I am a university graduate who is trying to become an airline pilot. To do so I need to raise £70,000 and that's why I have created this website.
I've grown up a bit since this picture was taken but I can't show you what I look like now. At the moment my employer doesn't know that I wish to begin a full-time training course so my identity has to remain a mystery.
My Story
I am going to give you a brief biography of myself. Not because I have led an amazing life worthy of reading about but because I have always found the background story for most wannabes very interesting. I also think it helps to make decisions if you know what someone else has done and you might get a few ideas.
The Fascination
When I was younger I wanted to be several things; an ice cream man, the guy who designs lego toys and a pilot. I live pretty close to Heathrow Airport and that for me made all the difference. At school, morning break would start to the sound of Concorde flying overhead, it amazed me every time. Even as I sit here and type I can hear planes flying overhead and I want to be the guy in the front. When I was younger, my dad got a job as an electrician with British Airways. He worked on the ground vehicles like the tugs. Sometimes he would take me into work with him and I got to see different parts of the airport. I also got taken along to the family days that BA used to put on so I really felt part of it when I was younger. Is that enough to explain why I want to be a pilot, not really but I hope that explains where the initial fascination came from. Maybe if the ice cream man came round more often things would have been different.
The Experiences
The first time I was 100% certain I wanted to be a pilot professionally was the first time I took the controls of an aeroplane. My mum's friend has a PPL and he was kind enough to take me for a flight and let me take the controls. I loved every moment of it but I guess it was the feeling of complete freedom to move in any direction that really grabbed me. I also learnt a good lesson that day. Throughout the flight I was constantly being discouraged from pursuing a career as a pilot. This is something that most pilots I have met do. At first I felt as though I was being excluded from joining this elite club but I soon came to realise that pilots understand how difficult it is to get there and as a favour to anyone starting out they are brutally honest about everything that is involved.
The Hard Work
I chose to do A-levels in Maths, Physics and Computing. Luckily for me those happened to be my favourite subjects. More to come soon...
