Loans for funding flying training.

[wbryce]

Alot of people including myself work for a while and do modular training. Don't be fooled by Intergrated training providers and their marketing departments. Its a great route if you can afford it! do your research and read a little bit more and you will become to understand the two training routes you can take and the costs involved. Cheapest modular route right now I think is the one offered by Egnatia in Greece.

[nospeedrestriction9]

Hi,

I am thinking about training anf trying to finance an integrated course however I have just noticed that HSBC state on their website they only let you borrow up to £25k which is no where near the cost of the training.

Does anyone know if this is right or can anyone recommend any other UK based finance options.

Thanks.

[captain_rossco]

Career development loans of up to £8000 are available from barclays, bank of scotland and co-op. Every little helps!

Best of luck from a bristol boy!

Regards
Rossco

[AlphaMale]

As said above you can get a loan for up to £8,000 (although I thought it was £4,000 but I haven't looked into it that much). HSBC were the best people to go with for Proffesional Pilots loans and they used to give £50,000 to students that passed the entry requirements for OAT (Oxford) and CabAir or CTC.

With it being so easy for Pilot students to complete the training and then declare themselves bankrupt they have changed the £50k to £25k and this needs to be secured on a house (usually your parents if you don't own one).

So HSBC will lend you £25k if you go to OAT/CabAir or CTC (£70k course) and you can top that up with a Career development loan of up to £8k. So all you need to find is £37k for the 0-fATPL integrated course and £20k for a TR if you think you'll have a better chance of a job with one.

I'm still saving :rolleyes:

[Speed bird 002]

HSBC will only lend upto £25K unsecured and upto £50K secured. If you take out a career development loan, they will take that into consideration and minus it against the £25K unsecured you have taken or £50K secured. The loan is only available if you are a potential student with either cabair or Oxford. The loan is not available to modular students.

In a nutshell you cannot take out more than £25k unsecured and anything over £25k must be secured on a property, land, market shares etc.... borrowing more than £25k unsecured or £50k secured will not happen and HSBC will review how much debt your in so graduate students are most likely to feel like :mad: when their application fails due to student loans taken out.

I hope that helps and remember, dont bother applying for the HSBC Professional studies loan if your not going to train through Cabair or Oxford. Modular students have always been declined since it was stopped a few yrs ago. If your not gonna train through an intergrated school then speak to your local bank and see what they can offer.

Kind regards.

[Portside]

HSBC profesional loans take many guises. And the information under this heading is correct. Whether it be for flying, too becoming a doctor etc. The HSBC Loan, if you are good enough to get through CTC selection is seen differentley, and is unsecured. It is unsecured and can be £60k+.

To consider taking on this loan and thinking bankrupcy is an option is ludicrous, as you are bonded to an airline. For instance do you think Easy training Captains don`t talkto other airlines?? And the stigma would stay with you forever, as a dishonourable individual.

PS

[Vee One...Rotate]

It's worth mentioning that if you manage to get a place on a sponsored scheme at OAT you'll be eligible for £60k.

NetJets is the current scheme which is running (and current plans seem to be to extend this scheme further i.e. increase the number of seats as time goes on). Thomas Cook and Excel have also run schemes for the last two years.

You might be interested to know that it is also possible to get the £60k unsecured if you've got a seat on one of these schemes. The bank won't publicly advertise this (uncommon) route and it would be a case-by-case thing.

[Beta Range]

I had an application approved for a PSL back in 2003 and I trained modular. I could borrow up to £50,000 and yes indeed, I needed my parents to act as guarantors. It took me about 6 visits and asking about the loan for them to realise I was serious about training for a licence. I laid out a business plan to them and the bank manager said go for it, give it to him (without formal interview).

Saying that I had been accepted onto one of Oxfords schemes and had taken the advice of a training consultant, which may have helped.

I am now happily flying for a small regional airline paying huge amounts off of the loan each month, lol. You borrow it, you gotta pay it back.

Good luck.

[nospeedrestriction9]

I have spoken to HSBC and they inform me they no longer offer PSL's AT ALL for Pilot training as it is no longer included in their list of qualifying professions.

It seems its back to the drawing board!

[Vee One...Rotate]

nospeedrestriction9,

The HSBC branch in Oxford has an arrangement with OAT and I assure you that the loans that have been described here are stil available. However, you will need to be applying for the integrated APP FO course and it will be arranged through the Oxford branch only.

I think Cabair and a few others have similar arrangements.

[Ian_Wannabe]

Hey guys - Ive done a search but there's loads of vague answers....

Im trying to research loans in terms of getting the ATPL. Basically, should I get through to being offered a job after attending a recent sponsorship programme I'd need to be able to access the funds needed to go all the way though my training.

Now - being me, I dont want to have to ask my parents to secure the loan against their house as they've just paid off the morgage and I want to stand on my own two feet.

Im currently renting - About to start a full time job making approx £13,000 a year - What are my options?

Are there banks out there that will offer a certain ammount unsecured? Or are they all secured? If so, is it always against a property?

Also - are there any banks out there that would offer the entire £60k??

Thanks - I know this has been done to death but specifics arent always answered in a search.

Cheers guys

Ian

[Speed bird 002]

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207270

[HN1708]

Try Northern Rock. I was >£50K in debt, with a perfect repayment record, and they happily and quickly lent me £15K unsecured after getting turned down by other lenders. I know they lend up to £25K unsecured!

[shadow_531]

Hey! I am a college student and in two years I will start my training at atp. I've been looking at several different loan options, but as it turns out it's not going to be easy at all for me to get approved for one for the full amount. Therefore, I've decided to work my *** off and save every penny during my two years of college to try and minimize the loan I will have to ask for. I'm considering working as a waiter for these two years. Any advice on loan programs, or what to do during these two years to be able to attend atp is deaply appreciated! Also, if you had a similar experience, what did you do?

Thank you! I know this doesn't have to do much with flight training, but it's pretty important for me...

[Shay]

Yep, I have pretty much the same problem- I'm finishing off my A Levels and I've decided I can't afford to go to university and FTE/OAT :sad: soo I'm gonna spend a year working flat out to decrease the loan.

I'm rather lucky in this circumstance, because I am south african, I have a bank in s.africa who are willing to give me a loan (my parents do a lot of business with them) and in the UK (where I have been living for the last 10 years) I will try to get an unsecured loan of 25,000££ because I can't secure a loan against my parents property.

It's a pickle, and I really do feel sorry for anybody that is in my situation, yet doesn't have two banks to rely on. It's very sad that the aviation business ask so much of it's students, who else on earth would pay so much just to get a job, they are asking too much off us :=

But, at the end of the day, it's what we all want to do, so I suppose where there's a will there's a way... Best of luck Shadow!

[PlaneHomerS]

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207270&highlight=finance

[Re-Heat]

who else on earth would pay so much just to get a job
Lawyers, doctors, MBAs, foreign students at UK universities...pilots are not the only ones...

[The Mixmaster]

If only the UK government subsidised pilot training like they do Law and Medicine degree's :ugh:

[davey147]

Lawyers, doctors, MBAs, foreign students at UK universities...pilots are not the only ones...

Absolutely right!

A doctors job (GP) is virtually the same as a commercial pilots job in terms of pay and the length of time it takes to get there.

A doctor can expect to earn £45k to £50k, 5 years afer graduating, when the starting wage is around £20k. I would say thats very similar to a pilot. When experienced a GP can expect to earn in the region of £110k, this is the same as an experienced long haul captain.

In terms of training, it costs much more to train a Doctor than it does a pilot. The NHS can expect to pay in excess of £250k for each Doctor they train, most of this is paid for by the NHS, a Doctor usually starts their career with around 50k of debt.

The above is similar for lawyers too.

So as pilots we are actually better of in terms of cost of training (unless we pay to go integrated). The job at the end may not be as good or as easy to get, but its what we want to do, so why do anything different.

[The Mixmaster]

It's absolute twoddle trying to compare pilots with lawyers and doctors. Both lawyers and doctors have the majority of their degree's subsidised by the government in the form of student loans and government investment. If additional financial assistance is required you will find banks queuing up to offer loans as a lawyer and doctor's job is always SECURE. Also doctors perform a vital societal function hence deserve all the help they get...lawyers on the other hand .....:hmm: .

Just as its our choce to fly planes for a living, its our choice to take on a financial burden. Once you land that first job it'll all be worht it anyways:ok:

[ivehad2many]

i remorguaged my house i was fortunatle to have at 18... then its a lottery and i won a job at the end of it.

remember your going to invest 10's of thousands of £ into training with no garenteed job at the end... but if you make it, its the best gamble youve ever made

[preduk]

Hi Adam,

Good to see some young blood continuing the aviation dream!

I myself am hoping to begin my 2009, as I'm currently at University Studying Law (nothing to do with aviation, but thought the course could be fun :p).

If I were you, I would try and join your local cadet force. The cadets can teach you a lot of good skills that you can take into the airline business.
I was in the cadets for a long time, from the age of 13 and ended up going solo with them, meaning I didn't need to pay as much for my PPL.

The funding issue is a problem, but it's just a risk that must be taken in order to get to your dream, sadly.

I myself, run my own company and work Monday to Friday as well as collect all my student loans and student bursarys, which are put towards flying.

CTC is a good organisation, but don't think they are all Posh private school boys and girls. I have met two people who have went to CTC, one being my old girlfriend and the other a collegue at my flying club at Prestwick. Both got in because they were excellent pilots who had worked hard at high school and university and got accepted.

However, there are several other schools which are excellent such as Cabair, Oxford Aviation Training, Stapleford etc these schools all have great names. You should read the many reviews on this forum, try using the search tool.

Best of luck!

P.S this isn't a Aussie and Nz forum :confused:

[TelBoy]

Hi Adam,

Great to see such dedication from someone of your age. First get your PPL, fly as much as you can - I guess it won't be that much, but do what you can. Financing is ALWAYS a problem for all of us ALL of the time - it is just so expensive.

It seems that you are not afraid of hard work, so do what you can, SAVE as much as you can and when you're 18 get a few credit cards etc - pay them back on time to build a good credit standing. If needed then get a loan to do your CPL, IR etc and go for that dream job.

Don't forget on the way you dreams and what employers will look for - Dedication, Knowledge, Ability to learn - try washing aircraft at your flight school etc.

I'm sure you will suceed, but it won't be easy, NEVER give up and you will get there. I am 28 years older than you and only slightley ahead of you in training (PPL - 83 hours) and with problems of getting JAA medical (colour blindness) but hey I'm not giving up and WILL get there somehow.

[John001]

Hello,

I've recently passed an interview and simcheck with an Irish airline and have been offered a position on their type rating course (Yipee :) ) which is a self-sponsoring position.
Would anyone be able to offer any advice as to which finincial institution(s) I might approach regarding a loan?

I have an account with AIB and the local credit union. However before I approach either of them I'm trying to become a little more informed about what exactly I should be looking for in a loan as well as developing an awareness of the potential caveats which may be associated with procuring a loan.
I understand that "secured" loans normally have a lower APR than "unsecured", does the rate vary significantly?
There is also the matter of fixed versus variable rate loans.

A colleague of mine had an unpleasant experience with the Credit Union: apparently they increased the rate of interest without informing him. This is the type of thing I'm attempting to pre-emptively avoid.
Awareness is all important and as such I must admit that my knowledge in this area is distinctly lacking. :p

I have indeed found some useful information using the search option however I'd be interested to hear more about the individual experiences of others.

[Cliste- You said that "there is a way" regarding Irish loans, which way is that?]

Kind regards,

John.:ok:

[jajabinks]

My experience suggest UK banks are better, than the Spanish, any others with views on this?

[teabagYoYo92887]

Guys just a quick questions, i mean Uni is going to cost me 10 k easily on top of that another 60k. Is there any chance of getting loans for this kinds of studies, my parent are willing to chip in (prob 70%). I know sponsorships is extremely low if any one can give me any advice to go about it.

I thinking of booking a medical test during the summer before i make my BIG decisions:ok:

[Crashnburn22]

I need to take out a loan to finish off my training and was considering Northern Rock as they have received good feedback from this forum. Only problem is that I submitted my application form over a week ago and they still haven't got back to me, so far not so much as a confirmation of my application!!

If you've used these guys before please can you let me know your experiences with them and also how long you had to wait for a reply. Thanks!!

[Mohit_C]

Has anyone from this thread tried out the package that the bank Cajamar is offering in Spain for the training in the pilot school Aerodynamics Málaga? Can someone advise me the best banks in Spain, although it doesn't seem there are many, to get the best possible system?

[HN1708]

Northern Rock usually call you within a week to talk through the application and then it's in the bank within 7 days from there. This is based on my recent experience of them for two loan applications. They are by far one of the better lenders for no nonsense lending processes!

[bri1980]

Hi All,

Does anyone know what are the T&Cs for the HSBC loan for the APP F/O training. The OAT literature that I received a week or so ago says that successful applicants at the assessment days can get a loan to cover the full integrated training costs and living expenses.

The main question is does this have to be secured (I know the CTC one doesn't)?

I have read through large sections of this thread, but I apologise if this has been asked before and I missed the answer!

B

[hollingworthp]

For loans over 25k you will need security (UK Residential Property or Cash).

They will loan up to 50k for self-sponsored applicants and 60k for cadets of NetJets / Excel etc.

[bri1980]

Oh poop!

A bit of a bummer for those of us who don't have such security. Ah well, back to the drawing board!

Thanks for the prompt reply hollingworthp.

Bri

[sculler]

I'm thinking of joining the cabair 'intergrated' programme in 08 and had some concerns about overall costs....

1. Has anyone been through Cabair programme recenty? comments....

2. Is it better to pay for a type rating yourself with bonus of a higher starting salary or go for a sponsored scheme and be the 'pocket' on a lower salary? Does anyone have a comparable figures?

Thanks,

sculler

[wire12]

I want to start pilot training but i am finding it hard to get a loan. I would be interested to know how do pilots get the money

[bri1980]

Especially difficult if you don't have a house or a family member who can help you out by securing the loan.

Any ideas sought though......good question sconn062

[AlphaMale]

I think most will have a 2nd career plan that gave them the option to take on the fATPL training.

You stand a better chance (apparently - lets not debate) if you are educated to a high level i.e. Degree.

If you have a degree in IT for example (like myself) then earning £20k to start with and building up to £50/60k is the norm. It's down to the individual how he/she wants to spend it.

I am looking to get on the property ladder but I am also looking to get a fATPL by the time I am 30 years old. So I am still teaching myself other programming languages to get more rewards that will fund my £50k bill coming my way for flight training. :rolleyes:

Ofcourse you'll always have rich parents living their dream through their kids and will lend/give them £50k straight up to have their son/daughter a fATPL. I am not in this position and funded Uni myself as well as flight school.

One good thing about doing it my way is if after giving up work to complete my ATPL/CPL/IR and I can't find a job I can always go back to what I know I am good at and be a web developer again.

Good luck in finding your cash. I just picked my two lines for the Euro Millions (£35M) and if I win I'll still go ahead with my fATPL.

[antic81]

Hi there

Everyone will have different strategies based on circumstance.
The way I've done it is, worked my ass off doing whatever job, all the overtime i could get, saved like hell, for about two years, that gave me the grand sum of about £8500, with that I did my PPL and Night Rating, then went to my friendly bank manager and got a loan for 15K, that got my hours up to 153 with about a 107 pic, now I'm going to work for the London underground as a laborer, can earn decent money and it free's up the days to study and save for the next stage of spending, its taken me 3 years to get to this point, its slow, but I'll get there in the end, I'm only 25 so still got time on my side...well ok, I guess I'm not that young any more.

The point is, if you are going to self fund, it takes hard work and dedication, and remember, these days banks expect you to start repaying debt within 3 months, they don't see student ATPL's as students unfortunately, so getting a large loan can sometimes add to the financial stress you may be experiencing!

But never give up and fight on, and in the end if you want it bad enough, you'll get it!

Thats what I tell myself every night...helps me sleep!:}

Cheers

Ant

[v6g]

Engineering degree followed by a techy job with large Fortune 500 company.
My advice is to target the bigger companies, that way you’ll have plenty of time to study whilst supposedly “working”. The more bureaucratic the better. Look for a company with the most meaningless mission statement (don’t worry - the employees don’t know what they do either). Look at their website – do they have lots of pictures of happy people claiming to be “passionate” about whatever the company does? Look at their “Careers” web page – read the job descriptions – if you haven’t a clue what any of it means then you’ve found the right place. You’ll be amazed at how much money some companies pay for so little work – but be careful as it might put you off the idea of actually having to work for a living when you finally move into aviation.

If you can get any inside information on the company then try to find out the manager-to-worker ratio. It shouldn't be too hard to find a 1:1 which is ideal.

I call it the “corporate sponsorship” route into aviation, but remember: a successful parasite never destroys its host.

[flagforfun]

Previous post is true in so many ways. However, in some companies it might pay to do your work properly. Bonuses and such can add quite much to your basic salary.

[bri1980]

Bonuses can add to your basic salary: as I will find out on Tuesday-and extra £1000 thanks very much.

What I did so far was to go to university, get a degree in maths so I always had something of a backup plan, then had the chance to do a PhD with a major company who pay mathematicians silly money. I then joined said silly money company for even sillier money and bonuses.

Unfortunately all this takes time and you then still haven't got a licence.

As extra earning you could try tutoring GCSE subjects. Going rate about £20-25 an hour, a bit more for A-level subjects. You could realistically tutor 3-4 students a week (the demand is there especially at this time of year). £240 a month on the lower figures I quoted. Thick end of a couple of flying hours a month paid for.

[richie-rich]

sold my Toyota Soarer Twin Turbo for 12 grand to start flying back in 2002. Did my PPL with that. Then stopped flying for 4 years due to uni (apart from 90day currency checks), and went to same flight school for CPL last year, with no $$$ saved up. Started working 20 hours at a service station during weekends (410/week for 20 hrs work) + newspaper delivery most nights (300/week), and a bit of cash in hand indian food delivery driving boss' car (150 bucks for the week, which took care of rent, food and grog).

Almost nearing CPL. got 12 grand saved up already just to do Instrument Rating. can be done ;)
Richie

[Setright_]

Found a rich family owned company, and married the bosses daughter.

Problem solved.......

[Captain Smithy]

I'm funding my PPL just now purely through saving of my salary from my full-time job (I work as an apprentice engineer in a factory).

It's actually not bad... I'm below £15K p.a. and I'm still finding it OK-going. How? Easy. Still staying with the parents, no girlfriend, rusty 13-year-old Ford Fiesta, and I'm teetotal. :}

Most of my mates are now spending their cash on flash cars etc. but I can do without that. I'd rather be flying! ;)

Smithy

[richie-rich]

setright
which company? do u have a sis-in-law who's single?

[Superpilot]

I know he said not to debate the degree thing, but I walked out of college with just 3 A' Levels at 'C', no degree. Within 4 years I was on £45k. Right now, I'm contracting and earning considerably more. Enough to make an integrated course viable shall we say. Still going Modular though.

Best way to finance a flying career?

Be patient.

[ostendo mihi via]

A few years in the armed forces (whats the rush I'm only 32) followed by an engineering degree then a local authority job in a big city. I have supervisors who spend more time at the bookmakers than in work and the money, frankly, is superb for the amount of work I am expected to do. Which of course frees up plenty of time for studying flying. Who's says the government don't fund atpl's, keep on paying those taxes guys.
Am going on flexitime soon too which means I can work up an extra 12 days off a year on top of the 27 I already have, it makes the modular route a far less onerous option in terms of demands on my free time (if there is such a thing). Local authorities, in my experience are often very flexible without the constraints that private employers are under.
It's worth considering but prepared to morph into a tanktop jumper wearer and for many painful conversations with narrowminded dinosaurs who should have found a different reason to live decades ago. Stay focused on the goal.

[v6g]

[quote]Previous post is true in so many ways. However, in some companies it might pay to do your work properly. Bonuses and such can add quite much to your basic salary.[\quote]

Quite true, but in my experience bonus paid is inversely proportional to work done.

[snoopy1107]

Hey folks,

Is anyone able to explain the different options of funding yourself through flight school, i.e are banks willing to lend the money when theres no certainty of a job?

Secondly a major worry for me is having this huge debt, although this won't affect me too much as a young guy but is there any older chaps out there that have took the loans to fund themselves and now in family life with morgage etc how does it affect your life?

I have always wanted to be a pilot, and i know within my heart i have to make it somehow, however not coming from money its going to be bloody hard with no family financial help and more importantly i wouldn't want my (future) family's standard of life to suffer because of this debt.

Any insight would be very welcomed

Snoopy

[Superpilot]

Simple.

You're 20 years old. Live and work hard for 4-5 years. Raise the cash. And then blow it.

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Agree with SuperPilot. If it is in your heart work for the money, you have time on your side. Maybe a small loan to finish off?

Good luck.

[davey147]

Definately work for the next 5 years and raise the cash, thats what I did.

[Frank Furillo]

Nah you guys have got it all wrong, I'm late 30's and driving a 737 ng(not with harp on tail). I worked dammed hard, sold my House, Kidneys, Wife and kids!!!!!!I have a small amount of debt, though nothing secured against my house.
After watching Mr D Craig in action I now realise that I should have taken up Texas Hold'em Poker:ok::ok::ok::ok:
There is no right or wrong way to pay for training, just try to take into account how long it might take you to pay back £60,000.00 or so when you have finished.

[Superpilot]

Yes but the 60k if taken as a loan now could well turn into £100k within 10 years. That much debt without any other assetts to your name at age 30 isn't good.

[smoothkpilot]

At age 20 time is on your side. Work for the next few years put some money aside and then do the training. Try and get into a job where you will have a skill eg a plumber or electrician, so many people on the road to becoming a pilot find themselves out of work at various stages. If you have a skill that you can use you will always be able to pick up employment pretty quickly. With a careful plan you can get the training done for about £30k, although this is by going down the modular route. This is a tough game to get into and even when you have your Frozen ATPL you may find it hard to get a job and you may need to budget another £20k approx for a Type Rating. Best thing to do is work now, save money and get trained. At age 20 even if you saved for the next 5-10 years you'd be at a good age to land a job and you'd only be 30. It may not be what you want to hear but keep this in mind, there are many guys out there right now deep in debt, low hours and no job. Just one other thing, there's no need to save all the money in one go, you could save a bit eg for your PPL, then work again, and save some more. Do it in stages, thats what the modular course was designed for. At least that way you will see some result of your hard saving. Just one word of caution be aware that certain exams have time limitations so check this out before you start. I wish you all the best.
SmoothK:cool::ok:

[Wireless]

When you turn 21 how about taking your LGV licence for lorries? I did that. took a licence to drive artics. Never been out of work. I'm on a month off between airline jobs and I found well paid work no probs.

Good thing is you can pick it up and put it down as you please with the agencies which helps if you need time to do modular training. LGV training only takes 2 weeks to make you instantly heighly employable unlike other trades which take a lot longer and are less flexible. training costs a couple of grand though

[snoopy1107]

Just want to say a huge thanks to all you guys and those who PM'd me, all info has helped massively in seeing my options, still got another year of Uni so should probably worry about finals first, any more comments/ experiences are welcomed with wide arms, thanks again,

[Mungo Man]

Secondly a major worry for me is having this huge debt, although this won't affect me too much as a young guy...

Hmmm, think about it, when you get your first job, you'll need somewhere to live, a car to drive, bills to pay, and potentially massive repayments on a £60k loan, perhaps as much as £800 per month on the loan alone, all this on a year one FO salary, which is if you're lucky, about £2000 a month for jets, maybe a fair bit less for props...

It just doesn't add up,

[snoopy1107]

Mungo Man

Thats a fair comment, i realise what your getting at, don't get me wrong at no point have i ever been under the illusion that i was going to be rolling it in, especially as a new qualified wannabe, what i ment is it will be easyer to live with such conditions when the only person it affects is myself, i want it that bad im prepared to live such a life style of potentially no desposable income, however my main concern is later in life when i have a family to take care of, that is if my balls work?? Thanks for your comment, take care

[SinBin]

Snoopy.

I'm 30 now, and just starting as a pilot on A320s from doing a desk engineering job for nearly 7 years. When I was 20, all I wanted to be was a pilot. I had no funds except to get a PPL from what I earned whilst I was a stude at Uni doing bar work and working as a part time jeweller and living at home with Ma and Pa. I then went into engineering beleiving it was an impossible dream that was never going to happen and I'd be an engineer for life as that much debt scared the hell out of me.

In the last 10 years (of which 8 were spent in a 'what if' day dream), which has shot by, I've gained a wife, bought a house and earned very nicely which has funded all my training. I got into modular training seriously about 2 years ago.

I've now just bought a big family home to go with the great new job which is due to the fact that I had NO debts. Take time and don't rush into it. I am so glad I didn't because I wouldn't be where I am now in my personal life had I have got huge debt at your age, especially with the house prices as they are. And at 30 when all your mates are buying big houses and you can't it would feel pretty crap. I got to be a pilot in the end, and I've still got 30 more years of flying ahead of me, by which time the yacht and the house in Spain will no doubt come. All this has been done by watching the pennies and also a second income in the household helps.

Good Luck

SB

[Grass strip basher]

Bravo SinBin old chap:D :D! Bravo!:D:D
A story I can relate to and I would endorse from many I have spoken to in the industry! There is some common sense spoken on Pprune every now and again if you dig deep enough!

[snoopy1107]

Sin Bin,

you don't know how great it is to hear guys who made it coming from a simular situation to what i am in, although it may mean a 10 year wait i bet its worth every day of those 10 years, and rightly so at 30 you still have decades of flying ahead. Everyone who has posted so far has said simular things or to that effect which is reassuring. Many thanks again, if it all falls through for me fancy giving me a job on that yaght :ok:

snoopy

[SinBin]

It'll only be a wee one on a modern pilot's salary, and Mrs SinBin is expanding in a 9 month bellywise way so there won't be much room I'm afraid!!:}

It sounds like you have a level head on your shoulders and so there's no reason you won't make it.

best of luck

[JetJockeyJim]

Just thought I'd update people in case they're thinking about trying to get an £8000 (max) CDL loan which is interest free during training.

For more info:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/CareerDevelopmentLoans/index.htm

The training company MUST be on the CDL register. To do this, check with the Learning Skills Council (0845 000 0045). OAT are NOT on the register, Cabair are. So if you wanted to do some training with OAT you would not be able to get a CDL for it.

[hollingworthp]

That's news to me, OAT gave me their registration number a couple of weeks ago.

[JetJockeyJim]

That's weird. I double checked with LSC yesterday and nope, no OAT, Oxford, all the variations I could think of. Maybe it's expired or something.......what is it, and I'll check it out.

[hollingworthp]

Learning Provider Registration Number = 6838

[JetJockeyJim]

You're right - they are registered. I was fed dodgy info. Apologies to all.

[singhaviation]

Hey everybody, I just got my PPL at Purdue University and I'm on my way to becoming a professional pilot. I was wondering if anybody can give me some advise on my career and give me some idea's where I can find some internships for future reference either in the U.S or international. I welcome any comments.

[adverse-bump]

its surprising the difference that bit of water between the uk and usa makes!

by INTERNSHIP do you mean sponsorship?

if so then sorry, but you have no chance! the airlines are all in trouble, most of us are just happy to have a job from day to day! and there are alot of experienced guys out there looking for work.