Piano World Home Page Forums Restricted and Archives The Coffee Room It has taken years but I finally....

got my pilot's license!!!! I am 17, and it has been a lifelong dream of mine to be a pilot. I hope to make a career out of it in the airlines.

I had to pass 3 tests: a 2.5 hour written exam, an oral test with an FAA examiner, and a checkride with the same examiner. I passed the written with a 97% (some TRULY amazing guessing going on there), I passed the oral test in 2 hours, then FAILED the checkride the first time for a single thing. I did the entire checkride perfectly, but in between 2 maneuvers, I forgot to do a 90 degree turn (called a clearing turn) to see if traffic was in the area. That was my finaly thing I had to do, but messed up and was failed. However, I went back about a week later and passed the checkride the 2nd time and got my license!! I can now fly any single engine propeller airplane. I am soooo excited. It has taken me about 1.5 years to do this! Yay...

Any pilots in here??

Private Pilot, Single Engine, Land (ret.) First solo 12/2/84.

Congratulations! Tell me, do they still require you to be proficient with the old E-6B "aviation slide rule," or have they moved into the 21st century and gone electronic?

this statement worries me greatly with respect to the passengers of your so called airline.


LoL.

Yup. We are still proficient with the E6B. Personally, I prefer the slide rule compared to the digital one. And as for the guessing, well... On a practice exam, I got a 67% and realized I didn't know nearly as much as I thought. I studied my a$$ off until I knew my stuff. There were probably 8 questions out of 60 that I had no idea on, but I only missed 2 of them! A 97% is pretty rare!

Congratulations!

They'll all have be in and out of Chapter 11 about five times by them.

Just kidding. Congrats. That's some accomplishment.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck there. I have two different friends who are both United pilots on furlow right now, and know several others in the same clique who have been laid off completely from other airlines.

Another friend works training pilots for United, and even he's been let go.
I don't know what the future holds, but I do hope it picks up enough for people to get their jobs back, and for young pilots such as yourself to find gainful employment in the future.

Plus there is a LOT of competition out there. Especially from ex military pilots.

Most people are deceived; only about 25% of airline pilots come from the military. Most think that majority of the pilots are military guys, but it just isn't true. I am hoping to become a flight instructor in order to build up time (You need 1500 hours to be considered by a major airline). Also, pilots are forced to retire when they are 60. This means that a LOT of baby boomers who will be reaching the lucky number will be forced to retire, causing a lot of vacancies. Luckily, that time will coincide when I will hopefully be qualified to fly in the airlines.

Well Done!

Someday I will fly.
Also, play cello.