully if i could find a way to do it and they could put a word in for me somewhere, i think they would.
Nuno, I’ve heard several people say now that PPL instructing isn’t a viable option as a career in itself and based on RTN’s earlier answer that sort of figure would not be sufficient to get by long term – you’d never afford to repay the loans. As a stepping stone and as experience it’s got to be good though, surely. Maybe a training captain job would be better but it would only make sense to recruit for that from experienced BSJ (big shiny jet) pilots. Likewise i'm now told in today's happy chat that bizjets are mostly flown single crew and they want the experience of someone with lots of BSJ time.
Negativity rules.
On a lighter note, does anyone know if gliding hours count towards a PPL?
And yes i've discovered smilies
