Pilot or not to Pilot!? help needed!!

[Madhouserjd]

Hi Pprune, this is my first post. I have only recently started to look seriously into becoming a commercial airline pilot, and have come across a few snags here and there which i need help on...

Just in case i am waaaaay off mark, id like to ask if you think i have a chance of getting a sponsored way into the industry (like the CTC program) or indeed into industry at all! ... I am 19yr old male, finished college with 3 A's in Law, Ethics and Philosphy and Design Technology, and got A's at Gcse in the english, science and a c in maths. All other grades were good. Am currently studying music in guildford in a full time course. I dont know much about aviation or the indstry to be fair, ive had about half an hour in a piper =) over to the isle of wight and back and loved it!! and pretty much everything aviation im liking!! so what do you think? a chance or no?

I am thinking of applying to ctc, which seems like a bit of a godsend as long as you can get thru that nasty selection process!! but in case i fluff selection, ive been looking around at other ways into aviation, and short of funding your own way into becoming a comercial airline pilot i cant find much....im probably looking in all the wrong places!! So questions are!

1) what other ways are there for getting from zero to a fully qualified and employed airline pilot? (websites or any information helpful!!)

2) what is the best site to research all things areoplanes, obviously pprune rules ok, but anywhere else?

3) any websites that keep up to date information current events or news on aviation in general just so as to keep up to date with the industry.


and anything else that you might deem useful to the aviation noob!!

thanks in advance for your help

[BerksFlyer]

Training wise it's either modular or integrated schools (do a search, you'll find plenty of organisations that you might want to visit).

With regards to keeping up with the aviation scene, I recommend Flight International (magazine) and their website Flight Global something or other.

[HappyFran]

The chances of getting Flight Training Sponsorship are very close to zero.
To become a trained commercial pilot you need to find ~£80K.
You maybe able to get a bank loan (HSBC).
Or you could try selling your sister into the white slave trade..:eek:.to stand any chance of getting into this business you need very serious levels of commitment

[HappyFran]

Before selling sister a good site to start your research would be;

http://www.gapan.org/

:ok:

[Madhouserjd]

thanks all, i would love to sell my sister! better than taking out a loan and shed probly get a good rate. does anyone know of any good slae traders in the west sussex area?

and thanks for the websites!! am surfing them now!
cheers

[Exhibitz]

Madhousejrd,

Money can be an issue when becoming a pilot, however people on here are very prone to moaning about how impossible it is. Try also looking at www.flighttrainingeurope.com (http://www.flighttrainingeurope.com) which is a very respectable flight training scheme that provides financial support throughout your training (There's also OAT (Oxford) that I know of but unfortunately do not know much about it). As previously stated I think HSBC is the best bank to approach regarding loans in aviation.

The most important thing when diving into it, is making sure this is what you want to do, cause no matter what you get into, there's still going to be insecurity. More than one time you're going to find yourself in a bad situation wishing you didn't bother. CTC is tough, and they won't apologise for it, it is perhaps one of the best ways to get into the aviation industry at this time, however everyone has equal chances and there's nothing to say you can't get in. If this is the career you really want to do - i'm sure you'll fly through the selection process.

As for details, generally just checking the Airlines websites and then having a quick look on wikipedia (some facts are out of date etc, but still gives a good idea) most of the information can be gathered (i.e. technical, fleet details etc). There's also a few magazines in the shops that provide a decent insight into the career and other useful information.

Good luck in the future!