My reply to some of your posts. Firstly, my original post was 100% genuine and it was not meant as a personal attack on anyone. So Pilot Pete, I don't know why you seemed to take it so. You seem a touch over sensitive? Not quite sure why you feel the need for the sniping remarks and to tell me that you have dinner parties and get pissed with your mates ??? When I was refering to being able to buying a house, social life etc I was making comparisons to what I had then, and what I have now, not with what you or any other pilot out there has. I am just sharing my experience of aviation, which though different to yours, probaly strikes a chord with many wannabes out there.
And as for my post being sour grapes, no definitly not, I am simply trying to give another point of view so others do not make the same expensive mistakes that I have made. People can then weigh up the financial risks involved, some of the pros and cons of a career in aviation and make an informed decision. That is what was asked for by the original poster of this thread. Surely, people want to hear both sides of the story ? Yes, maybe I did not want the job as much as some of you do out there, but I knew when to cut my losses. There are many people out there who do want to be a pilot as much as the next person, but for whatever reason it just does did not happen for them, no matter how hard they have tried. There are just not enough jobs to go round. It's very easy to tell everyone to just go for it, especially when your one of the lucky ones who is flying the nice jet, but your not going to be there to bail them out if it doesn't happen.
From my point of view and from what I saw and experienced the grass wasn't greener on the other side, I just came to realize that the lifestyle was not for me, and that I cold find more fullfilement in a different career. Luckily for me I found a different career and lifestyle that I could pursue and enjoy. I know of pilots who are bored of flying, hate the lifestyle, but can't leave because the're not qualified to do anything else. Others might find themselves, hopelessly in debt with a qualification that is useless everywhere else except aviation. So just as some people may think they may regret never going for it, other people may regret going for it in a big way. Passing the flight tests, exams etc is the first and easiest hurdle to pass.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone from following their dreams, it's just that most dreams do not cost +£50K, and having £50K debt is not a dream that you can wake up from and find it has dissappeared. I also find it hard to believe that more and more wannabes seem willing to pay for tpye ratings. Crazy ! What next ? Pilots paying to work for an airline !
On a final note, as has been said many times before, if you are going to go for it, at least have a back up plan, otherwise your dream might turn into a nightmare, as it nearly did for me.
