Am I mental ?

Emp_Fab

Thanks Tony, but I don’t have the time.  It’s either the £50K+ integrated fATPL full-time course or nowt.  My age is against me and time is running out.

BloodEagle

All things considered I'd strongly recommend you choose 'nowt'

TTony

Emp_Fab said:

Thanks Tony, but I don’t have the time.  It’s either the £50K+ integrated fATPL full-time course or nowt.  My age is against me and time is running out.

I'm just challenging the thinking.

£10k for a PPL vs £50k for the fATLP.  

That £40k would pay for a lot of private flying time.

Unless you really think that you're going to get a commercial pilot's job (you're not), wouldn't a PPL plus £40k's worth of flying time give you more enjoyment and satisfaction?

Winny_Pooh

Emp_Fab said:

Thanks Tony, but I don’t have the time.  It’s either the £50K+ integrated fATPL full-time course or nowt.  My age is against me and time is running out.

Since you asked at the start, yes, you are mental. 

Guitar_Slinger

Emp_Fab said:

Oh come on...  I’m 54 in a fortnight.  It’s time to shit, or get off the pot, as they say.

Emp_Fab

TTony said:

Emp_Fab said:

Thanks Tony, but I don’t have the time.  It’s either the £50K+ integrated fATPL full-time course or nowt.  My age is against me and time is running out.

I'm just challenging the thinking.

£10k for a PPL vs £50k for the fATLP.  

That £40k would pay for a lot of private flying time.

Unless you really think that you're going to get a commercial pilot's job (you're not), wouldn't a PPL plus £40k's worth of flying time give you more enjoyment and satisfaction?

Nope.  Also, no disrespect, but you simply cannot say that I won’t get a commercial piloting job.  You might think it unlikely, but you can’t say I will not.

I have no interest in little piston-powered tin boxes that can reach no higher than 10,000ft.  It’s 80+ tons of beautiful machinery and the whiff of Jet-A1 or nothing.

Emp_Fab

...someone, somewhere on the planet will give me a job.  Even if it’s with a struggling regional line in Mongolia.  If they’re not that fussy about my age and I’m not that bothered by the £2.50ph wages, we can come to an agreement I’m sure.

Guitar_Slinger

If it's the whiff of a jet, £2.50ph and working with foreigners that attracts you, have you thought of working at Domino's and putting lighter fuel in your bike? 

octatonic

Oh dear.

RedRabbit

I sincerely hope things work out for you and you get to follow your dream but I think you need the healthy dose of realism that quite a few people are offering.  I think going for the medical is a sensible thing to do.  If you pass you can then have a proper, long think about things and if you don't pass then you will at least know it was out of your control.

Just out of interest, have you spoke to Mrs Emp about this?  I appreciate that it's your inheritance but it isn't just the initial cash for the training that's at stake here - though I suspect Mrs Emp might have an opinion on how to best use the money.  It's potentially a huge change in life style which will effect you, her and your little dog.  I'm not sure how the training works but would you still be able to do your day job while in training?

munckee

I can see why you would want to chase your dreams, luckily I hit the big time right from the off and started a career in insurance - ahem..

What it does do is make me think in terms or risk vs reward.  I personally would weigh it up as risk of £50,000 being lost vs reward of  a few years in a job I don't actually know I like yet, I might go through all of it and not enjoy it or hate the hours etc.

I have to admit I sincerely admire your massive cajones though!  Sh1t or bust, all-in.

£50,000 would make a lot of difference to your retirement chief.

Unorthodox

If you get the job or not, the result is still going to be the same; head in the clouds.

chillidoggy

Have you launched this idea on any pilot or airline forums to see what they think your chances are of getting a job at the end of £50K?

Kilgore

Is this really about flying? Fulfilling a childhood dream. If so, then maybe you should go fo it.

Or is it just that you are unhappy with your life at the moment, a general malaise, a growing awareness of your own mortality. A feeling of lack of control, etc?

How about putting that money into your own business, being your own boss?

Either way, good luck Emp.

TTony

chillidoggy said:

Have you launched this idea on any pilot or airline forums to see what they think your chances are of getting a job at the end of £50K?

No.

But he has asked their advice on which guitar he should get next ...



(Wis'd the suggestion!)

PC_Dave

Just been talking through this with some pilots at work - they admire your passion and can totally understand where you are coming from. They recommend you get the medical first (I think the class A is £500 ish), and then get doing the PPL, and whilst training you should contact airline HR departments - they would be best placed to advise if you would be successful in getting a job or not, or point you in the right direction.

One pilot did say that it’s jolly bloody boring and highly stressful most days, and there’s a huge amount of paperwork involved. It’s not as glamorous as people think, that’s for sure.

If you do go through with it all, please create a thread and keep us posted. I’d love to see how you’re getting on, and, more importantly, know which airlines to avoid in future.

boogieman

RedRabbit said:

Just out of interest, have you spoke to Mrs Emp about this?  I appreciate that it's your inheritance but it isn't just the initial cash for the training that's at stake here - though I suspect Mrs Emp might have an opinion on how to best use the money.  It's potentially a huge change in life style which will effect you, her and your little dog.  I'm not sure how the training works but would you still be able to do your day job while in training?

I was thinking that too. How does your missus feel about you spending all this money? Does she support you in your dream of flying? Are you funding her dream job too? When you’re off delivering coconuts in the Bahamas, is Pugsley coming with you? 

57Deluxe

just get one of these

ourmaninthenorth

Emp_Fab said:

Oh come on...  I’m 54 in a fortnight.  It’s time to shit, or get off the pot, as they say.

I'm 54 too.

I can't tell if this thread is a piss take or not. 

I hope it is. 

Emp_Fab

Mrs Fab has been amazing.  When I realised there was possibly a path for me after all, with the advent of the new colour-vision test, she was the first person I consulted.  Her first words were “Why don’t you do it? - you’ve got the money now.”

To be fair, it is something that is playing on my mind as this would affect her hugely.  As much as she is behind me, I have to factor in her future too when weighing up the odds of my success.
Assuming I get past the medical hurdles (which, as I’ve said is no way guaranteed), I have to then do a lot of research to try to establish my realistic chances of getting a job.  I know I wouldn’t be able to walk in to, say, Virgin Atlantic and before I knew it I was in a new 747 en-route to Bermuda.  It would be very much at the other end of the scale, perhaps Air Namibia flying freight, at night, between remote provincial fields in a rusty 727 with duct-tape holding most of it together.
Beggars and choosers etc.

If it looked like my odds are small of even achieving that job then I would have to realise that it would be a complete waste of money and give up.  I may be happy to chase my dream but not if there’s more chance of me becoming the next King of Norway than of success!