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jamie2004
28th Nov 2004, 20:27
hi,
my names Jamie, im 16 years old and am currently undergoing the PPL course from Rochester Airfield in Kent U.K.

i am wondering if anyone has any information on how or where i can get information on becoming a commercial pilot, or any information on who to contact in order to fulfill my strong ambition of becoming a commercial pilot.
do i have to be 18 in order to send off CV's to airlines or should i start now in order to get my name recognised?
i have 12 GCSE's between A*-C grade and am currently taking A-Levels in physics, pure maths and computer science, do i need any other forms of qualifications to become a commercial pilot?

i will appreciate it very much if someone gets back to me.

all the best.
Jamie:ok:

Vee One...Rotate
28th Nov 2004, 21:04
Hi Jamie,

Have a look at the section on www.balpa.org for aspiring commerical pilots. This will give you an intro to the routes to becoming a professional pilot. Then go to the Wannabes section of this site, set aside a fortnight ;) and have a read. There's some very useful "sticky" threads at the top of the "Professional Pilot Training" and "Interviews, Jobs and Sponsorship" forums - have a good read through those as well.

In summary - you can get into commercial flying by going down two main routes - be very lucky and get some kind of sponsorship from an airline or pay for your own training.

Sponsorship places are few and far between and are very, very competitive. The CTC Wings sponsorship scheme is one example (http://www.ctcaviation.com/wings/). Some airlines have their own schemes but the overwhelming majority don't sponsor, at least not at the moment...including BA before you ask! British Airways stopped sponsoring wannabes a few years ago.

If you go down the self-funded route, expect to have to pay anything upwards of around £30,000, if not more...depending on what type of course you do. The cost will vary but will still be in the tens of thousands.

Also have a look at the LASORS document on the CAA's website - it has all the nitty gritty details of licence requirements etc.

There's an OVERWHELMING amount of info out there - a lot is on this site or at least pertained to on it.

I've just finished university and am currently doing the PPL before trying my luck at sponsorship.

Hopefully this is enough to get you started. It'll take a lot of research on your part but you'll learn a lot about how the aviation world works as you browse.

Best of luck :ok:

V1R

P.S. Also be sure to check that you can get a class I medical from the CAA - no medical, no flying :(

P.P.S. Talk to your instructor/s - see what advice they can give.

P.P.P.S. There's a strong chance that any question you can think of regarding flight training has been discussed somewhere on this site - make full use of that search fucntion on the top left of the homepage!

jamie2004
29th Nov 2004, 18:05
ok, thanks very much for that V1R, much appreciated, i will look into the things you mentioned.

all the best!:ok:

jamie