Is anyone a pilot???

Question

just wanted to know more about becoming a pilot... what a normal day would be like for a pilot? what sort of food is given to pilots during a flight? what are some of their pre-flight duties? how many days do they get off each month? is it hard being away from family and friends for so long?

plus any other information would be fantastic thanks!

Answer 1

You can get your commercial rating right after receiving your private rating, but you are limited to daytime flights and within 50 NM from your starting point. From that, you could be a banner tower or give scenic rides. You are a bit limited with this method so you are better off to get your instrument rating before the commercial. If teaching others to fly is your passion, then grab the instructor rating. You do not need your multi-engine unless you plan on flying just that, a multi-engine. A lot of instructors like to have this because those who have ambitions to fly the airliners will end up needing it. Most airliner pilots start off being flight instructors because it is usually the best way for them to aquire the needed hours to get the job.

Answer 2

In order to become an an airline pilot, there are two main routes.  One is to go into the military, and learn to be a pilot there.  That can have certain disadvantages in times of war.

The second is to go the civilian route.  There you would get a private pilot license - around 20 hours of dual instruction and another 20 solo flying - minimum 40 hours, plus another 15 to 20 hours of ground school - learning about the theory of flight and the law about flying.

From there you would need an instrument rating - probably another 20 hours minimum with around half of it dual instruction.  After you have around 250 hours of flying under your belt (including multi engine rating) you can go for your commercial rating.  Once you have a commercial rating, you can be a pilot for pay, carrying passengers.  A major airline would probably want you to have many more hours than that, before you could be a PIC (Pilot in Command).

Check out magazines such as "Plane and Pilot" and "Flying".  Another good source is the Experimental Aircraft Association at www.eaa.org  That should give you a little better feel as to what piloting is all about.

Good luck,

Tad

Answer 3

I am currently in training. It's not that hard when you get use to it. Soon Im going to be done and be a Co-Pilot. Being a Pilot is great!

Answer 4

I have a learner's licence and 16 hours of flying experience (supervised)

Answer 5

Today I will start my day at home, but will fly to my crew base. I could drive, but it's three hours away and I travel for free. There just has to be an empty seat on the plane for me to sit in.

I will be gone for 5 days this time. It's tough on family life, but at the same time, when I am off and home, I have no work to bring home with me.  But I will have things around the house I need to do, little stuff that if I were home every night, I could do a little at a time.

This month I have 13 days off. That's good,except for the reason I mentioned above.  And those 13 aren't in a row. I had two blocks of four days off at the beginning, but now I will be gone for 5 with only two off in between.  And considering I spend half the day traveling to and from work at the end of 5 days, I will only be home for 24 hours.

My pre-flight duty is to be there on time.  In the airlines, we have dispatchers that do all the planning, get us weather, plan our fuel loads,etc. The captain has some say in some aspects, but mainly, all the big work is done by computer by someone thousands of miles away.  We show up, perform some checks on the plane and then it's off to wherever.

Flying is great, but it's a job like anything else.  Go to www.beapilot.com to learn more. Go to your local small airport and see if the flight school offers introductory flights (Usually around $100 for half an hour to an hour depending on where you live)

Answer 6

I fly citations and hawkers, not really airline but pretty close. You can send me an email at [e-mail] if you got any questions!