Here are some ideas to think about. You can enjoy being a private pilot while continuing the nonflying career path you've already chosen; you can become what I call a "private pilot plus" by enhancing your enjoyment, skill, and capability with additional training, certificates, and ratings; you can pursue a part-time money-making opportunity like becoming a flight instructor; or you can commit to a professional flying career.
Weekend Pilot
If what you really want to do is to become a skilled weekend pilot, you're well on your way. And you're not alone. This is the path most private pilots choose. Once you have the certificate, you can begin enjoying the fun of flying with family and friends. As your experience and skills build, you may undertake longer trips, flying across the country or using an airplane in your business. This is a great way to make flying a part of your life.
The big challenge for you will be to maintain proficiency and gain experience. It's no problem for most pilots to meet the minimum currency requirements spelled out in the regulations, but maintaining true proficiency - being a competent, capable, comfortable, and safe pilot - is something quite apart from just being legal.
For one thing, it means having the money to fly often enough to actually gain and maintain proficiency in the things you need to know and do to use the airplane as you want to use it. For another, it means committing the time to fly regularly. One session of pattern work every couple of months is not enough to keep you proficient. Staying proficient also means building a relationship with an instructor, or instructors, to whom you can go for regular training.
Proficiency and knowledge don't stand still. A good pilot is always training. It's up to each of us to keep progressing, to keep learning, to keep current with changes, and to practice sufficiently to stay safe and proficient. One of the ways to help do that - regardless of how much flying you have time and money to do - is to constantly work to keep your head in the game.
Even when you find yourself unable to fly a lot, you must continue to study your flying and keep procedures fresh in your mind, or your hard-earned skills will decay rapidly. You can do that, in part, by reading aviation magazines like this one, armchair flying, and using a good flight simulator program on your computer.
Safety seminars like those offered by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation and the FAA are another good way to help keep your head in the game. Seminars are offered frequently, especially in and around metropolitan areas. As a bonus, most are free. Attending one of these evening or weekend classes is a great way to meet other pilots, get yourself thinking about flying, and stay on top of the ever-changing regulations. Most qualify for participation in the FAA Wings program. Seminars are available on just about any subject you can think of from airspace to weather. Find a subject that interests you, and go.
Of course, no amount of classroom discussion, reading, or simulated flying is enough to substitute for actually getting into an airplane. You've got to keep flying - and not just every once in a while. Each of us requires a different level of flight activity to maintain proficiency. Proficiency means flying to the standards listed in the practical test standards for your certificate - accept nothing less from yourself.
If your proficiency ever decreases to the point where you're concerned that you couldn't pass a flight check because you don't meet standards, practice enough to regain your previous level of airmanship. It's a good idea to spend some of this practice time with an instructor so that you don't start or perpetuate bad habits.
Being a good weekend flyer takes practice. That's all there is to it. But you didn't work so hard to earn your certificate just so you could spend your Saturdays cruising around the pattern or out in the practice area doing stalls and steep turns. Chances are you wanted to do something with that certificate. Well, there's plenty to do.
When you're deciding how you want to spend your precious flight time, take your skill and proficiency level into consideration. It's probably not a great idea to make your first trip a 3,000-mile epic journey from coast to coast with your airplane loaded up with passengers and luggage. Start small. Ask instructors and pilots at your local FBO for their favorite destinations. Start with a day trip, being sure to choose a day when the weather is favorable.
As you get more comfortable going to new airports and flying in different kinds of terrain and conditions, broaden your horizons to weekend trips with family or friends. Carrying passengers can be a lot of fun, but it also can add to the complications of a flight, especially if those passengers aren't flyers themselves. Before launching on a trip with passengers, make sure they understand that you are the pilot in command and you decide whether or not to launch on any given leg. Make sure they know that weather could change your plans at any moment - even after you're well on your way. Having a good understanding prevents your passengers from getting too frustrated if pop-up thunderstorms force you to spend the night somewhere other than you had planned. It also relieves you of some of the pressure - real or imagined - to get there at all costs. Planning increasingly challenging trips will help your skills and proficiency to grow steadily, and before long you'll be ready to take that vacation-of-a-lifetime flight.
A couple of other activities can help you keep current and put your flying skills to good use. The Civil Air Patrol ( www.capnhq.gov ) performs a variety of aviation operations, mainly focusing on search and rescue. Volunteer pilots like you fly these missions. A nationwide network of volunteer pilot organizations called Air Care Alliance ( www.aircareall.org ) also offers volunteer flying opportunities. Many of the organizations under the Air Care Alliance umbrella perform such services as flying patients to the medical facilities they must reach to receive specialized care. If you choose to volunteer for the Civil Air Patrol or a charitable group, you will have to meet specific skill and proficiency requirements, which may include earning advanced ratings.
Private Pilot Plus
Of course, that's just one more reason to consider continuing your training. As you know from your past flight training experience, there's no better way to stay motivated, keep yourself going to the airport, and acquire new skills than to set a goal of earning a new certificate or rating.
The instrument rating is great place to start. It does take both time and money to earn an instrument rating, but no other rating will contribute so much to your competence as a pilot. Instrument training teaches pilots to fly with precision, and having an instrument rating greatly increases the usefulness of the private pilot certificate. Plus, you can still enjoy your regular VFR flying while you learn.
If you plan to earn the instrument rating slowly, you'll probably want to train under Part 61 of the federal aviation regulations (FARs). That means you'll need to have 125 hours total time, among other qualifications, before you take your instrument checkride. If you don't want to wait that long and are willing to dedicate yourself to the training, you can train under Part 141, which has no minimum flight time requirements.
While most pilots would agree that the instrument rating is the most important rating you can earn, you may not be willing or able to devote the time and money required. If not, there are other, easier-to-earn ratings that can teach you new skills while giving you a reason to get to the airport.
The seaplane rating is one that many pilots do just for the fun of taking off and landing on water. The best part is, it takes only a few days to earn a seaplane rating, and it is relatively inexpensive. Depending on where you live, you may have to travel for your training, as seaplane schools are not available everywhere. Still, earning a sea- plane rating can combine nicely with a family vacation to a lakefront or oceanfront destination. To find a flight school, AOPA members can look in the online airport directory ( www.aopa.org/members/airports ).
A tailwheel endorsement is another fun and relatively easy way to keep training. There's a certain romance in flying old-time taildraggers. And, because these airplanes require superior rudder work, you will be a better pilot for earning the endorsement. Learning to stay light on your feet is at the heart of becoming a good tailwheel pilot. That skill will sharpen your reflexes even when you're back in your everyday tricycle-gear trainer.
While you're thinking about endorsements, why not work on your complex and high-performance endorse- ments? Again, it takes relatively little training to earn these endorsements that allow you fly high performance aircraft with retractable gear. Once you have your endorsements, you'll discover a whole new range of rental aircraft available for those trips you've been wanting to take. You'll be able to cut hours from long flights because you'll be qualified in faster aircraft. An important word of caution here is not to fly more aircraft than you can handle. The faster the aircraft, the faster a sticky situation can get out of control. Earning your complex and high-performance endorsements in a Cessna 182RG does not mean you're ready to launch on a family vacation in, say, a much faster Mooney or Bonanza. Always use common sense when exercising the privileges of any new certificate, rating, or endorsement.
Serious Part-Time Flying
If you're settled into the career of your dreams and don't want to fly full-time - but you just feel like you want to take your flying a step further - flight instructing or any number of other part-time flying ventures may be just right for you. (See "Nine Ways You Can Fly Part-Time," AOPA Flight Training, July 2001.)
Flying for pay definitely requires advanced training, capabilities, and certification above the private pilot level. But commitment to the goal of getting paid for what you love to do can motivate you to get the training you need. The federal aviation regulations contain all the information you'll need. Depending on the type of part-time flying you choose to do, you will need different ratings and certificates. At a minimum, expect to earn your instrument rating and commercial certificate.
Advanced training and part-time flying activities like flight instructing, banner towing, scenic tour flying, glider towing, and ferrying aircraft can not only put a little money in your pocket but also enhance your overall airmanship and piloting ability by leaps and bounds. If you really want to understand something, try teaching it. That includes flying.
Going The Professional Route
There are decisions to make here, too. Military aviation (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard) has long attracted young people, and the private pilot's certificate is helpful for admission to most military training programs. There are plenty of other requirements as well, but it doesn't hurt to have your private ticket.
The Air Force, for instance, requires a four-year college degree and qualification to serve as a commissioned officer. There are batteries of tests, age and health requirements, and other gates through which a pilot candidate must pass. And U.S. military flying training has long been the envy of the world.
Once accepted, pay for a military pilot trainee currently starts at about $38,000 a year. After completing flight training, pilots incur an active duty service commitment of seven to 10 years, depending on which branch they serve. You can apply at any armed forces recruiting office and talk to the officer recruiter for specific details.
An alternative to professional military flying, of course, is a full-time career with civilian airlines or in corporate aviation. More and more civilians without prior military flying exper- ience are applying to major airlines and getting jobs.
Last year, the average military applicant or interviewee at a major U.S. airline was 37 years old and had some 3,400 hours of flying experience. His or her civilian counterpart was younger (34 years old) but had also accumulated more flying time - an average of 5,775 hours. Once you've built up the necessary ratings and flight hours, it takes an average of six months from the time you submit an application to get hired. Last year alone, some 19,000 full-time professional pilots were hired to fill airline cockpit seats. For the fifth year in a row, hiring reached an all-time high, and airline pilot salaries increased significantly under new con- tracts. A recent agreement between Frontier Airlines and its pilots proposed to boost pilot salaries by up to 36 percent over the next five years. Recent agreements reached by major airlines and their pilots have averaged in the 15-to-20-percent range.
According to Kit Darby, president of AIR Inc., which closely tracks airline hiring trends, the value of a 30-year airline career at a "top carrier" today is estimated at between $12.5 and $14 million when benefits and other fringe options are added to salaries. The industry average is about $9 million.
Salaries vary by airline and type of aircraft flown, but the average yearly salary of a captain flying the largest airplane in his or her major airline's fleet is more than $186,000 a year. In contrast, the average 10-year captain flying the smallest aircraft in his or her fleet makes an average of just under $150,000 a year, not including benefits. Beginning salaries for a major airline average $33,768. By the fifth year of employment, an "average" first officer flying a medium-sized airplane makes $90,564 per year.
As new private pilot, don't expect to be flying for a major airline any time soon, but if flying for a "major" is in your career plans, a regional airline cockpit could be well within your grasp after a couple of years (or sooner), especially if you are committed to getting there. The projected demand for pilots of all types remains strong through 2007. (See "A Career Reality Check," beginning on p.48.)
Motivation
The motivation for learning to fly and for maintaining your skills is varied. It runs the gamut from, "I want to be a professional pilot," to "I think it would just be fun." Either of these or anything in between is a good reason to fly. The point here is that motivation is as important to your flying success as it is to any other kind of success.
Your ultimate or immediate objective beyond just earning a certificate deserves a lot of up-front consideration. Don't make it an afterthought. Your motivators can be serious psychological drivers that affect everything from whom you pick as your instructor to the kind of training you get and the overall approach to planning your program. It also helps for an instructor to know where you think you want to go. He or she can vary the program considerably to make sure you get started off on the right foot.
One size does not fit all in flying, so your personal goals are vitally important. Give those goals careful consideration. After all, it's your time and money we're talking about here. The type of flying you ultimately want to do could make a very big difference in where you train, how you train, and your chances for ending up where you want to be in the aeronautical world.
Now that you have that private pilot certificate, don't forget the most important thing about any type of flying you pursue - have fun with it!
Related Articles
