Aerospace Systems Engineer or Pilot?

I have always had the bug for flying and it has been a dream of mine from since i can remember. Becoming directly an airline pilot is/was not a viable solution for me as i can't afford it, due to this i took an Aerospace Systems Engineering degree and i'm about to graduate with a 2:1 (upper second).It still is my dream to fly and although i'm to be an Engineer a day will come when i will get in a cockpit and fly. The issue with this is that i have always wanted flying to be more than just a hobby. The only route i can think of is through the R.A.F. Applying to become a pilot and although being a fighter pilot would be the ultimate goal I do understand that only a few are actually selected to fill those roles. Lastly, we have got all the automation going into aircrafts now and all the unmanned UAVs. I don't want to follow my dreams and be replaced by drone or a system (which is probably what is going to happen in the future). So what are your thoughts on this, Pilot or Engineer?

If you want to be a pilot, apply for it whilst they're still needed. But don't limit your aspirations to fast jets (fighters), the RAF employs far more transporter pilots and those skills are far more similar to what airline pilots do.

Transporter pilots also tend to log far more hours than fast jet jockeys.

If the day comes during your career when cockpit automation takes over, your engineering qualifications will still be in great demand, plus all current RAF drones are still piloted but from a real pilot sitting at a remote location.

2.1 isn't a great pass considering the competition for scarce places. If your age allows, you'd do well to spend another year to gain a Masters degree. That will set you apart from the herd.

Follow your dreams and don't set yourself obstacles. Others will put enough of those in your way to be dealing with.

When I was learning to fly (while studying aerospace engineering) I happened to talk to an airline pilot who said to me, "I can see how much you love flying. Do yourself a favor and don't ever do it for a living." I had already come to that conclusion but it was good to hear it from somebody who had been there. 37 years later I have no regrets, I still enjoy my engineering work and can fly my own plane whenever and wherever I want.

If you have the temperament to get through engineering school, you probably won't be happy as an aerial bus driver. Also read Richard Bach's essay "Paradise is a Personal Thing" (in his "A Gift of Wings" collection).

Let us see if you are trolling.

1. Find the volume V of a "watermelon cut" section of a sphere (spherical wedge) with a given section length x on the equator and a given radius r. If the section length x on the equator is increased by y feet per second, what is the corresponding increase in volume in gallons per minute (expressed in x, r and y).

2. The dial of a power meter makes 400 revolutions per kilowatt-hour. What is the wattage of an appliance that makes the dial turn one complete revolution every 8.2 seconds. Determine the formula for computing the wattage of an appliance that makes the dial turn one complete revolution every x minutes.

Get your engineering degree and find a Really good job in that field. THEN if you want to go flying, you can get a PRIVATE pilot's license, buy your own airplane and go flying WHEN and WHERE YOU want!

You don't need some low life dispatcher rousting you out of a nice warm bed at O-Dark thirty to go take an airplane load of whiny passengers to a place where you don't want to be, and in weather conditions that you don't want to fly in.