Hello fellow pilots!!

captainphil

captainphil

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!! This is my first day registered here and I must say it is nice to be talking to pilots such as yourselfs , let me tell you a bit about myself. My names phil, i'm 16 as of now and attend a tech class for aviation , next year our class will hopefully get two frasca flight simulators for logging in hours. I am currently taking lessons at a slow rate but I still am and I will update each lesson. As of now I completed the minimum controllable airpeed part of the check list. This is my nineth flying hour so far and everyday I practice flying on microsoft flight simulator 2002. When I graduate high school I plan on going to Delta connection academy in Massachusetts , not the one thats in popular in Florida, if anyone could recomend any other good choices please do not hesitate, I am looking to fly in the airlines as soon as possible and legally I can't until I think it's twenty one.If anybody here is an airline pilot and could help me out and give me advice here and there I would greatly appreciate that as well as any other pilots here. Thank you all for your ears and i'm looking forward to knowing you all !!
 
Do you plan on getting a college degree?

If you know you want to be a pilot now, and have already started lessons, then you've got plenty of time to make it to an airline. Being your age, there is time to get a degree and possibly make it to a regional in your early twenties, with some flight instructing experience.

I've got nothing against schools like DCA, but why do it so fast? When I was 16 and working on my private, I wanted to be in a jet by 21, but now I realize that I want to take my time and enjoy it, and not let it all fly by me so fast. I'm 19 now and got hired as a flight instructor at my school (I start working when I finish my certificate-checkride scheduled for the 21st :nana2: ). I couldn't be happier with the way things are going so far. I also went to college full time for three semesters, but just went to part time so I could balance school and instructing a little better. I'll graduate in 2010 (6 years total for Bachelor's) at 23 or 24, and then maybe start applying to regionals if I want to...I'm one of those who is sort of against being in a jet with 500 hours.

Point being: I would take it a little slower, you might appreciate it later. You will also be more experienced when you're flying for an airline. Another thing to think about is why not instruct or something a little longer, gain some experience and really learn how to fly sharply before jumping into the type of job you will have for nearly 40 years of your life?

Just another point of view, and its good to seek other opinions. You don't have to follow all of the advice you get, but at least consider it.

Happy flying :) .

Oh, and one more thing, don't think of the different things you learn in flying as "checklist items"...really make sure you get out of it what you are supposed to. The syllabus is just a rough outline of what sequence to do things in. Be thourough (sp??) and be really good!
 
That makes sense to me, thank you for the advice. my Dad wants me to get my private by this May which im excited about. Every cent I make from now on gets deposited to my bank so I can withdraw it for lessons. to be an airline pilot for delta do you know the requirements needed? I am really inexperienced and only started really learning about planes this year although I have been reading books on my own for about 2 years. I know its not something to rush but I kind of want to be ahead of the game by the time I reach college this way I could move on to more beautiful and better things. I totally agree with you though, something like this shouldn't be rushed . Oh and one quuestion , We are learning about all different FAR'S, how do you not violate one of these FAR'S if your preoccupied flying a plane and busy intersecting VOR'S. I haven't violated one yet because I know my instructor wold get out his trusty ruler if I did :D? thanks and happy flying to you as well, and a perfect landing too :D
 
captainphil said:
That makes sense to me, thank you for the advice. my Dad wants me to get my private by this May which im excited about. Every cent I make from now on gets deposited to my bank so I can withdraw it for lessons. to be an airline pilot for delta do you know the requirements needed? I am really inexperienced and only started really learning about planes this year although I have been reading books on my own for about 2 years. I know its not something to rush but I kind of want to be ahead of the game by the time I reach college this way I could move on to more beautiful and better things. I totally agree with you though, something like this shouldn't be rushed . Oh and one quuestion , We are learning about all different FAR'S, how do you not violate one of these FAR'S if your preoccupied flying a plane and busy intersecting VOR'S. I haven't violated one yet because I know my instructor wold get out his trusty ruler if I did :D? thanks and happy flying to you as well, and a perfect landing too :D
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With FAR's, obviously don't violate any. You learn to fly the plane, intercept VOR's and all that and pay attention to what's going on around you as you gain experience in the airplane. This is simply expected of you to become a pilot. I know it may seem daunting now, but it will seem to get easier as time goes on! A lot becomes subconcious after a while. That's the kind of stuff that will keep you motivated. Don't let yourself get discouraged...ever. As far as busting a FAR, there is a regulation under part 91...91.3 (b), Pilot in Command Responsibility to be exact that allows you to, in the event of an emergency "deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency." This is not to be taken advantage of obviously. You will learn about all that stuff a little later. Also, ask your Instructor about NASA reporting forms which allow you to report discrepencies by pilots, yourself included...if you accidentally break a FAR, you can basically turn yourself in and use it as a "get out of jail free card" (depends on the offense, i.e. you can't get smashed and go fly around and just tell on yourself!!), but only once every 5 years, I believe. You can print them off of NASA.com I believe, and every pilot should have a few handy, I think. Overall though, as a competent pilot, you should have no problem conforming to the rules. Just follow them. All rules are made to increase safety, and many are added because of someone else getting injured or killed, always keep that in mind if you are thinking about buzzing a friends house or just taking things a little further.

As for Delta hiring requirements, not sure, but that shouldn't be a major concern to you right now. Concentrate on what is in front of you...your pilot's license. When it comes time to apply to airlines, what many pilots have told me is basically don't put all your eggs in one basket, i.e., don't apply to just one airline you want to work for, this will decrease your chances of getting hired greatly.
 
"If anybody here is an airline pilot and could help me out and give me advice here and there I would greatly appreciate that"

Go here www.jetcareers.com

Then, read everything Doug wrote in the left hand colum, plus all the perspectives articles. Don't click on "enter the forums" until you've at least taken these steps to educate yourself.

You can answer a lot of your own questions, that way, and ask better questions at the forums. You'll also be better prepared to be a positive contributer at this site.

Have a nice weekend....hehe.
 
two things. get a degree and dont get so set on delta connection academy that you never research other schools. there are a lot of very good ones out there that get you done a lot cheaper and just as good or better training.
 
As the old disco song goes, "Take your time, do it right..." I couldn't agree more with the others: experience, experience, experience, and more experience. Not to mention get a college degree. The key thing is, wherever you start out, you're still flying. And that's the whole point, isn't it? ;)
 
Yes, I couldn't agree more with all of you. I really don't want to rush this considering the safety factor involved with being a pilot whether it be flying a small SEL like a cessna or a 747 for the airlines. I am looking at a wide variety of colleges at home and looking for the one I think is best. So far it's delta but I could change my mind if I come up with something else . As of now I don't have to worry about college for two more years because i'm still only a junior, but I just need a heads up for college and hopefully my private this way im one step further. This is off topic but I need to ask,I will be completly honest im ok at math but i'm not excellent in math is that a problem? I understand weight and balance formulas those aren' tthat bad but where else does math come into flying? Thank you and if anyone wants to step in and recomend another flight college please feel free to tell me I am open to as many opinions as possible , thank you all.
 
captainphil said:
Yes, I couldn't agree more with all of you. I really don't want to rush this considering the safety factor involved with being a pilot whether it be flying a small SEL like a cessna or a 747 for the airlines. I am looking at a wide variety of colleges at home and looking for the one I think is best. So far it's delta but I could change my mind if I come up with something else . As of now I don't have to worry about college for two more years because i'm still only a junior, but I just need a heads up for college and hopefully my private this way im one step further. This is off topic but I need to ask,I will be completly honest im ok at math but i'm not excellent in math is that a problem? I understand weight and balance formulas those aren' tthat bad but where else does math come into flying? Thank you and if anyone wants to step in and recomend another flight college please feel free to tell me I am open to as many opinions as possible , thank you all.
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I'm assuming you live in the Boston area since you're going to DCA in, I think, BED... But dude, do you really want to go to a flight college? You live in the best college town in America (I grew up in Walpole), and you're going to leave it to go to some school out in BFE with 90% guys, 10% girls, nothing to do except drink on weekends, and get a worthless degree? Why not get a degree as a backup plan? There has to be something other than airplanes that you enjoy...
 
No I live in NY and I just thought the college sounds good, I asked my tech teacher would he reccomend it and he said yes but i'm not limiting my choices.
 
Chris , I am open to any suggestions, do you wannna recomend a good step to becoing an airline pilot, I appreciate any info I can get :)
 
Get a 4 year degree in _______ (insert interest other than aviation), go to a FBO (not a "flight academy") and get your ratings there. Work as a CFI there, get a job at regional/135 operation/cargo, then go whereever it is you want to go.
 
"I understand weight and balance formulas those aren' tthat bad but where else does math come into flying"

Common question from high schoolers. I don't think Math, as you're thinking about it and studying it, is used much in everyday flying. Doing well in Math is still very important, though, as it teaches you to think and solve problems logically.

"I asked my tech teacher would he reccomend it and he said yes"

I doubt your tech teacher got any farther than the fancy DCA website in his knowledge of careers as a pilot.
 
Captainphil, DCA = Delta Connection Academy. Knowledge is power, and time is on your side. You can use the "search" function on this website and probably find 50 pages of threads on DCA alone. You are young, so I would advise to take your time and go the FBO route(to prevent a lot of debt) Also, do your homework and study all the airlines now, that way when your ready to apply, you will know which airlines you want to work for.
 
Duh , I should of known what DCA stood for i'm so stupid lol ,Thank you all for your opinions I am deffinetly certain you guys know what your talking about because your pilots and I will deffinetly take your opinions into consideration if not action. By the way, what flying do you guys do and in what planes I'm interested to know?Thanks for all your help.
 
"By the way, what flying do you guys do and in what planes I'm interested to know?Thanks for all your help"

Did you read the perspectives articles on the home page?
 
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