Putting the PPL on the shelf for a bit...

[tegwin]

After plowing an enormous amount of money and time into my PPL(H), with the intention of going commercial I am now considering the fact that I may well have to choose a different career path due to the cost of gaining an IR (and thus a job) being far above my current financial scope.

Im currently on just shy of 100 hours total. I am contemplating just stopping flying for a couple of years to save the money for the student lifestyle I may have to return to as the prospect of an aviation related job are slim.

I guess my main question is, if I decide to stop flying (it would be a very very hard decision to make). How hard would it be, say in two years time to come back to the flying? Obviously I would need another medical...But do I need to do another flight test or any other training?

The other option is to throw more money at it until I compelte my CPL, and just stop there...atleast I could then potentially try and make some money, although without IR the chances of getting a good job are slim.

Obviously to get from 100 hours total up to 150, then do all the ground exams and the 30 hours commercial modular course is going to cost an enormous amount. But is it worth it if finances do not allow going any further?

My dream is to be flying an air ambulance in ten years time, but alas, its a dream for a reason:uhoh: (I also have some weird ambition to teach for a bit (say 5 years), but again, thats another 10K ontop of the CPL which is not going to happen!)

Sorry about the vague rant, I have had one dead end after another and im running out of options:ugh:

[Chukkablade]

You wouldn't be the first to drop out of the PPL(H) scene due to money Tegwin, and you'll not be the last.

Still really sad if you do though.:(

No other way of raising just the basic couple of hundred quid a month for even just an hour in the air to keep some (not all though) of the rust at bay?

[tegwin]

If im going to shelf it, there is little point in trickling money into it......

If I could look into a crystal ball which said, as soon as I had completed CPL someone would offer me some work so I could fun a FI or an RI I would go for it, but its such a gamble...if I do go the CPL route I will end up at uni I guess (all be it a few years late)...But if I do CPL and then cant go any further I dont think I could afford uni with all the debts I would have by that point:sad:

[Chukkablade]

In fairness, it sounds like you have your head screwed on. I know of two recent(ish) qualified CPL(H) holders, both without jobs. One trained in America almost exclusively, and, rightly or wrongly, blames that for his lack of work, the other in Spain and the UK, and has no answer to why he cant find work apart from being just another sub 300hour, no I.R. and has less than 10 hours in a turbine on the logbook.

I also know a low hours CPL(A) that's scrabbling around for work, and not meeting his bills very well.

Maybe those individuals are exceptions or maybe they are the norm, who knows. I don't. It does help me see your point though about your financial concerns for the future. It's to easy to say 'stuff that', just get on with it, but reality is reality. For at the end of it, it's your Credit Card that needs repaid, not those telling you to stop worrying and do it.:(

Good luck with whatever you choose. I doubt it'd be easy to walk away from it.

[Bravo73]

tegwin,

Apologies if you've already seen this, but it's as true now as it has ever been:

"Option A, CPL(H) only, high risk, chance of employment poor or nil
Option B, CPL(H) + FI rating, higher cost, low risk, lower returns
Option C, CPL(H) + IR, higher cost, high risk, higher returns"
© Camp Freddie

This might sound harsh but if you don't think that you can find the funds for Option B, I would put things on hold until you can. I personally think that the time for Option C is passing (NS hiring being cyclical) and Option A is frankly crazy.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[Whirlygig]

In a way it makes sense to put your hour building on hold until you can afford to fund the whole thing up to and including CPL(H), (I'm assuming you already have the PPL(H)).

I lay off flying recently for six months due to family bereavement and it took me a couple of hours of extra training to get back up to speed where I could pass an LPC again.

If you can save enough to put hour building and CPL on hold until you can afford the lot in one fell swoop, you will make more of the time and therefore possibly require fewer hours in the long run. You are quite right about trickling money at it. In the meantime, there's always the issue of 13 quizzes to sit!

If you can get a job that pays sufficiently to save and then turn that job/career into something that could be part-time, you would have an income and be an instructor.

You have a lot of choices ahead of you!

Cheers

Whirls

[carbheathot]

You sound younger than me Tegwin, but I have been in and out of SEP flying for quite a number of years now, each time I go back, find a friendly instructor(not always easy) do some circuits , some stalls , pfls etc and then a skills test .I actually enjoy doing the training bit but its quite uncanny how quickly it all comes back even after a layoff of two years.Now being NPPL the medical business is much easier, that of course won't apply to you if you are going pro.But certainly picking up the tricks again is not too taxing.:ok: