FamousGrouse21
29th Sep 2010, 20:08
Hi,
First time posting here. Firstly i'd like to thank people in general for all of the posts / discussions in the forums. I've been reading them over the past couple of years with great interest and they have undoubtedly helped with my pilot training decisions to date (As well as causing some amusement with some of the comments posted!)
To start with; my current situation. I completed training for my PPL + night rating in May 2009 and have been steadily building my hours doing various trips around the UK (Currently up to 135), and have recently started studying for the ATPL exams with trusty Bristol Ground School. From reading the forums I feel I have developed a reasonable idea of the best way to proceed from this point, but thought I would run a few questions by people to get some extra opinions. My ultimate ambition would be to be an airline pilot, however i realise this is tough to achieve and is likely to take some time. My questions then are:
1) Given the current state of the economy, how best might it be to progress from my current point. The way I see it I can either press on with ATPLs / CPL / IR planning to finish around 2013 and then try to land some sort of air taxi job / airline job with low hours (If i'm lucky and the economy is improving). Alternatively, get a CPL / FIR hoping to finish a little bit sooner (around end 2012), make some money, enjoy myself and keep current while things hopefully improve further and then get my Multi / IR towards the end of the 3 year period post ATPL exams. Do you folks think things will be improving enough by 2013 to land a basic air taxi job (Hence worth risking pressing on with the whole kit and kaboodle) or would it be best to go down the FI route and keep it ticking along for a few more years while building up my experience? I'm not looking to get into debt for all this. I'm gonna live cheap and save up for it all over the next couple of years.
2) Talking about the economy recovering and the airline industry getting back on its feet, do you think this is actually going to happen in the next 5 years, or is it going to look grim with P2F, reducing Ts and Cs and generally limited opporunties for low houred folk for considerably longer into the future? Obviously flying a big shiny jet is the dream but if its not really going to happen for years then I would be equally happy getting my FI rating and having a bit of fun for some extra cash at the weekends and just seeing how things develop.
I know its going to be a long tough slog no matter which way I go, but I am pretty patient and figure even if it takes 5 - 10 years, as long as I keep developing my current career in the meantime to ensure my long term prospects and stability I'll still have nearly 30 years of flying to look forward too, or failing landing a job, a damned good time trying!
Many thanks for any help / advice as i'm sure your all pretty busy and once again, hello to everyone! :O
Grouse
First time posting here. Firstly i'd like to thank people in general for all of the posts / discussions in the forums. I've been reading them over the past couple of years with great interest and they have undoubtedly helped with my pilot training decisions to date (As well as causing some amusement with some of the comments posted!)
To start with; my current situation. I completed training for my PPL + night rating in May 2009 and have been steadily building my hours doing various trips around the UK (Currently up to 135), and have recently started studying for the ATPL exams with trusty Bristol Ground School. From reading the forums I feel I have developed a reasonable idea of the best way to proceed from this point, but thought I would run a few questions by people to get some extra opinions. My ultimate ambition would be to be an airline pilot, however i realise this is tough to achieve and is likely to take some time. My questions then are:
1) Given the current state of the economy, how best might it be to progress from my current point. The way I see it I can either press on with ATPLs / CPL / IR planning to finish around 2013 and then try to land some sort of air taxi job / airline job with low hours (If i'm lucky and the economy is improving). Alternatively, get a CPL / FIR hoping to finish a little bit sooner (around end 2012), make some money, enjoy myself and keep current while things hopefully improve further and then get my Multi / IR towards the end of the 3 year period post ATPL exams. Do you folks think things will be improving enough by 2013 to land a basic air taxi job (Hence worth risking pressing on with the whole kit and kaboodle) or would it be best to go down the FI route and keep it ticking along for a few more years while building up my experience? I'm not looking to get into debt for all this. I'm gonna live cheap and save up for it all over the next couple of years.
2) Talking about the economy recovering and the airline industry getting back on its feet, do you think this is actually going to happen in the next 5 years, or is it going to look grim with P2F, reducing Ts and Cs and generally limited opporunties for low houred folk for considerably longer into the future? Obviously flying a big shiny jet is the dream but if its not really going to happen for years then I would be equally happy getting my FI rating and having a bit of fun for some extra cash at the weekends and just seeing how things develop.
I know its going to be a long tough slog no matter which way I go, but I am pretty patient and figure even if it takes 5 - 10 years, as long as I keep developing my current career in the meantime to ensure my long term prospects and stability I'll still have nearly 30 years of flying to look forward too, or failing landing a job, a damned good time trying!
Many thanks for any help / advice as i'm sure your all pretty busy and once again, hello to everyone! :O
Grouse