Hey guys! I’m currently a sophmore in high school (haha young right?) and I’m wondering if I can do anything to boost my chances of becoming a pilot. Is there any classes, or training courses you guys could recommend to me/current steps to take? Would it also be beneficial to obtain a private pilot license sometime during senior year since I have a lot of time then?
This might also sound a bit dumb, but is it incredibly difficult to earn a pilots license? I know that it’ll require plenty of time and commitment, and I’m very willing to put those hours in for it, but is there a sort of generalized “hours per day” I would be putting into the training? Sorry for bothering you guys with so many question, and thank you so much!
Not a bother at all. That’s why we’re here. Honestly the best thing you can do at this point is work hard and do well in school. The Majors prefer a 4yr degree and will also look at your grades. After you graduate you simply need to do well and be a good student, instructor and employee.
I only recommend getting your PPL early if you have any doubts if this is what you really want to do with your life. Flying planes isn’t like most other careers as there’s a physical component to the job. While many believe they want to fly, until you actually sit upfront at the controls of a small twitchy training aircraft you really won’t know for sure. With that in mind, before you invest to much time and thought into this you really should take a intro or discovery flight.
Finally, as for the training, flight training is difficult. Again it’s not just the academics, there’s coordination involved. The good news is if you’re willing to put in the work, in most cases you will be successful. Not easy but def doable.
Thank you so much! Big relief I won’t have to rush through pilots training in high school, or anything of that sort. A bit of a follow up question- do you know the average amount of hours a pilot will put in a day while going through flight training? I’d be really happy with a super generalized answer, since I’d like to sort of get an idea of how to structure my time through that!
I’ll definitely try to book in a intro or discovery flight before I fully commit my life to piloting; but is there also any majors I should look out for as well? I know that getting an aviation major is a bit redundant, but is it detrimental to becoming a pilot itself?
You’ve been such a big help and inspiration, thank you!
First I can’t even begin to answer the “how many hours a day question”. There are simply too many variables (what phase of training, the length of the program, primary vs airline, your ability learn, etc etc etc). Suffice to say there will be some long days, some short days and everything in between.
As for what to study, that’s completely up to you. As a rule we don’t recommend aviation degrees. They’re generally very expensive and the airlines neither require or desire them. More important they provide no backup should aviation not work out either by choice or circumstance. Also, despite a very common misconception, you need not study any advance math or science. Short answer, you should study something of interest or something you might use as a plan b.
Welcome to the forum. The best thing you can do right now is to focus on your studies and do well in your existing classes. There is really very little that you can do in high school to prepare to be a pilot. However, you will want to get a college degree at some point, so it is best to continue to position yourself to get into a good college.
I would not recommend getting a private license outside of ATP, for a whole host of reasons. The first is that if you desire to train with ATP for everything else, it just makes sense to do your private there as well. This way you will be brought up in the ATP way and taught to do things correctly from day one. Also, flying is a perishable skill. If you were to get your PPL now, then take many months or even years before beginning training again, you will be rusty when you start up again. I know you are anxious to get flying, but use this time to focus on your school work.
Flight training, when done correctly, is a full time endeavour. With an accelerated program like ATP, all waking hours should somehow be dedicated to the task at hand.