Dr Mike Oxgreen. According to your post you are 43 years old. If you started training tomorrow it would be at least 18 months down the line until you achieve the bare minimum requirements in order to apply for a job. By this time you will most likely be the wrong side of forty. I am a captain flying for a major UK based airline. Nearly all of the cadets/new joiners that I fly with are either in their twenties or early thirties. Unfortunately for the old timers, this seems to be the preference across the board where recruiting bare faced recruits with no experience is concerned. Now you come on here seeking opinions about your situation, I have nothing to gain by offering what I consider to be a fair analysis of the situation. To put it simply, you are not going to find it easy to get a suitable job flying airliners due to your circumstances. Now your four friends are unlikely to poo poo your idea, they will of course offer you words of encouragement and support, just like I have done for a number of friends who have failed in their quest to become an airline pilot. I think a previous poster mentioned guys they knew who had searched for six years for employment. I know someone who's been at it for 13 years now and is still clutching at straws. No airline job! No one really cares whether or not you go off and pursue your dream, thats up to you. If however you want to obtain a broad spectrum of advice on the subject then listen to some of the posters on here and not just your friends. Best of luck to you.