obviously I'm not the most qualified person to respond , but the medical checks are pretty thorough and if not passed, your license can be temporarily suspended if its not a permanent/serious case. Same thing with the flight checks/check rides. If you don't pass, lose your license, but i think you get a couple chances? Am I right?

Jamison1987, did you check out that site?

 

My 18 y/o son earned his private pilots license when he was 17, and I'll ask him to comment on your original question. I foot the bill for his training.

I'm going to guess and say he'd suggest you do a bit more research concerning selecting what could be a lifetime commitment if you're set on being a commercial pilot. That is, how many commercial pilots have you talked with? You mentioned one - did you talk with others? Think about a day-in-the-life. Does it appeal to you? Would you be happy flying day in and day out? The airline industry has gone through radical changes. I know plenty of pilots, and their opinion of their own jobs is different these days, vs. back in the day.

Before choosing this as a profession, do you think it may make sense to pursue a private pilots license and see if there's true passion there?

I'm 51. If I could offer one piece of advice to those much younger than I considering a lifetime profession, it would be this: pursue your passion. It's also keen if you happen to be damn good at whatever passion it may be. Some may be passionate about a particular sport, but they may not be that good at it. Move on. Also, have a Plan B. In flying, fail your medical once and you're out. Laid off? What other skills do you have? What

 

Its not too bad, you see the same examiner so you get to know him after a while, its eyes, ears, blood pressure, (EKG after age 35), and the basics check for diabetes/drugs.

I know if you get hired by American Airlines there physcial is like a NASA phsycial, its EXTREMELY thorough,

There are a lot of OVERWEIGHT Pilots, the lifestyle is very hard on your health, alwasy goingt out drinking on the overnights, not enough sleep, eating out all the time, its tough, but every 4 day trip is like a new adventure. I am flying with some great guys this month and have some good overnights, I spend a few nights in Toronot, Quebec, Monterry Mexico, Kansas City, Jacksonsville, FL, so its nice change of pace................and all of these cities have great bars

Please ask away I love to share as munch info as I can, AOPA is a great resource, Landings.com, Airlinepilotcentral.com, just poke around the next

 

[QUOTE=Sogno,Dec 20 2008, 07:44 PM] My 18 y/o son earned his private pilots license when he was 17, and I'll ask him to comment on your original question. I foot the bill for his training.

I'm going to guess and say he'd suggest you do a bit more research concerning selecting what could be a lifetime commitment if you're set on being a commercial pilot. That is, how many commercial pilots have you talked with? You mentioned one - did you talk with others? Think about a day-in-the-life. Does it appeal to you? Would you be happy flying day in and day out? The airline industry has gone through radical changes. I know plenty of pilots, and their opinion of their own jobs is different these days, vs. back in the day.

Before choosing this as a profession, do you think it may make sense to pursue a private pilots license and see if there's true passion there?

I'm 51. If I could offer one piece of advice to those much younger than I considering a lifetime profession, it would be this: pursue your passion. It's also keen if you happen to be damn good at whatever passion it may be. Some may be passionate about a particular sport, but they may not be that good at it. Move on. Also, have a Plan B. In flying, fail your medical once and you're out. Laid off? What other skills do you have? What

 

thanks for the clarification JoeyBalls, and I'll look at those sites tomorrow. thanks! I can see 20/20 but with contacts, heard that won't be a problem though

 

correctable to 20/20 is fine

 

Hello all, Sogno junior here.

My dad mentioned that I'd be giving my .02 cents so here it comes. As he mentioned, I got my private license at 17, I'm 18 now. I only have about 115 hours time, so I am not a seasoned pilot. But I'll offer my perspective on this whole situation.
The end goal of becoming an airline pilot is an impressive one. It takes many, many hours, and many many dollars to achieve it. Jamison- keep this in mind when you are considering flying. It's not something you can complete in a short time, becoming an airline pilot. It takes a long time. And as you said, the military isn't necessarily the best option, because not all people who want to become pilots come out of the military as pilots. Plus, you're committed for a couple of years to military service. Now, I'm not trying to discourage you from pursuing this goal. Airline flying is amazing in lots of respects, and if flying is your true passion, imagine getting paid to do what you love. I have to agree with my dad on this one- do what you love. Part of this is finding out if you really do love aviation. One way to start at this is to take a discovery flight. Check out your local flight school, and ask them if they offer something like this. A discovery flight is where you fly with an instructor in a small single engine plane, and they let you fly the airplane. They will show you some basics of flying, and let you get a general feel for what it's like to control a flying machine. I made my discovery flight at 13, and I instantly knew that I wanted to get my private license. I'm not saying the decision will be instant for you, as it was for me, but it will give you an idea of the general way things happen in the air, and around the airport.
Well, that's pretty much info for now. Please ask if you have any more questions for me, you'll most likely get a fast response. My dad is really good at spending way too much time on these forums, so I'm sure he'll be checking this thread often!
JoeyBalls is giving some awesome advice, so thanks to you! Your pictures are great! It's a beautiful machine. Here's one of me, my 15th birthday present from my parents. That's me in the front..

===================

Sogno Sr. here, a question for JoeyBalls: What is your perception of the possibility of the introduction of VLJ (very light jets, for non-pilots) servicing small regional airports thus opening hundreds of addt. airports to serve commercial air travel? That is, how real of a possibility is there for small regional airports to begin serving a greater role in providing air passengers with service, given the changes in commercial air travel as a whole?

 

Good questions the VLJ's where all set to take-off and seemed like ti would be a great idea, however one of the "pioneers" was a company out of FL called, DAYJETS, they recently just went out of business . The financial collapse has just about killed any type of financing for these types of companies just when they needed em most.

Eclipse aviation who was the pioneer of the the VLJ aircraft just had an article a couple of weeks about not being able to make payroll . They had the aircraft certified in a rush and the Engines, or avionics (I forget) where malfunctioning at the worst possible times, so the FAA cracked down on them and the lack of aircraft orders killed 'em. (ARTICLE ON BOTTOM OF POST)

I think the idea is great, people are tired of the hassle of traveling with the airlines, the fees (albiet people should be paying way more for their ticket), the TSA, the delays etc..... I think the timing was just bad, the operation of these jets should be relatively inexpensive, as far as fuel goes, but I would imagine the insurance and upkeep may be VERY EXPENSIVE.

I think when the economy turns around there will be some VLJ company to hopefully make money, the problem is these airplanes really can't carry that much stuff, maybe a family of 2 or 3 with full luggage, but may be the perfect alternative to NETJETS, we shall see.

SONGO SR, tell your son when he has the time go get his Tailplane signoff, most fun he will ever have, and amazing 15h B-day present, the 'ol Texan

Heres one of my favorite airports in the world, taken in NJ, there is always people there just watching the airplanes take off and land, its called AeroFlex-Andover, like 1,900ft, used to take the Twin Comanche there






Eclipse reportedly fails to meet payroll

By Dave Hirschman

Eclipse Aviation failed to meet its payroll during the last two weeks, and some angry employees have emptied their desks and left the very light jet pioneer, a local TV station reported Nov. 13. Eclipse spokeswoman Alana McCarraher didn

 

Thanks for the insight Joey. Interesting. I just feel that with commercial air travel these days, something's got to give. If the general public had any idea what opening the small regionals would mean to *them*, I'll bet they'd be arguing to make it happen. Imagine how this would affect air travel!? Direct flights to nearly anywhere.

Nice approach shot!!

The Honda VLJ on display at the EAA looked impressive to say the least. I'd love to fly in it!

Sogno Jr. was checked out in the Citabria tail dragger last year, age 17. If you were to ask him, he'd agree with your comment about how fun it is to fly these small aircraft. When he was 15, he flew a Cub & Taylorcraft, and still talks about those flights! He LOVES the Citabria, saying flying stick & rudder is

 

yeah, the problem with air travel is the whole WALMARTIZATION of it, the general public thinks they deserve air fare for cheap, yet they are to ignorant to actually formulate in their minds what it costs to operate an airline, especially when Jet fuel was $165/barrel. The sense of entitlement is amazing. There are times when we get the airplane on the ground after severe turbulence, bust our asses to get them to their destination safely and they come up front and tell us how "uncomfortable" the seat was.........its amazing