What is the best route to become a Pilot

[say again]

I am not sure I said military trained pilots are superior. Civilian flight schools do not screen like the military and if you have the money you graduate. These schools turn out many pilots who may be better than their military counter part. The same can not be said for military training, not everyone can get into it. Not everyone can graduate. There are also the opportunities military pilots have to gain valuable flying experience that their civilian counterparts may not get. Like my self at 350 hrs TT sitting in the left seat of a 135,000 4 engine P-3 doing radar run ins on targets off the coast of Vietnam at night a 300' agl. I have hired almost 400 pilots in the last 14 years, 47 of these were military trained, and we had one training failure in this group. Of the other 350 or so pilots we had 42 failures. The mil fail rate of around 2% and civilian fail rate of over 10%. Please do not make this into peeing contest, it is only my observation and of course my prejudice based upon the most fantastic experience of my life. BTW What is one of the key attributes to getting a job at Fedex, UPS, etc.

Def. not a peeing contest. I'm partial to both, but don't want the original poster to feel military is the "best" way. It all depends on the individual. Great pilots can be made going either way. I've had excellent "real world" experiences flying civilian jobs.

One key attribute to FedEx and UPS...4 yr degree.:laugh: I know, I know, you think its a waste, but an attribute nonetheless.

 

[say again]

Bottom line for me is: If all you've ever wanted to do is fly professionally, go for it. If you're in it for the money and prestige, go somewhere else.

Good luck.

TC

Excellent point! You will be disappointed if your in it for the latter. :beer:

 

[pair_of_pratts]

The true way of becoming a pilot: Tommy's New Job
Part 2: Tommy Gets a Promotion
Part 3: Tommy Gets a Pilot Interview

 

[svcta]

doing radar run ins on targets off the coast of Vietnam at night a 300' agl.

300' AGL over the water?


Man, you guys ARE good!

 

[pilotyip]

300' AGL over the water?


Man, you guys ARE good!

Yea easy, it was on the rad alt reading 300', maybe should call it AWL (above water level), MSL was not reliable because of a lack of local altimeters setting.

 

[Jetdriver69]

I agree with kingairyahoo. It is is almost impossible to get into the quality of flight training and the type of flying the army will offer to a 18 year old with no college degree. In fact, I am encouraging my youngest son to pursue warrant officer training. That is where I started, got my BS in the US Army, switched services, got my MBA and finished 20 years in jets in the USAF. It might be a sore spot with some people, but I didn't spend a dime on flight training. However, you will pay for that training, one way or the other. I can honestly say that I enjoyed my entire time on active duty and the experience was critical in securing my present and hopefully last flying job.

 

[LAZYB]

Best route...

2 words

Marry rich :beer:

 

[CorpCaptain]

Or just pick up Flight Simulator 2011 and save yourself the $100,000.

 

[gern_blanston]

The best route is persistence, plain and simple. Military? Great idea. CFI for a couple of years? Great idea. Buy a Baron and fly it for a thousand hours? Sure.
But you've got to be willing to beat your head against the wall one way or another for quite a while. It's like running a marathon. It's all about pain tolerance.

 

[pilotyip]

The best route is persistence, plain and simple. Military? Great idea. CFI for a couple of years? Great idea. Buy a Baron and fly it for a thousand hours? Sure.
But you've got to be willing to beat your head against the wall one way or another for quite a while. It's like running a marathon. It's all about pain tolerance.

It is called paying your dues, almost eveyone does it in one fashion or another be it, CFIing, Military, 135 on-demand, etc