In need of advice

[jonjo123]

Hi I wanted to ask for some advice with regards to which flight school/ career path to go down.

Anyway I want to be a pilot, I am thinking of either going to Oxford, or a smaller, but nice tidy little school in Florida. I have checked both out and they both have their pros and cons.

Obviously Oxford would hopefully (so they say) allow me to get in with a big airline pretty much straight out of training. It is of course hugely expensive which is what makes me hesitate as i'm not to keen on paying back £1000 a month for the next 10 years whether i have a job or not!

Florida is cheaper of course but is it viable to train, become an instructor, get with a small regional, then a larger regional, then convert to a JAA license etc in this day and age especially with me being a british citizen and all the trouble with getting a visa etc?

Is going to America an option? Do hours earned on a FAA license count for much back over here? Help me out here guys.

[99jolegg]

Originally Posted by jonjo123

Obviously Oxford would hopefully (so they say) allow me to get in with a big airline pretty much straight out of training.

"So they say" is the operative phrase in that sentence. Do some research on here and see if you can find much evidence to back that sentence up. You'll see both sides of the story pretty quickly.

Going to the USA is a good starting block. I personally did my PPL over there and it was a great experience. However, I wouldn't like to get too much experience over there...probably just the PPL and 100hrs hour building then do the rest in the UK...you can have too much fair weather experience and not enough marginal weather experience, but that's just my opinion.

There are plenty of small / large modular schools that are well respected when it comes to doing your CPL/IR.

If I was in your position, I would do the PPL and some hour building in America...somewhere like Florida or California. Then I'd come back to the UK to do the ATPLs and start with the CPL syllabus. Move on to the IR / ME ratings and and if you want to, go for the instructor rating too.

That said, research also the financial implications and the implications of a recession on the aviation industry...there are plenty of threads on it in this forum. This might affect when you want to start your training.

Good luck!

[F/O UFO]

What about all the other ab-initio schools? Cabair, CTC, FTE, PTC Ireland?

[jonjo123]

I have done plenty of research on Oxford, it seems most people do get jobs, though you done run the risk of being in the small majority that don't or you lose your job (due to the nature of the industry) early on and are then stuck with that massive debt. The thing is there is no way I could afford not to get a job with a loan that size.

But I think I agree it would be a good idea to go to U.S as a starting block, the advantage of that of course is I could stop if I wanted too!

[davepearsall]

jonjo123 - The thing is there is no way I could afford not to get a job with a loan that size.

You would be extremely lucky to be given a loan at all, if you can't show you could meet the repayments if you didn't get a job. This is why people suggest to have a career to fall back on if you are going to take out a loan for flight training.

[preduk]

Get your eyes away from Oxford and have a look at ALL of the schools.

Lets face the facts, you simply can't afford to go to Oxford... Imagine when your 24, have a missus looking to get yourself a nice car and get a nice house for a future family, do you honestly think a bank is going to give you a car loan or a mortgage with a £70,000 loan on a £20-40k salary?

Even if you were offered a mortgage, how do you fancy being in almost a quarter of a million in debt by your mid twenties?

If you fancy having some money in your career go to the US/South Africa/New Zealand or even the UK and get your PPL then join a local modular school and work your way up. It will cost you half the price, it's flexiable, you can do it when YOU want to, you fly where you want to fly and you can enjoy your future salary a hell of a lot more.

[jonjo123]

Thanks for the advice, thats pretty much what I was thinking, Modular just seems to be the much more intelligent and economic choice. Again though, if i were to gain my licenses and build my hours in the U.S as an instructor/ various little flying jobs is it then a difficult process to convert the license after a while to come back to Europe? Would the best course of action be to do the PPL there like you said and then do the rest over here?

Sorry if I sound thick but hey thats why i'm here.

[preduk]

jonjo123,

Do you think you could get a VISA to work in the US? It's not very easy these days especially since their pilots are struggling to find work as well. I would also say that the GBP vs USD isn't that great at the moment, so other countries (such as SA) might be better for you.

[A and C]

Real advice.

A lot of opinion on these pages not backed up with hard facts, however i have found this website that seems to do hard fact very well.

It might be worth a read.

index

[jonjo123]

I think you hit the nail on the head A and C. It is quite a task to get some hard facts from people who are both in the know about training but who also aren't working for a flight school!