Pilot

Pilot
Pilot is a very specialized job requiring many years of study, much time flying, sans passengers, and intensive study just to get licensed. Once you’ve got the job, it requires a great deal of commitment in terms of the time spent away from home and the long periods of being around people you might not even like.

Pilots are trained in any number of different areas. These include helicopter pilot jobs, airplane pilot, or airline pilot. There is a difference in the last two: Just about anyone can pilot an airplane. There are rules you have to follow and an extensive test you need to take but the restrictions are much less than for commercial airline pilot. When you are flying 50,000 feet above the earth with 400 people’s lives at stake, the qualifications better be higher. If it’s just you and a tiny junker plane a few hundred feet above a controlled airfield, your stupidity or bad judgment is, for all intents, your own.

To try and dispel some of the myths spreading around, there is NO SUCH THING as fighter pilot school. The only place you can learn your dogfigthing skills in the US anymore is in the service or on your X-Box. Helicopter pilots are always in short supply when they’re needed, so that’s a good thing to get licensed in.

Finally the biggest concern for any person trying to get their pilots license is go through the proper channels. Do what’s right; dot your “i’s” and cross your “t’s” because the last thing you want (in this age of HEIGHTENED TERRORISM) is to be labeled a ‘safety risk’ when you are (hopefully) anything but. That’s the blanket moniker they’ll tap you with and then you’ll never be able to fly again.

There are few things that compare to speeding down a runway and pulling back and lifting off then touching down safely and coming to that final halt. But if you have any aspirations to be an in a pilot, I say do it while you’re young. Things like eyes, desire, and courage decrease with time. So go for it now and join the ranks of the licensed pilots of the world!