So maybe I will whine a bit, but mostly for the sake of curiosity than anything else.. You guys have given me insight multiple times and if I may add, always with a laid-back humorous way which I love
*"too serious" disclaimer here*
My conclusion after a couple of years of following the aviation scene in Greece is this.. GA is practically nonexistant though enthusiastic, it's a lot of pain and expensive.. And that's practically the end of it. We have a couple of airline outfits, a smaller private company or two, a couple of schools that can get you a CPL, half a dozen more to get your PPL and that with prices you could easily go get the license anywhere else in the world.. Corporate jobs, middle level as I call them or simple FI jobs are as scarce as GA is. So, apart from sharing a sports plane (Microlight) AFTER I get a well paid job, however cool that is, home seems like a dead-end..
It has crossed my mind more than once (more than once every day lately) to become a professional pilot. I'm young enough to not really think about paychecks and be content with what will pay the bank and still earn me what a job flipping burgers would (that strip is still my favorite!
). The states sound pretty good to do just that. Oz too.. Europe, not so much. I'm thinking I'll have to overcome certain difficulties, like finding a good school to get me there and offer me a job as an FI to build hours after the rating. Or, very importantly, finding the whole bunch of money upfront. Or then finding an outfit that will take the hassle to have me work on a visa instead of hiring the next kid who, after all, is in his own country.
Still, I do believe it's doable and, since I can't do it in my back yard anyway, why not opt for somewhere the odds look best?
But I fear maybe I'm idealising the whole deal.. I do lack information and first-hand experience of how the aviation world is anywhere else. I just hear the words of my pilot friend after he gave me my first ride/unofficial lesson on his small plane ring to my head: "If you have the cash, go to the States. Flying just seems like you"
Ok, 5 am ranting after-friday-night-out, thought-I-share time is over. Give some humor guys and I'll go grab a beer