Loans for funding flying training.

[davey147]

Definately work for the next 5 years and raise the cash, thats what I did.

[Frank Furillo]

Nah you guys have got it all wrong, I'm late 30's and driving a 737 ng(not with harp on tail). I worked dammed hard, sold my House, Kidneys, Wife and kids!!!!!!I have a small amount of debt, though nothing secured against my house.
After watching Mr D Craig in action I now realise that I should have taken up Texas Hold'em Poker
There is no right or wrong way to pay for training, just try to take into account how long it might take you to pay back £60,000.00 or so when you have finished.

[Superpilot]

Yes but the 60k if taken as a loan now could well turn into £100k within 10 years. That much debt without any other assetts to your name at age 30 isn't good.

[smoothkpilot]

At age 20 time is on your side. Work for the next few years put some money aside and then do the training. Try and get into a job where you will have a skill eg a plumber or electrician, so many people on the road to becoming a pilot find themselves out of work at various stages. If you have a skill that you can use you will always be able to pick up employment pretty quickly. With a careful plan you can get the training done for about £30k, although this is by going down the modular route. This is a tough game to get into and even when you have your Frozen ATPL you may find it hard to get a job and you may need to budget another £20k approx for a Type Rating. Best thing to do is work now, save money and get trained. At age 20 even if you saved for the next 5-10 years you'd be at a good age to land a job and you'd only be 30. It may not be what you want to hear but keep this in mind, there are many guys out there right now deep in debt, low hours and no job. Just one other thing, there's no need to save all the money in one go, you could save a bit eg for your PPL, then work again, and save some more. Do it in stages, thats what the modular course was designed for. At least that way you will see some result of your hard saving. Just one word of caution be aware that certain exams have time limitations so check this out before you start. I wish you all the best.
SmoothK

[Wireless]

When you turn 21 how about taking your LGV licence for lorries? I did that. took a licence to drive artics. Never been out of work. I'm on a month off between airline jobs and I found well paid work no probs.

Good thing is you can pick it up and put it down as you please with the agencies which helps if you need time to do modular training. LGV training only takes 2 weeks to make you instantly heighly employable unlike other trades which take a lot longer and are less flexible. training costs a couple of grand though

[snoopy1107]

Just want to say a huge thanks to all you guys and those who PM'd me, all info has helped massively in seeing my options, still got another year of Uni so should probably worry about finals first, any more comments/ experiences are welcomed with wide arms, thanks again,

[Mungo Man]

Secondly a major worry for me is having this huge debt, although this won't affect me too much as a young guy...

Hmmm, think about it, when you get your first job, you'll need somewhere to live, a car to drive, bills to pay, and potentially massive repayments on a £60k loan, perhaps as much as £800 per month on the loan alone, all this on a year one FO salary, which is if you're lucky, about £2000 a month for jets, maybe a fair bit less for props...

It just doesn't add up,

[snoopy1107]

Mungo Man

Thats a fair comment, i realise what your getting at, don't get me wrong at no point have i ever been under the illusion that i was going to be rolling it in, especially as a new qualified wannabe, what i ment is it will be easyer to live with such conditions when the only person it affects is myself, i want it that bad im prepared to live such a life style of potentially no desposable income, however my main concern is later in life when i have a family to take care of, that is if my balls work?? Thanks for your comment, take care

[SinBin]

Snoopy.

I'm 30 now, and just starting as a pilot on A320s from doing a desk engineering job for nearly 7 years. When I was 20, all I wanted to be was a pilot. I had no funds except to get a PPL from what I earned whilst I was a stude at Uni doing bar work and working as a part time jeweller and living at home with Ma and Pa. I then went into engineering beleiving it was an impossible dream that was never going to happen and I'd be an engineer for life as that much debt scared the hell out of me.

In the last 10 years (of which 8 were spent in a 'what if' day dream), which has shot by, I've gained a wife, bought a house and earned very nicely which has funded all my training. I got into modular training seriously about 2 years ago.

I've now just bought a big family home to go with the great new job which is due to the fact that I had NO debts. Take time and don't rush into it. I am so glad I didn't because I wouldn't be where I am now in my personal life had I have got huge debt at your age, especially with the house prices as they are. And at 30 when all your mates are buying big houses and you can't it would feel pretty crap. I got to be a pilot in the end, and I've still got 30 more years of flying ahead of me, by which time the yacht and the house in Spain will no doubt come. All this has been done by watching the pennies and also a second income in the household helps.

Good Luck

SB

[Grass strip basher]

Bravo SinBin old chap ! Bravo!
A story I can relate to and I would endorse from many I have spoken to in the industry! There is some common sense spoken on Pprune every now and again if you dig deep enough!

[snoopy1107]

Sin Bin,

you don't know how great it is to hear guys who made it coming from a simular situation to what i am in, although it may mean a 10 year wait i bet its worth every day of those 10 years, and rightly so at 30 you still have decades of flying ahead. Everyone who has posted so far has said simular things or to that effect which is reassuring. Many thanks again, if it all falls through for me fancy giving me a job on that yaght

snoopy

[SinBin]

It'll only be a wee one on a modern pilot's salary, and Mrs SinBin is expanding in a 9 month bellywise way so there won't be much room I'm afraid!!

It sounds like you have a level head on your shoulders and so there's no reason you won't make it.

best of luck

[JetJockeyJim]

Career Development Loans again

Just thought I'd update people in case they're thinking about trying to get an £8000 (max) CDL loan which is interest free during training.

For more info:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Educatio...oans/index.htm

The training company MUST be on the CDL register. To do this, check with the Learning Skills Council (0845 000 0045). OAT are NOT on the register, Cabair are. So if you wanted to do some training with OAT you would not be able to get a CDL for it.

[hollingworthp]

That's news to me, OAT gave me their registration number a couple of weeks ago.

[JetJockeyJim]

That's weird. I double checked with LSC yesterday and nope, no OAT, Oxford, all the variations I could think of. Maybe it's expired or something.......what is it, and I'll check it out.

[hollingworthp]

Learning Provider Registration Number = 6838

[JetJockeyJim]

You're right - they are registered. I was fed dodgy info. Apologies to all.

[singhaviation]

Any internship opportunities?????

Hey everybody, I just got my PPL at Purdue University and I'm on my way to becoming a professional pilot. I was wondering if anybody can give me some advise on my career and give me some idea's where I can find some internships for future reference either in the U.S or international. I welcome any comments.

[adverse-bump]

its surprising the difference that bit of water between the uk and usa makes!

by INTERNSHIP do you mean sponsorship?

if so then sorry, but you have no chance! the airlines are all in trouble, most of us are just happy to have a job from day to day! and there are alot of experienced guys out there looking for work.