Leslie

Most jobs can be accused of that but certainly not flying.

Only those people who would have liked to have done it will say it is for "nerdy loners"!

Les

WRX_Dazza

hahahhahah

go for it Chopper and change your username to bomber

Mitchy260

Invest the money, join the military and get paid to train as a pilot rather than you paying to be a pilot. I'd suspect the majority of pilots are of ex military nature.

Come out after a few years and go commercial, peferably flying helicopters.

Helicopter pilots that do a taxi service back and forward to the oil platforms up here in Aberdeen are on a basic of about £90,000.

I would imagine flying a helicopter is far more challenging and worthwhile as to terms of job satisfaction than being a commercial airline pilot. Lets face it, take off, feet up, land

Brendan Hughes

Much easier said than done. I tried at age 23, they weren't interested, my personality didn't fit the model (too independent-thinking - I'll take that as a compliment!) They were taking 18 and 19 yr olds who were already well on the way to getting a PPL (via gliding etc) and whose character was still young enough to mould.

Tiggs

RAF arent going to pay for someone in their mid 20's to become a pilot. Where's their ROI?

Alan C

I was going to mention pprune too (PPRuNe Forums - Professional Pilots Rumour Network) as my lad wants to join the RAF as a Pilot.

But I did pick up that there were so many commercial Pilots not flying, that some were willing to do the job for free so that they could keep their hours up!! Didn't look good for that job market.

I'd also recommend the Rotor side as the jobs seem to be less 'fitted' and narrow focused...

Mitchy260

Not just the RAF that have aircraft, all 3 services do. I.e Apache belongs to B.A not R.A.F

There isn't an age restriction, close friend of mine is 25 and just started training with AAC. (Been in the Army 6 years as an aircraft engineer)

Brendan Hughes

Tiggs, the ROI is that you stay for 12 yrs or buy yourself out to leave earlier. Latest start date is age 26 (or was).

Leslie

Just interested to know-how much airline or helicopter piloting have you actually done?

Tiggs

Yes - but what force is going to want someone in their mid 20's that's has (until now) shown ZERO sign of serving.

two people at interview - one is out of Uni, science and maths degree, been flying gliders since he was 2 and dreamt of being a pilot serving his country his whole life.

other is a 25 year old who wants a career change and thinks that flying lark looks fun if it was only a bit cheaper!

Mitchy260

Leslie, have never flown myself but have a good 10yrs aviation background in engineering

Mainly on helicopter types, Eurocopter, Agusta Westland, Sikorsky and Bell civil aircraft. Gazelle, Lynx, and Apache military.

I know a lot of pilots, military and civil, and know quite a few within the company that im working with that have given up ferrying holiday makers to the balearics on fixed wing to ferrying rig workers rotary. From all accounts, helicopter flying is much more rewarding in terms of job satisfaction. I know the payscales of the pilots within my company and these are very similar to commercial airline, infact slightly better due to north sea oil industry.

Mitchy260

Yes you're right but there is a route if you really wanted to go down that path.

Join the B.A as an aircraft engineer, takes about 2 years to do and on completion of training, promotion to L/Cpl. A further 1 year after this gaining experience, promotion to corporal will happen. (About 3 1/2 yrs so far inc basic training)

Then as soon as you reach rank of corporal within AC engineering, application to be a pilot is as simple as going into see your OC and asking for it. You will then sit a few medicals, an aptitude test and then if successful, pilot training at RAF Cranwell/Shawbury, fixed wing 1st, then onto helicopters.

This way you could be a trained pilot within 5-6 years without paying 1 penny towards it (Receiving an income of around £30k pa whilst you train, holding rank of CPL)

Age isn't taken into account with above route, ive known 30-35yr olds engineers doing it this way

Get to fly a £47m apache and fire a few missiles at talabani ragheads too

Leslie

Yes fair enough Mitchy, and I have a high regard for aircraft engineers too. They kept me safe for many years and sometimes we would have a couple with us who became part of my crew in all respects on overseas trips. It is true that the low level operational style on full military aircraft was much more exciting than the airline style stuff on the VC10, but nevertheless it was not quite as you suggested since there always seemed enough to do to stop me from getting bored. I realise of course that the more modern glass cockpit and highly automated aircraft are less interesting than the good old Vickers one, but at least we used to get the odd comment when taxying around a civil airport from some of the older pilots about how nice it was to see a real aeroplane for once

Les

j4ckos mate

reckon those abz copter jockeys earn their money in the winter dont you ?

Brit_in_Japan

A guy at work made this career change last summer. He already had a PPL, so when the opportunity arose to be funded to get his commercial license he jumped at the chance. There is forecast to be a large increase in the number of commercial aircraft over the next 20 years (like double the number) so when you consider that there are also experienced pilots who will be retiring, there will be strong demand for new people.

But remember, not all pilots are earning a mint. For a start this guy had to commit to staying with the same company (something to do with Easyjet) for 5 years after qualifying. Also it's the pilots (as opposed to first officers) on the larger aircraft with the flag carriers who get the biggest pay. I've heard that there are pilots in the US (Southwest) who earn $50,000 per year. The smaller jets (A320 family, 737 family) are far more numerous than 747/777/A340/A350/A380 so most pilots will be earning a lot less than a BA 747 senior pilot.

I think it should be a lifestyle choice first, the money may come, but only much later. You might be lucky and find someone willing to put you through training.

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

I have often dreamt about training as a pilot as a career change, lot of really good info on PPRUNE. I came across one thread asking about typical salaries for pilots on all sorts of aircraft and companies - once I'd read the thread I stopped thinking a move to be a pilot was a good career change. £ is okay for the bigger co's and large jets, but for the regional stuff it was nothing special.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I am back up there next month, fancy a night out ?