Parental Backing
 

Hello.

I am 18. I live with my folks and off-course I have not full time job! I want to talk to a bank manager. I know one that will understand my position to wish to become an airline pilot. I know an airline pilot flying for British REgional who got parental backing for a loan in his name. What are the chances of me getting a loan with parental backing.

Any comments that are helpful are welcome!

Cheers

Most banks are happy if your parents are willing to secure it on their house.

Try speaking to some banks.

Dont do it..

1. Get a job
2. Save up every last penny, sweep hangars scrounge trips
3. Get a PPL
4. Repeat 2.
5. Do modular exams funded by 1.
6. Repeat 2.
7. Get a 2 yr loan for CPL course
8. Get a credit card - buy FI rating
9. Instruct through the summer in the evenings, weekends early mornings before work for two years - work normal job in the day.
10. pay off 7.
11. Get a loan for IR course
12. Make a balls up of IRT - borrow another £1000 for retest
13. PASS - cry on your girlfreinds shoulder due to the overwhelming feeling of releif

Pass with 900 hours, Frozen ATPL, Instructors rating, twin rating, good chance of getting a job. age 21 or 22.

Or get your parents mortgaged up to the hilt or spend the next seven years paying off your massive loan whilst you should be enjoying been sat at the pointy end. Assuming you would be at the pointy end having hardly any flying experience at 185 hours or so. More likely you would be sat at home unemployable waiting for somebody to put you inthe RH Seat of a 40 million dollar airplane with no experience aged 19..............

Sorry to be blunt but I think somebody needs to say that however hard you may think your Ab initio course is (and Im sure it is), borrowing the money from a Bank foolish enough to lend it to you, then giving said monies to a integrated course school is an absolute cop out.

Consulting my log book tells me from trial lesson to Frozen ATPL took 9 years.

You could be flying Boeings in three years

Choose your path wisely anekin..........

You have age on your side - use it wisely

G-SPOT lost,

I'm sure you believe with all your heart that what you say is the truth, and maybe it is, for you.

I think it is alittle unfair to brand everyone who borrows money from the bank to pursue their dream a cop out! I know I'm not a cop out and I borrowed money from the bank to do it and I dont have youth on my side, I'm 35.

Each and every persons situation (personal and financial) is individual to them, so therefore sweeping statements like your (well intentioned) post serve no real purpose but to place confusion in the mind of someone genuinely seeking advice.

To P. Savage I would say, if you get away with not borrowing the money, more power to you, but if you simply have to make sure you approach your friendly bank manager from as strong a position as you can, make a business plan, take your parents to the interview and haggle the interest rate.

Dont be disheartened by the last post, not everyone can choose that path, just make sure that your "parental backing" isnt just financial.

Good luck and if you want any specific advice from someone in the thick of it all feel free to e mail me.

Cheers

TBL:D

Not quite a sweeping statement, perhaps looking at my post I didn't put my point across as well as I could have done.

My arguement here is that of age. P savage has absolutely bags of time to get his aviation career well on track without approaching banks - hes very lucky.

Im 31 and my only regret is that I didn't do it all sooner, I've got the utmost respect for anybody who's got the cahunas to borrow 30-40k for a career change. If I was 35 then I would be all over Barclays like a cheap coat as well.

I did my IR course with somebody who was 21 had a CPL/FI 700 hours and was mature enough to have moved away from the North East and found gainful employment instructing in the channel Islands...... (How are you Duncan?....) I think he is now flying - 8's with one of the regionals and good luck to him.

Would he be flying the same aircraft in the very challenging demanding enviroment of the regionals aged 19 and with 185 hours.... I dont really think so, I could be wrong (and probably am)

All I was looking to demonstrate is that there is an alternative (if you have time) to leaving college and borrowing 35-40k 6 months after qualifying for your first credit card!, especially when it probably means putting your parents house into the equation.. I mean who would realistically want to do that regardless of whether or not your parents were totally behind you which I'm sure P savages are..

Ife he decides to go for it then the best of luck.

Personally I think my post makes sense, it may make a little more sense when P savage is 23 and giving half his salary away to service his debt!

I think G-spots advice is bang on, forking loads of dosh for an integrated course now is a waste of money particularly at such a young age.

Without sounding rude many of us at 19 are still growing up, i.e. our values change as we get older. Ask any boy who makes an Airfix model of an ME109 and he'll probably say a fighter pilot or an airline pilot. The risk is you could borrow all this dosh from your parents and find out you don't actually like flying, what then?

Do as G-spot says, get a job and broaden your horizons and do a PPL.

cheers

I'd also like to agree with G-SPOT's general sentiments, but for a different reason.

I don't know the industry well enough to know how important age is - although I suspect there's any element of truth in the argument that a 19-year-old with 185 hours is going to have trouble finding a flying job which will pay off the huge debts involved. But there are other things to consider besides age.

I'm a lot older than 19. (Well, not that much older! :) ) But I decided to take my time doing my ATPL simply because the market is so appaling at the moment, I just can't see myself getting a job as a low-hour ATPL(f), regardless of my age. If you've got anything else you could be doing with your life, do it, and work towards the ATPL part time. In my case, I'm continuing with my IT career - I don't particularly enjoy it, but it pays the bills, and also pays for my flying. In p.savage's case, I'd say go to university. Get a part time job to pay for as much of the flying as you possibly can, and if you really can't earn enough to pay for everything, then borrow the rest.

Aim to have your ATPL(f) by the time you finish your university course - 3 years. This is a reasonable timescale for doing the ATPL course part time. The general opinion seems to be that in 3 years time the market will have picked up again, and it will be far easier for people like you and me to get a job - regardless of age.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

FFF
--------------

Thanks for some great advice.
 

Thanks guys. Some good advice. I was skeptical about Parental backing and now atleast I know which way to go. I dont think it would be a good idea for me to put my parents home into the equation, even though they are happy to. As the previous post states it will be hard for me to find a flying job when I qualify so I'm better leaving it a year or so. But I still havent changed my mind about doing an Integrated course. Perhaps I will seek employment in aviation maybe in an airport. Again, thanks, and any more advice is welcome.

Cheers

Paul Savage

I’m with G-SPOT on this one. I’m 30, half way through my PPL, and planning to take at least another 2 years or so before I get my (modular) fATPL. This will obviously take longer than throwing myself into an integrated course, but I can keep the day job and finance most of the cost that way. I can also think of a few other good reasons for taking this route:

(1) Even if I don’t manage my first job until 35, that still gives me a 20-25 year career to look forward to (and I’ve met enough airline pilots who changed career in their 30s not to be worried about my age).

(2) Jobs for low hours fATPLS are – to put it mildly – scarce, and are likely to be for at least another couple of years. A modular route, where you can dictate the pace (and budget accordingly), seems a much safer bet than writing a cheque for £60k and hoping everything will be alright by the time you qualify.

(3) I’m 2 years into my first mortgage, and already there is enough equity in the house to go out and sign up for an integrated ATPL course (the joys of S.East house prices). The thought of actually doing this – and the consequences if it all went pear shaped – would keep me awake at night. And that’s my house; putting someone else’s home on the line for the sake of my career would scare the hell out of me. :eek:

(4) Doing a part-time, modular ATPL, I could slow it down or even walk away from it at any time up to the CPL/IR without losing too much money. Anything could happen - I or my wife could be made redundant (it’s already happened), I could lose my medical – I may even decide that commercial flying just isn’t for me. I’m sure that won’t happen, but my view of the world was very different when I was 20, and who is to say what my attitudes / ambitions etc will be like when I’m 40.

I don’t want to seem unduly pessimistic, or pee on anyone’s bonfire, but you would be foolhardy not to have a viable plan B, and the modular route allows for much, much greater flexibility on that score. Unless, that is, you are in the enviable position of being able to withstand losing £60k+. It can happen, and it’s happened before. :(

I am with G-Spot.

I too am in the same situation as p.savage (only much older - 22). Coming out of University I know what it is like being debted up to your eyeballs.

I have a relatively well paid job and am set to embark on the course as G-Spot laid out.

What is the rush? It is not like the industry is short of the odd pilot or 2000.

I back G-SPOT on this one.

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