globaltrek
22nd Jul 2001, 05:44
Hello there,
I'm seriously considering a career change to become a commercial pilot. I'm currently 31 years old, I have a four year undergraduate degree, and as mentioned on the subject line...I am a dual Canadian/UK citizen. This is where the choices become difficult.
I have been living in Canada all my life and therefore it's fairly easy to receive financial assistance for CPL/Multi IR flight training in Canada...but I want to take my career over-seas.
While training in Canada I would be able to live at the parents house as I train...not excited about that but it would be cheap! It seems as though the lisence conversion from Canada to UK(JAA) is difficult to say the least. Here in Canada it takes a heck of a long time to get to the seat of any jet aircraft. A friend of mine is a F/O on a 767 for Air Canada and it took him 11 years to get there. I haven't determined if working for an airline is exactly what I want, but I do want to fly jets for a respectful company at minimum. Getting to the point here...
Currently I don't have very much in the bank (considering the $ CAD), but I would love to train for a JAA Frozen ATPL(A) in the UK or USA. Is it possible to receive student loans in the UK even though I've never lived there before? The alternate route I've considered is to comple a Canadian CPL/Multi IR and after flying in Canada for a while accumulate approx~1500+ hours in order to acquire a Canadian ATPL...at that point re-locate to the UK/USA in order to do the JAA ground school and 14 exams. My understanding is that I would also have to accumulate flight hours in the UK for the JAA IR portion.
Is this a good way to convert? Or, given my age (31), should I work for a couple of years in order to save $ to attend an ab-initio JAA training course? My goal is to live and work in the UK/Europe, or the Midle East.
Any advice from those who are "in the know" or help from those who are in the same boat would be fantastic.
Globaltrek. :D
[ 22 July 2001: Message edited by: globaltrek ]
I'm seriously considering a career change to become a commercial pilot. I'm currently 31 years old, I have a four year undergraduate degree, and as mentioned on the subject line...I am a dual Canadian/UK citizen. This is where the choices become difficult.
I have been living in Canada all my life and therefore it's fairly easy to receive financial assistance for CPL/Multi IR flight training in Canada...but I want to take my career over-seas.
While training in Canada I would be able to live at the parents house as I train...not excited about that but it would be cheap! It seems as though the lisence conversion from Canada to UK(JAA) is difficult to say the least. Here in Canada it takes a heck of a long time to get to the seat of any jet aircraft. A friend of mine is a F/O on a 767 for Air Canada and it took him 11 years to get there. I haven't determined if working for an airline is exactly what I want, but I do want to fly jets for a respectful company at minimum. Getting to the point here...
Currently I don't have very much in the bank (considering the $ CAD), but I would love to train for a JAA Frozen ATPL(A) in the UK or USA. Is it possible to receive student loans in the UK even though I've never lived there before? The alternate route I've considered is to comple a Canadian CPL/Multi IR and after flying in Canada for a while accumulate approx~1500+ hours in order to acquire a Canadian ATPL...at that point re-locate to the UK/USA in order to do the JAA ground school and 14 exams. My understanding is that I would also have to accumulate flight hours in the UK for the JAA IR portion.
Is this a good way to convert? Or, given my age (31), should I work for a couple of years in order to save $ to attend an ab-initio JAA training course? My goal is to live and work in the UK/Europe, or the Midle East.
Any advice from those who are "in the know" or help from those who are in the same boat would be fantastic.
Globaltrek. :D
[ 22 July 2001: Message edited by: globaltrek ]