Road to becoming a pilot

First of all - Congratulations!  

You have come to a right place to learn about flying, I am not talking about Psycho-motor skill but the most important thing - KNOWLEDGE.

At Pro Pilot Project (PPP) you will have a head start comparing to those who will be competing with you for the right hand seat. Yes, junior pilot starts from right hand seat and the Captain occupy the left hand seat.

What does it take? 

Being an aviator is a dream of many people in the world, it is especially difficult for people living in Asia due to limited job opportunities here.
This job could be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing but it is extremely safe when you have the all the knowledge and the situational awareness.
To me the difference between a good and bad pilot is all about your aviation knowledge. You can save lives!

Attributes of a pilot:

1. Competency - You will have to go through thousand of hours of training before you can take the left hand seat. You are as good as a Doctor but you need much more time learning from your Captain and real-life flying experience.

2. Laser Focus - Being a cadet, you only have few weeks time to swallow thousands of pages of aviation knowledge (That’s why this courses are here to help you). You need to develop your own learning systems so that you can remember all of the information.

3. Handling of Stress - Imagine your flight has delayed due to technical problem, the weather en-route is marginal, and during mid-flight you lost one engine and your Captain is incapacitated due to food poisoning. (What an unlucky day huh?) You have to take the helm and bring everyone safely on ground. Can you do that?

4. Self Discipline - You need this attribute to overcome all the examination and study during ground school.

5. Healthy Body - You need a healthy body to stay "Alive" during the flight, there are few hundreds of people on-board the plane. Balance lifestyle is a key too, one of the most asked question during interview is :"Given a chance for you to participate in a leisure basketball game, will you do it?"
Many might think this is a trick question about sport injury and costing money to the company, but contrary to that they want to know do you know how to balance your life and are you a team-player?

The answer is "Yes"

Pilot Job Market 

The forecast of the pilot market will be mainly from U.S.A and Asia. This is especially good for those who already have the Airbus A320 type rating. Airlines are looking for ready-to-fly pilot to cut down their training cost. Having said that, it is your job and duty to keep track of varies airlines websites.

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Training Options

Self-sponsored Scheme  

You can of-course pay for your own training but this option is extremely expensive and failure is not an option. In general USD 150,000 can get you a CPL. But most of the time you won't be able to find a job as your flying hours are still too low, many end up becoming a flight instructor to clock hours.

Challenges
Some unforeseeable circumstances such as:
- Your own ability of flying
- Your ability of learning
- Financial strain (e.g. family in need of money)
- CFI bias (Racism). They can fail you deliberately
- Jobless after graduation
- Lack of required flying hours for airlines

Only Benefit
- Choose your own boss

There is a more affordable program is available for you. The Cadet Pilot Program.

Cadet Pilot Program 

The most economical way to become a pilot is applying for the Ab-initial Cadet pilot program by your local airlines. Most of the national carriers will offer this program to their own citizens.

The Interview process is extremely difficult because the airlines throw in thousands of dollars in your future training and they want only the best suitable candidates.

In General the cadet pilot interview process breaks into 3 days, not necessarily consecutive 3 days, they may be different dates.

(Day 1) First Interview - The HR will interview you and there are some psychomotor test and reasoning test.

(Day 2) 2nd Interview - More technical interview, group activity, psychomotor test and social behavior

(Day 3) Final interview - You will be interviewed by the board, they will give you some stress test and reaction test

Medical Clearance - Once you have cleared that, you need to sign the contract with airlines and that mostly bond you for 5 to 7 years depends on airlines.

Disclaimer - I am not affiliated with any airlines.

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Pilot Training

Ground school -

Will cover all the knowledge of flying, weather and so on. You need to sit for the papers for PPL, CPL and ATPL. They are multiple choices and you need to score above 75% to pass. The total duration given is about 3 months.





Flight Training -

This is the most fun part of the training, you will be given hands-on and you have to fly with and without instructors. There are many checkrides (Examinations) throughout. You need to satisfy the set requirement on each check-ride to advance. If you failed, you might be given a re-check, and if you still failed you will be disqualified. The total duration is about 9 months to complete everything.





Simulator Training -

Before you are allow to touch the real deal, you will be put into Full-Flight Simulator (FFS) training and test. Simulators are the only platform for you to hone your skill in all kind of emergencies scenario that is too hazardous in the actual flying. You need to pass series of tests before you are put to Line Training.
For your information, these simulator are as expensive as the real jet. Normally the service providers are CAE and Flight Safety. For those wealthier airlines, they will have their in-house training facilities.



Line Training -

Once you have graduated from your flight training school, your airlines will put you into jump seat to clock mileage. At the same time you will have type training the given aircraft. And you will need about 12 months to obtain the Junior First Officer.






Is that a happy ending? Could be. 
If you are happy with the company and your salary. If not you are still bonded by your sponsored company for about 7 years. There are always pros and cons for different options.

In next Lesson, I will talk about flight crew licensing.