r/PilotAdvice

I’m curious about starting a pilot career, right now I have little to no knowledge but looking to start getting into it. Feel free to give me any tips and advice!

Hey all, junior in HS looking for honest feedback on where I'm at and what to prioritize over the next two years. Details below:

Academics

• ⁠Weighted GPA: ~4.6
• ⁠Unweighted GPA: ~3.9-4.0
• ⁠Class rank: 30/734
• ⁠Course rigor: increasing load each year (see below)

AP Coursework

• ⁠Freshman/Sophomore: AP World History, AP CS Principles, AP US History, AP CS A, AP Physics 1
• ⁠Junior: AP Physics 2, AP Environmental Science, AP US Gov, AP Precalc, AP Seminar
• ⁠Senior (planned): AP Physics C, AP Lang, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Statistics, AP Calc BC, AP Bio

All test scores are 4s and 5s

Testing

• ⁠PSAT: 1300 (sophomore year)
• ⁠SAT: not yet taken

Athletics

• ⁠Cross Country — JV, started sophomore year, 5K PR: 21:27
• ⁠Track & Field — JV, started sophomore year, Mile PR: 5:47
• ⁠Competitive swimming, grades 5–8 (Fishers Area Swimming Tigers)
• ⁠Rock climbing — club president, 500+ hours logged

Leadership

• ⁠President, Chess Club
• ⁠President, Rock Climbing Club

Interest in aviation

Getting Private Pilot License senior year.

Other

• ⁠Dual citizen (US-born, Filipino heritage through parent)
• ⁠Fluent in English and Filipino

• I live in Indiana (in-state)

Additional question: how much of an impact does doing FAA Student Volunteer have on my application.

I’m 24 and in the very beginning stages of trying to make aviation my career. My ultimate goal is to get to the point where I’m being paid to fly.

Right now, I’m still in the process of securing my medical. Assuming that goes well, my plan is to continue working and saving up until I have enough money to pay for my PPL entirely out of pocket.

After getting my PPL, the current plan is to quit my job and pursue the rest of my ratings full time. I’m considering an accelerated program similar to ATP for instrument through commercial/CFI, and I would likely need to take out a loan to finance that portion of training.

I’m fortunate to have a couple things working in my favor. I receive a monthly VA disability payment, and based on the loan payments I’ve been estimating, that should cover a significant portion—potentially all—of the monthly payment on the flight-training loan. I’ve also made an agreement with my parents that when I start training full time, I can move back in with them rent-free. That should allow me to keep my living expenses as low as possible while I’m training and during the early part of my flying career.
I understand that the road from PPL to actually making decent money flying can be long, and that taking out a large loan for flight training carries risk. That’s really why I’m posting here.

For those of you who have actually gone through this process, especially anyone who went the accelerated-training/loan route: does this sound like a reasonable plan, or am I overlooking something that could seriously screw me financially or professionally?

Currently a student pilot, and have begun to consider pursuing aviation through the military route. This is of course a big decision in how a career as a pilot would look like for me, but i have been thinking about it for a while and have grown a genuine interest in possibly flying with either the Air Force or the Navy. I have a list of questions in regard to both of these branches when it comes to being a pilot and i would love to get some feedback from any current AF/Naval Aviators, or even retired AF/Naval Aviators. And hopefully depending on the answers, that might give me some insight on what the best option for me might look like.

Thank You!

1. Which has better quality of life: when i say "quality of life" the most important factor to me is the family dynamic and how it will affect your time with your wife, kids, etc.

2. Which has better Bases/Locations: This one goes hand in hand with the quality of life question, but just in general who has the better bases

3. How do deployments work with either of these branches: About how long are you gone from home, how often are you moving, etc

4. Which Branch will i get more flying time with: I've heard rumors that the Navy has mandatory "non-flying tours" so i don't know how much truth there is to that, but in general who will i get in the air with more, AF or Navy.

5. What is the Best Way to get Pilot Slots: Service Academies, ROTC in College? Is the process to becoming a pilot in the AF different than the Navy or are they relatively similar.

6. Which branch am i more likely to end up in the cockpit: Heard stories of people doing things like Navy ROTC in college and ending up in submarines rather than planes, so which is more 'secure' and 'assured' that you end up flying

7. Best and Worst things about flying in the Navy and Airforce: Pros and Cons

Hello everyone,

I am an 18 year old Australian from Melbourne. I have just gotten accepted into RMIT for the associates degree in aviation (2 years) which then on completion i plan on transferring into the bachelors of aviation if i decide i want to end up pursuing the bachelors degree which can easily be done after my associates. For all the Australian pilots already at the airlines what is the best way i can get into the cockpit of major carriers such as Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Air NZ and Qantas. If you could guide me on what steps i should/need to take in order to get there it would be greatly appreciated and if you could also write what you did personally that would be great as well! Being a pilot is a lifelong dream of mine ever since my dad took me plane spotting when i was just a kid, seeing planes taking off from 34R at Melbourne airport and seeing student pilots flying out of Morrabbin near the DFO just made my passion for aviation even stronger. Thank you for reading my post and i appreciate all of you pilots out there for keeping us safe in the air!!!!!!!!

I've been around aviation my whole life, and i have no doubts that becoming a pilot is what i want to do. However; with that being said i really have no clue what sector of aviation i want to pursue, i just know i want my office to be the cockpit. There's a lot of things about the Airlines that interest me, a lot about military aviation that interests me, and the same applies to the private sector and the cargo sector. I just don't know how to narrow it down and decide what the best direction for me to go as an aspiring pilot is.

For reference, i'm currently a student pilot in ground school also working towards my PPL. I understand that this is still pretty early to be considering these options, but i just want to have a better idea for when i continue the rest of my flight training in college. Below, i've made a list of what i like about each sector, and what i don't like about each sector to hopefully give some insight on what might be the best path for me.

What Interests me about Airlines: Best pay, usually has the best balance with family life, flexible and predictable scheduling, etc

What i Don't Like About Airlines: Missing Holidays, Missing family events, Long Duty Days

What Interests me about Military Aviation: The prestige and how you are developed as an aviator, the discipline and skill it takes to fly and handle an aircraft such as a fighter, experience you build from the unique missions and objectives of military aviation, etc

What i Don't Like About Military Aviation: Can be gone away from family on deployments for months at a time, being at the mercy of the government for things like where you live and aircraft your assigned

What Interests me about Private: Lifestyle, flying luxurious planes, unique destinations

What i Don't like about Private: Much more unpredictable, long duty days also, having to handle luggage and manage passengers

What i Like about Cargo: Simplicity, you show up and fly the plane with no passengers involved or managing luggage like private guys, variety of destinations

What i Don't Like About Cargo: Crappy flying hours, lots of late night stuff, red eyes, etc

All things considered, the most important factor to me at the end of the day will be which sector has the best Quality of Life and Family Dynamic, as someone who wants to have a family and kids one day, i want to make sure that i have the ability to balance both flying and my relationship with family.

So i'll leave it at that, what do you believe is the best direction for me to go. I would love to hear from any active pilots in any of these sectors, or even any retired pilots with a background in any of these. Thank you!

I'm interviewing with an airline in a couple months. How long should TMAY questions be, and what should I include? I'm thinking about talking about my journey and what it took to get here. However, my response ended up being 5 minutes.

Hello, it’s been my dream of becoming an airline pilot for a while, but the only thing that worries me is my vision. This is for Canada ATPL.

I have astigmatism and myopia but with glasses/contacts I am able to reach 20/20 vision. The only thing that scares me is my D (diopter) numbers which are -6.5 and -7.38. I read somewhere that even with 20/20 your uncorrected vision can be more than +- 3 diopter. Idk if that’s true or not.

Another thing is LASIK, if i do it would it fix this number? Also are airlines picky or specific about what it was previous to lasik or does it give me a fresh start almost?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Prescription is: Left -6.75, -1.25
Right: -5.25, -2.50

Im currently working on my instrument rating and I’ve been meaning to start networking with other pilots and I’m wondering:

At what stage in your training does networking become appropriate?

All the CFIs at my school have a big network of other pilots and they tell me to just talk to people at FBOs and get to know them. I have done that but it usually never leads anywhere. I feel like that’s because I’m still a noobie working on my training, AKA im not an experienced enough pilot for them to want to get to know me. Unlike 600hr CFIs, I dont have any cool ratings to talk about so conversations usually consist of me asking about their flights and future plans, then answering questions they have for me and we go our separate ways. I feel as if I’m missing out on a key part of conversating and that’s why I can’t connect with other pilots. This has left me feeling out of place in this industry and rethinking my career choice.

Also, my school has mainly 141 students from an international program while I’m a 61 student. They don’t timebuild much and once they complete their program, they go back to their country of origin, so I dont have much luck talking to other students at my school either.

Bonus question: what is the best way to find other pilots who are willing to timebuild? What worked for you?