For Pilots. . .?

Question

Im a 15 year old girl & when i grow up i want to be a pilot. We are riting a research paper on our future careers in my English class. For one of my sources i have to interview a pilot.

1.What inspired you to be a pilot?

2.What schools or type of school would you suggest for this career?

3.Is your job the way you thought it would be?

4.What is the best thing about your job?

5.What is the worst thing about your job?

6.How many hours do you work with your job?

7.How much family time do you get?

8.Do you have any work you have to bring home with you?

9.How many flight hours must you have in order to get your pilots license?

10.Would you consider it a well paying job? How much?

11.What exactly do "you" do in your job? What kind of pilot are you?

Any more infromation you can give would be Great, Thankyou so much !!

e-mail: [e-mail]

Answer 1

Wow I'm not a pilot so sorry to get your hopes up when you get an e-mail saying you have a new answer, I'm sure someone will answer this though.  But Kudos for your resourcefulness that's very impressive

Answer 2

For your Pilots Question: I suggest going to school for a dual degree, just in case the Pilot thing doesn't work out... Take a look at a School such as Purdue University, in Aviation Technology. Aviation Technology provides educational opportunities for students whose career interests and aptitudes lie within one of the diverse facets of the aerospace industry — aeronautical technology, aviation management, and professional flight technology. They also have an excellent flight school and it can be part of your curriculum there. Then I noticed you asked about a health issue, Anorexia. If you actually have it, that's very serious and dangerous to your physical & mental wellness. You will need excellent health & excellent eye sight to become a pilot. Make no mistake about it, you will not be able to fly if you are not healthy in nearly every category I can think of. My daughter had this condition when she was 15. It was devistating for her at the time. She went from 120 lbs to 85 lbs in about 10 months. It was very stressful for our family and she was hospitalized for 5 weeks. If you are suffering with this condition please see a Doctor or talk to someone that you trust. Ask your parents for help if you can. If not them then talk with an Adult that you do trust. You need to get a handle on this now or it will affect your ability to meet future goals.

Answer 3

1)  My dream of flying sort of grew over a period of many years when I was growing up, but it was probably cemented when I went to an airshow and saw the blue angels and other military aircraft

2)  Schools are more of an individual choice, depending on career aspirations.  I graduated from the University of Minnesota, Crookston.

3)  Yep, pretty much

4)  Flying low, below the treetops, scaring deer.

5)  Power lines and other obstacles.

6)  In the summer, a lot.  15 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week.  In the winter, none.

7)  In the summer, not much.  In the winter, a lot.

8)  Never bring any work home.

9)  Minimum of 40 for private, 250 for a commercial, but most people need more than that to get their certificates.  These are just FAA minimums.

10)  Yes, but it can depend on many factors.  Weather determines how my season goes.

11)  I am an aerial applicator  (cropduster)

Hope this was helpful

Answer 4

1. what inspired me to become a pilot??  travel and the freedom of flight.

2. I would suggest any school where you would feel the most welcome and comfortable.  I went to North Dakota State University.

3.  It is everything I thought it would be and then some.

4.  The best thing about my job is meeting all the umm interesting people and seeing things you thought ud never see.

5.  worst thing about the job is probably the weather lol

6.  it all depends how many hours typically around 100 hours a month

7.  when you are not flying you get alot of family time lol

8.  no nothing comes home

9.  what rating are you talking about?

10.  not at first but yes it gets to be a well paying career

11. I am a first officer of a CRJ regional jet for Northwest Airlines

Answer 5

To your questions, in order:

1)  A lot of things; a Fisher-Price toy airplane I had when I was a kid, Snoopy and his flying doghouse, and a song my mom would sing to me... but none of that did it.  I didn't choose flying as a career until I was 29 years old, and didn't get qualified for it until I was 32.  The thing that did it for me was an example in a book about career advice called "I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was" by Barbara Sher, better known for her book "Wishcraft"

2) It doesn't actually matter, but a good background in math or science certainly doesn't hurt.  I didn't do that.  I did a double major in college in English and Philosophy... which didn't help me at all.  There are colleges which specialize in aviation or have aviation programs, such as Embry-Riddle here in Florida, University of North Dakota, Daniel Webster, Purdue, University of Kansas... None of them are really important to having a career as a pilot.  There are also a lot of non-university schools which train pilots; I'd suggest you search www.beapilot.com

3)  Nope. I thought I'd teach people to fly for a while, then go into the airlines.

4)  Making a difference in people's lives

5)  The horrendous quantity and complexity of all the rules surrounding everything to do with airplanes.  The FAA has made "compliance" an all but impossible, never-ending quest, not a straightforward task.

6)  Too many, but I love what I do.

7) I don't have a family, but if I did, I would make more time for them than I presently make for myself.

8) Yes, but I'm a very rare exception in this industry.  Most pilots leave their jobs at the airport.  But then again, most pilots also need to do recurrent training and training on new equipment.

9) There is an FAA minimum of 40 hours for a private license, but most people take about 65.  For a commercial certificate, you're have to have at least 250.

10) The pay goes up and down, sometimes by a lot,  depending on the economics of the industry at the time.  It's not bad right now, and back in the 70's, it was really very, very good.  For a long while, recently, the pay was terrible, and if you're a 1st officer with a small airline, the pay is atrocious.

11) I teach people to fly and develop courses about how to teach people to fly.  I work in small airplanes at the Orlando International airport.  My company is Flight Treks, feel free to have a look at the website:  www.flighttreks.com

Answer 6

1.What inspired you to be a pilot?

My dad and I used to go plane spotting when i was young (3-5 years old), ever since then there was nothing I wanted to do more

2.What schools or type of school would you suggest for this career?

It helps to graduate from high school, and it is an advantage when applying to bigger companies to have a degree. However a degree is not a necessity in many carriers. i suggest being relatively accurate in basic maths, and english

3.Is your job the way you thought it would be?

I'm not an airline pilot so I can only say what my friends tell me. They say it is the best job in the world, but as you grow older it may take a toll on family and personal life especially the guys on long haul flights. Think carefully about this one...

4.What is the best thing about your job?

Meeting people, and most importantly flying in and around what i consider some of the most beautiful places and areas on the planet

5.What is the worst thing about your job?

Getting up early, when things don't go your way, the list goes on. But the flying out weighs it all. Also be prepared for long shifts and low pay, especially when you start out

6.How many hours do you work with your job?

It varies really. The cap is 1000 hours a year in many cases, but most don't get near that in this part of the industry. Morning shifts start at 6am for example, and operations go till 11pm at night. Of course at a big airline these times can be more unfriendly for your body clock

7.How much family time do you get?

As I said. I'm not a big airline guy so I get a bit of time at home. The guys I know working long hauls are away anywhere from a week to 2 and a half weeks a month. Short haul guys work about 4 days a week, and are home the rest. don't let this fool you though, many do alot of sleeping when they are home

8.Do you have any work you have to bring home with you?

Not me personally and many airline guys don't either. You do have to study and pass exams and cheeckrides (for competency) every 6 months though which keeps you on your toes

9.How many flight hours must you have in order to get your pilots license?

50 for a full PPL (private pilots lisence), 200 for a commercial lisence and 1500 for an airline liscece. Each of these lets you fly different aircraft under different circiumstances.

10.Would you consider it a well paying job? How much?

depends where you are. As a flight instructor or regional carrier usually you don't earn alot. But major airline guys do earn a relatively good paycheck. It takes a long time to get there though so don't expect to be earning big bucks till your mid thirties or early fourties at least.

11.What exactly do "you" do in your job? What kind of pilot are you?

commercial pilot, and am doing some instructing as well

All the best in your choices and your career

Answer 7

1. Always wanted to do it.

2. Embrey Riddle university ( you can get a degree with your ratings )

3. I do aerobatics so ..... enough said right?

4. Flying, meeting new people, performing for people.

5. bad weather.

6. As many as possible, at the controls is 30% of the job the rest is planning, training, and staying current.

7. Not enough but they are supportave.

8. I live and breath airplanes and when you love something you don't turn it off when you walk in the door to your house.

9. 40 hours for a private, to become an employable airline pilot you would need all of the ratings leading up to and including ATP airline transport pilot and a few hundred hours in a high performance multi engine airplane to be a good candidate for hire. There are MANY other aviation jobs out there besides an airline pilot, you could be a Flight instructor(most do this to build time at a students expense while building hours) charter pilot, crop duster, cloud seeder, ferry pilot, banner towing, air taxi, corperate pilot, ambulance pilot, etc etc etc.

10. I consider it ok,,, Most people including me fly because we love it. There are a lot more things out there to be if money is the only motivation the cost to become an airline pilot usually exeeds the tuition to a decent law school.  As for how much, the amount you get paid reflects the amount of effort you put in. regardless of if you are a crop duster or an Airline captain.

I have a day job, and when I am not there I am an aerobatic Pilot. ( working on becomeing a CFI ) to do aerobatic training.

Answer 8

oh so you want to be a pilot that's cool hehe I think girls pilots are hot