Anyone want to be a pilot?

[the_nude_topher]

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.
[/quote]

My guess is that to operate a train you need to be able to read the light signals along the tracks, no doubt you need color vision for those. For operating a car  the traffic lights (at least here) are only  three colors and always in the same order.

[blank radar]

becoming a pilot wouldn't fly for me

[Blake Skies]

becoming a pilot wouldn't fly for me

 

I see what you did there

[Fred738]

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.

Hello, yes, yes, I understand well what you are saying, because unfortunately aviation is a very expensive world (when you are studying to get your license), but on the other hand, once you become a pilot (in theory) all the expenses they are resolved first.

[Fred738]

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.

I understand you well, unfortunately to become an airline pilot, it's really a lot of money (at least here in Italy), but you certainly get repaid later.

Well, anyway I really hope that everyone here in this beautiful community, including you, can achieve your dreams...

So... Good luck 

[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?

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.

Hi, I admit that I'm excited knowing that I'm talking to a real pilot.

Thank you very much indeed, for bringing some of your experience to the platform. It will certainly be a source of reflection for me, as I really would like to become a pilot and spend my life in the skies.

Now unfortunately I can't send private messages yet, but as soon as I can (if I don't cause a disturbance), I would really like to be able to chat with a real pilot.

Thank you very much indeed.

[Shiden Kai San]

Man, this is cool.   I never became a pilot, but it was a dream of mine as kid.

It's awesome to see a mix of people here who either want to become a pilot, or already live that life!

[Fishandchips]

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.

My guess is that to operate a train you need to be able to read the light signals along the tracks, no doubt you need color vision for those. For operating a car  the traffic lights (at least here) are only  three colors and always in the same order.
[/quote]

Well the same really red, green or yellow green. But don’t airports have light signals too especially in dark conditions?

[Naturalguy87]

Yes, airport lighting is different colors for different applications...approach lighting systems, runway edge and centerline lights, taxiway lights/edge lights, runway guard lights, etc.  Typically they are red, white, blue, and amber.  Sometimes certain taxiways will have green lights.

Control towers are also equipped with "light guns" and can provide a visual signal to the pilots that they are cleared to do a specific action (taxi, takeoff, land etc).  Those can be red, white, green.  In the airline world this would pretty much never be necessary...more applicable to smaller aircraft at smaller airports.  But nonetheless, you're required to learn the signals (which also requires a certain level of color vision to be able to see what they are).