Bladeslapper

G'day everyone,

I am currently doing my CPL with only a couple subjects left and only about 20 hrs in the book, now we all know that self funding the really expensive training cost can be pretty hard for some of us and the perspective of getting a job out of it are not very pretty either....
So all that making me wonder what would be the smartest way to go about it....

Can anyone shed some light about the Army path? I doubt that I could go that way due to my vision being far from perfect (basically cant see without glasses or contacts...) But I was wondering if any of you could confirm what would the requirements be in that regard?

The other option that I am considering is going to the US....
Looking at Bristow academy the full cost of the CPL is much cheaper that what it is here in Australia and moving to a different country is definitely not an issue for me as I am already a foreigner here haha.
I have also heard and read that it is much easier to get a first job over there, potentially as an instructor to start with and build up hours
The only potentially bad thing I have heard about the US is that one of the reason that it is cheaper is because you basically fly with instructors who are fairly new to the industry as opposed to the tendency of Australian instructors
being more experience pilots and therefore providing a better quality of training...

anyone got info, recommendations, suggestions or any constructive comments that could help me out to figure out what is the best option? (considering the two most likely options are CPL in the civil either here or the US as I possibly wouldnt be eligible for the army..)

Mapala,

First of all, good luck on your training and upcoming tests.
I think you should have a look in Australia first, there are always opportunties that arise, you just have to snap at them and keep your eyes open, not to mention the possible jobs you can get through networking. They may not be immediate flying jobs, but some may lead to eventual flying; but any experience is better than none.

I have heard that it is very very difficult to snag a job in the US.

hkk wrote:Mapala

Note: the following information was based off what happened in 2008.
If you are willing to go down this path, the Army will take you if you have had laser eye surgery to correct your vision to better than 20/20. LASIK was UNACCEPTABLE but PRK was acceptable. Speak to Military medical staff about this.

Good luck

S

When I went to apply in 2012 they said your UNCORRECTED vision must be better than 20/10 (I think) but they emphasized that ANY eye surgery would and always will count as correction and EXCLUDE you from military selection. But like Mapala said best to go and speak to them yourself just dont get your hopes too high

The information provided by HKK is still current. I had LASEK in 2009 with pre-surgery refraction of -5 left and -3 right and was subsequently confirmed as AVR1 by AVMED.