Pilot is one of the most remarkable and respectable jobs around in the world and is certainly something that cheers all of us. It is one of the professions which we all look upon with the gracious feel and think of getting into it. It is one of those courses and fields that not many take up but those who take up fancy the idea of being into the aviation tends to seek the thrill and the satisfaction of the life ahead.
If you’re the one who seems kinda fascinated with the works like that of aviation and enjoy the dynamics of the seeing the aeroplane fly and seek the science behind it, then pilot course is right there for you. This course is one of the training that will allow you to gain better aspirations to your dream of taking the flyby and to reach the period ahead.
The task of becoming a pilot is one of the very high valued things around and they require quite a specialization. We here talk in depth about the way you can go ahead when it comes to being a pilot and the all round eligibility and the career leap you will get with this. Read along for our entry on this.
The value of being a pilot
A lot is dependent on pilot. It may seem like the pilot might be one cog in the multistream of a career and functionality but there is quite a lot of going on and this pilot task is certainly one of the best career options going forth. It is one of the specialized jobs and requires quite an extensive outlet of knowledge and air navigation to find your way of becoming a perfect aircraft handler and a pilot.
Often with the piloting there are quite a few things that you need to take care of. Those things are the adverse circumstances that may occur or the meteorological reports or even the electronic and the mechanical based controls that allow for the better handling of the planes. And count along the life of passengers that are there with the aircraft then surely the value of being a pilot increases tenfold.
A pilot profession is a very good outing and there are several reasons that support it. Here’s a few of them:
- Highly respected profession
- Fascination of the aerodynamics
High financial rewarding project
Pilot and their current prejudice in India
India is home to plenty of pilots and they are often categorized as per the skills and their roles into two major outlets. The commercial pilots and the military pilots. These are the basic rendering which further grows into network and other bifurcations with the career options. Here’s how the commercial aviation and military aviation ranks up
Commercial Aviation
- Passenger based aeroplanes
- Cargo Planes
- International air based services
- Air taxi based charter services
Military based aviation
- Indian Air Force
- Indian Naval Air Force
Major skills and requirements for becoming a pilot
There are quite a few skills that are required along whilst becoming pilot. We here won’t be talking about the eligibility as that is something we will discuss at length down below in another subhead. We here take on the skillset and more that are required to be the best of the lot. Let’s round up the lot:
- Intensive training and physical fitness
It is one of the most vital things needed when going for a pilot license. Anyone with less of a training or even fitness won’t be able to kick on to become a good pilot in life. There needs to be adequate handling of physical fitness so that you get to the highest ordeal of it. You have to fly for hours with concentration and that requires a lot of physical fitness.
- Mental and emotional alertness
It’s quite vital that you are mentally and emotionally fit along to become a pilot. Since you have the responsibility of hundreds of life and cargo you need to be at your top mental awareness so that you get to save and secure all the lives and get them deboarded safely. So having an emotional alertness to reconcile all these feelings is vital for life.
- Knowledge of air navigation
What’s the idea of becoming a pilot without having the knowledge of air navigation at all. Air navigation is vital if you want to become a good pilot. A good pilot has a specialized knowledge of air navigation and that is what separates them apart from other pilots.
- Know-how of the working mechanism of mechanical and electronic control
A pilot’s job is to fly the plane and that requires not only vital practical knowledge but also requires a lot of knowledge about the working mechanism of the plane. A plane has multiple parts like electronic and mechanical features that needs to be controlled so that the plane always stays in control of the pilot. These sophistications are part and parcel of the commercial plane.
Eligibility criteria for becoming a pilot
There are quite a few basic eligibility criteria that you need to fulfill whilst going for a pilot course. We here will mention the same down below and will discuss the same in length. Read along.
There are three different pilot license that you can take on as:
- Student Pilot License (SPL)
- Private Pilot License (PPL)
- Commercial Pilot License (CPL)
A detailed take on these will be followed down below in designated quarters.
Student Pilot License
We’ll start with the Student Pilot License first. This course is a basic one and will require you to go for a certificate after you have completed the class 12 and have a minimum age of 16 years. Here how you can be eligible for this one.
First things first
- Start with the Student Pilot License. For that you need to complete the class 12 exams. After that go for a Student Pilot License Course. This will help you become a commercial pilot in the context of India.
- You also need to be at an age that is applicable so that you can then apply to the course. This course requires any candidate to be at an age of 16 years so that then they can register themselves for any flying club. The said flying club needs to be certified from the DGCA which stands for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation under Government of India.
- The interested candidates need also to provide a medical certificate so that they can then go for the license and also needs to have a bank guarantee and a security clearance further.
- This will allow the student to go for a entrance examination for the Student Pilot Course where they will take oral examination of the interested students in the field of air navigation, aviation navigation and other means like air regulation-specific and technical rounds further.
The Next Steps
- The succumbing steps after getting a SPL certificate, i.e Student Pilot License is that you can then go through the Private Pilot Training PPL. This allows and mandates you to obtain over sixty hours of flying and that involves over fifteen hours of flying which is dual flight where you will be provided company by the instructor and after that you will have over 30 hours of solo flights further.
Private Pilot License
Private Pilot License is a license that allows a person to fly any non-commercial aircraft. This license is for those who want a flying career on the side and are kind of more like hobby flyers around the globe. This license allows you to fly individual planes and will give you essential knowledge about it all.
This qualification is held by many people who are are novice pilots and wants to explore the further terrains. The course and syllabus for this includes subjects where you need to cover aspects like air law, meteorology, power plants, flight planning, navigation and much more. This license requires you to get the flying training, training for medical tests and much more. We here will enlist the different eligibility criteria down below
Normally this happens after the Student Pilot License and the students need to be
- Cleared off class 12 exams and have medical certificate
- The medical certificate needs to be obtained from AFCME or IAM.
- The candidate needs to be of 17 years of age.
- The candidate needs to complete theoretical aspects in air regulations, aviation meteorology, air navigation, seamanship and more.
Commercial Pilot License (CPL)
Once you have completed the Private Pilot License then you can go ahead to gain the Commercial Pilot License. It will require a total of further 129 hours of flying. If taking into consideration, then over 250 hours of experience will give you the license for commercial pilot license.
Here’s what are the eligibility grounds for this one
- The candidate needs to have cleared of class 12th exams with Physics and Maths into it.
- The candidate needs to have a Private Pilot License and needs to have flying experience in the last 3 years.
- The candidate needs to be in the age bracket of 18-30 years of age.
- They need to be medically certified and needs to have the certification verified by AFCME of New Delhi or IAM from Bangalore.
- They will further need to undergo written test exams for air regulations, aviation meteorology, air navigation, seamanship and more. These exams are taken over 6 times in a year.
After that you need to gain the practical exposure which will require the kind of skills like 250 hours of flying time, 10 hours of instrument flying time and 5 hours of night flying time.
Fees for a pilot course
Pilot course requires a good amount of money. This course is such where you can simply go for the direct admission once you complete the criteria like entrance and more. And then you can furnish the medical certificate and you’ll be good to go.
Furthermore, if you take on a private institute then you need to pay the fees of around 15 to 20 lakhs while if you want to go for higher then you can go till 30-40 lakh also which some college and institute charge for you. This course takes a training of over 3.5 years.
Career prospects for a pilot
The pilots once they gain a license have a great way to go ahead in life and they can go forward to being one of the best ones when it comes to career further down the line. This works for both private pilots and the commercial pilots too. For private pilots, they can get the job working as a pilot for a private client and corporate clients while for commercial pilots they can go for a job in the commercial avenues and also for major airline companies.
Here’s a list of job prospects that they can enjoy for
- Co-pilot
- Chief pilot
- Commercial Pilot
- Captain
- Commuter Pilot
- First Officer
- Test pilot
Here’s a list of major recruiters in India
- Air India
- Spice Jet
- IndiGo
- Air Costa
- Air India Charters Ltd.
- Air Asia
Salary Details for Pilot
Pilot have no ceiling when it comes to salary. A starter can with years of experience gain in the upper levels of the salary. One can start experiencing from 1.5 lakhs per month and can go upto 5 to 6 lakhs per month for the international levels. And with experience that will increase multifold.
Pilot Course Frequently Asked Questions
- Is there an age limit in becoming a pilot?
No, as far as we know, there is no age limit in becoming a pilot. However, there are some physical conditions to be met, which include good eyesight, sharp hearing, height, etc. In India, the maximum age limit is set between 60 to 65-years.
- Is it easy to become a pilot in India?
Among the most difficult to complete courses and training, a pilot is one of them. To become a private pilot, it just takes 3 months to earn a private pilot license. However, to become an airline pilot, it takes around 2-years as the pilot or candidate needs to have a minimum of 1500 flight hours on his record. Apart from this, the courses are not easy as other courses, a lot of mathematics, physics, and aviation-related subjects have to be studied.
- I am bad at mathematics, could I become a pilot?
Yes, of course, to become a pilot, you need not be proficient or expert in mathematics. However, there are some topics in mathematics that are very important and related to pilot. You need to be able to learn those topics, if you could do it, then you could become a pilot without any issues.
- A person with a minimum pass mark in 12th could enroll for a pilot course?
What is the minimum pass mark in your state? Is it 45 or 50%? The majority of the universities and institutions demand a minimum of 50% marks in 12th to be eligible to apply for a pilot course. Apart from this, the candidate should have studied physics and mathematics as core subjects in 11th and 12th.
- How much does a pilot earn every year?
The salary of a pilot depends on the airline company or sector he/she is working in. It also depends on the hours he/she flew, according to the information we have collected over the years, the salary of a pilot is calculated based on the hours, which is comparatively better than most of the other job salary packages.
- A candidate cannot become a pilot if he/she is not good in physics and mathematics?
To be frank, we know three types of people, one that is good in both physics and mathematics and interested in learning it. Second, the ones who do not have any interest in physics and mathematics, and therefore, neglect both. Third, the ones who no matter what they do, cannot understand or learn the basics of physics and mathematics. Which one of these three are you? To become a pilot, physics and mathematics are important, however, the candidate need not be an expert, but, should be able to learn the basics required for a pilot and once you have completed the basic training you could depend on apps and tablets to help you.
- Is there any option to become a pilot for free?
Yes, you could become a pilot for free in India if you join the NDA. Yes, you could become a part of the Indian defence and also complete the pilot course, the training, and then fly an airplane or fighter jets as commissioned by the NDA or the authorities.
Conclusion
Pilot is quite a remarkable course and is surely one of the best ones around when it comes to career prospects. These courses are quite loved for their dynamic in nature and requires a candidate to be at their best when it comes to performance. It helps see uncharter sky and reach out to the top for a candidate.
Rahul Kumar is a passionate educator, writer, and subject matter expert in the field of education and professional development. As an author on CoursesXpert, Rahul Kumar’s articles cover a wide range of topics, from various courses, educational and career guidance.
