I Did It.... at last.. so thanks to you all

[spitfire747]

well everyone, after a long time, many sleepness nights,months of groundschool in our country's capital, hour building and a general flight test to top all others.... the examiner said those words I will remember forever.."Looks like you will be buying beers tonight.. its a pass"

I started in 2001 with a PPL and then spent the next year working and saving money and with 90hours TT went to London and studied fr the ATPLs, after 9 months of studing like never before, 14 passes neatly in the bag i decided to work and save some more money..
62 hours later after flying around Florida, Alabama and Mississippi i started the CPL and after the minimum hours achieved what is set out to do.. CPL holder.. :O

many people have helped and encouraged me along the way but i would like to thanks those people on Pprune who have been enthusuastic, helpful, encouraging all through the times when inspiration has been needed aswell as the answer to a met question i could not get.

also thanks has to go to my instructor Jatin who got me threw the CPL in minimum hours, hours of shouting, tutting and stupid looks helped me achieve a firts time pass, also i cannot forget to thank all those at naples air center, Richard, Niki and Bea.. without all your encouragement and professionalism I would not have achieved what I have done now.. especially when the times were bad those years ago with the collapse of SFT in Bournemouth with all my money.

what have i learnt ?
follow your dreams, there are ups and downs in life, i have lost alot and gained alot too


BUT

now i need some more advice..
i know the market is in turmoil but gradually getting better.

i have a CPL with 200+ hours and want to proceed. I have thoughts about becomig a flight instructor and going through the process to earn money as and when the weather is good, the pupils are available

or

I am thinking of finishing off with the IR an being ready to send in CVs to the many possible employers like the others for that elusive first job.

I have approx 6,000 pounds available to either pay for the FI(R) or to put towards the IR

i know the money is poor as a FI and some people have said that the experience gained is not worth it in the end.. afterall 6000 pounds could buy alot of twin engine time somewhere in the world.


ahhhhh decisions decisions.. i know this has been killed before many times and at the end of the day people have opinions, but i would appreciate the thoughts of the masses again.

Thanks
Spitty
:ok:

[QNH 1013]

Always enjoyed reading your posts and now, at last, I can say CONGRATULATIONS !!!

Well done. As Clive Hughes says in his book, you are now (theoretically) employable as a pilot. The trick is now to find someone to pay you to fly.

It can be done. I got my first job as a pilot earlier this year at the age of 54. I would guess you are somewhat younger. Whichever route you go, may I wish you the best of luck. I bet the beer tastes good tonight !

[VFE]

Congrats on the CPL.

Go for the IR when you've saved some more cash. The thing with the IR is that coming at the end of training, funds are low and energy levels are in a similar state which is a terrible situation because it's the hardest test! Always budget for more than you need in this game as I have seen quite a few guys put under enourmous pressure to get the IR done in minimum hours (which is a difficult enough task alone) but then pressure themselves to get that elusive first time pass that they end up losing their nerve and blow it. The end result is they either have to bow out for a few months until they find the extra funds to continue or else result to borrowing more cash from family or financial sharks. If you fail the IR you must pass it the next time otherwise it's a mandatory 5 hours extra training and another 170A, then the test. Expensive.

So save some more dough, keep your head in the flying sphere at clubs and on here and then attack the IR. To be honest, many flying schools aren't too interested in instructors who lack an IR anyway as in the UK especially you'll need to draw on the instrument experience from time to time, probably without even realising it. The post Jan 2004 CPL lacks decent instrument time for battling your way out of IFR situations. As we all know, one shouldn't get into IFR situations on a CPL but the temptation is to soldier on if there's a paying student and an empty instructor wallet and is precisely the reason the IFR nav leg of the CPL was axed because it was encouraging people to fly in conditions beyond their ability rather than the get out of jail free card it was intended to be.

VFE.

[Jinkster]

Well done spitty :ok:

Best of luck,

Jinkster

[JB007]

Congratualtions!
Go for the IR...

[Pilot Pete]

Well done, mine's a bitter....thanks.;)

Well, what to do next? Choices and risk. Get the IR as soon as you can puts you on the market in a 'real' employable state where you may get picked up by an airline. That however, is quite a slim chance as many on these pages will attest to.

You mention that you could get a 'load' of twin hours for your £6k. Well, if you perhaps found an aircraft for £200 per hour, that buys you the grand total of 30 hours twin piston. Be under no illusions that your extra 30hrs twin is going to make you more employable than some guy with the basic twin rating. It will not.

The work you can do with just your CPL is limited as you well know, but the one option that stands out is that of Flying Instructor. Yes the pay is bad, but the hours are 'free' so you need to factor those into your calculations. What would it cost you to buy those hours? The other advantage of doing an instructor rating is that you are 'in' aviation. Many FIs make contacts through just being involved in aviation, the club environment, the hangar, the airfield. It is much easier to nextwork from inside the boundary fence than it is from outside. If you were to get yourself signed up on an FI course now you could have the rating in just over a month and possibly be working this summer. At a busy field you might clock 400 odd hours by the end of the summer. Much better position to be in whilst the market continues to pick up and BA start recruiting later in the year.

No-one has a chystal ball and none of us know what setback is just round the corner. Things like My Travel not being out of the woods yet could dent your plans significantly, but you have to make choices based around the potential benefits weighed against the potential pitfalls. It's all down to risk and how much risk you are prepared to take.

If it's any use to you I considered all the options and went and got the IR straight away as it made me 'employable' by the greatest number of potential employers (airlines, flying schools etc), but that was in a different market and it worked for me. I ended up doing my FI rating 3 months after the IR as no airline was interested, but through the FI course I got a break to fly air taxi, which, if I hadn't had the IR I probably wouldn't have got.

Best of luck, when you sober up you will find that the hard bit is just starting..........!

PP

[mad_jock]

Personally I think the FI IR debate is a pretty close run thing.

Fi rating if you get a good job will get the hours up, increase airmanship and ultimatly make the IR easier (not by much thought). Without having money borrowed accruing interest while you are on a ****e wage. But if there is a sudden hiring spree your knackard. But when you do get 1000hrs plus you will be alot better off than most when your CV starts hitting employers waste paper buckets.

IR first isn't much use without a MCC as well so you will need to factor this in as well. Plus points are that you are ready to go. Bad point is that you have to shell out about 15K to get everything. And if you have to borrow then the bills have to be payed. And you are joining the great unwashed sub 1000hrs mass of pilots out there.

So as others have mentioned being an FI opens doors which wouldn't normally be opened depending on the school you are working at. If you don't have loans out already I would go for the FI route as long as you want to instruct and feel you have alot to give students.

IR/MCC first if you don't really want to be an instructor. Instructing is great fun if you enjoy it and feel the calling. Its looks like pure hell if you don't. And even if you do enjoy it after 1 year 700hrs plus you get extremely knackard and pissed off with the working conditions.

Personally (with my CV and age) I would get the FI just now and if you can get a full time job go for it. If not part time and save money for the IR MCC this year, next year get a full summer as an FI and do the (or this year if you can afford it )IR MCC in Sept, Oct Nov depending on the amount of custom about. I did it the other way round due to Sept 11th and just finishing an IT contract after the IT market went tits up.

Then you will be all licensed up for summer the next year. December, Jan, Feb is a good time for people moving up the career ladder.

As with all plans by doing one you have knackard other options. Some employers want low hours non FI's others want 1000hr plus FI's. You can't win unfortunatly and by going down one road you are cutting off the other. You have to decide which route is going to be most succcessful for you. I really don't think there is a best route at the moment. But there is a whore of alot of sub 500hr pilots on the market just now with very impressive CV's. BUt the number of 1000hr plus instructors is going down very rapidly, it might not be to shiny jet jobs but it is flying and its bloody fun.

Sub age 25 the low hours with IR/MCC will proberly be best if you have a good education etc. Above 30 or ****e education I would say FI route would be best (but thats only a personal thought) but thats completly dependent on if you would enjoy being an FI. If you don't want to teach, don't do it, its just going cause yourself heaps of grief and also piss the students off.

And as you know it didn't do our mutal friend any harm getting hours in next door to a turboprop outfit. What was it 1 month after IR he got a job? Luckly being short fat and ugly is abonus with his outfit.


MJ

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Mike, after Pilot Pete, mine will be a pint of Kronenberg please :D.

Well done mate, will see you soon for that drink :ok:

Cheers!

[IRRenewal]

Spitty

Congratulations on getting the CPL After the ATPLs it's another milestone to pass.

Your say you are trying to decide between 'instructing or getting that elusive first job'. Sounds to me you don't actually see instructing as a job and it is not something you really want to do.

My advise would be to use the money towards the IR in that case, since that is the direction you clearly want to go. Plus, if you don't see instructing as a job I don't think many schools are going to be too keen on having you as an instructor anyway.

[spitfire747]

thanks for all your replies.. i promise beers will be on ME once i get my first RHS job !!

half way thorugh the FI now, hard work but fun, learning new stuff EVERY day

Spitty :)

[MorningGlory]

Many Congrats Spitty, I know how you feel, I was in your shoes not even 2 years ago and now i'm flying 73's.

Best of luck in the immortal quest, you'll get there, you just have to keep on believing in yourself and laugh in the face of all adversity..... it works!

MG.

[Irishtjs]

Nice one Mike. Rollin' on 5 ............