Too much PPL expirence???

[Granger9]

I am 16 and have been flying since I was 14, I’m 17 this September and should be getting my licence (JAR-FCL PPL) then (i'm doing my Qualiflying X-country next week if weather is good of course) I’m going to college in September and therefore will be at college for 2 years doing 5 A-levels! In that time I will be exercising the privileges of my PPL! Is it possible to have too much experience as a PPL for Airlines to say no to you for their sponsorship schemes? Also is it a good idea to continue and get an IMC rating etc. would that help or just hinder my chances of getting any sort of sponsorship for my ATPL?

P.S. When is the best time to start contacting airlines to get into their sponsorship schemes?

[London Girl]

I'm not sure if this was set in stone, but when Britannia were running their sponsorship selection earlier this year they stipulated that applicants should have no more than 30 hours flight time (something about learning bad habits!). Can't tell you if anyone was selected with more than this though, or what other airlines say.

If you can afford to keep flying after getting your PPL, get IMC etc I can't see that airlines would find any point in 'sponsoring' you as you will be well on your way to getting that licence, as opposed to an ab initio student. Not 100% sure about this though...

Good luck with the qualifying XC!

[Re-Heat]

Although the sponsorship debate is known on other threads, I believe that it used to be not the best idea to do more than the minimum hours to revalidate if not doing hours under instruction. This was - as noted - due to the learning of bad habits in a non-structured environment while with low hours.

Why do you need an IMC though? For the flying you are doing? I would keep it simple for the moment if I were you, and tend to agree with London girl.

[Granger9]

I would want to do an IMC for 4 main reasons;

1) I think it would make me a more confident and better pilot
2) It would allow me to fly in conditions worst than a standard PPL
3) It allows me to fly and have instruction which is constructive (otherwise I would just be having instruction for the point of it and going over what I have already done!)
4) It would be FUN!

By the sounds of it by me doing my PPL now it seems like its going to hinder my chances of getting sponership (becuase I will be flying with it so I will be gaining 'bad' expirence) and it has been a waste of money for that reason which I am very pissed off about to be honest becuase its a large amount of money (espically for someone of my age and I have had to work very hard for it!) and I have work very hard at my PPL learning everything as well as I can and at the moment its seems like a waste of time and money becuase its just going to disqualifly me from gaining what I truly want!

When I first started doing my PPL I thought it would give me an advantage as one it would show I really want to become a pilot by the amount of work i have put in to getting my PPL etc. Also I will already of spent £6000 on training which they wont have to spend!

[Re-Heat]

Sorry, I didn't intend to put you off with my comment from flying: bear in mind that there are so few sponsored schemes, that it is hardly likely to hinder you in the future in reality, as another route to the cockpit is most likely for all of us. If you are worried about it, perhaps consider a second log book until such a sponsorship is obtained?

[jau]

Hi!
Well, to start with, according to the CAA, they have only issued a total of 11 PPL's (A) to 17 year olds. Thats an achievment in itself- nothing to be 'pissed off' about at all!

I am in the same position as you, albeit a little older, and at uni. It's a difficult one because the sponsoring companies all have different goalposts, so how do you know how to score?

Britannia stipulated that they didn't want applicants to hold a PPL at all due to 'bad habit forming'.

I wrote to BA, and they kindly put me in touch with one of the recruiters. She informed me that that the more hours I gained the more bad habits I would gain. She advised me not to gain more than 150 hours, and to take frequent trips with instructors. But that BA would certainly consider sponsoring a low hour (100 hourish) PPL.

Then there's Air Atlantique, who want applicants to have a PPL and about 100 hours.

If you look at the situation now, sponsorships don't exist. There are no shortcuts in this industry, so I decided to just get on with it. I got my PPL and I'm starting to hourbuild. Plenty of others made it to the cockpit through self sponsorship...

As for the IMC, maybe that should come later? I can see two reasons for getting one.

a) You fly purely for recreation and don't want to remain grounded when you took a day off work specifically to fly.

b) Your going for CPL and the british weather's messing your hourbuilding plans up.

I don't fit into either of these so I'm going to wait a while.
Why don't you build some hours and give the sponsorships a try as a low hour basic PPL. If that doesn't work then go all out, having a PPL you have a head start anyway!!!

Good luck on your qualifying! I did mine on the same day as my skills test :D
jau

PS: what part of the country are you in?

edit: CTC informed me that they were happy up to 200 hours but the more hours that you accumulate then the more bad habits you pick up

[Granger9]

I live in England!

Surly any bad habbits which you pick up won't cost £6000 (the cost of a PPL) to get rid of so the airline should therefore have to spend less on you!?!?

Or is this wrong?