What would you do?!

[Artie Fufkin]

You'd quite like to stay in the UK and preferable in the NW where I am now

This could be an issue.

If you want to be a pilot you have to accept that you could end up working anywhere in the world. Furthermore, if you do get lucky and get a job in the UK, you could still loose your job at any time and be forced to either quit the profession or head to a less savoury part of the globe. Experienced hires within the UK are now few and far between and the situation will only get worse as the industry consolidates further.

You have to be prepared to go to where the work is.

aptitude test... The only one you should rely on is GAPANs

I was let down badly by GAPAN, who told me I had "low chance of success in pilot training". We were told to believe these results as they were proven to be correct. I somehow managed to pass all ATPL theory exams with first time passes, first time pass at CPL, first series pass at IR and made command at my airline in minimum hours. Something doesn't add up.

I have spoken to ex military pilots who were involved with the military tests at RAF Cranwell, which GAPAN use in their aptitude tests, who burst out in to open laughter when I told them I had considered giving up after my low score with GAPAN. The tests are used to test military grade flying. You will (hopefully) never need to fly inverted, pulling negative G, at night, whilst being shot at in civilian operations. The required aptitude is not the same!

[phil_socata]

Hi Ben,

I can relate to what you're writing. I'm 29, in an management position at a SME, unfortunately less profitable and with much less shares than you ...

While successful in my job and having a clear perspective of succeeding the present CEO in a few years, it became very obvious to me that this is not what I'm searching for. Furthermore, it's an extremely demanding business with 60 hours or more of work each week, hardly any weekends, never more than 10 consecutive days on holiday in the past 10 years and so on ...

I did my PPL 7 years ago and already thought about doing commercial training back then. Last year, I started out and now I am a few weeks away from my first ATPL theory exams. By autumn, I should have completed the practical exams. Afterwards, I want to do the FI rating ASAP.

With my company, I secured an agreement that I'll continue to consult them and do freelance work for them. This benefits the company and mitigates my risk of total unemployment. Furthermore, it should fit in well with instructing.

While you say you are aiming for the airlines, I'm more interested in corporate flying. One of my ground school instructors inherited a souvenir shop, sold it and is now Captain on a Challenger. Another one had a comparable position to mine and is now flying Citations ...

So now all is set. It's of course an enormous change and a strange feeling, but you gotta do what you gotta do .