Any pilots out there???

I am 19 and am interested in learning to fly. Like all young lads i wanted to be a pilot, so when i was 14 i bought a radio controled plane then sold it when i was 16 to put towards a scooter.

For my 18th birthday my auntie bought me a trial flight, and i got the bug again. I was planning on starting to learn last year, but i am currently an electrical apprentice and had lots of college work to do, i also got carried away with the bike, ride-outs, trackdays, isle of man etc etc. Then i bought a trials bike and found i had no time left to do out!!!

I will finish my electrical apprenticeship this year, have my final practical test (AM2) in June/ July. so all my college work is now out of the way. I would like to get my licence soon, but only if there would be a pilots job available once i got my licence. Basically i could not fit it in as just a hobby and i would not be able to afford it as another hobby!
I am not interested in flying the big planes, just small ones (technical term!!!) So i would not need a licence to fly jets. I think i would be interested in a job as maby doing the trial flights in light aircraft or maby even microlights. What about flying around the uk as an air courier?!?

Now the questions

What kind of job would i be able to get?
What kind of money would i be earning?
How do i go about learning to fly?
What licence will i need?
I know theres a lot of reading to be done, so where can i get hold of these books?


Thanks

Ryan

Tough one mate,

going the civi street way is hard.

Everyone I know is ex-RAF. Have you considered joining the RAF in the Engineering field. That way you can learn to fly with them, plenty of clubs and social events and cost you a whole lot less as well.

That way you could do a short service commision as an officer or enginner and learn to fly as a side interest, (you might find its not for you?). Leave the service with some good experience and hopefully contacts!

Just a thought, but remember with a pilot licence there are different grades and you have to maintain a number of hours in the air to keep your licence, etc, etc.

Hope this helps mate!

Rich

Thanks for that. I did consider the RAF when i left school, but i would miss my sv too much. I dont even like working away from home with the job i have now!

I know bits and bats about the hours regulations. Thats why i will not go for my licence yet if i cannot get a job as a pilot. But i also do now want to take a pay cut from what i am earning now, well a cut for the first couple of years would be understandable. but after that i want to be earning more or equal to an electricinas rate.


Thanks

SPeeeeDY

[Skip]

A new pub drinking buddy is a commercial pilot for KLM - no idea how much he earns but he hinted that it has cost him (he is 32) £70,000 to get where he is now! He did Aviation Engineering at University and has pretty much funded himself all the way. Its funny when we talk about what he has done during the working week and he just shrugs off spending 2 days in Marseille etc!

By his own admission its not easy - apparently BA pay their pilots to train but the lower cost airlines dont which is one of the reasons that their fares can be cheaper....

[Spiderman]

Have a look at a few of the airlines websites. Some do sponsorship and trainee pilot courses and i think even Easy jet did one a while back when i was looking.

Found i'm too old to do anything about it now, except privately

Good luck to ya either way. Pilot was my dream job but i never pursued it sadly.

Thanks, i will look into them. I did not know that they operated light aircraft


SPeeeeDY

fit a power commander your bike will soon fly i can tell you

Originally Posted by SPeeeeDY

Thanks for that. I did consider the RAF when i left school, but i would miss my sv too much. I dont even like working away from home with the job i have now!

I know bits and bats about the hours regulations. Thats why i will not go for my licence yet if i cannot get a job as a pilot. But i also do now want to take a pay cut from what i am earning now, well a cut for the first couple of years would be understandable. but after that i want to be earning more or equal to an electricinas rate.


Thanks

SPeeeeDY

Ahhhh, I was worried when I first left home, the RAF is not that scary, besides how else are you supposed to get on base, you ride the bike, likely to be very safe trust me! Most pilots ride bikes so your best way to make friends.

To be honest, have your considered the RAF reserves? You could work as an electrician and also be in the RAF, still learn to fly that way. Its bloody expensive to learn to fly, or it can be.

Most airlines look for a lot of experience and I know some people have funded themseleves, but you really have to want to learn to fly to do this.

I did a quick google to find these:

http://www.intotheblue.co.uk/trial-f...?source=google
http://www.pilotweb.co.uk/
http://www.rafreserves.com/

There are a few links, the second one has a forum, not sure if its of any use, but have a look. The last link is for the RAF reserves, have a look by all means, but if its not for you, its not for you.

Best of luck mate, I really mean that, if you really want it, go for it, its better to have tried than to have looked back in life and wished you really had gone for it!

Cheers

Rich

OK where to start.

First things first - medicals.

You need to sit a Class 3 Pilots Medical (IIRC) which costs a few hundred pounds and needs to be done by a certified CAA doctor.

IF you pass this, you can continue. If you dont....

The levels of aviation licensing is as follows:

PPL Private Pilots License
CPL Commercial Pilots License
ATPL Air Transport Pilots License

As far as i can remember you need to have acheived ATPL before you can officially get a job for a commercial airliner.

In between these levels, there are lots of different "ratings" you HAVE to acheive:

Multi Engine Rating
Night Rating
IFR (instrument flight rules)

You also then have to sit all the examinations for all of the respective steps - airlaw, air nav, principles of flight etc - all of which cost money.

The best bet is to contact airlines or cargo companies to see what the requirements are.

There are two main avenues you can go down:

1) Sponsership. This is where you get sponsered through all the training levels by an airline. The Pro of this is that they pay the extortionate costs required to get the ratings, but the big Con of it is that once qualified, you are generally tied into contract with that airline for a pre-determined length of time - typically 5-10 years. This will potentially hinder your career development as you may be able to get a better paid job with a different firm, but not be able to as you are signed into contract with your sponsor.

2) Pay for it yourself. This is a risky way to go unless you are a) loaded b) prepared to take any old job at each step of the way to gain the work experience at each stage. Its hard to say typical costs of getting trainined to ATPL with all the required ratings, but its somewhere in the region of £50 - £70,000. AND EVEN THEN, once you are qualified, a lot of airlines wont take you - as they want you to be trained THEIR way. This happened to my instructor whilst i was training to be a cadet instructor.. he had just acheived his ATPL and applied for a job at monarch. They turned him down on the basis that he was "too qualified for the job" - which basically means they wanted to train the successful applicant their way, and not have someone who had already been trained.

He had to settle for flying antisocial hours for a no frills airline for many years before he had the relevant experience for other "main stream" airlines to consider him.

Of course, the whole issue depends on what exactly you want to do in aviation. If you want to fly recreational flights over the lake district for example, you only need a CPL. IF you are only flying during VFR (visual flight rules) and during day light hours - you wont need the Night Rating and IFR ratings. If the aircraft you fly only has the one engine - you can save about £5-£10,000 on your multi-engine ratings.

You say that you wont go for your licenses until you definately know you can get a job as a pilot. Im afraid, the only ways to get a job as a pilot are the two ways mentioned ahead. Unless you are a graduate, or an outstanding candidate - the airlines will be reluctant to take you on board as a sponsoree. Which leaves you with the option of training, and THEN applying for jobs.

Consider a career development loan from the banks.... thats what my best friend who i was training with the RAF did.

IF you have any particular questions you would like answering, please feel free to PM me and ill ask my colleagues from RAF (many of whom are qualifed CAA pilots too) for the answers.


Joe.

thanks for the reply. the PilotsWeb site looks to be good, and the basic learning to fly section is spot on.

I would not be suited to the RAF, as i hate been orderd what to do
I think i will have a ride up to multiflight at leeds/bradford airport and have a chat with them.

Thanks again
Ryan