Turning 14 an wanting to fly a plane really bad but there's a problem?

Question

ok out of the bunch of the family,i want to be a pilot. yes i do. i wouldnt mind what i would have to fly, a glider, balloon, helicopter, or a plane. but all i know is its not cheap. i am not a very rich person, about an average U.S. pay ( for my parents). But i think i wouold like to fly a glider. i want to fly for fun and then go into something serious, im in the durham NC area and am looking to call up Blue Sky Adventure at RDU. and check it out if i can get my dad to get me going, also i was wondering how old do you have to be to fly military jets. im going into the ROTC in high school and was looking foward to fly there, but now i am thinking i would like to start a little bit earlier. any suggestions and answers to my questions?

Answer 1

14 is the minimum age for solo flight in a glider.  Work this summer, and put the money into flight lessons.

Answer 2

I started flying planes when I was 13. You can solo a glider and a balloon when you are 14. I couldn't afford flying lessons either, so I emailed the owner of my flight school and asked if I can wash the airplanes in exchange for flying lessons. He said yes, and since then I haven't paid a dime for a lesson.

Answer 3

Above answer is great. Its not cheap; the average cost for a private pilot's certificate right now is about $6500. You can solo a powered aircraft at 16 years of age and obtain your license when you are 17. I believe its a year younger on each for a glider but I agree, learn in a powered aircraft first.

As mentioned, save your money. There really aren't any grants or programs that I am aware of to help people obtain their PPL.

Here's a couple of websites that might give you some additional info:

www.beapilot.com

www.aopa.org/learntofly/

Some flight schools will offer an intro lesson for about $100 or so.

Good Luck and don't give up the dream.

Answer 4

I am 17, a certified Private Pilot, and I am also woking on additional certifications.  You need a class 3 medical certificate, 40 hours of flight time.  And you must be atleast 16 years old to solo 17 for a licence. I amsory put you will have to wait a few years.  It costs about 55-120$ a lesson.  You may be able to work something out with one of your local flight schools to wash planes and do work in trade for flight lessons.

Answer 5

I took my training when I was around 22, but I remember a kid in our high school that got his licenses when he 16. I know he was flying before that. Of course this was probably before your dad was even born.

It is real expensive. You can start out with ground school first. There are a lot of home training courses. Some online, but it is really something that you need to do at home and where you can spread out a map on the floor.

You will probably learn more on your own than in a real school with other students as this is how it has been done for many years, even before the internet.

As far as actual lessons, you need to start out in a "real" plane. Gliders and such are not a beginner's tool to get to a real airplane. You are best to start out with a real plane and pay by the hour. Every time you have enough money saved up, pay for one lesson. Each lesson is one hour long.

Start getting jobs... summer is coming soon so get ready to do some lawn mowing and such. You will need to get a log book. You log every hour you fly, even if it is your very first time up. And you keep that log book for life. It all counts and is important. More than likely the instructor will let you fly a little the very first time you go up.

Please keep your dad in mind... this is very expensive and you need to do as much as you can to help pay for lessons. It doesn't have to be done all at once. You can even fly once a month for one hour. It all counts.

Ground school is very important and it is not hard... there is just a lot of stuff to learn. Just like a computer... it's not hard, but a lot to learn. Start learning about weather now. Start getting your weather information from places that give pilots weather information. Wind is a major thing.

This is one thing where the book learning and the actual flying both fit together perfectly. Passing the driving test for a car is a whole lot easier since there isn't near as much stuff to learn, but it is about the same thing. Many know real well how to fly, even takeoff and land, but still don't have the ground school down. Just like those that drive a car, but couldn't pass the written test.

Almost everything you learn about flying is about safety. And they are very serious about it. And once you get experience, you will realize why it is so important. You won't feel the same way about driving a car, although everyone knows safety is important. In a plane, you don't have a 'fender bender' so it doesn't take long to realize almost everything you learn is about keeping alive.

Good luck... I wish I was your age and had your dreams again!

BTW, the most expensive thing to learn is to fly a helicopter. It just might be cheaper to pay for all the training it takes to fly a jet.