Advice would be welcomed

[Firefight]

Hi
This is my first post on here so i hope its in the right area first of all.
Im looking for a bit of advice, to give me an insight on roles im looking at.

I've always wanted to be a pilot, and one way or another i will get there.
The thing i cant quite might make my mind up on is on which way to go about it.

I cant decide on whether i want to go commercial, now my family and i arent made of money, so it would mean a few years of hard work to save some money then look at going to oxford and doing the joint scheme they have with HSBC and lending the rest.
Other options im looking at are the RAF and Navy, now being 24 i am too old to apply for a pilot in the RAF but still young enough to apply for the Navy, and since watching Top Gun when i was 5 years old, its has made me want to be a fast jet pilot, and i have a massive passion for fast jet piloting.

What i would like some information on is life in the Navy and RAF, i was gutted when i realised i was too old for the RAF and thought about being a weapons system operator and transferring to a pilot, but theres no gaurantees you can go on to train as a pilot after entering as a weapons system officer. I've never known too much about the Navy as i always wanted to go down the RAF route, but i dont know to much about the Navy and im not sure if im as keen on the Navy as the RAF. So whats life like in the Navy and RAF is there much difference in the flying life etc.

OR

Do i cut my losses and go for commercial in a few years, as i said im not sure if im keen on the navy, but not sure if i want to take the chance of going for weapons system officer with the possibility of transferring to pilot, because if i enter the forces i want to be able to go on to commercial when i leave the forces, so wouldnt want to leave the forces as a weapons system officer as i feel it would be harder to get into commercial flying than if i left the forces as a pilot.

I hope this hasnt been too long winded and it may be a bit jumbled up sorry, just looking for any advice on the Navy and is there any chance of going on to train as a pilot if i enter as a weapons system officer in the RAF, how hard/easy is it converting from forces pilot to commercial pilot?

Many Thanks

[cjd_a320]

Hi FireFight,

it would mean a few years ...to save some money

Thats the best bit of advice in a deflationary environment as cash is your most valuable asset... :)

If your draw to the military , by all means investigate your options, however the Army may be another option as a few none commissioned got chances to get there Blue Badge...(Quite Rare though).

If you fit (or mad;-) enough, Royal Marine Officers also can get there flight wings.....

Personnally , if you in a secure job at the moment, I sit back and save....

[GearDownFlaps]

The military way is definately the way to go if you can but you really need to talk to the chaps in the military forum for all the good gen , the obvious question will be why if you alwasy wanted to be a FJ guy did you start looking at it when you were 24 and not 17 3/4 when you had time ??? That is the sort of question you would have to answer at cranwell , so come up with a good answer.
Try shifting your post to the military bit or better still just waltz on down to your local careers office and ask .
You can shift from Wso to pilot but its not that easy and if that really is your intention the OASC will suss you out , not sure if thats good thing or bad though.
You will also have to do a lot of hoop jumping in the military to gain your civvy licences once you are ready to jump ship , it isnt just an automatic thing so do your research well
Good Luck

[Firefight]

cheers for the replies and advice.
the reason it was left till so late geardownflaps, is i had a bit of bad advice from my school careers officer and i never really followed up on it, i wasnt to great on my knowledge with the forces, and my own stupid fault for not following up on it, and its only been over the past few years i have seriously looked into it after spending 4 years travelling, but i didnt have the a-levels i needed to enter the RAF as a pilot and i have only recently completed them, and at this point im to old to enter the RAF as a pilot which is why im looking for advice in other areas.

[GearDownFlaps]

Good man that should suffice, go navy then if you really wanna fly FJ , I honestly believe there wont be an air force in ten years time anyway .
You can always try the military , its the best training you will ever get and its free and they'll pay you . If that fails what ya lost ???
Give it a go
Besides I know lots of Wso's(navs, FE's ALMS and observers) myself included who became commercial pilots following the military career so it can be done . There are also military flying clubs that are relatively cheap in comparison to civvy st . Brize has one and halton I believe .
Good Luck

[betpump5]

Firefight,

I'll give you my two cents and I'll give it to you straight - by playing devil's advocate. From what you have written, you are 24 who is only now 'thinking' about seriously starting training - whether it be military or commercial. In terms of military flight training, I'm sure the selection process and the amount of people that go for it is even more difficult and numerous than the commercial side. And you will have to answer some very difficult questions.

Unfortunately getting "bad advice" is not going to tug at the hearts of the selction panel at Cranwel. What have you been doing since you left A-Levels at 18/19? Have you had a stable job - a career perphaps? Or have you been going from job-to-job for the past 6 years "finding" yourself and have only now realised (after watching a repeat of Top Gun) that it could be pretty cool - which it would obviously.

Getting a career in the Navy (don't you need to provide 8 years of service?) is absolutely no guarantee that you will transfer to pilot training. It just does not work like that. So you could be 32 before you start commercial training which could take a couple of years. But then again, if a weapons system officer appeals to you, then go for it. It's a job isnt it?

I hope I don't sound too negative here - I'm just playing the advocate because you will have difficult questions to answer.

I must say that from your post, I don't think beong a commercial pilot is really in your heart. Those who really really want to be a commercial pilot would not enter the military as a weapons-officer simply due to the time you have to spend in the military - naturally going in as a pilot is completely different.

I think you need to think a little harder as to what your ambition is. If it is a Navy pilot (as you can't be a RAF pilot) then go for the selection. What have you got to lose. But don't go in as a non-flying officer because I really can not see how you are persuing the pilot ambition.

If it is to be a commercial pilot, then stay in your job (providing you have one) and get your PPL done. Continue with the modular route and hope for the best for 2011/2012. At this point, I'll refer you to a Mr WWW, our resident soothsayer, who can give you an idea of the market around that time.

[Firefight]

cheers for your 2cents betpump5
i will however correct you on a few things, as i think you have missed a couple of points in my posts.
I havent only just started seriously thinking about it i was seriously thinking about it again a few years ago but since leaving school at 16 with no a-levels i have worked consistantly as a swimming coach, in both this country and abroad, and it was only when i seriously started thinking about a flying career a few years ago again that i realised to get anywhere a-levels were an essential so i did them through a distance learning course at which point it rendered me to old for the RAF. As for bad advice its not meant to pull at any strings, as you said, tell it straight how it is, and as for Top Gun well all get inspirations from somewhere, we dont just wake up one day and its there, and i havent seen the movie for some while now. ;) and its not a case of finding myself its more a case of "what could have been" but maybe having one last small chance and wanting to know what it would be like in the Navy as i had done all my research on the RAF and just wanted to know chances of going from Weapons system officer to pilot, as my goal is pilot whether it be forces of commercial, its just FJ ranks slightly higher in my goals and im looking at what avenues are open to me to get there.

But thanks for the advice you did give me on the routes open to me for commercial pilot.

[cjd_a320]

Againt to be honist, the odds are very slim. It would be for rotary if anything was offered in the Navy.

Maybe look at doing a few years with one of the forces, build a savings account, maybe do a PPL and take things from there... :)

[Firefight]

thanks cjd_a320

if you dont mind me asking, what route did you go down to get your ATPL?

[cjd_a320]

Many moons ago in the rose tinted CAA days I was on the old self improver route. Trained the same time WWW but he had a brown briefcase, I had a nice Black one... :))

I'm not in the avation world anymore though...