I took my first lesson as a high school senior.  While in college, I continued flying and eventually earned my Flight Instructor certificate.  I then started working part time at a local flight school while I was still in college.

 

When I graduated college, I went into the business world, but remained in aviation on a part time basis.  I flew for fun and still did some teaching part time.  I also became a member of the Civil Air Patrol.  Along the way, I also flew part-time as a fire patrol pilot in the northeast Georgia mountains for the Georgia Forestry Commission.  At one point, I also owned a Cessna 150 (see the Photo Gallery) .

 

Eventually, I decided that I wanted to fly full time.  At that point, I was hired by Flight Safety International as an instructor at the Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach.  I taught there for about a year before I was hired as a First Officer for Atlantic Coast Airlines.

 

 

Almost certainly not!  I have had students who ranged in age from 13 to the upper sixties (and students older than that are not uncommon).  Many of the students that I taught at Flight Safety were making midlife career changes and were in their forties.

 

Students who are older may take slightly longer to learn some of the motor skills that apply to flying, but they definitely are not incapable of learning to fly.  Older students learn at a more deliberate pace, but often learn better than the youngsters.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that if you intend to make a career change, federal rules mandate that pilots retire at age 60.  If you plan to make the move, I urge you to do it sooner, rather than later, to give yourself time to gain seniority and build up your pension or 401k before retirement.

 

There can be some variation, but it is typically done as follows:

Private License

Instrument Rating

Commercial License

Multi-engine Rating

Airline Tranport Pilot License

 

 

You will earn the same license either way.  Having said that, there are advantages to both routes.  I have taught on both sides and feel qualified to make recommendations.

 

The local airport route (most often FAR 61 schools) are definitely more convenient and cost effective.  The down side is that the quality of instruction may not be as good at the bigger schools.  Regardless, you will be meeting the same FAA standards for your license.  Additionally, FAR 61 schools often allow the student to get a larger variety of real world experience than do the quick, controlled courses of the academies.

 

The larger flight academies (most often FAR 141 schools) are more expensive, but they offer several advantages.  First, they require you to put your flight training at a high priority.  At FAR 61 schools, you may only have time for one lesson a week.  At the academies, you may fly everyday, with the result that you will finish quicker.

 

Second, the FAR 141 schools strictly control their instructors and the quality of their instruction.  Depending on the school, of course, instructors must pass more rigorous tests to instruct than what the FAA required to license them.

 

Third, FAR 141 academies often have job placement assistance.  Some even have pipeline programs that can put you in the copilot seat of an airliner shortly after you earn your commercial license.  This is especially important if you are

making a midlife career change.  Even with traditional time building, the connections that the large schools have can be priceless when looking for a job.

 

Additionally, the name recognition that goes with a large school can be valuable in finding a job. 

 

My personal recommendation for an aspiring professional pilot would be a mixture of both types of school.  Earn your private license close to home.  This will enable you to make sure that aviation is for you before you make a large commitment.  Additionally, it will save you thousands of dollars because most large schools give credit for a private license.

 

After the private, build some cross country time to gain experience.  This will pad your logbook with hours needed for other ratings (at cheaper prices than the large schools charge) as well as make you a more confident pilot.

 

Consider starting at a large school when you have about forty hours of cross country time since your private license.  Use this time also to make sure that you are still proficient in the maneuvers that you performed on your checkride.

 

Enroll in the large school for your multi-engine and instrument ratings and your commercial license.  Some schools teach the instrument rating in multi-engine airplanes.  This is more expensive in the short run, but will help you get valuable (and hard to get) multi-engine hours in your logbook.  This will make it easier to find a job later.

 

Finally, you will have the option of building time (usually as an instructor) or entering a pipeline program.  Some schools will only hire instructors who graduated from their course, so consider where you want to work when you enroll.  Some schools also require students in the pipeline program to have completed their primary instruction through the same school, or give preference to their graduates.

 

 

It depends on your goal.  If you want to fly for fun, you can earn a private license for about $4,000.  This would enable you to fly a single-engine airplane like a Cessna 172 or Piper Cherokee with your friends in good weather. 

 

On the other hand, if you want to become a professional pilot, more training is required. In this case, an investment totalling $50,000 to $75,000 might be required, depending on where you do your training.

 

In all cases, how much you study and how quick you catch on will affect your bottom line.  If you fly often, you will learn for less money that if you fly once per month.

 

Computer based flight simulators are a good investment also.  While you cannot count this time toward your training, learning maneuvers and procedures on the computer first, will make it easier (and cheaper) when you do the same things in the airplane.

 

Financial aid is also available to learn to fly, but this may require that you attend an academy that is accredited as a college or tech school.  Check with your local flight school to find out what options are available.

 

 

Start by earning your private license.  This will help determine if flying is for you.  If things go well, then progress to an instrument rating and commercial license. 

 

You can earn a commercial license with about 250 hours flight time, but it will be hard to put your license to work right away.  First, you'll need to build time and experience to make yourself marketable.  A common way of doing this is by earning your flight instructor license.  Instructing will make you more proficient and knowledgeable, and has the added benefit of padding your logbook at someone else's expense!

 

Typical requirements for an entry level airline job are 1500 TT (total time), 200 ME (multi-engine time), and a college degree.  If possible, you can work on all three items at once. 

 

It does not matter in which major you earn your degree.  Many colleges and universities offer aviation degree programs.  The most famous of these colleges is Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. 

 

I recommend getting a degree in a field other than aviation for one simple reason.  The aviation industry is cyclical and unstable and it is good to have something to fall back on.  It is not unheard of for airline pilots to be furloughed (laid off) or simply not be able to find a job in economic downturns.  Be prepared to work at least part time in another field.

 

Multi-engine time is the hardest time to build.  It is expensive and multi-engine airplanes for rent are few and far between.  If you can find one, the owner usually requires at least fifty hours of multi-engine time in order for you to check out in the airplane.  That is why I recommend multi-engine training at the academies that use twins for instrument training in addition to the multi-engine courses.

 

While doing all this, make contacts with people in the industry.  If you know airline pilots who will write a letter of recommendation for you, that may help you get your foot in the door.  Other people may have contacts that they can introduce you to, or may know of openings for which you can apply.  Many of my aviation jobs were offered through my personal contacts and were never advertised to the general public.

 

 

Yes, and if you don't genuinely want to teach, I don't recommend instructing.  People who instruct only to build time do themselves and their students a disservice.

 

One of the most obvious ways to build time is to pay for it.  You can simply go out and rent the local FBO's (Fixed Base Operator - the business at your local airport) airplane and fly cross-country or locally to build time.  The down side to this tack is that it is expensive. 

 

You could also buy your own airplane.  Many people buy airplanes and lease them to FBOs and flight schools to help defray the cost of ownership.  Buying your own airplane is especially good if you can afford a twin, since multi-engine time is hard to get otherwise.  If you pick the right airplane, you might even be able to sell it for a profit when you are done.

 

There are also many other ways to get paid for flying besides instructing.  You might be able to find a job as a agricultural pilot (crop duster) or banner tower.  If you are lucky, you might even find a job spotting forest fires, spotting fish for commercial fishermen, or doing traffic reports for a local radio station.  If you know an aircraft dealer, you may be able to ferry airplanes to new owners or to maintenance.  Additionally, some ranchers and government agencies use aircraft to track animals or check fences in isolated areas.  You could also do sight-seeing trips or aerial photography.

 

With a little experience, you can probably also find a job flying passengers or cargo under FAR 135 (charter regulations).  These companies often do not have requirements as stringent as the airlines and it is very good experience.  A lot of charter flying is done in twins, and some may even be done in turbine aircraft, so this could add quality time to your logbook!

 

Another way to build time is through volunteering.  There are many nonprofit and charitable organizations that look for pilots.  These range from SAR (search and rescue) groups like Civil Air Patrol and the US Coast Guard Auxiliary to mercy medical transportation providers such as Angel Flight. 

 

 

New Hire training takes approximately 6 - 8 weeks, although it depends on the airline and the type of airplane that you will be flying.

 

At ACA, my training started off with a week of Indoc.  This is where you fill out the HR paperwork, learn about your benefits, and how the company does things.   We were also required to take a drug test and visit the DMV to get a copy of our driving records.  This is the easy week.

 

Week 2 is GOS or General Operational Subjects.  This week is spent going through the company's operations specifications and Flight Operations Manual.  These documents spell out what (and how) the FAA has authorized the airline to do.  Some things will be familiar, but others will be totally new.  For example, ACA has a completely different method for determining alternates than what you will have learned flying in the private sector.  At the end of this week, there is a multiple choice test.

 

Next is two weeks of Systems.  This is where you learn about the nuts and bolts of your airplane.  Airliners are complex machines and each system is covered individually (hydraulics, pressurization, engines, fuel, etc.).  You will also learn about what to do when something goes wrong and what the different fault lights mean.  You also learn how to do performance planning and weight and balance.  There is another written test at the end of the systems course.

 

The next week is Advanced CRM and crew coordination, along with some time to ride in the jumpseat of your aircraft on observation flights.  This gives you time to prepare for what comes next.

 

Next, you pair off with a simulator partner and do several Cockpit Procedures Trainer (CPT) sessions with an instructor.  These sessions ensure that you have learned your flow checklists and memory items, and that you are familiar with the takeoff and approach profiles, before you actually get into the simulator. 

 

The CPT is mockup of the cockpit that you and your partner actually sit in.  This way you can learn the placement of the switches and start getting the feel of your new office.  This saves lots of time and aggravation when you get into the simulator.

 

The simulator is a large box on stilts that actually moves.  It looks exactly like the airplane cockpit and when you look out the windows, you see video screens.  It is very realistic. 

 

In the simulator, you and your partner learn to fly the airplane and handle emergency situations.  You will become comfortable taking off, landing, and flying around with or without both engines!  You also do LOFT (line oriented flight training) in the simulator.  This is a practice line flight, including paperwork, from startup to shutdown.

 

One of the hardest things for a general aviation pilot to do is to become comfortable with the auto pilot and flight director (and the associated callouts).  For that reason, you do very little hand flying in the simulator.  At this point, you are transitioning from hands on pilot to systems manager. 

 

At the end of your sim training, there is a checkride.  This includes an oral exam and a sim flight.  Unlike FAA checkrides, you will normally have the oral and flight on different days. 

 

The oral includes memorized items and limitations, systems questions, performance problems, and weight and balance.  Basically, it is the final exam for all of your groundschool courses.

 

The sim check for the Jetstream 41 is in two parts.  The first part is a maneuvers validation.  This includes stalls, V1 cuts (you lose the engine as you lift off), precision and nonprecision approaches (with and without an engine failure), aborted takeoff, missed approach, holding patterns, and a no flap landing.

 

The second part of the sim check is the LOE, which another practice line flight.  This enures that you know company procedures as well as how to fly the airplane.

 

In the Jetstream 41, we also had a 15% ride.  The J41 simulators were level C, that is they are not realistic enough to complete the whole checkride in the sim, so 15% of the checkride is done the airplane.  This is actually kind of nice.  Most airline pilots fly their airplanes for the first time with a load of paying customers in the back. 

 

My 15% ride was from Dulles to Martinsburg, WV.  The check airman and I flew up, did an ILS approach with a missed approach, a simulated single-engine approach to a landing, and a visual approach to a landing.  Then another new FO took us back to Dulles.