How Do You Become a Pilot?
Have you ever dreamed of controlling an aircraft by yourself and flying in the sky at your own will? Or have you ever had the urge to take your partner out to a sky tour, to see the sunset up close as a way to spend a lovely Valentine’s Day or an anniversary? If your answers to the above questions are yes, then you perhaps already have what it takes to become a pilot.
To many, flying in the sky seems to be an unobtainable dream. After all, anyone equipped with the slightest idea regarding the aviation industry probably understands that it takes years of backbreaking training to nurture a pilot qualified enough to transport people and goods around the world. However, while such stereotype indeed contains a certain bit of truth, it nonetheless only portrays a tiny portion of the entire picture. As a commercial pilot who has been on the job for more than five years, please kindly allow me to share a few thoughts with you. And very likely, by the end of this article you might discover to your surprise that, while the skills and experience of professional pilots may take up to years to nurture and accumulate, becoming a recreational pilot, whether as a hobby or as the very first step towards a rewarding career in the realm of the aviation industry, is really not all that difficult.
To begin with, the entry point of the aviation industry is to become the so-called recreational pilots. This is not a common category in most Asian countries as space and facilities for training are tremendously expensive and therefore are often limited to the use of major airlines. However, in Europe, and particularly North America and Australia, recreational pilots constitute a sizable sector of the aviation industry.
To offer a quick definition and overview of recreational pilots, these folks are generally amateur pilots who have acquired the rudimentary knowledge and skills required for flying and are capable of conducting solo flights on single engine aircrafts that normally seat less than a few people. Recreational pilots are expected to hold a Private Pilot License (PPL) and a Third-class Airman Medical Certificate that conforms to the standards of health conditions required by the respective countries that the pilots are expected to fly in. Finally, as stipulated by the word “recreational”, pilots equipped with only a PPL are often limited to carry a specified number of passengers and are not to fly in attempt to receive remuneration.
In order to qualify for a PPL, a variety of courses in aviation meteorology, aircraft maintenance, safety management, and emergency control must be completed. These courses in general take up to anywhere between a several months to a year to complete and they are offered by the majority of individual flight training centers around the world. Some of the best places that offer these courses in program-packages include the Pacific Flying Club (the designated flight training facility for the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Vancouver, Canada) and Bob Tait’s Aviation Theory School (the official training facility for China Airline’s pilots, Queensland, Australia).
In addition to the completion of a set of ground-based courses, active training in the air is also a necessary segment of what would be eventually required to qualify for the PPL. Normally, around 45 hours of active flying time as the minimum standardized requirement in North America must be obtained for the application of the PPL. However, most people including myself took around 55-65 hours to reach to this stage. During this part of the training, student pilots are first expected to control an aircraft under the guidance of a flight instructor in what is commonly known as the dual instruction phase. A minimum number of hours (normally between 17-20 hours) are required before student pilots may engage in solo instruction flights. Upon the completion of the dual instruction stage, student pilots must then conduct a series of solo practice sessions and normally 3-5 hours of dual / solo cross country flights to further polish their skills. Finally, roughly around 2-3 hours of flight simulation exercise are also offered by many flight schools as well.
Upon the fulfillment of the minimum number of training hours in accordance with the guidelines specified by the national flight associations of the countries that the pilots wish to fly in, a flight test that focuses on the pilots’ operational and risk management skills and a written exam that centers around the preliminary knowledge acquired from ground school must be completed before the pilots may receive their PPL. In addition, many countries such as Canada also require a language proficiency exam to be passed to ensure that PPL licensees possess the abilities to properly exercise the official language used in air traffic communication and control. These tests are generally quite simple – a native speaker in English and a good class attendance record should be sufficient.
Finally, in addition to the professional knowledge that must be learned, a Third-class Airman Medical Certificate is also required to exercise the privileges of both the PPL and student pilot permits. Medical examination centers may be easily located in all provinces and states, and official websites of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and Transport Canada contain details regarding the locations of these centers. Moreover, flight training centers also assist students for the registration of medical examinations. Normally speaking, the third class level exam, unlike the first class that is required for professional pilots who wish to fly for commercial airlines, is not an enormously difficult one to pass as long as the applicants do not have any serious health conditions or detrimental problems with their eyesight. These certificates can be retained for normally 2-3 years before renewal depending on the age of the applicants (a shorter frame of time for applicants above the age of 40). In short, while recreational pilots are to maintain a satisfactory level of health, applicants on average should not encounter great challenges with passing the medical exam.
I hope by this point you have all had a pretty good idea about the standards and qualifications required for recreational pilots. Don’t be afraid to contact the nearest flight training centers if you’re interested as they would be always more than happy to help you. I’ll be making a series of updates momentarily on what would be needed to become commercial pilots and employees for major airlines. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it.
Written by Seiichi
International Airline Pilot