How to Become a Pilot | PilotinCanada.com

The Biggest Obstacle in Becoming a Professional Pilot

pilotincanada — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:24:21 +0000

There is a common perception that becoming a pilot is very difficult. While this is true, it is not for the reason people believe it to be. Becoming a pilot is only as difficult as you make it out to be.

What does this mean?

Unlike other certifications and license jobs, it is not about the level of competition. Instead, it is dependent on yourself. Sure, you will have to put in an extreme amount of effort and time in getting fully qualified but that is the only hurdle you have to cross.

The reason that people fail in getting their pilot licenses is that they give up on themselves. Either they lose joy in the training process or they convince themselves that they do not have what it takes.

As long as you have the passion and desire for flight and aviation, you can do it. Difficulties along the way are inevitable. However, they won’t be because of fierce competition and everyone else being better than you. Instead, it will be a battle with your mental self.

You have what it takes, you just have to know it yourself.

The Official Student Guide

pilotincanada — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:45:50 +0000

Becoming a pilot in Canada can be a complicating process. With the variety of training programs and credentials offered at flight schools, it’s natural to make mistakes along the way. From choosing a flight school to passing your flight exam, we’ve laid everything out step-by-step.

Do You Have to Pay for Aircraft Rental When You Get a Flying Lesson?

pilotincanada — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:36:00 +0000

When you are training to become a pilot at your flight school, do you have to pay separately for the aircraft rental fee?

This was asked to me last week by a Korean student of mine, and I thought I would post the answer here, just in case it was unclear for some other people as well.

The answer is: Yes, you have to pay for the aircraft rental fee. The fee is included in the price of your lesson.

How much does it cost?

The cost of aircraft rental for the basic trainer aircraft such as the Cessna C152 is anywhere from $75-$125 per hour. Combined with your instructor fee of $25-$75 per hour, your lessons will come to around $100-$200 a lesson.

What if you own your own aircraft?

If you own your own aircraft, you wouldn’t have to pay for rental fees. Your aircraft, if approved by your flight school, could be used for your lessons and you would save a lot of money on your pilot license training.

Can You Go On 100 Fam Flights?

pilotincanada — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:30:00 +0000

OK, so 100 seems a little over the top, but just how many FAM (Familiarity) flights are you allowed to take?

For those of you who don’t know what a FAM flight is, it is an introductory flight given to prospective students who want to become a pilot. It allows them to get a real live experience of flying in an airplane before they commit to a series of lessons.

Now, considering that the hours you log on a FAM flight are permitted to be recorded into your log book, just how many FAM flights can you take? 1? 10? 100?

Technically, there is no limitation set on this. The term, FAM flight is pretty much just a marketing term to get people into the door of their flight school to sign up for lessons. A FAM flight can even be considered as lesson #1. If you don’t like it, don’t sign up for more lessons.

Many people like to go one 1-2 FAM flights with different flight schools in the area, mainly to get a comparison between schools. Usually they will sign up for lessons to the school where they had the better experience.

If you wanted to go on more FAM flights, you’re allowed to go right on ahead and do that. It is up to you. However, considering that there will usually be less than 5 flight schools in your nearby area, it will be quite difficult to go on 100 of them. Also, after your first FAM flight, you’re obligated to show documentation to flight schools, such as your citizenship and log book, etc.

It really is a useless idea to go on so many FAM flights, but for technicality’s sake, we just had to ask the question.

Prepare Yourself for More Lessons and More Money Spent than you Expected

pilotincanada — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:22:00 +0000

Tonight a student of mine was forced to quit his pilot training today. He had received his private pilot license in July of last year, 2011 and was training towards his commercial pilot license. Becoming a pilot not only takes your dedication and enough money to finance it, but it takes a lot of planning ahead as well.

At the start of your flight training, you may have calculated a certain amount of money that you will need to make each payment and successfully complete your training. However, in pilot training, what you plan out is always going to change. You cannot predetermine how long, or how many lessons, it’s going to take you until you’re prepared to take the licensing exam. In most cases, students go far beyond the minimum required training hours. If your payment plan is such that the amount you pay for lessons is not capped at a certain amount, then you could end up paying a lot more money than expected.

It was heart-breaking to see someone so passionate and devoted to flying have to stop solely because of financial reasons. To everyone getting into their training, make sure you are prepared for situations where you may have to pay more for extra lessons. Be extra clear of your payment plan before you sign anything.

Demand for Pilots Still Looking Low. Why Not Go Overseas Where it is Booming?

pilotincanada — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 09:58:00 +0000

Last week, we looked at how a fear of flying could be overcome with a simple program from Take-Off Today. Today, we’ll look at some great news for Canadian and American pilots. The demand for pilots are still looking low here in Canada and the United States. Not only is the demand low, but experienced pilots are getting furloughed as well. Okay, that’s not good news. But wait… there’s more.

Many U.S. pilots are taking the trip overseas to get jobs at airlines in China, Africa, Korea, etc.

Pay may be low here, but over there, there is a shortage of well-trained pilots. It’s a shame to have such world-class highly trained pilots here in Canada and the United States that can’t find jobs. Go overseas and you will be in great demand. The countries in Asia and Africa have high respect for Canadian and American trained pilots. American and Canadian pilots signing on to fly jetliners can expect to make well over $100,000 a year. Some airlines will even offer free housing as a benefit.

For instance, Air China is hiring captains for the Airbus A330 aircraft, and it will train pilots. Pay is $4,000 a month during training and then $11,000 a month plus a $4,000 monthly living allowance once training is completed. Now, this doesn’t mean that you can just get your commercial pilot license, become a commercial pilot, and fly on over to China and become a captain making 6 figures a year. However, the opportunities are currently a lot greater than they are over here.

Do Flight Instructors Need a Class 2 Medical to Work?

pilotincanada — Sat, 26 May 2012 06:56:00 +0000

Renewing your Aviation Medical every year is one of the pains of becoming a pilot. It is one of the few things that can indirectly cause you to lose your job as a pilot. No medical, no flying. That’s the rule and the governing bodies such as the FAA and Transport Canada are very strict about it.

If you’ve read about the aviation medical, you’ll have learnt that commercial pilots require a Class 2 Aviation Medical to exercise their commercial pilot license privileges. However, the rules are slightly different for certified flight instructors (CFI).

Don’t all commercial pilots need a Class 2 Medical?

Technically, no. A flight instructor would be permitted to teach without an aviation medical.

A Class 2 Medical is required to perform the duties of a commercial pilot. This means that it is a strict requirement if you were to exercise your rights as a commercial pilot in compensation for hire.

The FAA has determined that the instructor is being paid to teach, not to fly. Therefore, a Class 2 Medical is not required.

What about at least a Class 3 Medical?

A certified flight instructor technically doesn’t even need a Class 3 Medical. However, if you wanted to fly as Pilot in Command (PIC), then you would need a Class 3 Medical.

Are You Allowed to Fly to Work in a Private Aircraft?

pilotincanada — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:48:00 +0000

If your work is quite far, and you hate the long drive every morning, wouldn’t it be great if you can fly your private airplane to work? Even better, what about a helicopter and just land it right in the parking lot? I’m sure you’ve all thought about it one time or another. I’m sure even college students have dreamed about flying their own helicopters to school and flying it home after their lectures.

The question is: Is it even allowed?

The FAA does not have a specific rule about it. Since most people will be flying from their home airport to the airport near their work, it isn’t a problem. However, it could be a big problem for your work because of potential lawsuits that could arise.

Without getting to the specifics, there are so many different policies for employees that could interfere with this method of transportation. There is no absolute rule about flying to work, so you should first check with your company. At some places it will be frowned upon, and other places will just not allow it altogether. If you were the CEO of a company and your employee was flying to work everyday, would you allow it? In my opinion, from a boss’s perspective, it is needless risk.

However, from a pilot’s perspective, it sounds really awesome! I don’t own a private jet, but if I did I would love to fly to work at least once a month. I love that becoming a pilot can give you these cool options in life. Although not very practical, it just sounds cool. Imagine waking up everyday knowing you’re going to fly to work. I’d be excited no matter how boring my day job was.

Improving Pilot Salaries: Let’s Start Tipping Pilots

pilotincanada — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Working as a major airline pilot is great. You get the big bucks and great benefits. But these pilots have years and years of working experience. What happens if you don’t have this experience yet?

For the first few years, pilots make approximately $20,000 give or take a few thousand. That is extremely low. If you think about it simply, you’ve pretty much spent upwards of $50,000 for your commercial pilot license. It’s a rather stingy feeling to enter the work force and have your time considered as such low value.

If you’ve watched the movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore profiles how pilots are paid so little when they are starting out. Consider this: The average taxi driver in New York makes about $17/hour. The average starting wage for a regional pilot is $12.50/hour. With less than $20,000 in income a year, how can the average pilot survive in this economy? Add to that the additional costs for continuous training for ratings and to improve your pilot license.

A Solution…Well, just something that could help.

When asked to respond to an $18,000 a year first year starting pay for pilots Roger Cohen president of the Regional Airline Association responded:

“…there are many other people who earn less money than that and work more days in these communities that can afford it and do it and do it responsibly.”

If airlines don’t see the importance of paying these first-year pilots what they are worth, we as passengers can help a little bit by (drumroll)… tipping!

Sure, it won’t suddenly make regional pilots rich by any means, but it will surely help. I mean, we tip cab drivers, waitresses, the doorman, and even the guy who helps you with your bags at the airport. Why not pilots?

If a regional airline carried 100 passengers, and each decided to tip $5, that would be $500 straight to the pilot in additional money. I would be excited to fly each day if tips came in like that! Of course, the money would probably be shared among other crew members, but still that is a log of money.

Regional pilots certainly are not paid as much as they deserve. We as passengers can help out a lot with just a simple gesture. Many people are not aware that starting wages for pilots are so unbelievably low. They hear about the major airline caption making 6 figures and retiring at 50 years old, and they automatically assume that all pilots are rolling in money.

Until pilots can be recognized and paid what they truly should be paid for their time, we as a people can do our small part to support them in a small way.

What Happens if You Lie About Your Flying Hours? Jail!

pilotincanada — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:35:00 +0000

Pilot fraud. For people learning how to become a pilot, you should know just how serious your log book accuracy is.

What happens if you lie about your flying hours? Well, it’s a lot bigger deal than you may have thought. It is a situation that will have you standing in front of a judge in Federal court and having your matter investigated by the F.B.I.

Usually, if you are found guilty, you will be sentenced a jail period of 5 or less years. However, in most cases, when the accused cooperates with authorities and pleads guilty, that sentence may be shortened.

Why are the charges so serious?

Well, for one, it’s not that difficult to lie about your logged flying hours. While on the other hand, it’s also very easy to trace your steps and find it out.

If you lie, you are committing federal fraud. You are lying to the federal government. In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and in Canada, Transport Canada (T.C.).

Previous charges have involved lying about flying hours so that the suspect could receive their commercial pilot license without flying the required 250 hours minimum. The accused was investigated by special agents from the F.B.I. and also the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.

It is a big deal! It is definitely not worth it, and I don’t see any reason to do it. Luckily, it’s not a common case for people to lie about their flying hours. People are more interested in becoming the best qualified pilots they can be.