Training to be a pilot

[trainingpilot003]

Hi i am currently working towards my private pilots license but i wanted to find out if anyone knew which degrees would be best to do if i wanted to eventually become a commercial pilot and which universities would be best to that course at because i am unsure as to what to do next. I am currently at college doing 4 a levels including maths and physics. Can anyone gove me some advice as to what i should do next??

Thank you for any advice given.

[PAPI-74]

Don't bother, just get stuck in.
I have heard of a degree that covers all aspects from engineering to some of the ATPL subjects in brief, but why study it all twice?

[charlie copeland]

Oxford Aviation Training award a Foundation Degree with their Airline Preparation Programme in conjunction with Buckingham Chilterns University College. It would not take much to convert this to an honours degree once you sorted out the more pressing concern of a job.
Instead of doing 3 years at uni (lots of debt) and then 18 months Pilot training (v expesnsive) you can combine the two and save substanial funds whilst still getting to the same place i.e. job (hopefully) and degree.

worth considering; i think cabair offer a similar programme

http://www.oxfordaviation.net/news.htm

[ryanbarker747]

I am planning on doing the New Bucks Uni, will that get me airline job ready?

[Kliperoo]

Depends on your marks. :)

If I had to do it all over again, I would go the university route.

At the end of the day you are not a better pilot in the physical sense (in fact when I was flying in NZ I saw one PPL student fly off into a storm which had the airlines thinking twice about going), but having studied day in day out for 3 years or more I get the impression that you do come out a better theoretical pilot.

With that being said, flying with a flight school gives you the big advantage of flying in differing conditions. Here in Canada the flight training for the Bachelor of Aviation is always done in the summer: so good weather, few winds, etc. Most of their pilots will never fly in the winter, spring or autumn which is where the rain, snow and bumps that make a good all round pilot come into play.

University does make you more attractive to SOME of the major airlines. With the pilot shortages that are happening now, and are expected to continue it is yet to be seen how much of an advantage this will be, but then you only need to think that at some point in the future those pilots that have gone through and are going through the system now will be in the position to hire, and they will obviously look after their own!

Hope this helps. All I can say is take all the maths and sciences (all levels of physics!) and buck down and do it right first time around. It will make your life SO much easier when it comes time to do your CPL!

[ryanbarker747]

thanks a million Kliperoo im not sure if i should do the CABAIR/New Bucks University at wellsbourne, it will be tough to decide when that time comes.

so will you be flying in the u.k?

[Kliperoo]

Not in the near future. Im based in Canada at the moment with no real plans on doing my JAR conversion any time soon! :)