What's the process of becoming a pilot?

What is the process to becoming a pilot?

• Hello, I'm 16 and finishing school next year. I want to become a pilot, and I have already looked over the necessary qualifications and requirements, but I don't understand ...show more

• Answer:

  (1) There are regulatory minimums for the amount of flight time needed for various licenses and ratings. You gain these hours in flight school. (2) There are also regulatory minimums for certain types of flight operations, such as to fly Part 135 air taxi or charter in VFR operations (500 hours minimum), or Part 135 IFR operations (1,200 hours minimum), or for a Part 121 airline (1,500 hours minimum). These hours are gained after flight training by working in a job where these minimums do jot apply. Flight instructing (if you hold a CFI license) is one of the entry-level jobs where additional experience can be gained. (3) Quite often there are insurance minimums that must be met and they are often many times greater than the regulatory minimums, especially when it comes to high-performance piston aircraft, turboprops, jets, tailwheel aircraft, float planes, large aircraft, or any unusual or especially challenging type of operations such as bush flying in Alaska. (4) Finally, there are preferred hiring requirements. at a major airline, for example, the regulatory minimum is 1,500 hours and an ATP certificate, but to be competitive for a job, 5,000 hours or more may be needed, along with some previous pilot-in-command experience of a turbine-powered multi-engine, multi-crew aircraft. This experience is gained by flying in a job that has lesser competitive requirements, such as at a regional airline.