Wow, and here I was thinking this looked like a less-active subforum! Thanks to everyone for the replies, realistic advice, encouragement and confirming some of what I had said.
I guess if I head down this route my work really is cut out for me - not necessarily a bad thing. My difficulty now is really making the decision whether I proceed or not.
I'm passionate about aviation, and I'd love a job which focuses on it. Getting a commercial flying job is really appealing to me but I feel flying the big jets I'd miss getting my teeth into the sort of engineering style 'problems' (for lack of a better word) you might tackle as part of a flight testing team, working with some very talented engineers/pilots. Most of you have mentioned working as an FTE of some sort so I'm sure you'll understand.
But then when I think about becoming a FTE, I'd miss a lot of the aspects that come with commercial flying. Agh, it's a tough one when you factor in the financial outlay in both cases.
ICT_SLB, I definitely need to keep the team thing in mind, I'm very much a team player but I can get a bit focussed on wanting to fly.
Pilot DAR, Yeah actually admittedly I hadn't considered that even with a 'TP job' you might not have enough hours to make a living. Genghis touched on this too, thanks.
portsharbourflyer This is the exact decision I feel I need to make too, and it isn't easy! Why do you think you prefer FTE?
Genghis the Engineer, your job sounds excellent but thanks for the realistic advice on the hours you get as TP. I hadn't fully considered it could be that low, something to think about.
Big Pistons Forever, I have to say I really like this piece of advice
"I do quite a bit of flight instructing and my experience is non pilots arrive with a preconceived notion of where they want to take their flying career but the majority find other directions actually end up more appealing to them after they gain experience."
I know that's really what I need to do, but with the majority of the FO jobs on the commercial circuit seemingly being filled by cadets from places like CTC/oxford I almost feel I need to make a decision before I begin.
Also best to keep in mind the realities of a job like you said.
Apologies for the long post, but yeah thanks very much for the replies. It's a tough one.