If I want to be a pilot, commercial airline or otherwise, do I just need to be really good at flying a plane..

Question

or do I need to know all about the engineering side of things?

Answer 1

commercial airline pilots are actually pretty crappy pilots, because they seldom if ever fly "hands-on"

Answer 2

If you mean engineering in the sense of being able to design and build aircraft structures, no.  That's not necessary to be a pilot.

It's not JUST being really good at flying a plane, though.  Planes are relatively easy to fly for somebody with a lot of experience as long as everything goes right.  What we train for is how to respond when something out of the ordinary happens.  For that, it really helps to know how a plane works.  I don't mean to the point of taking a pile of parts and building a plane, but a pilot should at least know the function of every switch, button, and lever in the cockpit.

Everything you need to know about flying a plane will be taught in ground school, flight training, and simulator training.  A good pilot will catch on to those concepts in school.  A GREAT pilot will CONTINUALLY review all available material to better understand the airplane and to stay current with the workings of the systems and abnormal/emergency procedures.  It really is a profession when one is never done learning.

Answer 3

Of course, you need know every part of the plane.

I play Flight Simulator well and they rejected me.

Answer 4

being good at flying might help though

Answer 5

As a pilot and flight instructor I can tell you that this is one of the biggest misconceptions about aviation, most people think that being a good pilot means being a good "stick", in other words knowing how to control the aircraft very well. The truth is that flying is largely procedural and that a good pilot is so organized, planned, and prepared that his physical ability to control the plane is hopefully never tested.

To be a pilot you have to be part meteorologist, part lawyer, part race car driver, part mechanic/engineer, part systems engineer, and part navigator. This is what makes it difficult but it's also what keeps it interesting.

Answer 6

uhh duh what if something goes wrong?

Answer 7

You do not need to know all the engineering of the aircraft. In ground school, you will learn about the operating parts of the aircraft systems and how you monitor and control each.

There's really no reason to know the details about parts of the aircraft over which you have no control.

After going through several schools like this in your career, you become quite familiar with the basic design of aircraft systems and the learning becomes easier.

Answer 8

You need to have excellent skill in flying a plane or at least make it look like you do. That is hardly all though. You need to understand all the signals and how to use a transponder and all the instruments. If you can do a good solo with 2-3 touch and gos with standard rate turns or the normal rectangle pattern and complete the checklist and protocols you most likely deserve the license. You need to be good with your altimeter, airspeed indicator, throttle and mixture (of course), pitch, flaps, rudder and all the other fundamentals of flying. If you think of all this is involved in being really good at flying and you know you can do it all, then it is basically all you need. Good luck.

Answer 9

duhh you dont want to crash your aircraft

and kill yourself!!!!  =p

Answer 10

you need both,it`s importance for some pilots

Answer 11

to be one u got to be awesome at math, very good eyes good health , be able to be gone for 2 weeks or + , pass a health test every 6 months and if u dont pass it u dont fly!, fly at least 1500 hours and at least 500 jet hours to be decent, have over 120,000 to pay for all it, pass all ur flight tests land and air, and do alotta other c**p that probly wont be worth it later . but id definately start off with just ur private pilot and then decide if u want to do it for ur life.  but dont jump in any accelerated program or nothin