How to Become a Pilot

Comfort, security and quality customer service: these are the elements that must be present in airplane travel of today. These factors make flying a pleasurable experience. When met, we have the plane’s cabin crew to thank for that; a part goes to Flight Attendants who give quality customer service and aid but mostly, our applause goes to the dedicated pilots who vigilantly direct the plane to its course. They brief people as to the travel’s development, decide which are the plane’s safest and fastest routes and ultimately maneuver the plane from otherwise would be a major disaster. Indeed, airplane travel would be a complicated task without these individuals.

Sometimes people get the notion that being a pilot isn’t all that stressful and demanding, that all they do is sit behind the controls of the plane and do nothing but press on buttons and then chat. While a part of that may be true, most of it is fiction. Maybe we watch movies too much and then we assume false pilot portrayals.

If you are one of those people who seem to find a pilot’s life really appealing, and had actually considered being a pilot, here are some interesting facts and information on how to become a pilot.

What Does a Pilot do?

A Pilot’s tasks are more than just to sit behind the dashboard and relax as auto-pilot takes over. Manual and intellectual labor is required of him as well. It also isn’t a solo duty. It takes two pilots two handle the Airplane: the Captain and the First Officer.

First, the Captain gathers information about the flight and the flight plan, and then (s)he reviews other important information such as the weather conditions, route information and plane conditions. (S)he then determines the best way to travel with the information given to him and relays it for the approval to the command hub. Afterwards, the Captain briefs his/her crew members on the following details:

• statistics of the flight
• the chosen flight route
• the take off, next stop-over and final destination landing times
• possible occurrence of turbulences
• safety regulations they should follow, and;
• the weather conditions of the journey

The First Officer then helps with other crucial systems such as the auxiliary power. This activates all electrical components in a plane, entering the way points and configuring the current flight plan to the flight management system in order to enable auto-pilot while the Captain walks around the aircraft doing pre-flight inspection, to prevent any anomalies during the flight. The two then return to the dashboard to activate all the run-up checks and the operational checks, distributing the tasks between themselves. The Captain then gives the clearance for boarding signal to the flight attendants and the first officer supervises the boarding procedure.

When all the passengers and cargo are on board, the Captain then initializes the clearance procedures and asks for clearance from the command tower. When the clearance is given, the pilots then manually handle the plane to lift off until the plane has reached the proper altitude, and then sets it to autopilot until it is time to land the plane to a port.

One thing to keep in mind though:  the plane being on autopilot does not automatically mean that the pilots can now relax. They have to constantly watch the plane’s statistics as well, such as the altitude, engine and weather statistics. In an event of an emergency, the Captain releases from auto-pilot and handles the plane herself/himself.

That pretty much covers the tasks of the pilot. As complicated as it sounds, the road on how to become a pilot can be equally hard.

First, aspiring pilots must have the proper certifications, which come at many variants and also depends on the aircraft you’re aiming for. For those who only wish to fly their own planes, a private pilot certificate is needed. For airline pilots, much more is required such as a military or college degree certificates and must have 1500 hours of flight time, which include 500 hours of cross country, 100 hours of flying at night and 75 hours of actual or simulated flight conditions. You must be at least 23 years old and must posses a visa granting unrestricted worldwide travel. Airplane pilots also need to have a good medical report; they must be clear from any extreme physical conditions such has heart problems and occasional migraines and they must also be psychologically fit for the role. Having a clean record also helps when looking for employment. Harsh as it sounds though, it’s nothing a little bit of hard work, time, and dedication can’t solve.

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How much Money do Pilots Make?

With all the tasks mentioned above on the path to how to become a pilot, it’s only fitting that a pilot’s salary range be between $50,000 up to $100,000 a year. Like most of the flight crew, a pilot’s salary increases depending on the years he’s spent on being a pilot, and of course the years leading up to a full time position flying on a regular basis pays less.. He may earn as high as $40,000 the first year up to $100,000 on his tenth year. Other successful airline companies have better wages, amounting up to a whopping $159,000 for senior pilots – it all depends on the airline’s dep
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Why Become a Pilot?

If you’re wondering not just how to become a good pilot but WHY, consider the prestige and respect that comes with being a pilot. If you reach this role, you’ve obviously cleared a number of hurdles that indicate you are hard-working, trustworth, and dedicated.

It doesn’t hurt either that you also can earn six figures a year, enjoy the perks of traveling for free
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Pro’s and Con’s of being a Pilot

Being a Pilot has a lot of neat benefits. Here’s a list of them

Pros

• It’s a great job which let’s you earn good money
• Pilots get to work on a fair schedule, mostly four days a week
• A Pilot’s family get to travel for free to any destination, provided they have visas
• You get to work while looking at beautiful sceneries and the vast blue skies

The perks of being a pilot may seem great, but there are also downsides to their duties. Here is a list of them:

Cons

• Extreme Flexibility is required of you, even as much as relocating you to a new location just to accommodate the airline
• 78% of pilots are divorced, which enforces the fact that having a career and a relationship as a pilot can be difficult at
• It takes a lot of hard work to land a job. And if you make a huge mistake you may never get to work for years.

There may be other advantages and disadvantages not mentioned here and for that, you may want to do further research on how to become a pilot. With that said, being a pilot should still be a good endeavor to anyone who is passionate enough for it.

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Pilot Quotes

Being a pilot may prove to be a hard undertaking, but all one needs is passion. That and hard work as well. Here are some funny quotes on how to become a pilot from pilot wanna-be themselves, and passionate quotes from other famous pilots, who once aspired to fly themselves as well:

WHY I WANT TO BE A PILOT

When I grow up I want to be a pilot because it’s a fun job and easy to do. That’s why there are so many pilots flying around these days.

Pilots don’t need much school. They just have to learn to read numbers so they can read their instruments.

I guess they should be able to read a road map, too.

Pilots should be brave to they won’t get scared it it’s foggy and they can’t see, or if a wing or motor falls off.

Pilots have to have good eyes to see through the clouds, and they can’t be afraid of thunder or lightning because they are much closer to them than we are.

The salary pilots make is another thing I like. They make more money than they know what to do with. This is because most people think that flying a plane is dangerous, except pilots don’t because they know how easy it is.

I hope I don’t get airsick because I get carsick and if I get airsick, I couldn’t be a pilot and then I would have to go to work.

— purported to have been written by a fifth grade student at Jefferson School, Beaufort, SC. It was first published in the South Carolina Aviation News

Nothing will ever equal that moment of exhilaration which filled my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth. It was not mere pleasure; it was perfect bliss…

— Prof. Jacques Alexandre Cesare Charles

I learned to watch, to put my trust in other hands than mine. I learned to wander. I learned what every dreaming child needs to know — that no horizon is so far that you cannot get above it or beyond it. These I learned at once. But most things come harder.

— Beryl Markham, ‘West with the Night,’ 1942

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