The PRI programme costs 65,000, and this includes food and accommodation, " said PRI Academy recruitment director Eddie Russell.

"Some people will get a personal loan to cover the cost, some will use their SSIA to cover at least a part of the price, while others will ask their parents to act as guarantors on a bank loan. But the fact that many people have a good amount of equity in their houses these days means that prospective students can tap into the potential value of their family homes to finance their new careers."

According to Russell, it tends to be families which have a second home which are more likely to go down the route of an equity release to finance the PRI programme . . . some people would be reluctant to take out a student loan on their family home, but they are perfectly willing to secure finance through a relatively small topup mortgage on a second property. Although, given the levels of equity that exist in some Irish homes, a 65,000 top up would hardly be noticed by many families or individuals, even if it was secured on the primary residence.

There are other mechanisms outside of a straight equity release that will allow people to finance their pilot training without putting undue pressure on them while they are partaking in training.

"Some people opt for financial products such as a split top-up mortgage, " explained Russell. "These are loans which run parallel to a mortgage, but which can be paid off at any time by the student . . . particularly when they start to make some money. But because they are structured like a mortgage, the interest rates are significantly lower than they would be for a regular student loan."

Of course, a career in flying is seen as very desirable at the moment, not only because you get to spend quite a bit of time in aircraft of all types, but because the job opportunities that are currently available are making it a potentially lucrative career choice. Indeed, it has been estimated that the world will need about 100,000 new pilots by the year 2020, with many opportunities following the global migration of flight crew to the giant economies of India and China.

Still, the first two years of pilot training will not be a time for making money . . .indeed, for the initial two years, students will be so busy flying that they will tend not have time to make any repayments.

"The first year is entirely about the training, and the price of the course includes full board, which will allow our students to concentrate on learning how to fly, " said Russell. "In the second year, pilots get to work as salaried instructors, but again the pay is only sufficient to cover living expenses and flights home for holidays. By year three, our pilots are on good salaries, and will be in a position to start making repayments on the investment that they have made in their careers."

According to Russell, an Irish student went one better in terms of financing his pilot training.

"We had one student, let's call him Student X, who had a 200,000 mortgage on an Irish property that he bought in 2000 when he was 21, " he said. "Last year, this same property was valued at 600,000, so Student X applied for an equity release loan of 165,000. That was 65,000 for the course, and 100,000 for a property in Canada. " A property in Canada?

"Properties are excellent value in Northern Ontario, " explained Russell. "He bought a three bedroom house for C$150,000, which translates to a figure of about 90,000.

He subsequently let out this property to teachers in the neighbouring university . . . we are based in a university town. Rental incomes in Ontario have a very high yield (12%)as compared with the value of the property, and this income, combined with the rental income from his property in Ireland, meant that Student X found himself in profit for the duration of the course."

All of which sounds very clever indeed. But that is only a half of the story. Because Student X had bought his original Canadian property for cash, his bank then gave him a 100% home loan on a second property in Canada, which he now rents to the instructors at the Algonquin Flight Centre (the school which offers the PRI Academy training programme).

"This is a student of 27 years of age, who now has a commercial pilot's licence that he did not have a year ago, " said Russell. "He also has 50% equity in a house in Bray (his original house is now valued at 700,000, and he has a mortgage of about 365,000 on it). And he has 50% equity on two houses in Canada (one of which he bought outright, and the other on which he secured 100% funding), neither of which he had just over a year ago. I told him that he was a very clever fellow, but he told me that it was just good business."

The notion of a resourceful pilot is hardly new . . . some of the greatest pioneers and businesspeople of the 20th and 21st century have been involved in the aviation industry. But it certainly points to the possibilities when it comes to financing what would be a dream career move for many people - 65,000 can seem like a large figure at first, but when measured against the career possibilities, it can actually seem like a relatively small price to pay.

For more information please contact www. priacademy. com 01 6024764