Anyone want to be a pilot?

[Fred738]

Hi, I wanted to ask if anyone is passionate about flight simulation or if they would like to become a pilot? And if so, how did the passion for flying begin?

[Delta]

I have not really pursued real-life aviation because I am too cautious to trust myself in the cockpit (I do not even like to drive), plus between my weight and my color vision I would probably not get a very good medical. Also, things can get expensive rather quick as far as I have heard.

That said, I am very much into sims and kitting them out with fancy gear.

[Northman]

I would like to be a pilot. But I am afraid that pursuing to be a commercial pilot might be out of my cards at this point. Otherwise, I don't have the funds to look into getting a pilot's licence nor finance it as a hobby.

But it would be grand though, to be able to fly an aeroplane. It has been a lone thought for the bigger part of my life.

[the_nude_topher]

I doubt that I'd pass the eye exam to get a pilot's license. Also, I can't imagine I'd ever be able to keep my eyes open when landing.

[Fishandchips]

Well I've mentioned in other posts that I can hardly ride a bike so flying a plane is definitely out. Besides despite statistics and stuff about flying being the safest mode if transportation I'd rather remain on the ground.

[Naturalguy87]

Hi, I wanted to ask if anyone is passionate about flight simulation or if they would like to become a pilot? And if so, how did the passion for flying begin?

Airline pilot here.

My passion began when I was 8 years old, my family took a trip to Hawaii and it was my first memory of being on an airplane.  I had flown as a baby but no memory of it.  I was scared at first, not knowing what it would be like, but after we took off I was just mesmerized by it, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  Twenty-nine years later and I still feel the same way.

I played a lot of flightsim as a teenager...back then it was MS Flightsim 2000 (omg I realize how old that makes me sound lol).  I took a few lessons in my teens; my dad also had his private pilot's license so we were able to do some flying together during those years as well.  Got my private at 17, worked on a few of my ratings into my 20s, then didn't fly for about 6 years due to cost.  Finally got back into it, became a CFI and instructed to get my hours for ATP.  Been at the airlines since 2018.

I realize you might not be able to message yet but once you can, feel free to reach out anytime if you want to talk flying/airlines or anything along those lines, always happy to share my experiences and give some insight as to what a "day in the life" is like.

[Naturalguy87]

I doubt that I'd pass the eye exam to get a pilot's license. Also, I can't imagine I'd ever be able to keep my eyes open when landing.

It's not really a pass/fail, you can have really bad vision but as long as it's corrected with glasses/contacts you can still be cleared to fly.  Color vision is another factor but even people with some level of colorblindness can still get their medicals as well.

[RepRob]

I really like flight sims. Not enough to put in the time and get really into MS flight simulator or anything, but I totally get why people love them so much.

[Delta]

I doubt that I'd pass the eye exam to get a pilot's license. Also, I can't imagine I'd ever be able to keep my eyes open when landing.

It's not really a pass/fail, you can have really bad vision but as long as it's corrected with glasses/contacts you can still be cleared to fly.  Color vision is another factor but even people with some level of colorblindness can still get their medicals as well.

I heard that lantern tests in Germany are hard enough that even half the people who pass the Ishihara test would fail.

[Dylan]

A few times I went to work with my dad when he worked in the northern part of the province here. In some placed the only was is is by air and I typically got to sit next o the pilot one both planes and helicopters. On the plane on a few occasions I was able to steer the plane and when I was younger I thought it was the coolest thing ever and at that point I wanted to be a pilot

[Blake Skies]

Hi, I wanted to ask if anyone is passionate about flight simulation or if they would like to become a pilot? And if so, how did the passion for flying begin?

Hi pilot here with 175 flight hours and more than triple that in the simulator. I promptly ran out of money to learn how to fly while doing it through college, had a friend die in a plane crash, and several bad instructors killed my love for it. Would I like to begin again? Totally.

As for how it started, living under the approach pattern for Kennedy, LGA, and Islips airports lent very well to plane spotting but my love for Concorde really kicked off my love. Saw it land and take off every day when I was a boy.

[shynudeboy]

I've always wanted to get my license, but the cost is holding me back. I did actually do a trial flight a couple of years ago which was fun. So definitely something I'm going to do in the future (when I can afford it)

[Naturalguy87]

Hi, I wanted to ask if anyone is passionate about flight simulation or if they would like to become a pilot? And if so, how did the passion for flying begin?

Hi pilot here with 175 flight hours and more than triple that in the simulator. I promptly ran out of money to learn how to fly while doing it through college, had a friend die in a plane crash, and several bad instructors killed my love for it. Would I like to begin again? Totally.

As for how it started, living under the approach pattern for Kennedy, LGA, and Islips airports lent very well to plane spotting but my love for Concorde really kicked off my love. Saw it land and take off every day when I was a boy.

It's never too late to get back into it.  I found it very intimidating after not flying for 6 years, but it comes back surprisingly quick.  Especially if you have been actively flight simming in the meantime.  Yeah it's a sim but a lot of it still carries over if you do it right.

[Fishandchips]

I doubt that I'd pass the eye exam to get a pilot's license. Also, I can't imagine I'd ever be able to keep my eyes open when landing.

It's not really a pass/fail, you can have really bad vision but as long as it's corrected with glasses/contacts you can still be cleared to fly.  Color vision is another factor but even people with some level of colorblindness can still get their medicals as well.

Hmm... interesting thought that people with certain levels of colour blindness can fly. UK railways if I understand correctly is stricter. At a steam railway we visited many years ago my dad was talking to a guy who used to be a driver and he had to give up driving trains because he developed diabetes which affects eye sight. I found it odd that even on a heritage railway where the speed limit is 25mph he couldn't drive but there was no issues with older people or people with diabetes driving a car 70mph on a busy motorway. I expect pilots to have stricter medical standards they had to meet.

[Naturalguy87]

The medical requirements for private (aka recreational) pilots are a lot less strict than for airline pilots.  But even for airline folks, there are many conditions that a person can fly with if the condition is effectively managed.  Sometimes this means getting what we call a special issuance medical, which typically involves additional testing, record keeping etc and submitting all of that to the federal air surgeon, who makes the final decision.

My point being, sometimes there are additional hoops to jump through, but it is often still very possible to get a medical and become a pilot.