Physics as Higher

[iain32]

Hi, I am currently in fourth year at high school and about to sit Standard Grades. I'm just wandering if Physics is a necessity for a job as a Pilot

Thanks Iain 32

[femaleWannabe]

Hey, I did standard grade and higher physics... I've only got 2 hours towards my ppl so maybe not the best person to advise you, but from what I've read, physics is by no means a necessity. However, most flying schools recommend (some insist upon) a minimum of standard grade maths and physics - or equivalent. If you're good at physics and do well in the standard grade, you may as well do the higher, its a good one to have, pilot or not! Good luck with the exams :)

[iain32]

Cheers female wannabe, Im not bad at physics so ill see how it goes

[mad_jock]

Not required but makes life easier.

MJ

PS do they still have SYS's these days?

[Con-Trail]

Definately makes life easier. At the moment I've got all sorts of physics thrown at me during my ground school training. Pascals law, Charles's law, Ohms's law... just to name a few:bored:

... and for me it's been about 18 year ago:}

C-T

[Will88]

I'm only a humble PPL so can't comment on the ins and outs of the commercial exams (yet :E ) but I'd imagine it would help.

I found that quite a bit of the Higher Physics course was actually pertinent to proper "real-world" situations compared to for example, chemistry, where you learned an awful lot about electrons and half-lives and isotopes and other such stuff. Pretty useless unless you're going to be a nuclear scientist.

MJ, SYS has been replaced by Advanced Higher. It's a useless qualification - the teachers can't teach it, it doesn't count for very much and sixth year pupils would far rather sit in a common room playing cards anyway:}

[Con-Trail]

Most of the physics applied in professional training is as follows:
- Principles of Flight applies (amongst others) the principles of Pascal, air pressure aerodynamics etc.
- Powerplant relies heavilly on all the gas laws (Pascal, Charles, Combined gas law etc)
- Aircraft systems: in Hydraulics you need to be able to apply the rules of pressure distribution and in Electric you have Ohm, Watt, AC-DC and all that stuff

C-T

[davebuckley]

Iain32

When it comes to staying on your glide path, it definitely helps to understand that Total energy = Kinetic energy + Potential energy.

Seriously though, the Physics exams help, but the knowledge and undertanding are critical.

[rmcdonal]

Some companys require Physics as part of there minimum entry requirements. No Physics no job.
Easier to do it now then having to bridge it later.
Oh and by the way, I use physics every day at work (not complicated stuff, but the basics) and having done all the theory makes flying SO much easier to figure out. Especialy when it comes to your ATPL's.

[Crazypilot A]

I have a degree in Physics and it certainly helped when i was studying for the ATPL's and even now when i am flying.

+Crazypilot A

[femaleWannabe]

Advanced highers are a waste of time in my opinion. I was planning to do 4 of them - not sure why now I think about it... but went to uni after 5th year instead. highers are all you need to get into most uni courses, so why bother with anything more.

[iain32]

Thanks for the advice guys,
Once i leave school im thinking about going to uni. What do you think would be the best course. i was thinking maybe Avionics or Aeronautics at Glsgow uni.

Thanks Iain 32

[mad_jock]

Its a bitch of a course and dosn't really do anything for you later on. And it limits you some what if you don't become a pilot.

A general Mechanical degree would be better.

And if you must you could do it with an aero speciality eg The Mech with aero at Strathclyde

This is all personal opinion though.

[iain32]

Thanks for the advice. I will think about it and see in the future what i want to do. I take it that it is a good idea to go to uni first before starting training for a pilot

[scruggs]

Hi mate,

At the mo I'm doing a PhD in Applied Physics, and as part of that I teach a first year undergraduate "introduction to University Physics" revision module. What I can say is that you don't even need to get to University entry level for the atpl stuff. I've seen some of the material as my mate is doing his atpl, and its pretty basic stuff. I'd say a good pass grade at higher tier GCSE/ AS-level would suffice.

On the subject of what degree to do. I had mixed advice when I asked this same question 4 years ago when deciding on my undergrad course. What surprised me was that the majority advised me to do a non-aviation degree - and that advice came from pilots I had spoken to. I decided on Electrical/Electronic Engineering. Primarily because I was interested in it, but also it would give me a nice back up should the old flying career never materialise. I would definitely recommend and engineering degree. I'm probably at bit biased here, but I'd recommend either a Physics degree or Electrical/Electronic Engineering.

What seems to be a trend now, certainly with the aviation big players such as Airbus or Roll-Royce, is that although they accept BEng, they much prefer MEng. So if you decide on uni, try and enrol on an MEng if you can. It opens up more avenues should you pursue other career avenues.

Dr (Captain) Jock Lowe swears by Chemical Engineering!

Good luck :ok:

[raviolis]

Iain32
Best advice if looking to train as a pilot, get all the qualifications that can get you a well paid job :D

Will88

....sixth year pupils would far rather sit in a common room playing cards anyway:}


....which they do anyway ! LOL

(I teach in secondary)


regards
Will79 :p

[LD Max]

The following is copied from the CTC website (who operate pilot sponsorship schemes for the likes of EasyJet). I would say this is pretty typical for the educational requirements, although as they say themselves, some specific airline requirements do differ. Some airlines will require A level results or a degree - even for non-sponsored direct entry!

I have certainly seen Physics Maths and English specified - and since these are the main technical subjects, you can't go wrong by putting your efforts into attaining good grades in these for what is essentially a very technical job!

Regards,

LD Max

Qualifications

The CTC Wings programme aims to produce the very best airline pilots. CTC Wings Cadet places on the programme are only available to applicants who pass the stringent selection procedure and who meet the following selection criteria:


• On the date of application you must be at least 18 years old and not yet 30 years old

• You must be able to prove your unrestricted legal right to live and work in the EU

• You must have passed a minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, to include Maths, English and a Science

• You must have 2 A Levels at grade C or above - or an Honours Degree, minimum level 2:2. (Equivalent qualifications will be considered)

• You must be fluent in written and spoken English


As a minimum, you must have these qualifications to apply. With regret, applications that do not meet these requirements will be rejected.

Some of the airlines wishing to pre-select cadets for the CTC Wings programme may have differing qualifications from those listed above. If you do not have the qualifications required by a particular airline, you can still apply to the programme (provided you have the qualifications listed above) but you will not be put forward for pre-selection with that airline.

[scroggs]

To my knowledge, there are no UK airlines that require a degree. If you wish to do a degree course, study a subject that interests you; do not do, say, Aeronautical Engineering because you think it will help you become a pilot. It won't.

There have been occasional demands for a Science or Maths at A-level by one company in particular, but such stipulations are extremely rare. Where A-level passes are required (which isn't that often), the subjects are usually not specified - as is the case in the CTC programme above.

This subject has been covered several times. Please do some research here before continuing this discussion.

Scroggs

[Will88]

Thanks for the advice. I will think about it and see in the future what i want to do. I take it that it is a good idea to go to uni first before starting training for a pilot

Not really. There is far too much pressure on kids to go uni these days anyway, but that's another topic altogether....

[A320rider]

be good in physic is not required.
schools are more interested about the weight of your wallet,or if you know how to make some money transfers online...

btw, he hardest formula is something like that:Lift= (rho x v2)/2m...

[mad_jock]

To be honest you should really go and do a Class 1 medical at Gatwick before setting your whole life up to be a pilot. I know its expensive but you can let it lapse to a class 2 to allow you to fly PPL etc.

Now which subject to choose. Don't choose one because you think it will be cool or that it will be a help for the ATPL's. It won't, the standard of the theory is below first year degree standard barely higher. And the jokers who reckon that reckon the ATPL is worthy of degree status either have never been near Uni or went to some breeze block establishment which used to do a good line in hair dressing courses. And from personal experence as a mechanical engineer you have to unlearn certain principles becuase the world of JAR dosn't operate to the same engineering rules as everyone else. BUT its is very useful flying the line and conversing with engineers on the ground.

The other thing you going to have to think about is how to get the money to pay for the training. Your young plenty of time to earn and not have to take out a loan.

Engineering wise to make any real money quickly you will have to sell your soul to satan and go and work for the likes of Slumberge as a logging engineer or some down hole specialist. This involves working in some right horrible dangerous places, not much time at home and being a slave to the company. The benifits are though that you don't spend much money in Gabon or Nigeria and its all tax free and you earn a fortune very quickly. Down side is after you leave there is no going back and you can't do weekend work when required. Should have more than enough money to pay for a modular course within 3 years.

Optician/ Pharm. Heath care I know but both these jobs you get put in at the industry standard wage within a year of graduating (40k+). Both have alot of women in them so there will be lots of locum work around which you take when you require a top up of cash. So a couple of years work while doing PPL hour building etc. 3 months off to do IR/CPL. And then locum posts while instructing part time and applying. Even then if you short of cash as an FO you can pick up 150 quid per day locum work which will add an extra 600 quid a month to your earnings.

Don't even think that IT will pay your way these days. Its a very changed industry from pre 2000. There are more "qualified" people than jobs and the big earners are all from the old days with very long CV's with horrible things like RACF and cobol and other such gems. The days of doing a 12 hour days 6 days a week charging at 40 quid an hour, paying 20% combined tax are long gone.

If you plan well now ignoring choices like which school etc you should be able to get to the starting block of CPL/IR/MCC without borrowing money and all before your 25. Remember you also need to do other things to add life experence to your CV to make you different from the other 500 CV's on the CP's desk. eg as a Optician or Pharmist you can get direct entry as a Captain in the TA with a commision. 95 quid a day, food, cheap beer, loads of nurses and 1400 quid tax free bounty. 20 days a year plus bounty thats your PPL payed year one with a wee bit added. Year 2 thats your ground exams payed for. And its bloody good fun.

The only other thing I would advise is get on the property ladder as soon as possible. It does work out cheaper at Uni getting mates to pay your rent and it means you have something in the bag later if required.

[tailwheel76]

For what its worth I failed physics A-level, went on to get a degree in Physical Geography and Geology and now fly for a large airline!

I found the physics in the classroom a nightmare as I couldn't relate it to much, whereas the physics in flying has an immediate practical application so was easier to understand.

If you have some form or science/maths qualifications it shows a) you have the ability/desire to study and learn, and b) you have an ability to learn technical things. So I think its better to learn a technical subject that interests you so you work hard and get a good grade to put on your CV, if its physics, great, otherwise don't bust a gut for something which will have very little bearing on a recruiter looking at your CV.

Good luck.

[redflyer]

Failed my A levels and realised they weren't for me. Got a ground job in the airline industry instead of going to uni and got alot of valuable experience. Paid for everything myself and did modular. Now flying for the airlines.