What subjects do you need to know to become a pilot? Where to study to become a pilot

Since childhood, many boys have been worried about the question of how to become a pilot, because this is a purely “male” and very romantic profession. With age, many forget about it and change their interests, but there are also those who remain true to their goal to the end, such as becoming an airplane pilot- this is their lifelong dream.

In order to obtain a license, you will need:

  • complete a special course;
  • undergo a very serious medical examination;
  • pass a written exam.

Next, you should receive a certificate stating that the training was successfully completed, “fly” hours (a commercial pilot must have a minimum of 250 hours under his/her credit), and receive a document certifying that you have been awarded the “pilot” qualification.

Pilot training program

The most successful people in mastering a profession are those who truly “sick of heaven” and do not imagine life on earth, are not afraid of obstacles and will not “break down” in the first few years, which will be hellishly difficult.

But dreams are dreams, and first you will need to graduate from a regular school or gymnasium, and it is advisable to have good grades in your school certificate, since D and C students are rarely accepted into such institutions, realizing that they do not have enough perseverance and patience. By the way, you will have to improve your English- its knowledge is one of the main conditions for admission of an applicant or student to a university or course.

Since becoming an airplane pilot is quite difficult, and the profession itself is quite specific, it is better to take your first lessons at the age of 16. This will help you understand whether the specialty is suitable for you or not, since theory and practice are different from each other. If your desire has only grown stronger- look for funds to pay for flight school classes.

You can study to become a commercial or private airline pilot while studying at another university or working. A professional pilot cannot afford such a “luxury”; he must devote all his time to this profession, since the training will be more intense, deeper and longer. A separate decision will require the question of how to become a military pilot, since you cannot do without military service.

Flight training

Firstly, you can acquire basic skills in the specialty in the army, where the training program will also include a practical part. But please note that this option was most correct 10-12 years ago, since today many airlines are trying to hire pilots with civilian rather than military flying experience, due to the serious differences between these types of flights.

Secondly, you can take qualifying courses to obtain a student pilot certificate. In order to enroll in a course, you will need to undergo a medical examination, carried out within the appropriate established form, stating that you do not have physical limitations that could prevent you from studying and further working “at height”. There is a fee for the medical examination, so check the cost in your region.
Third, you need to enroll in a flight school or pilot training program that includes practical assignments in order to accumulate 250 hours of flight time. The cost of training depends on the level and reputation of the educational institution or courses, but varies between $8,000-20,000. The remaining costs will depend on the qualifications you require.

At the end of the training, you will need to pass an exam in the form of a 100-question test and a control flight, which will be conducted by certified examiners. The task includes drawing up a flight plan and executing it.

Flight experience

To obtain a commercial pilot certificate, you will need, as already mentioned, 250 flight hours, but to get a job they will not be enough, you will need at least 500 hours. You can “fly” them by getting a job as an instructor, find a place in small agricultural aviation, tourist aircraft, etc.

Don’t forget about qualifying grades when you receive them in different areas:


By the way, from time to time you will need to update your medical certificate.

How to get a job

It is better to submit your first application to regional airlines, where competition for vacant positions is minimal, since the schedule is very tight and wages, compared to “big” aviation, are low. But don’t worry, your task now is to move up the career ladder, earning a promotion and a good work schedule with your experience.

After 5-7 years, you can look for a more promising job, but don’t hesitate, since health and age are more important in this profession than anywhere else. There may be a “dark streak” in the work, since the demand for pilots either falls or increases, depending on the season and the state of the economy as a whole. Therefore, during the “stagnation” period, you can try to obtain a pilot-in-command certificate, which is the highest qualification level for a commercial pilot. In order to qualify for the position, you will need to have flown 250 hours as a commander and also have 1,500 hours as a pilot.

What does it take to become a pilot?

    • diploma from regular and flight schools;
    • medical certificate;
    • flight instructor certificate;
    • from 500 flight hours;
    • marks on instrument and flight clearance;
    • exam passed “good” and “excellent”;
    • passing the check flight.

No matter how much time has passed, no matter how many generations have changed, people’s desire to fly, to be a pilot or astronaut has not gone away. In order to become a pilot, you can take several paths. Firstly, get an education at a flight college, secondly, undergo practical training at a flying club. It’s up to you to decide how to become a pilot, but to make it easier to choose, we’ll look at these options in more detail.

How to become a real pilot

The first opportunity involves studying at a university. As we know, it lasts five years. But after receiving your diploma, you can try to get a job as a pilot for an airline. Of course, in order to take a good place, you will have to fly additional hours, since, on average, the flight time of a college and academy graduate is 150 hours, these indicators are often not enough.

In addition, before deciding how to become a pilot, you should study the requirements for To evaluate it, you will have to pass the 1000 m run, 100 m, and pull-ups. Only after passing this test the commission will make a decision: “recommended for training” or “not recommended”. The advantages of studying at a university are obvious: good theoretical training, the opportunity to study for free. However, if for some reason during the training process your health condition worsens, then there is a chance that you will never learn how to become an airplane pilot.

The second option is directly related to the flying club. You can take your first flight

Do it already in the first lesson, however, as a passenger. Various legal acts stipulate that pilots, in such conditions, have a large amount of not only theoretical, but also practical knowledge. At the same time, most often students do theoretical training themselves, and undergo a medical examination only at the end of training.

Pilot's license

In order to be able to fly an airplane independently, you must obtain a pilot's certificate. It confirms that the person knows how to become a pilot and has completed the full training.

The certificate is issued in three categories: private, line, commercial pilot. Studying at a university makes it possible to obtain a commercial pilot certificate. In the future, they can be commanders of single-engine or multi-engine aircraft, but with the condition that they are not used for commercial purposes.

If a person has completed regular courses, then upon completion he becomes a private (amateur) pilot. In this case, the right to independently fly a light aircraft appears, but without the possibility of being hired.

Only those who have more than 1,500 hours of flight time become linear. Moreover, higher demands are placed on pilots in this category.

In order to find out, you also need to know that airline and commercial pilots are further divided into classes. The first one is considered the highest. If you are thinking about becoming a helicopter pilot, you must at least obtain a private pilot certificate.

In any case, if your intention to master this profession is serious, and your health is at the highest level, go for it! All in your hands!

What profession is it - a pilot, where can you get a document certifying that you belong to it, what you should know before making a choice. What is needed to lift a plane into the sky? ? Is a certain amount of knowledge that is obtained in flight training schools or universities sufficient? These and many other questions are of interest to the young male generation.

To the great regret of applicants and airlines, everything is not so simple. Moreover, the situation in the profession is extremely confusing - on the one hand, there is a shortage of pilots, on the other hand, graduates are not hired. But, everything is in order.

Selection criteria.

Educational institutions of this kind mainly exist on the basis of budget places, but not everyone who wants to get into them will get into them. The reason is to undergo a medical examination; any deviation from the norm may be a reason for refusal.

The future pilot must have a healthy heart, blood vessels, lungs, normal blood pressure, and the vestibular system without disorders. During the educational process, students, or rather, cadets, will repeatedly undergo a commission; in case of any health problem, you can part with the profession.

Pilots undergo medical examinations not only during training, but throughout their entire working life, they undergo them thoroughly, looking ahead with a bias. Probably for this reason, in our time, much fewer representatives of this profession graduate than literally a couple of decades ago, this leads to the fact that, for example, over a five-year period of time, twice as many pilots retire compared to those entering the service.

What are pilots taught?

The life of a flight student is very interesting and eventful. To begin with, he gets acquainted with the design of various types of aircraft. He studies the methods and possibilities of operating and controlling a vessel, in professional language this is called navigation, the scope of which includes the theory and practice of methods for controlling an aircraft, as well as routing - orienting it in the optimally chosen spatial path.

They study the design of aircraft and their engines, meteorology, and aerodynamics. They learn to provide first aid, jump with a parachute, and master lifeguard skills. And every pilot must know English to work on international flights.

Practice usually takes place in educational and training complexes on special simulators.

What awaits graduates?

But, despite the shortage of specialists in this profession, not every company opens its doors to young graduates, or rather, they won’t open it at all. After graduating from an educational institution, where cadets acquire a small number of hours spent at the controls, they should begin to improve their qualifications: increase their flight hours and obtain a flight license. The more hours a graduate flies, the more favorable the light he will appear to a future employer.

And this is where the graduate pilot faces a big problem. Even in the last century, all this was very easy and simple, but the training organizations that issued the license and helped to fly hours were closed or transferred to private management. Because all this is incredibly expensive - fuel, equipment, repairs and simple maintenance.

How to become a pilot without an educational institution.

As mentioned above, there are flying clubs that provide piloting courses and flight hours, mostly commercial, where a graded training system operates.

    The first stage - upon completion, you are given a certificate as an amateur pilot, with which you can fly, but you will not be able to get a job, so to speak - you are your own pilot.

    The second stage is a commercial pilot. Prior to obtaining a certificate of this level, students are allowed only if they have a certificate from the previous level. A pilot already has the right to work, fly light aircraft, and go on commercial flights on aircraft that have only one engine. Such commercial pilots are usually hired by small airlines to fly short distances.

    The third stage is line pilots. A certificate of this category also cannot be obtained without the first two or a pilot’s diploma from any educational institution. A line pilot has ten times more flight hours than a university graduate and the right to fly all aircraft; these are the kind of pilots that airline employers are looking for. And they are not just looking, but literally, tracking and waiting.

To help future applicants, a list of the main higher and secondary educational institutions has been compiled.

Pilot (Pilot) - aviator, specialist who controls an aircraft (helicopter, airplane).

Pilot- aviator, specialist who controls an aircraft (helicopter, airplane). The profession is suitable for those who are interested in physics (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects).

Features of the profession

Military aviators are usually called pilots. And civilians - pilots.

In addition, he eats bexperimental aviation pilots- they are testing new aircraft models and conducting factory flight tests of serially produced ones.

The composition of the flight crew depends on the type of aircraft and flight conditions.
In addition to the commander (first pilot), it may include a second pilot, navigator, etc. (The composition of the crew of an experimental aircraft or helicopter is determined by the developer.)

The commander controls the aircraft, makes decisions about takeoff and landing, and the actions of the crew in difficult situations.
Having received permission from the air traffic controller, the first pilot taxis to the runway, where the plane accelerates and, taking off from the ground, gains altitude.
He controls the aircraft in accordance with the calculated flight path and time.

The commander is helped to make decisions by dispatcher messages, instrument readings and the so-called flight sense, which consists of the sound of a running engine, sensations of vibration and roll.

The pilot, and especially the ship’s commander, has to work within strict time frames, when very little time is allotted for each operation. At the same time, you need to maintain high concentration and constantly be ready to get involved in solving complex problems that may arise unexpectedly during the flight.

From both military and civilian pilots, the work requires full dedication of time, effort and thoughts.
In addition, aviation is constantly evolving. More and more new cars are appearing. Therefore, aviators study all the time, constantly pass various exams, and retrain from one type of aircraft to another.

Important qualities

What is important for a pilot is a high sense of responsibility, leadership qualities, lack of fear of heights, high emotional-volitional stability, the ability to quickly switch attention, quick reaction, high intelligence, perseverance, and the desire to master something new.
Impeccable health, sharp vision and hearing, a well-developed three-dimensional eye, and stability of the vestibular apparatus are required.

Knowledge and skills

Knowledge of the aircraft is required, as well as skills to fly it.
When working on international lines, knowledge of spoken English is required.

Where do they teach

Military pilots and civil airline pilots are trained in flight schools.

civil Aviation

  • Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation School of Civil Aviation (Institute)
  • St. Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation

Has a branch: Buguruslan Civil Aviation Flight School (college).
And etc.

Military aviation

  • Kachin branch of VUNTS Air Force "VVA"

(Kachinsky named after A.K. Serov branch of the Air Force Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky)
Trains pilots on airplanes with higher military-special education.
Name before 2010:

  • Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots (Military Institute).
  • Syzran Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots (military institute).

(branch of the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy)
Trains helicopter pilots with higher military-special education.
And etc.

“Aviation forces a person to take care of himself and enclose his freedom, his will within a framework that is tough but expedient. Only a great love for the sky helps a person to bear the burden that he voluntarily places on himself in the service of aviation.” “Once you get into aviation, forget such a fundamental word as daily routine. It will never exist. Forget the words: balanced nutrition, sports, Sunday, holiday, summer vacation, marriage, sex, friends, children... No, all this will be present. Somewhere near. In fits and starts. A surrogate. Like an exception, like luck, like a gift of fate. If by chance several factors coincide at once.”
(From the book “Notes of a Sled Dog” by former Tu-154 commander Vasily Ershov)
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