14 year old wannabe - how does he go about it?

[whitingiom]

Sorry guys

I know this thread must be somewhere out there......

My 14 year old has declared he wants to be a pilot (commercial).

I see no problems with the academic or co-ordination side.

What can he do now to make him most likely to get an airline to take him on?

PPL?
Air cadets?
Any particular GCSEs?
Give up the PS 2 for a Flight Simulator?

Please redirect me somewhere if you feel this thread is covered

Thanks

Harrassed dad

[G-SP0T]

join the air cadets. and do as much as you can whilst there - not just the flying.

[wbryce]

Hello,

I would say any experiance or knowledge in the flying sector at his age will benefit him.

I was in air cadets for 5 years and the information I learned was invaluable.

Getting your son started on some lessons for his PPL would be a great head start. At his age you could plan him one a month.

Taken from Lasors 2005 on Age requirement for PPL.
An applicant for a JAR-FCL PPL(A) shall be at least 17
years of age but some of the required qualifications for
the grant of the licence may be gained earlier.
Applicants should ensure that any qualifications gained
earlier will still be valid at the time they plan to apply for
the grant of the licence.
The validity periods of training, examinations and flight
tests are covered in this section.
Student pilots may act as Pilot-in-Command from their
16th birthday provided they act only in accordance with
instructions given by a flying instructor, hold a valid
JAR-FCL Medical Certificate and, generally, fly only in
UK territorial airspace. There is no minimum age for
dual instruction, but any received before the age of 14
is not countable towards the experience requirements
specified in this document.

[Bealzebub]

Hi Whitingiom,

Well, replying as the dad of a 14 year old who also wants to be an airline pilot, and as an Airline captain myself, I can tell you what I have advised my own wannabee.

Firstly I will encourage his ambition to the best of my ability, and that will not change even if his ambition does. I am sure you feel the same way. My reason for saying this is that the prospects and rewards of a career in airline flying are not the same as they once where. The position I hold today, projects a rather unreal image of what is becoming available to the pilots of tommorow. Even with my own employer, new pilots joining at the bottom of the ladder are subject to upper salary limits and significantly reduced terms and conditions. Of course things change over a timescale, and the picture I reflect may be significantly better or indeed worse in 10 years time, however I do have real concerns for the near and intermediate term future.

To that end I have encouraged my son to achieve his maximum potential at school. I have pointed out that subjects of particular significance such as Maths, Sciences ( particularly physics), English and other mainline subjects will be obviously helpful. These same subjects are also beneficial in a wide range of other careers. This may help him mould his education choices with his ability. I would also encourage him to advance his further education through A-Levels ( bearing in mind the general advice on subjects) and hopefully on to university.

Extracurricular activity, particularly with regard to CCF ( combined cadet force) is also advantageous in maybe providing some insight to Careers in the RAF (in this case), but also with regard to some flying exposure, teamwork, life skills and disciplines. Some schools provide this opportunity, but otherwise it may be necessary to seek local information on this subject.

PPL training is another consideration. They can start training now, although they cannot fly solo until they are 16 and hold a class 3 medical certificate. I reward my son with an hours flying training for significant achievements in his school attainments. Obviously such outlay needs to be measured, as at this age they are age constrained by the advancement they can achieve on a PPL course. Equally training that is widely spaced tends to necessitate significant re-coverage of previous lessons. Nevertheless it provides a significant encouragement.

Home flight simulators seem to be a naturally occuring phenomenon within this age group, and given their sophistication these days are a good way of learning some of the basics that will come in useful during real training. My son regularly astonishes me with his superbly flown approaches and landings into some of the airports I have just flown to myself. On the rare occaision I have attempted to repeat this on the PC, it has been a embarrasing dissapointment ! I suppose this only proves the point that there is a significant difference between the real dynamic and the home simulated one. I hope so any way !

Moving on to some of the other realities :

As you will appreciate there is a medical / fitness issue to be considered. Before a pilot can fly solo at PPL level they need at least a class 3 medical certificate. For professional flying the standard is significantly higher and requires a class 1 certificate. These are issued by authorised medical examiners ( authorised by the Civil aviation authority). For the initial issue of a class 1 it must be undertaken at the CAA's medical branch at Gatwick airport. It is clearly important that the medical is addressed at an early stage as a failure to satisfy this requirement might otherwise prove costly. A ( relatively inexpensive ) class 3 is required for solo flight training ( at age 16+) and the class 1 need only be undertaken when considering commercial flight training later on.

Commercial training for this issue of a Commercial pilots licence or Airline transport pilots licence is a subject that is covered in great depth here and elsewhere. If you run a search you will find an encyclopedia of information on almost anything you want to know. For that reason I will skip the subject at this point. However for an airline, their only interest at the point of initial consideration is that an applicant is suitably licenced and current. There is a great deal of competition for jobs in the industry and the attrition rate of aspiring applicants is high. The resource and effort of any aspiring applicant is clearly an important factor, as is their personality, personal attainment and flexibility.

From the above, I have tried to make the point that getting taken on by an airline is a fairly long slog, and there are many hurdles to be overcome. It is often an expensive and frustrating pusuit and even then it comes with almost no guarantees. For those who persevere and have a good degree of luck the rewards can often prove disappointing after the initial euphoria of success has worn off.

There is not a great deal a 14 year old can do to improve his chances of getting an airline to take him on, since the two cultures are worlds apart. However there is a great deal of shaping that youngsters can do now, that would have a parallel use in many walks of life.

In summary I would suggest that there is probably nothing very specific that you can recommend he does now to improve his chances later on other than the obvious education imperatives. Encourage a fit and healthy lifestyle ( he says sweeping doughnut sugar off the keyboard!), it is obviously important when they are starting out. Cadets (CCF) and private flying have a wide ranging usefulness beyond the obvious target, so that should definetaly be suggested if it is feasible. I hope these suggestions have been of some use.

[adwjenk]

Hey


The best thing he can do is join the Air cadets, and avoid the CCF (Combined cadet force) which is run through schools.
Im a memeber of the Air cadets and it has given me the chance to do all sorts ive done everything from hiking to jumping out of planes!!!!

Its great free flying and giliding. Also theres far more and it teachers you skills you will use throguht ur life such as leadership and instructor techniques.
Also it looks good on CVs with some qualifications such as DofE and Millenium Volenters.
Also you can gain a Btec in avitaion studies, just through being a cadet.

I also agree with Bealzebub how you shoud reward your son with flying. My Mum and dad did that, i then got a job at my flying school which pays me in flying and now i have nearly completed my PPL and im also around aircarft learning invalibule information.

Best of Luck

ADWJENK

www.aircadets.org

[Gulf Julliet Papa]

Great thing with cadets is you get to experience a different type (and learn about variable props which you wouldnt in PPL). When your son does work experience or goes to get a job encourage him to get one at your local GA airfield. When working at a flying club you learn more than you would on a basic ppl. Also you hear about students and instructors experiences and learn from their mistakes

[lscajp]

whitingiom,

As a member of the RAF through the UAS and undertaking flying training as an undergraduate I know, as i've been briefed, that the RAF are now actively recruiting 14-16 year olds for 6th Form Scholarships, with a view to hopefully providing those (that the RAF want) with University sponsorship.

This way your son can enjoy the best flying training any flying school could wish for, whilst at the same time gaining a degree which he could use, should the market not be "opening" up.

Hope this helps. I have lots of information on this subject. Please PM me.

C

[fastjet2k]

I've just got a job with a UK airline , as a result I'm now down in Jerez doing my atpl and Jet orientation courses before returning to the uk for my type rating. One comment that was passed after my final interview was that they were impressed by the knowledge that I had, not simply about aircraft, but about the aviation industry as a whole.

About the only thing I was doing as a 14 year old was to be flying Microsoft Flight Simulator on a dangerously regular basis. This was to become very useful to me when I finally did some flying (aged 16 in gliders with the ATC and then again 4 years later when I did my PPL). This does teach you a bit about the 'technical' side of flying, in terms of instrumentation and a little about procedures anyway.

However, I would say he would be doing himself an enormous favour by immersing himself in the business side of things as well. By this I don't mean learning company accounts and which company had the highest load factors, simply just to read through aviation publications, monitor sites such as Pprune, if you know anybody that works for an airline then read in-house publications such as the BA News.

To be honest, I've spent the last 2 1/2 years working for the airline I've just got a job with, as a result I've learned a lot about the industry along the way. At 14, this obviously isn't an option - however, there are many other ways of following what's going on, a couple of which I've mentioned.

Most importantly, make sure he gets every bit of encouragement he needs (as I've no doubt he will because you took the time to ask this question in the first place!). Make sure that little things, such as his school records of achievement, state the fact that he wants to be a pilot so that (in the unlikely event that an airline should ever be interested) he can prove that he wanted to fly from an early age (dedication plays a large part in getting a job). As others have mentioned, try and arrange a couple of flying lessons if possible so at least he can put a couple of flights in a logbook.

I'm not sure if airlines still do this (or indeed if it's feasible for you) but another good idea is to get some airline work experience. I'm 21 now so I would have done mine some 6 years ago (i.e. pre 9/11), that certainly gives some very valuable experience and again will benefit learning about the industry.

Most importantly, qualifications (for better or for worse) are definitely the way forward if you want to get a sponsorship so just make sure he picks GCSE's and ultimately A-levels that will be suitable for his career choice AND for him. Don't have him choose Maths if he's not going to at least kinda enjoy it cos he possibly won't do particularly well. However, if it's possible ensure that a maths/science theme runs through, possibly with an A-Level in Business/Economics.

Above all, make sure he enjoys being 14 because believe me, it's not the same when you're doing that ATPL course! It's Fun yes, hard work, yes, rewarding...... without a shadow of a doubt.

Best of luck

FJ2k

[Flashdance9]

Incentives = v.Good Idea - Perhaps award flying hours on basis of A grades achieved at GCSE!?!

All I can say is Keep his Dream Alive!

[rotatrim]

Excellent post by Bealzebub.

Just one small point - the medical required for a JAA PPL is a Class 2 medical. The old UK Class 3 medical for flying disappeared with JAA (but still exists for various groups including FISOs).

One of the most common reasons for medical failure is eyesight and particularly, colour blindness - worth checking out before any significant expenditure and raising of hopes.