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Most effective route for training to be a pilot

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  • 21-08-2017 5:12pm
    #1
    Blooda
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    I've been always interested in aviation and a career as a pilot has always been my end goal, I'm heading into sixth year now and wondering which collage courses I should be going for and any tips or insight that I should have in mind for trying to achieve this all help if much appropriated


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    #2
    deaddonkey15
    Registered Users Posts: 3,574 ✭✭✭deaddonkey15


    Blooda wrote: »
    I've been always interested in aviation and a career as a pilot has always been my end goal, I'm heading into sixth year now and wondering which collage courses I should be going for and any tips or insight that I should have in mind for trying to achieve this all help if much appropriated

    It doesn't really matter what course you do but a maths/physics/engineering course won't do you any harm. There's plenty of aviation related courses around.


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    #3
    martinsvi
    Registered Users Posts: 1,729 ✭✭✭martinsvi


    well the question really is - whether your mum and dad have 100k to "lend" you or not. If they do, go right for one of the integrated programmes with CTC/FTE/AFTA or whoever else you fancy, get it done quickly and hope the market is still as good in hiring terms as it is now when you finish your training. 3rd level education is a good thing and it will serve well as a backup should things go wrong, however as you said you always have had interest, i'm sure you have researched the topic and learned that the hiring situation in aviation is cyclic and now it would seem were at it's peak. I wouldn't waste my time on college in these conditions. Things can be different a year from now when you finish your 6th year thou..

    if you don't have wealthy parents, forget about aviation for next 5-6 years. Do the college but research the situation well - your interests in what you would like to do for a living must match the demand in the job market. It's kind of pointless to waste good bit of your life to become an egyptologist simply because you might be a fan of history if there are no jobs for that..

    ..saying that - there are quite of few courses offering aviation related degrees but some of them are downright pointless. Have a look at the job market and see where the demand is. Your goal should be getting a qualification that's in demand therefore pays reasonably well and that is somewhat of interest to you. If you don't tick all the boxes your journey will be a bit longer or tiresome than it should be.

    Now once you're 25-26 hopefully earning reasonable money in a field that you don't hate, once you're saved about 20-40k, it's probably a good idea to go and do your PPL and begin the journey of a modular training. It's a long term project, but you know, things worth doing aren't always easy.

    one last thing - whatever you do, try to stay away from loans. Even more importantly, if your parents think it's a good idea to remortgage their house simply to support you, stop them right there! I've met far too many young people already who are struggling with repayments or even worse - they get kicked out of the integrated programme or they struggle to keep up but they have no exit, no way out from this situation, because their parents expect them to become captains in 5 years and bringing home 6 digit salaries.. whatever you do, leave yourself an "out".. mommy and daddy putting pressure on you to get back their return of investment is one thing you can truly do without


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    #4
    CoisFharraige
    Registered Users Posts: 217 ✭✭CoisFharraige


    I can only second what martinsvi said. First of all, keep the loans away from you with as big a stick as you can find. You never know when the market will go t1ts up, and it's inevitable as we're at a peak now, and then that 100K loan turns into something much more daunting when you're left with no job or working a low-hour contract. I've seen a family fall apart because of loans and money and the like for setting up businesses, it's the same concept, please don't take that much money from your parents as that will quickly sour...

    Go to college, get a degree in something you are interested in, chemistry maybe? Or physics/maths even better. Get a job and save-up! If you really want it your drive will keep you going throughout. Easier said then done RE a job at the end of it, but still you'll have to hope so. You also have this degree to, using the cliché, 'fall-back' on. It also shows the airlines that you might have some level of maturity which I'd imagine some of the captains in EP2 in the EZY documentary could do with in their FOs... Have you ever thought about trying out for ATC?

    Good luck and let us know what you decide. Remember nothing you do in terms of education will ever be a waste. Heck you might find college super interesting and decide to go with something else!


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