Hello!
This is an unimportant question that I have at the moment. What are some of the life differences of being a short haul pilot flying state to state, and a long haul pilot flying country to country? How long does it take to work up to international flights?
Thanks!
Garner
1 Like
Garner,
You could literally start day 1 flying international. Regionals fly to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Those are all international destinations. The only really difference is you need to clear customs and immigration. All commercial flights follow ICAO (International Civil Aviation Org) regs so the rules are the same. The only place I’ve ever flown that was a little different was China where they give you altitudes in meters.
Adam
2 Likes
Garner,
I go to Canada often at a Regional. I freaked out the other day in Montreal when I couldn’t read the sign because the whole mall was in French. Guess I need to take up another language that isn’t English and German. 
The difference that I’ve found flying in and out of Canada is we are speed restricted below 3,000’ AND Toronto Center(s) want to know that you have the ATIS, not approach controllers. When going through customs and immigration, we tend to proceed through a Crew/Member line where our stuff is checked separately than that of civilian travel.
Seems like I would carry the E6B to help compute the math. 
Brady
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Adam
Day 1!!? That is pretty cool. I’ve been to more than half of the states but never once left the country. I want to travel to as many countries as a can when I’m older. That’s one of the main reason I first started looking at piloting!!
Garner
Brady,
I was actually thinking about maybe taking French, but I was thinking more about Paris I didn’t think about Canada 
. Do you know any pilots that are proficient in more than 2 languages? I could definitely see that being beneficial, and if not, it would at least be fun to confuse friends…
Garner
Garner,
I know many pilots that are proficient in two or more languages, but it isn’t a requirement to my knowledge since English is spoken everywhere… except, the Moon? I haven’t been the Moon, yet.
Brady
Brady,
You have no idea what you just did, how did I not think of the moon. I could go to college, get a STEM degree, become a pilot, and then when I’m older, I could be an astronaut… oh no that’s going to stick in my head now😅
Well, maybe be an astronaut, it’s highly selective. But I could at least be qualified and try haha.
Garner,
To my knowledge, all pilot astronauts in the US come from military aviation backgrounds.
Chris
both civilian and military candidates are encouraged to apply, so long as you meet the requirements. But chances are like 0.06% of actually making it if I did my math correctly.