ZERO TO ATPL
My journey through commercial pilot training
My journey through commercial pilot training
The Journey
Click on each box for more information.
Click on each box for more information.
Contact -
zerotoatpl(at)hotmail.com
zerotoatpl(at)hotmail.com
completed
completed
completed
23-March-2010
It's been a while since my last update! I've been pretty busy, the main parachute season has just begun, so I'm building up for a busy period of flying ahead, on top of that I've got some part time ariel photography work and a summer contract to fly full time air taxi. So this means that I'm only teaching on a supply basis if and when I have time.
I'm not quite in full time flying work yet, but I'm slowly getting there. Times are still really tough and there are thousands of unemployed pilots, both newly qualified and experienced, so I consider myself really lucky to be gaining the experience I am just now.
The diary / website has been a fun process, something that has kept me going when times have been tough as well as being a method for me to review each day when I was training full time.
I've also had the pleasure of many hundreds of e-mails, mostly from other student pilots who have followed my progress, these have always been a privelage to read and answer.
However, I think the time has come to bring it to an end, I have finished my training as a fully qualified commercial pilot and I'm gettting paid to do what I love. I always said that I didn't care what I flew, as long as I was flying, this is still the case. Flying for an airline is not the be all and end all of being a pilot, the words commercial pilot encompasses a wide and varied range of flying.
At the age of 35, with a (very supportive) wife, four children and working full time, I have achieved my goal. It can be done!
I'll leave the website as an archive for as long as it is still a relevant tool for other "wannabies" as they trawl the net for bits of information about what lies ahead of them.
All the best, and thanks for taking the time to read, hopefully see you all in the skies!
Sincerely
Kevin
21-September-09
It's a funny old world sometimes. The well documented crisis is having a terrible effect on the aviation industry, meaning that a combination of airlines reducing fleets and the abundance of unemployed experienced pilots means that there are almost no jobs....anywhere.....in the world.
I still consider myself one of the lucky ones, I have a good job that I enjoy and very little debt after finishing training, but I'm not giving up on my flying career that easily. It's all a question of adjusting plans and being flexible.
The most important thing is to keep flying, this is also expensive, so I have been building up the driving hours to visit every parachute club, glider towing site, airport, air photography company, basically every flying organization within a few few hours of where I live. Whilst I will move anywhere in the world for a full time flying job, realistically, part time flying needs to be within driving distance.
You have to be persistent without being pushy and friendly without being false. Communication skills really are a big plus in this game, just being able to talk to people in general conversation is a dying art. Knowing when to listen, when to reply, when to say nothing and when to sell yourself! I'm no expert, but the advantage of working with people all my life certainly helps.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've managed to get part time weekend work dropping parachutists. It's paid work (very little I may add) but lots of good flying hours at the weekends. It's a start, it may not seem like much to some, but I'm over the moon :-)
I still need to do my MCC course, but just now I'm in no real rush. I'm currently looking at going to Berlin, but that could all change.
8-August-09
It's been a while again since the last update, this is due to some last minute change of plans that led to me moving down to Spain to do my MEIR and waiting until next year to do my instructors rating.
So why did I do this? well it turns out that I did not have the 200 total hours required to start the instructors course, this meant I would have to rent a plane and hour build 20 more hours in order to start, so I started to get the idea that the money that I would use to do this would be better spent by doing the Multi Engine Instrument Rating.
This was fine in principle, but I only had six weeks left to complete this due to me starting back at my old job as a teacher (whilst waiting for the aviation industry to pick up) and it was going to take 8 weeks at least at Tayside!
To cut a long story short I ended up choosing Aerodynamics in Spain, and just two days ago I passed first time the MEIR. I have written a diary of my experiences In Spain, which I will upload soon!
Until then, Adios!
13-June-09
I passed the CPL yesterday. Quite a nice feeling to know that I'm a commercial pilot. I've written most of the diary for the last week of the CPL and when I get the chance I'll write the rest and upload it.
The plan was to go directly into my instructors rating, but I don't have enough hours to start (200) so I'm starting on the MEIR on Monday, again at Tayside Aviation in Dundee. A diary will, of course, be posted in due time.
15-May-09
The last part of the hour building is online now. I have also updated the costs to show the details. The price ended up being £79.10 per hour. One thing to note is that with a lease like the one I took, you only pay for flying time, but you log your hours from brakes on to brakes off, so this is in essence "free hours"
I've started he CPL at Dundee and the first few days are also online now. It's hard work, but very rewarding!
2-May-09
Almost finished with my hour building, I'll try and get the last couple of weeks diary uploaded soon.
In the meantime thankyou for all the e-mails I've received, I think I've managed to reply to them all now, one theme that I have been asked about a few times is the costs of hour building. I'll put a detailed breakdown on the costs page when I'm finished, but so far it's working out at about the £80 mark, inclusive of everything, landing, parking, oil etc etc. Not too bad, especially when I have exclusive use of the plane, no sharing it, waiting on it and no extra living costs.
It's like having your own plane but without the risk or expense, I've even got into the habit of calling it "my plane" a habit I'm unfortunately going to have to break this week when I return it:-(
All in all the experience gained from flying here in Scotland has been a fantastic and an experience I would recommend to all hour builders, both big red kite aviation (who I leased the plane from) and Prestwick flight centre (where I've been based) have been fantastic, I must thank them both for all they have done to help me and I can recommend them both without hesitation.
next step CPL!
5-April-09
I've started my hour building and the first weeks diary is written up. So far it's been a great experience, and I'm trying to challenge myself by visiting new places all the time instead of going to the same airports again and again. It makes it harder but in the long run it will be more beneficial.
19-Feb-09
The night qualification write up is online now!
18-Feb-09
Well, I'm back from my week in Spain with a completed IMC rating and my night qualification done.
I've written a diary for the IMC rating which is on the site now and I'll try and post the night rating one over the next couple of days.
A week to be remembered!
25-Jan-09
The next steps
Well, quite a lots been happening. I had my Class 1 renewal a couple of days ago, I decided to fly to Stansted and do it at Aviation Medica. It still worked out much cheaper than doing it in Denmark.
My hour building is in place, I've rented a Cessna 152 for a month from bigredkite.com. It's working out at USA prices in the UK, a really good deal, it works out at about £47 an hour dry. so I've bought 80 hours.
On top of that, I'm off to Fly-in-Spain for a weeks holiday in a couple of weeks time. I've decided to do my IMC rating and night qualification with them. Whilst the night qualification is a requirement to begin the CPL course, The IMC is by choice, I've decided that firstly, it will make me a better pilot and secondly, it will come in very handy whilst hour building in the UK for a month!
As for the CPL and Instructors rating, they are also booked. I start in May back at Tayside Aviation in Dundee, where I first learned to fly all those years ago. They still have a great reputation, so I'm sure it's the right choice.
I'll try and write a diary of the IMC when I'm in Spain and get a few good photos as well.
21-Jan-09
I've decided to move my "blog" over to a more permanent website. The idea being that it will be easier to access each section when needed rather than having to go back through pages and pages of posts.
On the left, is the path I'm taking, I will update each section as and when appropriate and on the right hand side, is the other bits and pieces.
Regards Kevin
It's been a while since my last update! I've been pretty busy, the main parachute season has just begun, so I'm building up for a busy period of flying ahead, on top of that I've got some part time ariel photography work and a summer contract to fly full time air taxi. So this means that I'm only teaching on a supply basis if and when I have time.
I'm not quite in full time flying work yet, but I'm slowly getting there. Times are still really tough and there are thousands of unemployed pilots, both newly qualified and experienced, so I consider myself really lucky to be gaining the experience I am just now.
The diary / website has been a fun process, something that has kept me going when times have been tough as well as being a method for me to review each day when I was training full time.
I've also had the pleasure of many hundreds of e-mails, mostly from other student pilots who have followed my progress, these have always been a privelage to read and answer.
However, I think the time has come to bring it to an end, I have finished my training as a fully qualified commercial pilot and I'm gettting paid to do what I love. I always said that I didn't care what I flew, as long as I was flying, this is still the case. Flying for an airline is not the be all and end all of being a pilot, the words commercial pilot encompasses a wide and varied range of flying.
At the age of 35, with a (very supportive) wife, four children and working full time, I have achieved my goal. It can be done!
I'll leave the website as an archive for as long as it is still a relevant tool for other "wannabies" as they trawl the net for bits of information about what lies ahead of them.
All the best, and thanks for taking the time to read, hopefully see you all in the skies!
Sincerely
Kevin
21-September-09
It's a funny old world sometimes. The well documented crisis is having a terrible effect on the aviation industry, meaning that a combination of airlines reducing fleets and the abundance of unemployed experienced pilots means that there are almost no jobs....anywhere.....in the world.
I still consider myself one of the lucky ones, I have a good job that I enjoy and very little debt after finishing training, but I'm not giving up on my flying career that easily. It's all a question of adjusting plans and being flexible.
The most important thing is to keep flying, this is also expensive, so I have been building up the driving hours to visit every parachute club, glider towing site, airport, air photography company, basically every flying organization within a few few hours of where I live. Whilst I will move anywhere in the world for a full time flying job, realistically, part time flying needs to be within driving distance.
You have to be persistent without being pushy and friendly without being false. Communication skills really are a big plus in this game, just being able to talk to people in general conversation is a dying art. Knowing when to listen, when to reply, when to say nothing and when to sell yourself! I'm no expert, but the advantage of working with people all my life certainly helps.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've managed to get part time weekend work dropping parachutists. It's paid work (very little I may add) but lots of good flying hours at the weekends. It's a start, it may not seem like much to some, but I'm over the moon :-)
I still need to do my MCC course, but just now I'm in no real rush. I'm currently looking at going to Berlin, but that could all change.
8-August-09
It's been a while again since the last update, this is due to some last minute change of plans that led to me moving down to Spain to do my MEIR and waiting until next year to do my instructors rating.
So why did I do this? well it turns out that I did not have the 200 total hours required to start the instructors course, this meant I would have to rent a plane and hour build 20 more hours in order to start, so I started to get the idea that the money that I would use to do this would be better spent by doing the Multi Engine Instrument Rating.
This was fine in principle, but I only had six weeks left to complete this due to me starting back at my old job as a teacher (whilst waiting for the aviation industry to pick up) and it was going to take 8 weeks at least at Tayside!
To cut a long story short I ended up choosing Aerodynamics in Spain, and just two days ago I passed first time the MEIR. I have written a diary of my experiences In Spain, which I will upload soon!
Until then, Adios!
13-June-09
I passed the CPL yesterday. Quite a nice feeling to know that I'm a commercial pilot. I've written most of the diary for the last week of the CPL and when I get the chance I'll write the rest and upload it.
The plan was to go directly into my instructors rating, but I don't have enough hours to start (200) so I'm starting on the MEIR on Monday, again at Tayside Aviation in Dundee. A diary will, of course, be posted in due time.
15-May-09
The last part of the hour building is online now. I have also updated the costs to show the details. The price ended up being £79.10 per hour. One thing to note is that with a lease like the one I took, you only pay for flying time, but you log your hours from brakes on to brakes off, so this is in essence "free hours"
I've started he CPL at Dundee and the first few days are also online now. It's hard work, but very rewarding!
2-May-09
Almost finished with my hour building, I'll try and get the last couple of weeks diary uploaded soon.
In the meantime thankyou for all the e-mails I've received, I think I've managed to reply to them all now, one theme that I have been asked about a few times is the costs of hour building. I'll put a detailed breakdown on the costs page when I'm finished, but so far it's working out at about the £80 mark, inclusive of everything, landing, parking, oil etc etc. Not too bad, especially when I have exclusive use of the plane, no sharing it, waiting on it and no extra living costs.
It's like having your own plane but without the risk or expense, I've even got into the habit of calling it "my plane" a habit I'm unfortunately going to have to break this week when I return it:-(
All in all the experience gained from flying here in Scotland has been a fantastic and an experience I would recommend to all hour builders, both big red kite aviation (who I leased the plane from) and Prestwick flight centre (where I've been based) have been fantastic, I must thank them both for all they have done to help me and I can recommend them both without hesitation.
next step CPL!
5-April-09
I've started my hour building and the first weeks diary is written up. So far it's been a great experience, and I'm trying to challenge myself by visiting new places all the time instead of going to the same airports again and again. It makes it harder but in the long run it will be more beneficial.
19-Feb-09
The night qualification write up is online now!
18-Feb-09
Well, I'm back from my week in Spain with a completed IMC rating and my night qualification done.
I've written a diary for the IMC rating which is on the site now and I'll try and post the night rating one over the next couple of days.
A week to be remembered!
25-Jan-09
The next steps
Well, quite a lots been happening. I had my Class 1 renewal a couple of days ago, I decided to fly to Stansted and do it at Aviation Medica. It still worked out much cheaper than doing it in Denmark.
My hour building is in place, I've rented a Cessna 152 for a month from bigredkite.com. It's working out at USA prices in the UK, a really good deal, it works out at about £47 an hour dry. so I've bought 80 hours.
On top of that, I'm off to Fly-in-Spain for a weeks holiday in a couple of weeks time. I've decided to do my IMC rating and night qualification with them. Whilst the night qualification is a requirement to begin the CPL course, The IMC is by choice, I've decided that firstly, it will make me a better pilot and secondly, it will come in very handy whilst hour building in the UK for a month!
As for the CPL and Instructors rating, they are also booked. I start in May back at Tayside Aviation in Dundee, where I first learned to fly all those years ago. They still have a great reputation, so I'm sure it's the right choice.
I'll try and write a diary of the IMC when I'm in Spain and get a few good photos as well.
21-Jan-09
I've decided to move my "blog" over to a more permanent website. The idea being that it will be easier to access each section when needed rather than having to go back through pages and pages of posts.
On the left, is the path I'm taking, I will update each section as and when appropriate and on the right hand side, is the other bits and pieces.
Regards Kevin
completed
completed
completed
completed
completed