Im 13 and want to become an airline pilot.?

Question

Im 13 and i want to become a pilot. and i dont know the right age to go to ground school. please help

Answer 1

Well there really is no "right age" to go to ground school.  An important thing to note is that you cannot solo fly an airplane until you are 16 (According to FAR 61.83.a) and cannot get a Private Pilot certificate until you are 17 (FAR 61.103.a).  You are able to take the written exam (and ground school) at any age, but when you pass the written exam it is only valid for 24 months (FAR 61.39.a.1).  So even if you were to take ground school now and then pass the written exam, you would have to retake it before taking your flying exam.  You do not want to take ground school to early though, otherwise you will forget everything by the time you take the exam.  It is customary to take ground school at the same time as you are taking your flying lessons, that way you can apply the information you are learning and it will be easier to remember.

I do have friends that started flying at 13, and you can do it, but it will take you at least 4 years to get your certificate and 3 years until you can fly by yourself.  This isn't really that bad, except it can be very very expensive.  You will have a lot of expirience by the time you are 17, but if you don't fly regularly then you will probably lose most of the skills that you had learned.

My recommendation to you would be to do what most airports call a "discovery flight."  This is where they take you up with an instructor and let you do some basic turns, climbs, and descents.  That way you know that you enjoy flying and that you won't lose interest.  (Your parents probably wont be happy if they spend a lot of money on your flying lessons and then you end up not enjoying it)  Then when you are 15 or 16 you could start lessons.  In the meantime you would want to make sure that you could pass a medical exam.  (You can't be colorblind and some other things like that)  The most important part of becoming an airline pilot is choosing a good college. Colleges like Embry Riddle or Purdue University are good ones to look at.  You don't need a pilot's certificate to start the flight program at most schools, but it sometimes helps.  Having an instrument rating (which you will lean about) can sometimes hurt.

I hope that was helpful and not to confusing.  Best of luck.

Answer 2

There is no minimum age for:



ground school,

flight training,

logging flight time,

or getting instrument flight instruction.

Answer 3

You can start training for your PPL (Private pilots licence) at your current age, however cannot log any hours until your 14.

Once you reach 14, you can plan your PPL course out so you can achieve solo at 16 and hopefully recieve your licence shortly after your 17th birthday.

You have to be a minimum of 17 years old to start on instrument flying and supprise supprise you need your PPL to do that! :)