Newbie & Flying Training Advice (Merged)

[CptRexKramer]

Originally Posted by ersa

Its worth using the question banks for final revision , PPL exam has a high failure rate.

any in particular you can recommend?

[psunny]

Asian female pilot in Australia

Hi guys,

I’m new here and just really curious about my career perspective in Australia. First of, I’m full Asian, been in Australia for the second half of my life so it’s pretty much my home and I love it here. Last year I quitted my job to pursue a dream career being a pilot. Then this thought of the possibility of an Asian female pilot landing a job in Australia came to mind. No racism intended here but pure curiosity. My mom lives here with me and she got me thinking after I told her that I resigned from my fu’ll time work to do flying, she just asked whether I was sane about doing it and whether I just have this sweet dream of getting a job as a pilot being a woman and an Asian... I’ve never encountered any racism myself and my mom’s comment is probably the most racist thing ever said to me. What do you think guys? If I were to study in the same class with me and fly with me would my race and gender be an issue? And yea, I’m very paranoid at that question because I’m not a talkative type and more of an introvert. The school I’m planning to do the training with is 99% Aussie Guys... I’m probably gonna be the only girl and the only Asian. And since I’m super new to this whole aviation thing, usually a person would obtain a CPL then an instructor rating and work their way up to get to the airline right? Would you learn to fly with an Asian female instructor? By the way, I have an Australian citizenship and one of the SE Asian citizenships. And guys, I just need your true honest opinion. No racism or sexism intended. Your opinions much appreciated. Thanks.

[Tankengine]

There is at least one asian female pilot in Qantas.

[radiodude]

Go for it!

Flying an aircraft takes commitment and skill. Both of those have nothing to do with your sex or race!

I say go for it if this your dream. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I’ve seen many Asian instructors around BK and they’re great pilots.

Good luck. Hope to see you in the skies soon.

[Glorified Dus Briver]

Originally Posted by psunny

Hi guys,

I’m new here and just really curious about my career perspective in Australia. First of, I’m full Asian, been in Australia for the second half of my life so it’s pretty much my home and I love it here. Last year I quitted my job to pursue a dream career being a pilot. Then this thought of the possibility of an Asian female pilot landing a job in Australia came to mind. No racism intended here but pure curiosity. My mom lives here with me and she got me thinking after I told her that I resigned from my fu’ll time work to do flying, she just asked whether I was sane about doing it and whether I just have this sweet dream of getting a job as a pilot being a woman and an Asian... I’ve never encountered any racism myself and my mom’s comment is probably the most racist thing ever said to me. What do you think guys? If I were to study in the same class with me and fly with me would my race and gender be an issue? And yea, I’m very paranoid at that question because I’m not a talkative type and more of an introvert. The school I’m planning to do the training with is 99% Aussie Guys... I’m probably gonna be the only girl and the only Asian. And since I’m super new to this whole aviation thing, usually a person would obtain a CPL then an instructor rating and work their way up to get to the airline right? Would you learn to fly with an Asian female instructor? By the way, I have an Australian citizenship and one of the SE Asian citizenships. And guys, I just need your true honest opinion. No racism or sexism intended. Your opinions much appreciated. Thanks.

There is one female Asian pilot in QF.

There are male Asians in QLink.

There are male Asians in Rex.

And when I say "Asian", I refer to 2nd gen. Asian with Aussie upbringing like yourself. Don't give it much thought, enjoy the ride!

[jjhews]

Originally Posted by pilotaga

Hi everyone,

I received an offer from RMIT associate degree in professional piloting however I've been reading very negative feedbacks online and I've confirmed it with a friend who is currently in the course. Most likely i will be rejecting the offer.. i don't want to spend heaps of money for nothing. I want to ask which flight school in melbourne provides the best training to become an airline pilot? i would prefer the flight school to be offering fee-help

Try CAE Oxford Swinburne. Just finishing the course myself, it's okay. Fee help offered.

[Koalac]

RA-Aus Pilots Certificate (Recreational Pilot certificate)

Hello there,
I'm from ​​​​​singapore and I have an interest in aviation. Due to the high cost of learning to fly in singapore (ppl), I have done some research and found a cheaper alternative which is the RPC. However I have some questions regarding the RPC.
​​​​1) The pros and cons of this RPC?
​​​​​2) Is it possible for me to use Europe if I am planning to use it there?
​​​​​3) Is it worth it to get a RPC?
Thank you ​​​​​Th
​​​

[Pilotette]

When I started my flying training 13 years ago, there were 2 Asian females in my class and there wasn’t any racism or sexism toward them at all from the rest of the class or instructors. Don’t over think it, if it’s what you want to do, go for it. You’ll probably meet a lot more Asian female pilots than you think!

[I-ANGEL58]

Fresh CPL VFR SEP jobs

Hello fellow pilots,I'm Gio, an Italian guy moved to Australia 2 years ago, I'm here to get some advice, insight or rumor about how to get and where to look for a first paid job in aviation.

As the title states I hold a fresh casa cpl with 210 hours with mppc and floats endorsement,due family commitments I'd like to get a job and keep studying to get IR ME and ATP theory.

I know that maybe this has been asked several times on this forum but this is my second thread on Au NZ Pacific Area, please forgive me.

Willing to get ratings and endorsement on possible employ request.

Hope it makes sense.

Cheers guys

Gio

[Dafttemplar]

Advice on Path to the left seat.

Greetings, Long time listener, first time caller.
So after getting buzzed by a cluster of spitfires and a few bi-planes on a fishing trip a few weeks back, an old neural pathway has been running overtime in my head. Given I'm no longer the pock faced, bright eyed, testosterone fuelled champ I once was approaching a change in career is something that I have approached with some care however; A few simulator and trial flight experiences later and my wife has compared my newly rekindled obsession to that of an ice addict.
Many hours of research later I decided to try my hand at the Virgin Pilot ab-initio cadet-ship, I was quietly confident, knowing full well there is a very high application rate for minimal positions. Though how great is that opportunity? I mean they pay you allowances while you train for 54 weeks and then give you a job at the end of it! compared to Rex's cadetship with whom you cover all costs yourself and at the end of the training you MAY be offered a position, in which you are bound for 7 years! Or emirates training where you are required to pay $250,000 USD for the training. It seems to good to be true. Well yes, it is to good to be true. My application was rejected this morning. I knew my weakest point would be the initial stage of recruitment. My resume has a big fat zilch to do with aviation, 10 years working in the arts/media and my tertiary education maxes out at the diploma level (Though I am qualified for an advanced diploma with RPL.) I'm sure I would have scored well in group exercises and interviews and I have been putting in 3-4 hours of aptitude and general aviation study in a day to brush up on skills I haven't used in 13 years.
Well what would be the fun of a career change without some adversity?
So I am wondering what is the next step? Ideally the goal is get employed by one of the major carriers, I've spent my life as a freelancer so i'm fatigued with the constant uncertainty of employment making an airline a very attractive proposition somewhere I can get my foot in the door and spent some time working my way up. Besides that I'm not sure I could justify my marriage if I was to disappear to the bush for 18 months just to get some hours in while only being able to supply a pittance to pay the rent.

So..
Are there any other ab-initio cadetships besides REX and Virgin in Aus that I could investigate?
If I were to train myself, are there any flight training schools that feed students into the airlines or rather that airlines actively recruit from?
Do airlines hire FO or SO's with frozen ATPL's and minimal flight hours?
Are there any particular flights schools that are geared toward airlines as opposed to GA in Sydney?
There seems to be quite a lot of variation in the fee's between institutions is this indicative of the quality of the schools in anyway?
I appreciate your wisdom on these matters.

[Flying Bear]

Outside of cadetships, any flying school that purports to be “geared” towards airlines is pulling your leg...

Your flying school should be focused on preparing you for your FIRST job, not the end state airline one. Cadetships aside, the experience you gain in your first, second and maybe third job (all which will be GA) is what will prepare you for the airlines.

All the best with it!

[Dafttemplar]

Originally Posted by Flying Bear

Outside of cadetships, any flying school that purports to be “geared” towards airlines is pulling your leg...

I Suspected as much. Thanks for your insight. I suppose the research for a suitable school shall continue.

[Seagull201]

Dafttemplar,

Read your post.

Mate, you're going about things the wrong way!

I reckon, since you say you're married and that means you got financial obligations, do your flying training part time,
say over 3 years (or longer) until you get the CPL and Night Rating, pay for it yourself , it's about 80k.

Then give yourself another 2 years to pass your Instrument Rating/ATPL subjects and get a Flight Instructor Rating.
You can get a government loan for the Instructor course (25k).
All up, give yourself a 5 year plan to get to the Instructor Rating job level.

Apply for the REX cadet scheme, maybe you could get into that, it's a good deal!

You say you want to get into the airlines, have you done your Higher School Certificate?
What about Maths?
If not, you need at least some Bachelor degree behind you, any degree, there's aviation degrees also available on line.
The airlines don't specify much about the education side, but they secretly look at it and give preference to applicants
that have degrees over another applicant, unless a person has quite a number of years of flying experience, operating
sophisticated aircraft.

Finally, if you're going to just think about airlines, you won't get anywhere, concentrate on being a pilot and your own development
and skill level.
You will find there's a lot of work, time, money and effort involved just to achieve professional entry level qualifications, of a
CPL/Instrument Rating/ATPL subjects and the flying side will have it's ups and downs along the way.

All the best and don't get yourself in too much debt along the way.

[Dafttemplar]

Thanks for your encouragement Seagull.

I suppose my Haste is due to a number of factors.
Firstly, I’m competing for positions with others who are 10 years my junior and the gap will only widen.

Secondly, my current industry (in which I’m working freelance) is in the process of a monumental shift, making my role obsolete very quickly and I suppose I’m just burned out from making several major career decisions that haven’t played out. The thought of focussing my energy elsewhere is invigorating and quite frankly a relief.

I’m not against the GA route, however; Airlines are ideal. For 12 years I’ve been on a constant hunt for work and if I’m to start a family I want a little more security from my employment. I want a position where I can put my axe on the grindstone sharpen my skills and know that a week from now I’m going to have a job. I’m sure there are jobs like this in GA though it doesn’t sounds like the norm. Shiny jets, global travel and big pay checks are all awesome but not the major drawcard and from what I’m hearing GA is in a bit of turmoil and the Airline world are facing shortages. It makes sense no?

I’m no academic but i’ve got diligence and intellect on my side. As well as some tertiary education but in a completely unrelated field. No doubt I will find the training intense but I have no doubt in my ability to keep up, I always enjoyed Physics and i’ve Spent the last few weeks brushing up on my maths skills.

On your recommendation I have read a little more into the Rex Cadetship and TBH it actually sounds pretty good.
I think I will put my hat in the ring.

Thanks again. It’s refreshing to not read so much doom and gloom on pprune

[Seagull201]

Dafttemplar,

Maths and Physics aren't needed to study and pass all the exams up to ATPL level.

If you want to get into REX, apparently they got some maths and physics testing, as part of their selection.

Please check the Qlink pilot website (dash 8), also check Air NZ, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines websites,
under education requirements for pilots, you will notice, they require a Higher School Certificate OR Bachelor Degree.

If you meet the 1500 hours flying experience mark, you can apply to the U.S airlines, under the E3 visa category,
but you need a Bachelor degree or 6 years work experience.

**You say that your're not interested in general aviation but want to go straight into an airline, then take note what's written below:

Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines take on Frozen ATPL pilot license holders from Australia, with at least 250 hours flying experience,
it's the minimum to apply.

If you get your CPL/IR/ATPL subjects passed, get a B737/800 type rating and apply to "Royal Air Maroc" (Morocco), they take on
pilots with a Frozen ATPL and type rating or apply to "Vietjet", in Vietnam, they're ordering 100 B737MAX aircraft.
If you choose to go down this path, it will cost you 80k (CPL) plus 30k (Multi Engine Instrument Rating), 40K (B737/800 type rating),
that's 150k, and possibly still no job.

That's why i recommend you get a flight instructor rating, work your way through general aviation.
Looking at big jets and sitting in the flight deck is all "lipstick", until you actually get there.
As i mentioned before, it takes a lot of work, money, time and effort, just achieve the entry level qualifications.
You will realise that when you start your training, if you are going to continue thinking about airlines when you're training,
be aware, there are a lot of pitfalls along the way.

All the very best, which ever direction you choose.

[pat294]

Financing

Hello everyone,
I am here to ask on how to finance flight training.
I would greatly appreciate it if somebody gives me useful advice.

[tail wheel]

If you are in the UK, asking the question in Australia may be a little pointless. Different countries, totally different funding opportunities.

Any commercial funding (banks, finance companies etc) will require security - own a home etc - which you possibly don't have at 15.4 years old.

You could do what most of us have done, work hard all week, possible at two jobs, just to get in an hour flying each weekend?

[Beaver man]

Ardmore Flying School, NZ

My lad is a teacher in a school in Hanoi and one of his students wants to have a career in commercial flying. He sent an email to the above flying school, but has not received any reply as yet.

Can anyone confirm that this flying school is still operating and what may be the reason for the lack of reply?

Also, can anyone from NZ or Oz suggest any good, reliable flying schools in the region?

Thanks in advance folks.

BM

[mattyj]

Definitely still operational..most probably trying to find somebody qualified to reply to the email..

[Beaver man]

Thanks Matty