Aviation Dreaming

While being a pilot is a dream for many, there isn’t much sensible advice around on how a young person should start their journey. Some people are fortunate to fly every day, but there are many other fulfilling careers in aviation, such as maintenance engineering, cabin crew, aerospace design engineering, air traffic control, airport safety, airport security, airport operations, and ground handling. The tips and advice below apply to all aviation jobs, but especially to pilots. 

1. Gain broad experience and exposure. You're young and you have plenty of time to try different things :-

·  fly a glider

·  fly a plane

·  fly a helicopter

·  go for a balloon ride

·  go to airshows, open days and museums.

·  go to local or country airports and ask the pilot if you can look at their plane.

·  have a fly in a real simulator

·  join Air Force Cadets, Air League or a rocket club.

·  be a 'Hangar Rat'. Wash planes and do odd jobs at a flying school in exchange for flying.

2. Read books, there are plenty of good books to read. If you do not have good reading and study habits, you will struggle to be a pilot.

·  Stick and Rudder

·  Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge

·  Airplane Flying Handbook

·  Fighter Pilot

·  Flying from Shangri-La

·  Fate is the Hunter

 3. Be mindful of the content you consume online. Most of what's on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram is not reliable.

There are some notable and enjoyable exceptions:-

·  Ice Pilots NWT

·  The Worst Place to Be a Pilot

·  AVWeb

·  Mentour Pilot

·  Physics Girl

·  SocialScene

·  Flight Training Australia with Trent Robinson

·  Mike Patey

 4.  Flight Sim can be fun, but it's not a substitute for real flight training. Playing Flight Sim now will teach you bad, dangerous habits that will be difficult to unlearn later.  There is a place for Flight Sim later in your flight training when you can use it to practice proper habits, techniques and procedures. Do not waste big money building up an all singing and dancing Flight Sim setup. Your money is better spent on experience and books (see above). Flight Sim is fun, just keep it in perspective. Spending big money on a DSLR and long lens for plane spotting is similarly a waste as far as your flying career is concerned.

 5. School work is important and cannot be ignored. 

·  In senior schooling, General Maths or Maths Methods is all that is required to be a pilot. Specialist Maths is only required to do Aeronautical or Aerospace Engineering at University. 

·  English is important to develop reading comprehension and analysis, aural, and oral skills.

·  Physics is recommended but not essential.

·  Geography, Aerospace, ITC or Engineering Skills are senior subjects which are a great fit to flying.

6. Do public speaking or performance. Music, singing, school presentations, sport coaching, sport refereeing, drama and theatre will develop skills and confidence. Many young newly qualified pilots are able to fly a plane but with limited social and speaking skills are not employable in typical first flying jobs. First jobs like Instructing, passenger charter, scenic flights and parachuting are customer interaction jobs with high level communication skills required.

 7. Get a part-time job. Flight training is not cheap, start saving money now. The communication, social and maths skills that you gain from customer service or front of house jobs are beneficial. Mowing lawns or junior sport refereeing are great paying jobs where you can get up to $50/hour, cash in hand.

 8. Get active. Keeping physical fitness and controlling your weight is important to keep flying. The mental, social, problem-solving and situational awareness skills required for team sport help with flight training and flying in general. Junior sport refereeing ticks this box as well.

 Remember, aviation is an exciting field with many opportunities. Stay focused, work hard, and keep exploring your passion for flying!