How do you become a pilot?

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Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 159

Hi all, im almost 14 and i would love to be a pilot when i leave school, but i really dont know where to go or what to do, ive herd that you go to college and then pay 65k for training ? :confused: can anyone help me?

Original post

Member for

20 years

Posts: 3,902

Flying always has been and always will be expensive, but that has not been an obstacle to thousasnds of pilots, and need not be to you.

I would suggest that the best you can do at present is look into joining the Air Training Corps, and you are just the right age. Your local squadron is (from memory) 240 at Southampton. You can expect to learn to fly gliders solo, and fly in RAF aircraft at NO Cost to yourself. Added to which, it is a very worthwhile thing to do, and you will probably make life-long friends and do many things you would not otherwise have even thought about.

Flying Scholarships are available, leading to PPL perhaps, and then........

Best of luck.

Member for

19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,043

Hi Daniel
Yes joining the ATC can be a good start,are you likely to go to Uni ?? Most uni's have a University Air Squadron where some of the Students are sponsored by the RAF and fly Grob Tutor a/c and usually join the RAF.But most members of the UAS are under no obligation to 'join up' and are classified as a 'cadet pilot' and are taught to fly by serving or ex RAF instructors.
For example Southampton University Air squadron is based at Boscombe Down near salisbury.

Cheers Baz
uas website at...
www.southamptonuas.co.uk

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 542

The advice of joining your local ATC squadron is best at this time, I am an instructor with the ATC and your local squadron is 424 at Solent Sky or if you live near the airport you could try 1216 at Eastleigh. Try Hampshire and IOW Wing website to find a unit closest to you.

Martin

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 313

Yes definately worth giving your local ATC sqn a try. I joined exactly 3 years ago this week, and on Monday I'm going up to Dundee to do a Flying Scholarship. I'm lucky enough to fly the Grob Vigilant every weekend and hope to do my PPL soon at a local flying school.

Also off to RAF Akrotiri this Easter, plus RIAT and lots more in the summer so these opportunities are there if you want them!!

Consider getting a part time job when you can and start saving for a PPL... and obviously get the best grades you can a GCSE/A Level.

Best of luck!

Joe

Member for

16 years 8 months

Posts: 185

Yes it can be expensive to train as a commercial pilot and the ATC will be an excellent way to get into the air. The Flying Scholarship scheme will give you about 30 hours in the air in a addition to Air Experience Flights.

When you leave school try to get yourself an aviation related job, for example a ramp agent. These jobs will pay quite well and usually operate on a shift pattern such as 4 on 4 off. On your 4 days off you can start boffing for your exams. If the airport you work at has a flying school attached to it then they will usually offer a discount to employees of the airport. After a year or so should have your PPL with some hours built in addition to a fair amount of exams.

At this stage you can either look for a cadetship (Air Atlantique and Highland offer these free of charge or Jet2 for example for a bond). Your experience and hard work will also impress your bank manager if you approach him for a career development loan.

Best of luck.

Steve

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 16,832

The advice to seek out a university with an Air Squadron is good.

Moggy

Member for

20 years 3 months

Posts: 1,452

Yes definately worth giving your local ATC sqn a try. I joined exactly 3 years ago this week, and on Monday I'm going up to Dundee to do a Flying Scholarship. I'm lucky enough to fly the Grob Vigilant every weekend and hope to do my PPL soon at a local flying school.

Also off to RAF Akrotiri this Easter, plus RIAT and lots more in the summer so these opportunities are there if you want them!!

Consider getting a part time job when you can and start saving for a PPL... and obviously get the best grades you can a GCSE/A Level.

Best of luck!

Joe


Enjoy Akrotiri! Did it last year and the year before (staff member). The ATC is certainly a good first stop and if you're anywhere near a Volunteer Gliding Squadron, a Gliding Induction Course is a good start to a flying career, followed at 16 by a Gliding Scholarship and then if you're lucky as Joe is about to do, an Air Cadet Pilot Scheme place. The ATC will also give you a good grounding in aviation theory as well as practical.

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 159

Thank you everyone to who replyed i am most likely to start air cadets soon :D ,

thanks again, daniel

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 542

Thank you everyone to who replyed i am most likely to start air cadets soon :D ,

thanks again, daniel

good for you, will probably see you around

Martin

Member for

16 years 7 months

Posts: 248

Thank you everyone to who replyed i am most likely to start air cadets soon :D ,

thanks again, daniel

Looking back I always wished I had joined.

Sadly my nights were spent walking the streets, in a chavy manner :o

Im sure we all did at some point in our lives.

Member for

19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,043

Thank you everyone to who replyed i am most likely to start air cadets soon :D ,

thanks again, daniel

Best wishes for your flying future daniel,I started in the ATC with a gliding course (Spitalgate 69;) ) joined Raf and was part time instructor with an ATC gliding school during my apprenticeship , did loads of Gliding/flying until 97.
Still work on aircraft now and still an enthusiast!!

Cheers Baz

Member for

18 years 6 months

Posts: 1,077

Good Luck!
I was in the cadets back in the '80s, went on Camp to Binbrook, Coltishall, Gibralter and Bruggen, as well as doing my DofE Bronze and getting to Cadet Flight Sergeant. I also did a Flying Scholarship when I was 17, gaining my PPL before I could drive!

You will find that the activities, achievements and responsibility you get as you progress gives you an advantage over other applicants when you enter the job market, demonstrating that you can take on a complex task and see it through to completion and take responsibility for other's work stands you in good stead.

I joined the RAF as an Air Loadmaster and got streamed onto Choppers, the first 6 weeks of basic training was easier than cadet summer camp!!!

Was a very naughty boy and got thrown out 18 months later though:(