It’s a good question and you’re not alone in wanting to know the answer. Whether you want to fly a little on weekends or you want to become a professional pilot, all pilots start off the same way; with a dream to soar above the earth and experience the limitless freedom that brings. Pilots have the rare opportunity to see the world in a completely different way to everyone else and this has drawn people to pursue the dream of flight for centuries. Fortunately for us, we live in a time when the opportunity to become a pilot is available around the world. It just takes the right advice to find the best way to get there. Read on to see how straightforward it is to become a pilot.
It is important to start by considering whether you want to be a professional pilot and if so, what it is you want to achieve in your aviation career. If you're unsure of whether you want to be a professional pilot or just fly in your spare time, then start by reading my post on the realities of a pilot career, then continue below.
Professional Pilot
If you're sure you want to become a professional pilot, then try to figure out what you want to get out of your career. If you want to travel the world, then aiming to become an international airline pilot might be the best direction. If you want adventure and to see beautiful and remote places close up, you might be better suited to becoming a bush pilot or helicopter pilot. Factors such as training cost, location of available jobs, working hours, secondary duties, pay and working conditions might also play into your decision.
If you know what you want to achieve, the way forward will become clearer on its own, but if, like most people, you have no idea exactly what you want, then start by thinking about the things you enjoy most in life. What is it that you enjoy so much about these things? Why do you find them so enjoyable? Write down a list of these activities and the reasons you enjoy them and if you really want to get to know yourself keep asking why. For example; I like rock climbing. Why? Because I like the adrenaline rush of being up so high. Why? Because I like to live a little on the edge and take risks. Why? Because it makes me feel alive and like I'm living my best life. If that sounds like you, then you might really enjoy some of the pilot jobs on offer in the mountainous parts of the world where flying is incredibly challenging but equally rewarding. Or you might take it to the next level and want to focus all your energy on becoming a fighter jet pilot.
Keep in mind that just because you start working towards one kind of flying career, it doesn’t mean you can’t change direction and try something else. As you grow as a pilot you’ll find new opportunities in directions you hadn’t considered become available.
Once you have an idea of what direction you might like to go in your pilot career you need to know how to get there, right? Well, most pilot careers begin with a simple fork-in-the-road question; do you want to learn to fly in the military (for free) or do you want to learn at a civilian training school (usually expensive)?
I'll outline the differences between these two paths below:
Military | Civilian |
Choose which service of the military you are interested | Find a school that fits your requirements |
Apply and complete a strict selection process to gain entry | Book the course and start attending |
Get paid from day one | Pay to learn until you have enough experience to be employable as a pilot |
Sign on for a specific period of time - must stay and do what you're told until your time is up | Tailor your journey based on your priorities - do what you want, when you want |
Go through mandatory military training, then eventually start flying training | Straight into flying training |
There is a strict training schedule and standard to meet - if you don't learn to the required standard fast enough you may fail the course without a second chance | There may be a training schedule and standard to meet, but there will be more flexibility in how you get there and more options if you don't pass everything the first time |
Go straight from training onto high-performance aircraft | Slowly work up to more complex aircraft as you go through different jobs in your career |
Fly less, but generally do more intense flying for each flying hour | Fly more, but many of these hours early on will be repetitive flights to build hours |
Leave your military flying career with fewer flying hours but with pedigree and additional qualifications | Build more hours, but gain fewer qualifications and receive less training |
Once you decide if you want to learn to fly in the military or through a civilian school you can start to progress through the above steps towards your career.
Private Pilot
If you decide you don't want a career as a pilot, then there are still routes to enjoying your love of aviation and flying without the pressures of a career. You can become a private pilot if you only want to fly occasionally, however, the cost of this route will add up over time since you will never have the opportunity to be paid to fly.
The advantage of taking this route is that it is faster and cheaper to gain a private pilot licence than a commercial pilot licence. The process of completing your private pilot licence will also put you in contact with organisations that may allow you to hire aircraft once you are licenced.
Like the professional pilot route, the first step is finding a flying school where you can train to gain your private pilot licence. You can complete this at your own pace and once you have it you can theoretically hire an aircraft and go flying on your own. In reality, unless you buy your own aircraft any organisation that hires out aircraft will want to check your flying skills and weather conditions on the day before letting you take an aircraft, so keep this in mind.
Whether you decide to become a professional pilot or fly privately in your spare time there are options available for you to find a way to enjoy the freedom of the skies on your own terms.
- Fly your own track!
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