If you want to make it to the "Big Leagues" (the airlines), be prepared to keep yourself busy with everything flight related. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), anyone who wishes to become an airline pilot MUST have at least 1500 flight hours, or 1000 if you graduate from an accredited college/university that offers an aviation program.
Fortunately for me and many others at my school, we are eligible for the 1000 hour option. To some, 1000 hours doesn't seem like much; many professions out there have hour requirements that may seem more time-consuming. If you are not from the United States, your hour requirements will almost always be less; around 250-300 hours to be hired.
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Here in the United States, we have these handy "little" items called FARs. FARs are kind or like the "rules of the road" for aviation, except the violation of one of these regulations can lead to your license being revoked, or worst case imprisonment.
In order to avoid violating these rules, or even to begin working on your license, you need to find a place to soak up all this information and put it to use. If you have chosen the university route, you are most likely enrolled in a Part 141 school that has gained a certificate from the FAA to be able to give you all of the resources needed in order to obtain licenses and ratings. If you are learning down the road at a local airport, you most likely are enrolled in a Part 61 school, and the 1500 hour rule would apply to you.
So let's talk about the Training!
1. Training is a huge time commitment, and there is a lot to learn
On August 29, 2015, I began my endeavor to obtain my Private Pilot Certificate. When I enrolled at my school, I was given the option to choose my "flight block" which was a 3-hour period in which I would be one-on-one with an instructor. I was fortunate enough to choose the 6:00AM-9:00AM block, and I had that for the rest of the semester. I was out there every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday either sitting in a room learning new information, in a simulator getting a feel for what I learned, or in the plane putting it to use. Just like learning to drive, you need to keep your skills proficient. This is part of the reason I decided to spend some of my winter break at school, to keep my skills honed and progress further in my training. It wasn't until winter break that I realized how much time was spent on my flight training versus my academics. The semester was done and I was able to spend almost every single day doing 2-3 flight activities, eventually reaching the stage where I was able to solo and fly the plane without my instructor present. Skip ahead a few months to May 11, 2016, and I have reached the pinnacle of my training, the Private Pilot Certificate. Some people are fortunate to receive their license with less than 90 hours, whereas I graduated the program with 109.3.
2. Lots of money
To all of my pilot friends out there, you know the struggle. The price tag on flight training can seem astronomical at times! Yes, it does depend on where you receive your training, but look to spend around $15,000 for your Private Pilot training alone. At my school, you pay for the hours the engine is running (the Hobbs time), a surcharge, and time for the instructor. That means you want to expect $300-350 per 1 hour of flying time. Yikes!
3. must be willing to be away from home for extended periods of time
Over my lifetime I have been able to make some great connections with pilots from almost every airline out there. They all told me the same thing, "In the beginning when you are low on the totem pole, you're going to working the graveyard shifts and you're going to be away from home a lot." Well, what does "a lot" amount to? Some people are lucky and they are able to fly multiple routes in one day, and then end up back at home after their shift. Some are going to be out doing routes and spending their nights in hotels and only making it home for the weekends. But when you make your way up in seniority, you may only be flying 3-4 days out of the week and have (usually at most) a week off.
4. Patience is key
As I mentioned above, flight training takes a lot of time and dedication, and when you don't have the time to give, you'll struggle grasping the concepts. Just remember, it's not going to come to you after doing it once. You have to keep practicing just as with anything else. If you don't do a maneuver correctly, grease the landing, mess up a radio call, miss a checklist, or get stressed with time management, do not worry about it! It takes a lot of time to learn the concepts and eventually do it without even thinking. I know one thing I struggled with was learning my radio calls and making them short and to-the-point. In order to become a pro, I would practice with other people or listen to the other pilots speak on the radio.
5. Failure does not make you a bad pilot
I've had a few of my friends get disgruntled over the failure of a FAA Written Test, which is needed to ultimately get your license or a further rating. I've even come across some people who were up for their check rides and their examiner didn't like one small thing they did, and they failed the entire check ride. Whether it's a failure during your training or failure of a check ride, don't worry, it happens. There is no need to stress over it. Your career isn't over, maybe it's just a sign that more practice is needed and better yet, you get more flying experience overall.
These are some of the most prominent struggles I have seen/experienced during my time here at school. Despite everything I have noticed, If you endure all of the challenges, the reward is vast. The reward, having the best office view from 37,000 feet.
