The cost of keeping your license?

[MikeAlphaBravo]

With so many people claiming to have completed their (f)ATPL and not yet having managed to secure employment, what exactly is the requirement/cost of keeping your license and ratings current? I just feel that this additional expense needs to be considered whilst calculating the true cost of pursuing a career in aviation. That and the seemingly compulsary type rating:(
Many thanks,
MAB.

[FlyingForFun]

What do you mean by "current"? Legally current and able to fly, as per airline requirements?

Or alternatively, you could try keeping only the exams current, work outside the IT industry for a few years, and accept that your flying ratings will go out of currency but you will only need a few hours dual and a relatively painless test to renew them.

Then again, there's the option of keeping everything current, including MEP, SEP and IR. And are we talking about doing the minimum to stay legal, or the minimum to stay legal and safe... they are not the same thing.

A bit more about exactly what you plan to do between gaining your license/ratings and finding a job is needed before we can answer the question.

FFF
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[MikeAlphaBravo]

Thanks for your reply FFF, and sorry for any confusion. Ideally I would finish at CCAT and walk straight into a flying job, but being a realist, I appreciate that I may have to go back into my current trade as an engineer in order to fund furthering my experience. I also appreciate your comment on safety, which is obviously of paramount importance. All in all, I am just trying to put a price on the complete package, which does not end when you finish at flight school. I am willing to do any flying job after graduation in order to gain valuable experience and do not expect the F/O job to come quickly or easily, if at all. As your name suggests, its all about enjoyment, and if employed to fly, job satisfaction:ok:
Cheers,
MAB

[witchdoctor]

Leaving the type rating issue aside, most employers will probably want to see some kind of flying continuity/currency. Take BACX and their current requirement, this means 50 hrs in the last 12 months as a likely typical minimum.

50 hrs VFR SEP flying : £4K - £5K ish for an average club spamcan.
Class 1 renewal : £140
IR renewal : £500 - £1000

Additional ratings, or more expensive flight time in twins, will alter the costs, as will access to cheap flight time away from club aircraft.

I would suggest the above is probably a useful minimum to ensure the CV at least gets looked at rather than binned due to lack of currency/appropriate ratings. You could obviously leave everything and renew at the last minute, but it's hard enough to get a look in when you already have it without reducing your chances further.

[FlyingForFun]

In addition to what Witchdoctor says, you might like to keep your MEP rating current too - can be done at the same time as the IR renewal for no extra cost.

On the other hand, if you're looking to save some money for a few years and not apply for jobs for a little while, there's no harm in letting your IR and your MEP lapse, so long as you renew them before applying for jobs, and don't let the IR lapse by more than 7 years or you'll have to re-do all the exams.

Now, here's an interesting idea. Let's say you're planning on spending a year or so in your old job to keep the bank manager happy before looking for that first flying job. Witchdoctor quotes £4-5k to keep the SEP current. I suggest you buy a share in your own aircraft. Here are a few examples:

A 1/4 or 1/6 share in a two-seater homebuilt aircraft can be bought for £5-10k. Then it'll cost you (depending on the type of aircraft, and the location) maybe £50/month and £30/hour to fly it. So for 50 hours over 12 months, that's a total cost £2100 - about half the cost of Witchdoctor's estimate. Hopefully you will be able to get back the initial investment of £5-10k when you're finished by selling the share - but that's not always as easy as you'd like (as I know from personal experience..... if these figures sound good to you and you live near White Waltham please PM me!!!)

Alternatively, a 1/10 or 1/12 share in a single-seater home-built can be bought for £1-2k. Now you're looking at maybe £15/month and £15/hour, which brings the total cost for a year's flying to less than £1000! Even when you consider the cost of the aircraft, over the first year that's cheaper than hiring a spam-can from a club - and if you manage to sell your aircraft when you get a job that's even better! Only downside of this approach is you will almost certainly be required by the group's insurance company to have a little bit of tailwheel experience, since most single-seaters are tail-draggers (and getting dual instruction on them is obviously not possible!)

FFF
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[RodgerF]

Quote:

In addition to what Witchdoctor says, you might like to keep your MEP rating current too - can be done at the same time as the IR renewal for no extra cost.

Not strictly true, there are additional visual manoeuvres required for the MEP LPC, ie stalls and steep turns. At £5/min just a few of these pushes the cost up.

Quote:

On the other hand, if you're looking to save some money for a few years and not apply for jobs for a little while, there's no harm in letting your IR and your MEP lapse, so long as you renew them before applying for jobs, and don't let the IR lapse by more than 7 years or you'll have to re-do all the exams.

Another trap is waiting, after lapsing 5 years or more the IR renewal has to be with a CAA staff examiner.