Airline Pilot

[wingman12345]

I am only 14 years old and I love flying on my FS2K2 and I am thinking on becoming a Airline pilot and I am totally clueless as to what licenses and stuff I need to become one, and what schools I should take or whatever. If some of you airline pilots out there in the forums could help me or make any suggestions that would be great.

[potbelly]

Have a look at http://www.pprune.org/
Go to the wannabe forum and you will get lots of advice.

[georgi55]

I'm 18, Senior in HS, and I have same dream as you!:)
I searched at Yahoo back then when I was deciding which college I am going to aplly, and arrived at this page.
http://www.jetcareers.com/
It gave me all information I needed so you might wanna try that page.
See you in sky someday;-)
Georgi
Happy New Year!:)
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[crawfo_2001]

Hi I'm 14 too and I have myself convinced into becoming an airline pilot. The pay is extremely high, (any real pilots out there, I would love to know how much your getting paid(roughly anyway)) and all the gorgous flight attendants! :-) I remember reading "Hanger Flying" and I E-mailed the author, and he gave me a lot of very interesting information about student training etc!

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[ve3ega]

...

An option you might like to consider is joining your local ATC (Air Training Corp.) Your School should be able to provide the information.... or check with your local library.

The ATC will give you a good grounding in Aviation and you will get to 'mess with airplanes' and get some free rides (eventually!) some ATC groups have Cadet Pilot Training programmes..... also get to make some new friends...

Terry

[HVB]

I am 16 years old, and also really wanna become a pilot. I am thinking of joining the air force, since I've always liked the air force. They also give very good training I suppose.

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[lnuss]

You'll need a college education and an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, for which you must be 23 years of age. In some cases, though, they'll hire an experienced person with a Commercial certificate, but the ATP is still needed for Captain.

You'll (with most airlines, and all the military services) need 20/20 vision, uncorrected, and not color blind, for pilot. (In the military, you can also aim for navigator) But it's not that stringent just for the certificate -- you can wear glasses to get the ATP. Asthma, diabetes, and other conditions requiring medication MAY be disqualifying to some degree, but waivers are sometimes available, under certain conditions.

If you are considering the military (or maybe even if you're not), the Civil Air Patrol is an excellent place for a youngster to learn more about aviation and about leadership, and even to make valuable contacts within the aviation community. See: http://www.capnhq.gov/ You can even find links there to units in your local area.

In any case, you'll want to get good grades throughout your schooling. Also, though the airlines don't necessarily require it, the better the grounding you have in the sciences, especially physics and math, the better you'll be prepared to understand much of aviation.

Larry N.

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[mav7777]

hey guys,

thats great that your interested at such a young age. You can never be to young to start, infact I took my first ground school class at 14! :)

I can only help you with what the process is like in canada (thats where i live), i am curently taking a course to get my commercial license (which will allow me to fly as an airlne pilot). The minamum age has changed from 14 to higher i think so you will have to check that out in your country. it costs alot of money to get to commercial, and i cant urge you guys enough to go to collage, infact thats what most airlines require now and sometimes a second language is desiracble too. if you can, get out to some airshows (or even go with a parent or someone and visit an airport) they can give you little inside tips, most will tell you to stay commited. I cant count the number of people who have dropped out since i started, its not like it is hard, its just like playing sports in your spare time, you have to make time for it.

The pay can be pretty bad for the first while where you end up being a first officer (co-pilot) especcially if you are flying for a small charter cargo/airline (allot of pilots have to get jobs at these places to get more hours so they can get jobs at large airlines). once you get past your years as a FO you start getting into the bigger aircraft and the bigger money. Things can come up and people can get very lucky so it is best to keep an open mind about who and where you wold like to work, if you only want to work in say hawaii, then you'll have a hard time but if you dont care where you work then your laughing :)

the best thing you have going for you is age, airlines like people who are younger (FYI retirment age is something like 64) You guys have lots of options to choose from, i think the the FAA web site has a list of flight training centers and flight collages, also airliners.net gives airlines industry news (along with great photos). one other thing to look at is magazines like "wings" (that's a canadian one) or flying, even if you dont understand everything you'll start to pick up things. Im not sure if there is something like this in the states but in canada you can get a book call "from the ground up" at local book stores, it is an actual training book that we use in flight school, it can give you the most info. check them out!

hope this helps, if you have any questions feel free to ask, I will try to answer them with the best of my ability.
see you in the skys :)

[REALandsimCaravanPilot]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-01-02 AT 05:31PM (EDT)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-01-02 AT 05:30 PM (EDT)

If you're a resident of Illinois, check out the Illinois Veterans Grant. all you need to do is serve your country enlisted for a couple years and the state of Illinois pays your tuition at the U of Illinois including 100 percent of flight training tuition. Illinois is the only state in the US that appreciates its Vets enough to do this though.

[Josh10524]

hey everybody under 18 who is in flight training or wants to be a pilot, email me at: our10524@pacbell .net (take the space out from between bell and .net, otherwise the thing turns into a screwed-up url). I am fourteen and will be starting lessons shortly. I would like to create a website for anyone under 18 who wants to be a pilot. That way, people my age will have more resorces and be able to discuss our experiences. This could turn out to be something really cool.

[travisjd2001]

Georgi linked to a great site!

http://www.jetcareers.com/military.htm

and

http://www.jetcareers.com/ratings.htm

are excellent sources to see the path you will take into your career! Best of luck to you all!

-T

=
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[rudfus]

Go to this page. http://www.skywings.com/career.html

P.S.
I when to this camp

[sheesh2001]

I'm 18, a senior in high school, and as of september I'm gonna be attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. I've heard it's the best in the USA, not only do you get a commercial pilot certificate after 4 years, you also get a bachelors degree in aeronautical science!

Alex

[REALandsimCaravanPilot]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-01-02 AT 09:16PM (EDT)[p]Or you could get a commercial certificate and an instrument instructor certificate at Flightsafety Academy in Vero Beach, FL in 9 months and than attend Embry Riddle and work as an Instructor while your classmates work on their Private certificate. And you'll have a lot more time for those pretty blond Daytona Beach girls.

[rossgellar]

Aren't all the great ones 14? LOL Well I am! I too share that aspiration, as another possibility than aeronautical engineer. I do think I'd love to be in the USAF as well. How old/what certification would you have to have to fly for the AF? I'd love to see a site for us minors who aspire to fly. Can't wait to see it up!

Ross

[dustine2004]

well, i am 16 and have had the dream of flying ever since i can remember. My uncle is a Station manager for US Airways so it has helped my dream a little bit. I am starting my first ground school class this monday. I am very excited. When i was 13 and 14, i used to cry almost because it seemed like life was moving too slow and i would never be able to fly and now i am starting up and all my money from working is going to be gone almost. I can't wait though.

Dustin

[speed_holman]

Hey all you youngsters:

Don't be discourged by the semingly unattainble requirements of some of the posters here. While they have your best interests in heart, they all have one thing in common: they didn't get there.
Figure out some way to get in a plane. Get a job and use your salary to buy flying lessons; ask those people what it takes and do it, they know. Involve your parents, they will help if they know that you are COMMITED.

John Shimek
KRNT

[sheesh2001]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-01-02 AT 10:57PM (EDT)[p]well, it's too late now because I've already enrolled on an early decision basis! And plus, I really want to get a university degree, something to fall back on later in life and also to help me get a job with the bigger airlines, hopefully...

Alex

oops, never mind what I just said... Now I see your point

[Psaul]

I would love to be a pilot... but the only thing that turns me off is the impossible timetables. I mean I want to grow up and a have a family and all, so I think I will do ATC or a regional airline. I have had my eyes on ACA (Atlantic Coast Airlines) or ASA (Atlantic Southeast Airliners), or Atlanta ARTCC... wherever that is (Hampton, GA, if I remember correctly)! ACA and ASA are both owned by Delta.

http://www.globalpacificair.com/sig.jpg
"It's a genetic thing."

[HVB]

thanks for that post. made me feel a little better after seeing all the posts above. Taking private lessons seem another good way to me, since it is probably a little more flexible than flight school. You can't be rejected right? But by taking private lessons can you eventually get your license and move on to, lets say for starers, a small regional airline?

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[Future_Pilot]

well my father is an airline pilot he is the one I blame for smuthering me into wanting to become an airline pilot but I'm still quite away from that goal..the bad part as I see it now is that you don't spend that much time at home, like my father..I have'nt seen him since Dec.28,2001, my mom and dad argue alot because of that :(

[Spongey87]

Same here. I wanna be a pilot, but I wanna have a family too. Maybe I will just settle with a different job (Airplane tester, ATC, etc..) an go flying on my own private Cessna. (Hopefully)

Spongey 87, 14

[mav7777]

well i hope my post wasn't discouraging, thats the last thing i want to do! :) In my expierence it is possible to have an airline career and a family at the same time, once you get higher up you have more free time then you would think. A friend of mine is a A-340 pilot for air canada and he only works 4 days a week! (an gets payed the big bucks:)) I think the worst thing you can do to yourself is let other people stop you from flying an setting up reasons why you can't.

anyway thats my two cents.

[lukki]

take a trip out to your local airport, visit the guys at the training schools. They will point you in the right direction.

I have my PPL and started by riding out to the airport and talking to the guys at the flight training school. I went there every chance I got, and I guess they eventually got sick of me being there, cause thats when they started taking me along with them, flying out to different airports and different places. It was totally wicked. Most times on the way back I was allowed to have a fly, totally unreal !!

I saved and saved and then started having lessons......and here I am now, a PPL.

If you show enough interest, the guys will help you along a bit and help you achieve your dreams.

Study hard at school, get good results and you will get there.

Good luck to all you 'wanna be pilots', determination is the only thing that will push you to your goal.

[JoeT24]

I graduated from Embry-Riddle in August of 2001. It is a great university to learn to fly at although there are a couple draw backs. Recently the flight program has been swamped with too mnay students and not everybody has been able to fly as much as they want. For example, when you have 8 multi engine planes and only 2 are up and working - you tend to fly once or twice every 2 weeks. Daytona Beach isnt exactly the greatest town in the whole world either. Its great during the major attractions ie, bike week, daytona 500, spring break but when its not those times, its really really boring and kinda slummy. And 1 last drawback is the social life. Going to a skool with a attendance of 5500 students and 5000 of them being guys, it becomes a HUGE sausage fest....but if ur there to fly and just fly - not being a big party animal like myself then its a great place to go to. I'm glad i went to Riddle but if I could do it over id go to Purdue or Ohio State.....good luck!

[shaun3000]

Check out Saint Louis University. They ranked number three in US News and World Report's college ratings. The ranking was for Aerospace Engineering, but the rest of their aeronautics program is just as good. The aerospace program is in its own separate college in the university, Parks College of Engineering and Aviation. They have a four year flight program almost identical to Embry-Riddle's

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/engineering/nophd/aero.htm

http://www.slu.edu/colleges/parks/aviation/index.htm

[skipunk]

I'm working on starting lessons this late spring/summer. I'm 25. What's my chances in getting into an airline since I'm starting so late. I'm almost finished with my BS (1 yr left). What is the time frame I'm looking at if I'm working hard.

Thanks in advance

Steve

[maxv]

thought i would join in the fun since i seam to have similar dreams. and am 14 years old!

except i would rather be a test pilot on the usaf. that would be the ultimate job for me. :-cool however i have heard that it is not quite as easy to become a test pilot as it was in the yeager years. it sort of has to do with the danger level coming down. i mean back then if you were a test pilot you had a survival rate of 1 in 4. that is on in every 4 people got killed! the airforce can't get away with that anymore. and there are a lot of people that want to become a test pilot.

the thing is that the requirements are tough. you have to have a degree in math or aeronautical engineering. and you have to of been in the airforce for i think 5 years? you also have to of flown atleast so many planes. there are other requirements too.

anyway i am trying realy hard to keep my grades up and am going to try hard to reach my goals!