My Son wants to be a Pilot.In the UK
 

Ok, so here goes, I passed out back in 88 as a CPL, went to the states and got my ATPL, frozen, came back to the UK, and converted and flew as Captain on private GulfStream 4's and 737-300,400.
Really enjoyed it, but missed SOTP flying, the thing is, my son wants to become a commercial pilot, times are hard, cash is short, he is 15 and has done 9 hours so far towards his PPL, he will have it in 2 years, and he has passed all his PPl exams already, he really is taking at all in, its only the cash flow that stops his flying........ I want to get him into a cadetship, so he can take off....pun it, and get on with his career........Any help would be greatly appreciated......:ok:

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Dear Rich,

I have being looking at a few different flying schools which would be in line with my budget. I am in no position to be choosey..

Now i hav looked at many different options and have found one that i think might just work for me.

Starting with the ones that did not work:

Integrated course in oxford, cabair, FTE. : Expensive expensive:=

Modular route in the US: This is definitly a possibility, Alot cheaper than europes integrated course for example, $60,000 for zero to frozen ATPL in europeanflight training. But still, this wasint exactly what i was looking for as there are always so many hidden costs involved.

So i have decided to do it bit by bit simply!

Firstly, i will finish my PPL in US(jaa approved) then i will come back to europe and do all 14 atpl exams through bristol GS i would say! After, i will undertake the exciting task of hour building in order for me to meet the min requirements of 150 hrs for CPL (USA)(CHEAPER). I will hopefully, then start my CPL in US. After this, i will come back to europe and complete the IR and then probably follow that by an MCC & JOC course prob in oxford aviation acadamy or somewhere.

Now this road is by no means a quick route, probably quite alot longer than the integrated route but quite alot cheaper also.

Now, as your son is only 15, i suppose he has a few years to wait until he could undertake such a task!

From my calculations, this route costs between €45,000 to €50,000.

This is just a route iv decided, i hope it at least gives you and your son something to think about for the future.

Best of luck:ok:

Anyone else smell a RAT ??
What sort of a timeserved pilot goes onto a wannabee forum to ask advice about his son becoming a pilot????

tell him to become a doctor/lawyer/dentist/accountant/economist etc...

ASFKAP,

There are a variety of ways to do it,

I would read this first http://forums.balpa.org/intranet/How...ot%20quark.pdf

and then possibly pop down to your local flying club and have a word with them.

Try BCFT in bournemouth, integrated is a waste of money, BA doesnt even recruit from Oxford anymore and you get more hours Modular. You can treat BCFTs jetline course as integrated and get more hours and good standard of learning at a very reasonable price. Good luck on cadetships, they dont really exist anymore, flybe holding pool is 3 years at the moment, ryan air have put back people on type ratings and CTC cadets are also in about a 3 year holding pool. Modular is about the only way you can do it now then maybe get an FIC for a bit.

Tom

Slightly exagerated there in the last post....BA most certainly do still recruit from Oxford (you will find that they actually make up around 50% of those with low hours who get in) as well as CTC, Cabair and FTE although there is no further recruitment until 2011 at the earliest given the current climate.

Flybe are rather stagnant at present and are changing things internally to save costs, but another intake of guys for the Q400 is planned later this year and they will be cadets from one of the mentored pilot schemes that are currently holding.

As for the CTC holdpool, it is not 3 years....it depeds on when you complete the course versus when the airlines do their intake but 12-15 months is a reasonable take on the state of affairs at present although there were a number of guys who got into easyJet this year who were swimming for only 4-5 months before getting their call for TR.

There are hundreds of qualified guys out there looking for work, many with low hours and experience, plently with thousands of hours who have been made redundant. However, as they say train for the upturn. As much as it will pain a large number of people, when the time comes and airlines start recruiting again, those who are fresher out of training may well be a preferable employee due to better currency. On the back of this they may well do better in a sim check too. Very few have the money to keep properly current at the moment and their skills will become rusty.

It really does annoy me when I read these comments - no personal reflection on the poster at all, and I'm not having a rant, but I know people (personally) in at least four of those professions - three are completely out of work and the other on the breadline.

Having spoken to them, you would in fact be safer pursuing the dream of flying with a wooden leg, two glass eyes and a metal :mad: than trying to make it in the legal/medical sectors right now.

Seriously, aviation's probably the most placid of the lot... true.

PAJ is spot on there Tom, don't be too quick to shoot down the integrated schools, they still have a LOT going for them in terms of future recruitment prospects.

Things are bad for them now of course, but when things FINALLY do pick up, chances are the airlines will go to the integrated schools first, and (hopefully, if things get really good) start taking modular guys on as well.

(PAJ - I'm actually agreeing with you on something... what's going on??? :ok:)

Get him in the military.

"chances are the airlines will go to the integrated schools first, and (hopefully, if things get really good) start taking modular guys on as well"

Hahahaha! The Sales Department of CTC must love you, soaking up thier pitch like a sponge! How much have they rinsed you for so far?

It annoys me that (generally) the only people who reply to these threads are cadets or walter-mitty types who have no real experience of the airline industry and are really just regurgitating soundbite that they have heard elsewhere!

It woud be good to get some qualified and sound advice now and again, from someone who is in a position to give it within the industry.

If someone is 15 then any advice is meaningless as they are at least 5 years away from entering the job market and no-one can possibly predict how good or bad things will be that far down the line. There is no such thing anymore as a "cadetship".

As for those talking of training for an upturn, you are all admirable for your enthusiasm, but also complete fruitcakes.

I work in the industry, I've a fairly safe seat, for now. I'm not alone in believing things are going to get much worse. This time next year there will have been some big changes and a lot of people currently gainfully employed in big, well known airlines will be out of a job.

So for those of us with a little knowledge of the airline business, you can see how we view those hopefuls' talking of "training now for the upturn" as something of a tragic comedy.

If my son or daughter wanted to pursue a career as a pilot, first choice would be to address with them working towards meeting the standards required by the military.

second choice.. smother them in their sleep. :E

Hey jonnyhock - if you had actually bothered to read my post before you quoted it, you would have clearly seen I also said - hopefully the airlines will take on modular guys too, please tell me where in the 'CTC-pitch' it says that?

I'm not saying to train integrated right now is better, if I began training today I would go modular, due to the costs involved and the fact that you wont get a job either way at the end right now. BUT, discounting the perils of debt any integrated graduates are in right now - are you HONESTLY TELLING ME that when the airlines FINALLY do begin recruiting low-houred pilots again, you believe the likes of BA/Easyjet etc. will take on modular-trained pilots first, and then integrated trainees (who they have taken many in the past) second?

I was refering more to the part where you vomited out "chances are the airlines will go to the integrated schools first" What a load of nonsense!

And in answer to your question, no, im not suggesting that the airlines (with the exception of BA) will go for modular over integrated. Im suggesting that it doesnt really matter.

In any event, you really are my case in point. You're spouting airline recruitment gumpf when you have no real airline experience and as a result cannot back your meanderings with anything other than hearsay and the aforementioned CTC sales pitch (The bit im refering to in the pitch is where they tell you that you stand the best chance of employment if you go integrated...cue you, lapping it up)

Everyone's an expert!!! Fact is no one knows when demand for pilots is going to come back - but it will. Don't forget that anyone entering the training tube today will not come out for 2 years - which could be about right!:p

Hey
 

You seem to have it worked out and that sounds sweet. Am 28 and am loking at getting into flying so its from complete scratch with me as I am gonna book a trial flight this weekend see how that goes and like yourself if I really love it up there and want to do it am gonna go for it because with my current situation I can being in a permanent job with little to spend my money on apart from drink which is only a luxury.
Keep me informed of how your progressing

I'll echo the comment ny Togodumnus.

Try the RAF. It is probably true to say that those of us who have had military careers look back with fond memories. The flying is better too.

The training is second to none.

Especially if you want SOTP, fun, exciting flying before getting bored in a 'toobe'.

Downside is you might get a pot shot or two out in the sand pit.

Go Typhoon - all you'll do is airshows and jollies to countries that are nice to us.