Working while doing Flight Training

[Langeveldt]

Hi all

With the costs of going from Zero to CPL being so high, not to mention hour building and such, I have come to the conclusion that I will need to be working while flight training.... Mainly to soften the debt I will doubtlessly be in at the end of it all..

I would like to know the experiences of any people who did this, is it a common thing to do? I guess that would mean a modular CPL for me...

Any advice would be appreciated

Rich


(and yes schoolboy alert, because I am one!! :D )

[Hansard]

I spent 5 days a week on groundschool and flying training and worked 2 days (Sat and Sun). Far too tiring. No time to rest/relax, deal with domestic matters or absorb/reflect upon the week's studying/training. A block of working to earn some money followed by a block of training would have been better for me. The training is intense and expensive and distractions should be kept to a minimum.

Having said all that, you're young (best time to train) so might have more stamina and a quicker brain that I have.

[Langeveldt]

I think working in a block would be good, although I guess I would be spending far more time working than training :confused: Guess that depends on loads of things...

Anyway interesting to hear.... was your employment casual, or were you pursuing a career during your training?? I find it hard to imagine that casual employment would make much difference to the financial burden.. thanks for the help anyway

[High Wing Drifter]

Hi there,

Not finished yet but have completed Module 1 of the Ground School with a full time job and a family of three. Basically I do most of my reading on the train to work and back (about 1.5hrs a day). I managed the first lot in about 4-5 months and luckily passed 'em all first go. The trick here is to do a little everyday and not to make heavy weather of it. Simply getting 80somthing% in the progress tests is more than sufficient to move onto the next subject IMHO. The ATPLs are not hard to do it is all volume and psychological momentum.

As for the flying training I did my PPL every available weekend. I hour build at least every third weekend (bought a share to do this). I will be doing my CPL and IR 'part-time' too.

All my vacation has been absorbed into flying training this year. Hard work but I love it.

I am at an advantage though. Being older than the average wannabe I find things much easier to learn :cool:

[FlyingForFun]

How old are you, Langeveldt? If you're still at school, then that's a good opportunity to use your weekends to work towards a PPL. It will take you about a year if you fly every weekend - but depending just how young you are, you might have to wait (you have to be 17 before you can get the PPL, and 16 before you can fly solo).

Before you do that, though, you should make sure you can get a Class 1 medical - because if you can't, then there's no point wasting your money on the flying.

After the PPL, you will need to do some hour-building (which is also ideal weekend stuff if you're still at school or university), and do the ATPL written exams. You can do the written exams before the hour-building if you like, but I'd advise against doing them while you're still studying - I think it would be far too difficult. However, there's nothing to stop you doing a distance-learning course for the exams whilst working full time. That's exactly what I did. It took about a year, it's bl00dy difficult, and you won't have a social life at all for that year... but it is possible.

After that, you need to do a CPL and an IR. I would suggest that both of these would be better done full-time. The CPL can probably be done by taking 3 weeks' holiday from work, and going to the US where the weather is better, hence giving you a better chance of completing the course in 3 weeks. Again, this is exactly what I did. The IR, though, is probably too long to be able to get time off work for, unless you have a very understanding boss, and might require you to quit your job.

Hope that's given you some good pointers. And as for "schoolboy alert", we don't have any problem with schoolboys on this forum. We only have problems with schoolboys who pretend to be airline pilots but who don't have the mental capacity to string a sentence together or press the "Search" button..... stay out of that category, and you'll fit in fine!

FFF
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[witchdoctor]

It's entirely possible to hold down a casual job and do a full-time course of study/flying.

I took a casual job out of necessity working Friday and Saturday nights, and most of Sunday. It paid enough to cover my living expenses and a beer fund (in addition to limiting the amount of time I could spend in the pub every weekend p#ssing money away).

Had no impact whatsoever on my study or flying, and just about kept my bank account on a life support machine.

[JB007]

With the exception of the ground school, which I did full time on unpaid leave, I did my entire Frozen ATPL during full time employment.

Best decision I ever made, especially with 9/11 at the beginning of it all...I worked shifts in airline ops and used my leave...

The downside of course is that it took me 2 years 7 months to complete everything but as I know of so many of the guys I trained with still looking for work, that didn't really matter.

I did complete my IR full time using all my leave at once which I would highly recommend rather than doing bits here and there, this will save you money....

Cheers
JB

[Langeveldt]

Thanks for the posts guys!!

FFF I was 17 last week... I guess I could start my PPL soon, yeah.. I hadnt really thought of doing it during school. I dont drive and there are no flight schools very near me, so it might have to wait..
Ive got a summer job though, so working pretty much full time during the summer could help pay for that...

Is the PPL Flexible? I thought I would have had to be committed to a ground school for a certain period of time rather than just swanning in once every week to fly... Anyway thanks for the help...

[onthebuses]

Just an idea for anyone needing well paid part-time / casual work.. You would never guess but I drive a bus. :ok: Now I don't plan to do this for much longer as I am going to start the modular route this year, ( C1 allowing.) at the grand old age of 32. Now in the dull world of bus travel there is a not very surpising shortage of drivers, especially during times that no one wants work eg; Late, early, eves and weekends. Most companies hire either P/T casual, or agency drivers. Earnings are approx £8 to £15 per hour in the London area and demand is high. If you dont have a PCV licence then it will mean training, just a theory test then 60 min drive. I did mine with a company at no cost to me 12 months ago and took me a week. I then had to sign a 12 month bond and work full-time for the company during that period. Costs are about £600 + fees for a licence off your own back, which would leave you free from any contract ties. It may not be the most desirable job in the world but I'm starting modular as I say and I've got a feeling that being able to pick my hours/days at a rate of £8+ per hour beats some of the alternative options.

[FlyingForFun]

Is the PPL Flexible? I thought I would have had to be committed to a ground school for a certain period of time rather than just swanning in once every week to flyMany many people have done it this way.

It's probably not quite so common for those with commercial aspirations to do it this way, because planning on making a career out of flying implies a fairly high level of commitment - so most Wannabes will probably do their PPL full-time (if they don't have other education or work commitments, or financial constraints).

But remember that the PPL you do (on a modular course) will be exactly the same as the PPL which thousands of enthusiasts an hobbyists do. I would guess that flying once a week is the most common arrangement - or at least one of the most common.

There is no requirement for formal groundschool for the PPL (although there is later for the ATPL exams). You can self-study from recognised text-books, or if you prefer ground-school you'll probably find that your school arranges classes - often on a weekday evening, spread over a few weeks, with one class per each exams or something similar.

Not being able to get to a flying school, however, makes things a little difficult, as you say.

FFF
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