Diesel Pilot
16th Jul 2011, 10:55
G'day all
I've been reading a lot here on pprune about people's stories of how they trained and where they are now. As a newbie in the very early stages of flight training I find it interesting to learn about how people have got themselves to where they are in their aviation career.
My goal is to become a commercial pilot and fly for an airline (like so many others I guess!) At 27 this is a career change for me as I already work as a diesel fitter.
I'm on the 150 hour course and can only manage to set aside about $500 per week for my training. Due to work committments I only fly on the weekend, typically between 1 and 2 hours at this stage ($245 an hour dual here in Perth) although this will likely change to 2+ hours every 2 weeks as my training progresses to PPL and CPL. Currently i've logged about 20 hours in a 152 and am probably about 10 hours away from getting my GFPT. I put myself about 2-3 years away from my CPL and either MECIR or instructor's rating depedning on the job market at the time.
As much as I would love to train full time it will likely never be a possibility, so I am stuck with part time training. The positive I take from it is that although it will take me longer to reach my CPL, I find due to the extra study time I retain a lot of information I doubt I could with a faster pace of learning. That plus I will be debt free once I finish my training and endorsments.
So anyone else training part time or who has done it this way I'd love to hear your stories, how long it took you etc.
I've been reading a lot here on pprune about people's stories of how they trained and where they are now. As a newbie in the very early stages of flight training I find it interesting to learn about how people have got themselves to where they are in their aviation career.
My goal is to become a commercial pilot and fly for an airline (like so many others I guess!) At 27 this is a career change for me as I already work as a diesel fitter.
I'm on the 150 hour course and can only manage to set aside about $500 per week for my training. Due to work committments I only fly on the weekend, typically between 1 and 2 hours at this stage ($245 an hour dual here in Perth) although this will likely change to 2+ hours every 2 weeks as my training progresses to PPL and CPL. Currently i've logged about 20 hours in a 152 and am probably about 10 hours away from getting my GFPT. I put myself about 2-3 years away from my CPL and either MECIR or instructor's rating depedning on the job market at the time.
As much as I would love to train full time it will likely never be a possibility, so I am stuck with part time training. The positive I take from it is that although it will take me longer to reach my CPL, I find due to the extra study time I retain a lot of information I doubt I could with a faster pace of learning. That plus I will be debt free once I finish my training and endorsments.
So anyone else training part time or who has done it this way I'd love to hear your stories, how long it took you etc.