Hello, caution, long post ahead!
I would like to ask your advice about starting training in order to be a commercial pilot.
- Some background about me:
I'm a 31 year old, Finnish guy working on my PhD in natural sciences.
It has always been my dream to be a pilot ever since I saw the movie 'Top Gun' when I was 5. When I was 18 I started my training as a cadet in the air force, but had to drop out due to personal reasons (death in the family), and finished my military service in the special forces (sgt. first class). I have no flight hours.
As it happened I abandoned the flying dream and started studying, graduated, started work life, and now doing research and working on my doctoral degree.
Last week my professor and supervisor had his second heart attack, and is still in intensive care, not sure if he will get out of it and in what shape he is going to be if he does. This, as well as the job market for people with my education made me reconsider my career choices.
All I have is degrees, no savings, and no real job (I make the same money as the cleaners who clean the floors in university), no pension (researchers don't get salaries, they are paid grants). I can either continue doing research, or be a teacher.
It means I will have to take a study loan for the entire cost of the training+living expenses.
My uncle and my cousin are both commercial pilots, one captain in SAS, the other first officer in Lufthansa, they both are really happy and make really good living.
I would (and do) consult with them, however they both came from the air force with hundreds of hours and just converted their license, they never had to do the training from scratch.
- Where should I start my training?
I've narrowed it down to three schools, each with its own advantages/disadvantages:
#1: Aeropole Finland:
http://www.aeropole.fi/prices/
Cost: 107,000 euros
Time: 16 months
Advantages:
Location: it's in Finland, so housing, paper work etc. are much less of a problem.
Quality of service and teaching: should be high, if they stick to the Finnish standards, also us Finns have a good reputation to keep in regards to honesty and reliability.
Disadvantages:
Price: 107 thousands + loan interest means it will take me about 8-10 to repay the loan, plus pay for extra hours and upkeep of license, if it takes time to find work, which I expect it will, if I only have 229 hours.
Hours: at the end of the training one has a frozen ATPL and 229 hours.
#2 EFT Florida
http://www.flyeft.com/professional-courses/
Cost: 120,00 or ~100,000 USD
Time: 12 or 24 months
Advantages:
All included approach: no extra hidden fees, accommodation on premises included as well as everything else.
Both FAA/EASA licenses: opens more employment opportunities.
internship: possibility to earn experience, pay, and hours as flight instructor. If their website is to be believed, they claim students are able to pay back 30%-40% of their training costs with internship and earn 1500 hours.
Disadvantages:
tighter selection criteria: I don't know if I'm too old for them, or how hard is it really to get in, they also have all kinds of strange English tests, but I don't know if I should take them, since I've completed 2 full academic degrees in English, published in English, etc.
American bureaucracy: need to figure out all the issues with Visas and permits etc. probably not a big deal, still a small headache.
Quality of service and teaching hard to verify: They have plenty of testimonials, and positive reviews even on this forum, however, even I can put up a fancy website and flood this forum with positive reviews in a couple of weeks, better be safe than sorry, what do you guys think?
Price(???): seemingly the most expensive, but might be the cheapest overall, it's hard to say because the other schools don't advertise many hidden costs and don't include living costs.
#3 Flying Academy Czech Republic:
http://www.flyingacademy.com/index.php?page=zero-to-500
Cost: 45,000 euros (ex. VAT)
Time: 16 (+12 months)
advantages:
Price(???): seemingly the cheapest option, but so many extra costs exist
Instructor internship: Like in EFT you can work as an instructor which is great.
Disadvantages:
All exclusive approach: no idea what the total cost is. No idea how much the cost of living is in Czech Rep, will have to sort out housing etc.
Quality of service and teaching hard to verify: same as EFT.
I'm still relatively young, healthy, disciplined, somewhat bright, single.
Would love to hear your opinions, experiences, and advice.
Should I even be considering this?
Maybe I should just go and start studying else from scratch?
Thanks a lot!