Becoming a pilot.. Advice?

cliffordg90

Hi lads,

I'm doing my leaving certificate this year and I've been a flying enthusiast since a very young age and have always wanted to be pilot. I'm clueless at this stage. I simply don't have the large amount of money that the various FTO's demand on training and have been researching everywhere on how I can get in there without the big spending. Just wondering does anyone have any suggestions on how I could work around this or know of a route that I could go down in getting there?

People have told me that the best way to go would be the Air Corps and I am looking into that although would like to avoid it if at all possible. I plan on doing the Aviation Management with Pilot Studies course in DCU (DC117). Would this course be of benefit or does anyone know of someone who has become a pilot after graduating from this course?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm desperate at this stage.

Thanks,
Greg

EI-DOR

Hi Greg,

If you're not on PPRuNe yet then I would advise you check it out as you will find all your answers there. These Qs are asked every day on the site so get the kettle on and start reading!

Here's some links for you to check out!

http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies-14/

http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/531568-how-did-you-make-pilot.html

http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/488905-aviation-management-pilot-studies-any-thoughts.html

KnotABother

I'm half way through my Instrument Rating now. There is no way to avoid big spending really. The Air Corp is not a great route to commercial flying and if you want my advice steer clear of that DCU course. Many organisations try and muscle in on aviation and many fail, DCU are one. I've been told that there is no real knowledge of the reality of aviation connected with the course and you will still have to pay just as much for your flight training at a non primarily recognised FTO on that course.

The reality is that if you cannot get a fully funded cadetship(gold dust) then you are going to have to pay.

Shamrock231

Cadetships that pay the majority of your costs such as the Aer Lingus one are few and far between, but if you can get one go for it. There are some out there that offer a job at the end but you have to pay for all your training yourself still, this is the next best option out there.

AFAIK, the DCU course uses FTE Jerez as their flight training Provider, so you're going to have to be able to pay for that if you want to do the pilot studies part of that course, and it's a good €116k, plus expenses to go there, not exactly cheap.

Integrated courses offer no guarentee of a job at the end, you have to be both very good and very lucky to get one.

Peregrine

Unless you get into a cadetship that covers all of the costs of your training, you're going to have to pay the costs. If you get a cadetship that partly funds your training, you'll still have to pay the difference.

As for the DCU course, I had a look around and I went to their open day. It was frightening how little the person giving the talk knew about aviation. I'm going to avoid it myself. Remember that if you chose the pilot studies option, you'll still have to pay for your training at Jerez or Oxford which can be well over €100k. The course only started a few years ago. I don't even know if they produced their first graduates yet.

If you're interested in military flying then go ahead and apply for the Air Corps but they take 3-5 cadets(Does change from year to year) from the 1000s that apply and unless that's what you really want, I wouldn't recommend it.

Shamrock231 wrote: »

AFAIK, the DCU course uses FTE Jerez as their flight training Provider

Used to be just FTE Jerez when the course started 3 or 4 years ago but now I see that Oxford Aviation Academy is also on the list.

Shamrock231

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

Used to be just FTE Jerez when the course started 3 or 4 years ago but now I see that Oxford Aviation Academy is also on the list.

The first course from 3 years ago started off with something like 40 students, but only has something like 25 now in their final year, and only 2 of them are doing the pilot studies part, both are in Jerez I've heard...

folbotcar

All good advice. By all means apply for any cadetships that come up and the Air Corps. But failing that unless you win the lottery or have a rich relative. You'll have to do it the hard way. Go to college, study something you like. Something that pays well when you graduate. Alternatively find a highly paid and maybe dangerous job and save hard! I've met pilots who used to be deep sea divers, engineers, soldiers, miners and Doctors!

Expect to be in a position to be in a position to start looking for pilot jobs in your late twenties or early thirties. About ten years from now! It's a real test of your enthusiasm. But there are no shortcuts.

Meanwhile start taking lessons if you can. Get in on the general aviation scene here. There are many useful contacts to be had which could be useful in the future. Besides it's fun!

Good luck, you'll need it!