age

[chris 68]

if been asked before my apologies,

was wondering at what age is it to late to start trainning atpl or at what age would you just be over looked if was obtained?

thanks
chris

[VFR Transit]

You could try the search button above :ugh:

VFR

[chris 68]

thanks but the search will not accept age as only three letters!

[littco]

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51690


Here you go this is what I think you where looking for

[chris 68]

thank you,

it appears at 40 im to late for a career change,oh well the wife will be happy,for me another 10 yrs in the rat race.

thanks again for the link.

[YYZ]

Wow! One read of a thread on a rumour forum and you have given up, guess it was not for you then?

YYZ

[777AV8R]

Well, I've been in this career a long time. In the nearly 40 years that I've been here, I've never seen such a shortage of good qualified flight crew.
If you've got the experience and money for an ATPL, go for it. There are jobs out there to support the expense.

[RoosterBooster]

Do more research if you are seriously interested!

Personally I think if you've still got the motivation to learn and hit the books etc, why not. I guess it depends on what kind of work you want at the end of it and of course your financial situation.

Even if you finish in 2 years time you'll still have 23 years of working life left, that's if you want to and can.

All the best either way.

RB

[chris 68]

was said tongue in cheek, but thanks for the input realise its a rumour thread and would do futher homework!

how ever there was not one mention of over 40s and would be giving up a very good living and maybe it just part of life that i have to just remain flying for fun.

i am greatfull for your input all the same.

[chris 68]

thank you, roosterbooster and 777av8r.

will be doing some home work,

[AlphaMale]

Worry not. I know a few people who have landed their first commercial airline jobs on passenger jets, in their early 40s, with very decent salaries.

Taken from Another Age Thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=301169) posted last week.

Another Thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=298272) with pilots getting jobs in their late 30's to mid 40's.

Do your research and you'll find many pilots gaining employment with still 15/20 years to give the industry.

Good luck.

[piperp2]

At this age do you think I am being totally unrealistic?

[YYZ]

I think it's impossible to put a set figure on what is too old; it all depends on where you want to be.
At nearly 50 I’d say the heavy stuff is out, but TP work is still a very good option? But is that where you would want to be?

All about risk assessment and personal management I guess?

Good luck
YYZ

[chris 68]

thanks for all your responces,


will do my cpl and fi, if then i think its to late and or has taken to long or would not give me the return i need, least then i have it tucked in the belt.(ie do some instucting now and may be more latter in life)

thanks for the input
chris

[AlphaMale]

I think you need to weigh up the costs v time to recover those debts too.

If I was 48 the training might take 18 months or so it might be 2 years before getting the first job if I had the funds in place already. I'd then have 15 years to recover the £45k - £80k of training costs and loss of earning for 12/18 months.

So call it £100k would need to be recovered over 15 years on top of what you would have been earning in your current job.

[asw28-866]

Left rat race after 17 years in IT sales in 2004, at age 40. PPL to CPL, MECIR and now fly mixed GA from Tiger Moths to Caravans for a living and loving it! In my first year I took a 90% pay cut, now after three years have clawed that back to about 80%! So I did not do it for the money, then why?

I have always, and I mean always wanted to be a full time pilot but for various reasons had stuck to the safe path of career and financial security. Now I just love getting up in the morning. Last week is typical:

Monday: Flying out to barrier reef in an Islander
Tuesday: Day off at the beach
Wednesday: Islander again
Thursday: Day at home
Friday: Mine run charter in Caravan
Saturday & Sunday: Aerobatic joy flights in Tiger Moth

Such is the life of a GA pilot, now I am 43 and have another 22 years of this to look forward too. I will expire poor but happy.

So my humble advice, if you are happy in your secure day job, then fine, fly as a hobby. But think about sitting in your armchair in front of the fire at 65 and be sure that there will be no regrets. Otherwise, go for it, here in Australia even the mainline airlines are taking 40 somethings as they are so short of pilots if that is your bag.

Personally I love the variety GA offers.

ASW28

[chris 68]

asw28-866

what a fantastic answer,think that was a long the line of what i was trying to say in my last post,about fi and having a longer career life.

rat race i hate but gives fantastic rewards (financial) but like probly 99% on here would give that up if possible to fly for a living,but didnt want to give it up for a inpossible dream.

so i think a compramise work cpl at my own rate as i enjoy the flying and learning,do a fi course and see where i am and at what age i am and take it from there.

[AlphaMale]

I don't think the barrier reef is in the range of an Islander from the UK so that is out of the question.


Even the mainline airlines in Australia are taking 40 somethings as they are so short of pilots if that is your bag.


Different situation here in the UK, unfortunately no airlines are desperate for wanabees :uhoh:

Good point about the money issue though. Sitting at a desk 9-5 is hell for me and if I was getting paid £100k pa it would just enable me to fund my training quicker ... and it would make for a good back up plan.

If I had a rota like yours asw28 then I'd never want time off! Each day is a mini adventure and I think the hardest day for me to swallow there would be either 'Day at home' or 'Day off at the beach' :(

[Hyph]

it appears at 40 im to late for a career change,oh well the wife will be happy,for me another 10 yrs in the rat race.

I was after similar information, how nice to find someone had already asked for me. :)

How happy will you be if you don't follow your dream?
How happy will your wife be if you beat yourself up for the next 10 years for not doing it?

I am younger than you, but I have finally reached that point where I'm sick to the back teeth of the petty bureaucracy and oneupmanship of my day job.

I have finally come several realisations:


Life is short (I know... duh!)
I hate working at something I don't enjoy
The rat race sucks, big time
Trying to "play it safe" is really dull
This flying notion just won't go away
Money isn't everything
Material possessions won't make you happy


I know that many of the younger readers will scoff at the last two points. That's fine, it's a personal thing.

I am married, no kids. My aim now is to pay the mortgage off as quickly as humanly possible. At the risk of turning into a right miser, I've been on a major anti-spending binge recently.

Once the mortgage is squared away, flight training begins. It'll take a few years to get there, but I will do it. I don't really care what I end up flying, as long as I fly something other than a desk (though a G-V or ACJ/BBJ would be nice).

[JB007]

65 years with possible extensions even beyond that

Really??????

[AlphaMale]

65 years with possible extensions even beyond that
Really??????

But not as a pilot I presume?

I gather BA would be interested in a former pilot (due to age restrictions) with thousands of hours under his/her belt to teach the new FO's and carry out sim rides?

[JB007]

:ugh:

The inaccurate bit was "possible extensions past 65"....most of us on here are pilots Sam!!!!

[SlingsbyT67M]

I have just started ground school at OAT. I am 38 years old and wasted 4 years thinking about whether or not I should leave the £80K I was earning in IT. The thing was I HATED the rat race and political BS that comes with it!! I seriously regret not making the decision earlier. You only live once. I personally didn't want to be wondering when I hit 70, "if only' I have two guys in my class who are both 44 years of age. So at 40 you definitely wont be alone in the grandpa stakes.

So, here I am embarking on what I believe is the biggest gamble of my professional career but hey I am loving it already!!! (Although its financially hard, not to mention the amount of study there is) However I am happy again for the first time in a very long time I am doing what I love. So, I guess what I am trying to say is although I am already poor it a fantastic feeling to be happy and although this may not be everyones point of view, hey, it could even get sweeter with that first job at the end.

Now enough of the rambling and back to piston engines, human performance and instruments I go..hoorraay!!!!!