What shall i choose???

[Volkoff]

Im starting flying at Bournemouth, but wondering if i should choose PPL or CPL, (I know what they mean) as such but what lies beyond completion of these that i cannot findout???
Does anyone have any info that they can pass on?
Thanks

[O27PMR]

Give us a clue???

What are you hoping to achieve by learning to fly? Apart from the obvious...

If you just want to fly yourself and your family/friends around then PPL is the obvious choice.
If you are hoping to get a job flying, then you will need a CPL/ATPL.

Given the difference in time and money, can't imagine why you would want to do your CPL unless you are looking for a job? Even if you decide to do your CPL with a view to getting a job, it's only the beginning of a long and expensive road!

[Volkoff]

So say i want to carry on as a job, possibly onto the RAF or something like that, could and option be to train through the RAF or go CPL, and possibly working in the Commercial Pilot industry.
Another question: What could you do in the commercial pilot world???

[MightyGem]

IF you want to do the RAF thing, then don't bother with your licence. Why pay for it when they will teach you. However, you really need to WANT to be in the RAF, otherwise they won't want you!

[Volkoff]

what is there to do if you pass your CPL?

[Grainger]

First things first - do you have a Class 1 Medical ?

If not, go and get one now. No point getting started then finding out that you can't go any further :{

[Volkoff]

I'll go and get one anyway, but I don't think there's anything wrong?

[O27PMR]

Grainger is right... No point embarking on a CPL course unless you can obtain a class 1 medical. Even if you think everything is ok, best be on the safe side.

That said, the class 1 is more expensive than the class 2 so only get a class 1 if you are considering the CPL route.

Can we just clear up whether you are talking fixed wing or rotary? Obviously this has a bearing on the types of jobs available.

As far as the military route is concerned, you need to be of a certain educational standard and age:

RAF - British citizen, Under 23 with 5 GCSE's (grade a-c inc. maths & english) and 2 A Levels

Army Air Corps - British Citizen, Under 26 with 5 GCSE's and 140 UCAS tariff points at A/AS level

Royal Navy - As AAC, not sure about the age limit though.

Dare I say, for someone talking about splashing out the cash for a CPL, you don't seem to have done much homework:confused: :confused: :confused:

[tangovictor]

apart from a medical, you need to grow another 3 years at least to start flying

[Stringfellow Dork]

Volkoff I really mean no disrespect but your initial post is a confusing one. Most people know what they want to do before they start to spend i.e. they want to learn to fly for a hobby or to get about, or they fancy the idea of making a living from it.

Here are the main options:

1 Get your PPL(H) and leave it at that. You can now fly for a hobby or get about on private flights. No money can be earned by you but you can however get up to an equal share towards the cost of the flight out of your friends/family. Once you have attained this license you might enjoy flying so much that you decide that you want to move onto option 2.

2 "Upgrade" the PPL(H), after gaining a certain amount of flying hours and doing more exams and stuff, to a CPL(H) (or ATPL(H)) and theoretically earn money from flying. Although, as I understand it (in the UK), this is only really achieveable, initially, with an instructor rating, and even then...

3 An alternative to the above two options is to sign up to one of the forces, let them train you and pay them back by flying for them. I know nothing about this as I knew it was not for me.

There is another civilian option to consider if you know you want a CPL(H) from day one which bypasses the PPL(H) and is called the intergrated route. (The above combination of options 1 and 2 is called the modular route and is popular with people who know they want to fly to make a living from day one as well but want/need to do it to their own timetable.) On the intergrated route you go into a residential course with zero flying experience and come out with a CPL(H).

The above is all a bit loose but gives an idea to what you need to consider.

Get a class 1 Medical if you want to make money.

[Stringfellow Dork]

apart from a medical, you need to grow another 3 years at least to start flying

Ah didn't notice! Can start at any age but need to be 16 to go solo and 17 to be granted PPL(H), I believe...

[Whirlybird]

Volkoff,

Get yourself a large cup of coffee, and then spend a couple of hours doing a search on here. There have been loads of threads on training, jobs available etc. You'll probably find the answers to your questions plus lots more useful info. And as has already been said, you have two more years before they'll let you loose in a helicopter by yoursself, and three more before you can get a PPL, so there's plenty of time.

Good luck!

[Pandalet]

As far as the military route is concerned, you need to be of a certain educational standard and age:

RAF - British citizen, Under 23 with 5 GCSE's (grade a-c inc. maths & english) and 2 A Levels

Army Air Corps - British Citizen, Under 26 with 5 GCSE's and 140 UCAS tariff points at A/AS level

Royal Navy - As AAC, not sure about the age limit though.


Slight correction: you need to be under 24 for the RAF, under 26-and-11-months for the AAC (although they make exceptions), and under 26 for the RN (although you must be in the navy by 25). If you want to fly helicopters (as opposed to fast jets, etc), the AAC is probably your best bet, however you need to go in with a comission (i.e. as an officer) to go straight into flying. As with many things military, it pays to start as early as possible. If you have any particular questions about the forces, feel free to PM me, and I'll do my best to answer - I'm not an authority, but I have done some research into joining various branches.

[O27PMR]

http://www.rafcareers.com/jobs/pilot.cfm

http://shared.armyjobs.mod.uk/JobDescriptions/RegularArmy/Officer/CombatOfficer/OfficerPilot.htm

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.4994

At 14, you have plenty of time think about what you plan to do with your future and I would strongly advise you to think long and hard about ALL your options before parting with any money!

If you do decide to follow the military route, now is probably a good time to start looking at the sponsorship options available to you:ok:

Good luck in whatever you decide...

[Droopystop]

Ah to be 14 again.....

Commercial pilots in the UK do one or more of the following:
Instructing
Scenic Flights
Air Taxi (or Charter)
Police
Air Ambulance
Offshore (flying out to the North Sea Oil Rigs)
Photo/Traffic Reporting/Journalism
Load Lifting
Plus a whole lot more including Search and Rescue.

There is no reason why a civillian trained pilot cannot do any or all of the above. However it is very expensive, time consuming and risky to fund it all yourself. Look very seriously at joining the forces and get the Queen to pay for your flying training. All the above would be available to you if/when you decided to leave the forces (although you would have to do some converting to the civillian system. Others will be able to extoll the virtues of military training, but I would imagine the place to start would be your local Air Training Corps.

[Volkoff]

Ive had a look ate the AAC, Navy and RAF sites:
AAC sounds like they would prefer you to be a 'good army officer who can fly, rather than a good pilots who pass there commisioning course'.
Navy and RAF are the better options, but I can't find much info on what to do from now onwards, e.g. because i am at a boarding school, there is saturday school, i am there most weekends, and there are long term times (yet long holiday's.
So if anyone has any first-hand info from if they did that sort of thing could you please pass it on??
Thanks

[Flying Lawyer]

Volkoff
There's lots of first hand information about becoming a helicopter pilot hereTraining Questions (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122944).
It will take you a long time to get through but I think you'll find it interesting.