Commercial pilot questions

4 Answers

1. Best Answer
   
   

   
   

   KDS on Feb 18, 2019

   It’s an old joke, but I’ll use it anyway. You can grow up or you can be a commercial pilot, but you can’t do both.

   1: Money. There isn’t anything cheap in aviation and getting to the point of being able to work as a paid pilot can take a pretty big chunk of money. Once past that point it can be a matter of maintaining a flight physical. When you’re young, it doesn’t seem like anything will ever go wrong with your body. As you age, you get an extensive education in the things that can go wrong.

   2: As a very general answer, I’d say math, meteorology, and people skills. A lot depends on the job and I’ve certainly seen commercial pilots with no skills at all including flying skills.

   3: It depends on the job but being able to operate in adverse climates and stay seated but attentive for long periods of time would probably be the biggest demands. Of course, there are physical qualifications just to meet the FAA’s requirement for a medical certificate. Beyond that, the people who do the selecting may have more stringent standards. Sometimes that is just a way to cut down the number of applications and sometimes it is to ensure the pilot fits in the seat (think military aircraft).

   4: Not having enough money to obtain the needed certificates. Finding out that the reality if not like they imagined it to be.

   5: Yes, but I would have taken some different forks in the road along the way. I would gravitate more towards jobs that allowed me to be home a lot. Flying is fun, but a family is infinitely more important. I’d also have realized at a much younger age that there are a lot of great jobs in aviation outside of the cockpit.

   I’ll add one piece of advice that isn’t directly related to any of your questions. Have a marketable skill other than flying. You don’t want to get a degree in French and Comparative Literature just so you can tell the people in the airline employment office that you have a degree. There is a very good chance that something will happen along the way where you will need to make a living outside of aviation.

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   LTCTerry on Feb 18, 2019

   Mason – you didn’t indicate your age, but mentioning “grown up” makes me think early high school. KDS gave you good answers to your questions. I’d like to suggest something that might have great value (or none!) depending on where you are and what you want to do.

   The US Air Force auxiliary is the Civil Air Patrol. There are Cadet programs for youth ages 12-21. This includes heavily subsidized flying if you are willing to play by their rules. The Air Force has given CAP $1,000,000 to use for Cadet flight training beyond what is already being done. This can be used to pay for flight school at a local “FBO” (Think local aviation business/flight school) or at an aviation related college program.

   Civil Air Patrol offers Cadets five airplane Orientation Flights and five glider Orientation Flights. After your first )-Flight you get a free “Young Eagles” membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association. This gets you free online ground school training with Sportys…

   You do your part and CAP will do the rest.

   Also, there are summer flying programs in gliders and airplanes. You can solo a glider at 14, two years younger than an airplane. Glider time “counts” towards future training/certificates such as instrument rating, commercial, and airline transport.

   Just FYi – CAP pilots fly escort for Air Force RPAs. They fly cruise missile profiles for practice intercepts by USAF fighter pilots. Lots of funded flying.

   Good luck!

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   KDS on Feb 18, 2019

   LTC Terry added an excellent point. CAP also has National Flight Academies during the summer that are two weeks of pure aviation training for cadets at the lowest cost imaginable.

   I’d just add that you should look into all of the available “Composite Squadrons” before selecting the one you wish to join. They can be as different as night and day.

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   ayavner on Feb 20, 2019

   As a CAP member and officer myself, I will echo the above re the CAP. If you excel in the programs the CAP has to offer, there are even benefits later in life such as being able to skip a rank if you enlist in the Air Force. A lot of commercial pilots start off that way, and then use the GI Bill or similar benefits (not sure what’s current these days) to help pay for training. Sure you may be early-mid 20’s by then, but hey – you are going to be early-mid 20’s at some point anyway; you decide whether you are a struggling student or a veteran with skills and experience when that comes.

   I am approaching it from the opposite end of the spectrum, I did not become a commercial pilot until my late 40’s, and just earned my CFI ticket – I’ll be 50 this year. Sure I could wish I’d done it from the start, but look at all the other experiences I’d have missed out on. Its a later start, but I have other skills to bring to the table that are not available to a 21 year old.

   Many ways to skin this cat, and you’ve gotten some great advice here so far!

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