Project Questions

[magali]

My name is Magali I am a senior in high school, I am currently doing a project based on our pathway to interview a pilot or pilot in training to answer my questions. I need at least three people to answer. Please take a moment to answer the following questions. Thank you for your time I appreciate it.

1.What was the most difficult obstacle you had when becoming a pilot?

2. Was the amount you needed to pay off school worth it?

3. Is it difficult operating a plane?

4. What flight school did you attend?

5. Do pilots actually fly the plane or does auto pilot do all the work?

6. What do you do in an emergency crash landing?

7. How long does it take to train as a pilot?

8. What are the typical hours a pilot works in a day?

9. What is your favorite thing about your career?

10. What is the least favorite thing about your year?

11. Is it easy to get lost while flying to your destination.

12. Is there a required uniform?

13. Are there pilots allowed to dye their hair or wear piercings?

14. If you weren’t in this field what would you do?

15. Is there anything else you want to tell me?

 

[James331]

My name is Magali I am a senior in high school, I am currently doing a project based on our pathway to interview a pilot or pilot in training to answer my questions. I need at least three people to answer. Please take a moment to answer the following questions. Thank you for your time I appreciate it.


1.What was the most difficult obstacle you had when becoming a pilot?


2. Was the amount you needed to pay off school worth it?


3. Is it difficult operating a plane?


4. What flight school did you attend?


5. Do pilots actually fly the plane or does auto pilot do all the work?


6. What do you do in an emergency crash landing?


7. How long does it take to train as a pilot?


8. What are the typical hours a pilot works in a day?


9. What is your favorite thing about your career?


10. What is the least favorite thing about your year?


11. Is it easy to get lost while flying to your destination.


12. Is there a required uniform?


13. Are there pilots allowed to dye their hair or wear piercings?


14. If you weren’t in this field what would you do?


15. Is there anything else you want to tell me?

1, money


2 yes


3 once you get established in the industry..yes and no

It’s not a physical difficultly type of thing at all, mentally you always need to stay ahead of the plane, on nice weather days with things going normal, it’s pretty easy, when the weather goes downhill or something odd is going on it can be a little more challenging.


4 a few, the school doesn’t matter nearly as much as the instructor, for different ratings I had different recommendations for instructors, hence I did not do everything at the same place.


Often the best instruction will be from a “freelance” instructor where he works for himself without the banner of a large school.


5 Yes pilots fly the plane, we use automation to help, but we fly the plane, which is why you see pilots getting on the plane...


6 fly as far into the crash as possible. We first fly the plane, second find where to land it, and third talk on the radio, there are emergencies in the air, a minority result in what you would call a “crash”


7 depends, seems most of the guys going career get their CPL in 2yrs or so


8 that’s a loaded question, depends on the job, but most of us can only work up to a 14hr day, though most work far less.


9 it’s not a job, if I’m not flying for work I fly my own plane. It’s nice to not have to look forward to retirement


10 Any dealings with the FAA and all the paperwork they cause.


11 no, especially in the age of GPS


12 most places yes, ranges from business casual to the silly nautical costumes you see airline pilots wearing


13 it’s a professional level job, if it’s done tastefully and you don’t look like a freak show no one cares for the most part.


14 chase the money in sales or law, or enjoy life in the marine sector.


15 get a job ASAP if you don’t already have one, don’t go to college right after school, learn a trade first and think it over, welcome debt as much as you’d welcome a STD, don’t have kids till you’re established in whatever career, hesitation is devastation, and taxation is theft

 

[Juliet Hotel]

I'm assuming from your questions that you're looking answers from those who are on track to fly for an airline. Although I flew professionally, airline flying was never a goal for me so my answers may not apply.

1.What was the most difficult obstacle you had when becoming a pilot?

Money. Same as educating yourself for most careers I suppose.

2. Was the amount you needed to pay off school worth it?

When I first got out the industry, I had regrets about the amount of time and money I'd wasted on a career that was not a good fit for me. But the experience I gained from it all has turned out to be an asset for me in other ways so I no longer have any regrets.

3. Is it difficult operating a plane?

When you're first learning its hard. Then it gets fun. Then it gets kind of boring. At least that was how it went for me.

4. What flight school did you attend?

None. Did my initial training at a local FBO. Did my advanced ratings in my own plane with an independent CFII.

5. Do pilots actually fly the plane or does auto pilot do all the work?

About 1% of my hours were flown with an autopilot and 99% without. But if you ask an airline guy, the answer will likely be the opposite.

6. What do you do in an emergency crash landing?

Try not to screw it up anymore than you already have.

7. How long does it take to train as a pilot?

I took my private checkride about 3 months after I started training. I took my instrument checkride about 18 months after that and my commercial checkride 1 month after the instrument.

8. What are the typical hours a pilot works in a day?

Most of my professional flying was seasonal. In season I was working 60-80 hours/week. Out of season I rarely worked more than 10 hours/week. Not all of those hours were flying, but there were definitely working.

9. What is your favorite thing about your career?

I can't think of a good answer for this but like I said, pro flying turned out to not be a good fit for me.

10. What is the least favorite thing about your year?

That list is long for me. One of the biggies was trying to make ends meet when every day the mailman would bring my boss a fresh stack of resumes from pilots who were willing to do my job for less money than I was making. That got old fast.

11. Is it easy to get lost while flying to your destination.

Getting lost is extremely easy if you don't know what you're doing.

12. Is there a required uniform?

My uniform was shorts, sandals, helmet, inflatable lift vest.

13. Are there pilots allowed to dye their hair or wear piercings?

Depends on where you work.

14. If you weren’t in this field what would you do?

I ended up being a manager. Much better fit for me.

15. Is there anything else you want to tell me?

Keep it in your pants. Best advice I can give anyone.

 

[murphey]

1. Money
2. Sometimes.
3. Depends on the weather.
4. Local school at the airport. Not a Big Name School
5. Depends. Small, spam cans - mostly hand-flown. Even with autopilot, the pilot is still responsible and watching everything, all the time.
6. Pray. On the other hand, very few pilots actually crash. In the event of a real emergency, pilots are trained to minimize damage to people.
7. Depends.
8. Commercial pilots (flying for money) are limited by FAA rules
9. I don't fly for a living. As a software engineer, I work in aerospace. Not many people can say their software is on Mars. That's fun. Yes, I am a rocket scientist.
10. Paying for the airplane.
11. Not with GPS, compass, maps, radio to ask for help, and so on.
12. Clothes are required.
13. Commercial pilots flying for airlines - defined (mandated) by the airline. Little spam cans (personal aircraft) whatever.
14. I'm not in the field.
15. Not really.

 

[skier]

“Pilot” encompasses a lot of different careers and the answers to your questions will likely vary. Just some possibilities (I’m sure I’m missing some):

1. Airline Pilot
2. Cargo pilot ( in everything from a 206 to a 747)
3. Ag Pilot (crop dusters)
4. Test pilot (for both production and new designs)
5. Jump plane pilot
6. Banner towing
7. Flight Instructor
8. Helicopter tours
9. Heavy lift helicopters
10. Firefighting (helicopter or plane)
11. EMS (life star, etc)
12. Goodyear blimp
13. Law enforcement
14. Military pilot and all the variants there of
15. Corporate pilot