Any pilots in the house?
 

I'd like some advice, fancy a career change. Thought I'd ask here first and see if I can exchange a few PM's.

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

It costs a LOT of money. A friend spent an absolute fortune on trying to become a commercial pilot, then became ill and couldnt fulfill his ambition. We are talking 10's of thousands in flying lessons, air time, plane hire...etc etc.

Still if its waht you want to do, then you will find away. Good luck Biggles

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

Thanks I'll need it.:confused:

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

Well that fooking thraps that out the window at the speed of a jumbo then.

I want to fly, I used to hate it as a kid, love it now, spose RAF etc is the same sort of thing? Lots of lessons before you even consider.

Already looked into the Navy and they want 180 UCAS points, and currently I don't have that, but, if need be I could work towards that.

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

Yeep +1 on the fortune it costs if you wanna train to become a commercial airline pilot.

There must be scholarships at some places which could be worth a shot. I had a mate who after A levels went on to flying school. Now he's working with easyjet as a 1st officer and making a good living out of it. In the end, it will definetely be worth while. Becoming ill/unexpected events can happen in any line of training for any career so don't let that matter.

I would have loved to be a pilot at one stage in my life, and still probably can't think of many other jobs I would find more fun.

Go for it mate, make it work somehow, I'm sure it would be very rewarding in more ways than one.

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

my friend at work has her degree but is leaving come march to go to a flying school.

its a whole course like uni but not only do you learn to fly, you learn airport management and other things that goes with it all.

ill have a chat with her soon and find out details if you would like?

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

the raf will only take you on if you have loads of a levels and stuff like that, cant be wasting money on any old hick......... i was turned away :smt089

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

Not only that only 0.1% of people in the RAF actually fly, if you have a degree you can enter at officer level and become a weapons system operator, ie sit with a 50cal gun at the back door of a chopper or behind the pilot on a jet.

It's all a nice thought but it's out of reach unless you are elite.

I often see the trainee taking off in jets from airfields around Lincolnshire and cranwell, so jealous :( bet some of them are only 21

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

You my friend, are destined for a career in the porn industry.
You can work your own hours, the first week in hand isn't too bad and talk about job satisfaction ;)

Re: Any pilots in the house?
 

As others have said, it is expensie several of my friends work for airlines, or have a CPL, first off go do your PPL , some of my mates did this over in America and then transferred the licience over here as it was cheaper but that was some 10+ years ago so times might have changed.

It isnt all about flying either, there are a LOT of exams to pass, not just the physical, but also to get the different ratings as well. To do instrument ratings, night flying, blagh the list is never ending really and each exam costs a lot.

There are a lot of unemployed pilots out there right now too so to get a job even if you have a CPL is quite difficult. Others have gone into being a tug pilot on the gliding airfields to keep a job and keep their hours up.

Once you have a licence you have to keep it current, that is that you have to fly a set amount of hours per year other wise you will loose the licence.

Sorry if the above sounds negative. Flying is an amazing thing to do and I used to love doing it, the amusing thing is that I could afford doing it as a student because of the special rates I got, sadly cant afford it now.