Woohoo!

[Steel_Tomb]

Hey guys, after paying off the loan for my bike I can finally start my PPL training (private pilots license). I can't wait! Been waiting years and doing an hour or two here and there but now I'm going for the full monty :D. I'll be adding stuff like instrument rating on there too which will be handy for if/when I decide to try for a job in one of the smaller local airline companies :D. Wish me luck!

[Raptor1]

Vell, good luck (I said good luck, that means I get 95% off on all flights, right?)

[Schroeder]

Enjoy your training and have a good time in the air.:up:
I wish I had the money/time for this. Maybe I'll learn how to fly glider someday (that's cheaper and not so noisy:D).

[PeriscopeDepth]

Good luck! I have been saving up for my PPL, as well. I used to want to pursue it as a career, but not sure anymore. The industry has taken a nose dive with no end in sight.

PD

[Platapus]

Good luck with this. It is great that you are able to realize one of your dreams.

I got my license in 1985 and had a ball with it.

Unfortunately I am living in a very high traffic area where private flying aint too much fun :( so I have not flown in a while :cry:

I hope you live in an area where you can have fun with this.

Just remember, any landing that does not involve foaming the airframe is a great landing :up:

[FIREWALL]

Go for it Steel Tomb :rock: Make us proud :up:

I know you'll do good.:yep: :)

Important Tip: Don't pick an instructor who always wears a parachute. :p :rotfl:

Good Luck Buddy

[MothBalls]

Make sure on the day you go on your first solo you wear your best shirt for the pictures.

[geetrue]

Let us know how it turns out Steel Tomb ...

Can I have your user name if we don't hear from you again?

Just kidding ...

Good luck!

[SUBMAN1]

I started in on that a long time ago. Finished ground school, etc. Would like to finish the licence however.

-S

[mcf1]

My congrats :up:
good luck with it:up:

[rifleman13]

Good luck up there!:up:

Just remember that push means down and pull means up!:rotfl::rotfl:

[McBeck]

Hey guys, after paying off the loan for my bike I can finally start my PPL training (private pilots license). I can't wait! Been waiting years and doing an hour or two here and there but now I'm going for the full monty :D. I'll be adding stuff like instrument rating on there too which will be handy for if/when I decide to try for a job in one of the smaller local airline companies :D. Wish me luck!
Good luck!

I envy you soo much!!!

[SUBMAN1]

How much is 100 LL running you these days? I'd be curious to know before I pick that up again.

-S

[Steel_Tomb]

I think it depends where you go but I think the average is about £1.45 a litre. Expensive, but its still bloody good fun :).

[PeriscopeDepth]

How much is 100 LL running you these days? I'd be curious to know before I pick that up again.

-S
Use airnav.com and it'll tell you prices at your local airport, providing its not some small dirt runway. :)

PD

[Platapus]

Just remember that gravity is a cruel mistress.....and she always has the last word

[OneToughHerring]

Nice to hear that Steel Tomb. I know of some people who have gone through pilot training. Some have done it specifically to become commercial pilots which, as I've heard, pays quite well.

Periscope Depth,

are you sure about that, although I've heard that too. Not to discourage anyone who is becoming a pilot.

[PeriscopeDepth]

Periscope Depth,

are you sure about that, although I've heard that too. Not to discourage anyone who is becoming a pilot. To start this gloomy segment, some context:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssAirlines/idUSN2327962220080623

I am speaking from a perspective of US airlines and what I know. It may be different in the UK. I am not a part of the industry, but know several people who are. This isn't meant to discourage people who want to be a professional pilot, it is meant to inform people with what is happening in the industry right now. Granted, the industry is very cyclical and could get better tommorow, but it looks like the extraordinarily high cost of oil has permanently changed the structure of the industry, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel just yet.

Getting all your licenses and getting to the point where you can get hired by a regional airline costs roughly $50K here. And that gets you (assuming you are able to be hired by a regional airline, not many are hiring anymore. The hiring boom that occured ~2005 is largely over now.) an FO job at a regional. You are now making ~$20K a year, hopefully you haven't taken a big loan out to pay for your training expenses. You will work long days and only get paid for the time you actually spend in the airplane. You will likely be furloughed a few times, and furlouging in the US is rough as you start at the bottom of the ladder again making ~$20K a year once you are able to find another airline hiring.

Reading Internet forums that are supposed to help newbies into the industry (jetcareers being one of them) is getting depressing. It is a bunch of newer pilots working long hours at regionals, not getting paid squat, and in constant fear of having to find a new job and if they will be able to. It's a lot worse if you have debt from flight training they need to pay at the same. A lot of them are saying stuff like, "I love flying, but hate commercial aviation." They do not recommend anyone taking the plunge into the industry without a college degree and real world job experience (~2 years) to fall back on if it doesn't work out.

Granted, it's a great job once you get to the heavy metal making a decent salary and working 2 weeks out of 4. But it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. I guess it's deciding if you think a poor quality of life and being poor for 2-10 years before you can get picked up by a major airline is worth it.

And like I said, you live in the UK so this might not even apply to you. I would talk to people who are in the commercial aviation industry in that country now (NOT flight schools, they are trying to sell you a product when you get down to it).

Edit: Or do you live in the UK Herring?

PD

[mrbeast]

Good for you Steel_Tomb, and good luck with the pilot training:up:

[SUBMAN1]

How much is 100 LL running you these days? I'd be curious to know before I pick that up again.

-S Use airnav.com and it'll tell you prices at your local airport, providing its not some small dirt runway. :)

PDThanks for the link. I'm going to bookmark that one!

-S

[OneToughHerring]

PeriscopeDepth,

I live in Finland. Here if one gets into the right school I guess it's at least cheaper to become a pilot although I guess in order to find work one has to be ready to go abroad. And work is sparce, I know of one guy who flies somewhat shoddy planes in South America. So getting a foothold in the industry is tough. Not that it's necessarily that more easier in any line of business, one has to, as they say, pay the dues.

At least in UK if you have the needed money they will train you to be a pilot. No application, passing of entrance examination needed, just cash. Although I guess it helps to know stuff about flying and pass the tests in the training etc.

[Steel_Tomb]

Well I went down to visit Conington airfield today, loved it. Just been around aviation is intoxicating makes you feel like a two year old. If I could afford it this month I'd have gone for a flight there and then. Instead I sat down in the public seating chatting to a few pilots and eating a bacon sarnie with a brew... life don't get much better than that lol.

There was a nasty crosswind over the active runway too, so all the student pilots who came in got caught out by it, the lads next to me were taking the piss lol evil people. "Oh oh oh... oh! Made a right balls up of that one!":rotfl::rotfl:

...

In a few months they will probably be saying that about my flying! lol!:rock:

[Jimbuna]

Good luck...I'll be sure to duck my head the next time a small prop passes over the garden ;)

[Steel_Tomb]

"The altantic waters were strangely calm as Balz climbed up to the conning tower. Out of the clouds a Cessna 152 screams down flying over the boat at speed before disappearing once again into the clouds. "ALLLAARMM! Verr dammit!" shouted Balz "I'll shoot that Steel_Tomb myself when I get back to Brest!"

:rotfl::rotfl:

"Radio message recieved...."

From: BDU
Message follows: All U-Boats in the North Atlantic theatre of operations, be aware a small aircraft has been sighted buzzing U-Boats off the English coast, you are to seek out and destroy this aircraft"

Lol...