Hey! Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a pilot? Have you ever wanted to fly a plane and go to famous places like Las Vegas and New York? Well, this story is for you! In this story, you will find out what it takes to be a pilot and what do you need to become one. You will learn about the training, the certifications, and all about pilot licenses and their requirements. So, without further ado, let’s get started with our first step, researching flight schools and FAA certificates. 

The first step to becoming one is to start finding flight schools around you. If you found one, perfect, now you can start training. But not now. You first need to start learning the basics in ground flight training, where you learn stuff like aerodynamics, aircraft systems, weather, navigation, flight planning, and aviation regulations. After learning all of that, you then apply for your FAA Medical certificate. Some people choose to apply for it before flight training or before they fly their first solo flight, but it’s up to you whether you apply it before your training or your first solo flight.

 After applying for it, you then do the FAA Medical exam, so they can evaluate and examine if you’re fit to fly. There are three types of medical certificates, and the third-class certificate is sufficient for student pilots. After passing the medical exam, you then take the FAA written exam, or known as the knowledge test, where it tests your aviation knowledge. After passing the written test, you then get your Airman Knowledge Test Results (AKTRS). You will need it for your practical exam, where you have to fly the plane with a flight examiner and if you pass, you will obtain your Pilot certificate. 

Now, we have discussed about passing FAA exams and getting certificates and finally getting your pilot certificate. Let’s now talk about types of Pilot licenses.

There are five different types of Pilot licenses and these licenses need to meet specific requirements to be obtainable. Let’s first talk about the first type of license, Student Pilot Certificate. 

In order to obtain this, you need to be at least 16 years of age, able to read, speak, and understand English, and have passed the Medical exam. This certificate will allow you to continue flight training and log flight hours. 

The second one is a Sport Pilot Certificate. To obtain this, you also need to be 16 years of age, have passed a medical exam, have flown for 20 hours, including 15 hours with an instructor and 5 hours of solo flight, have completed a shorter training period than for a Private Pilot license, which we will get into eventually. And is limited to fly certain types of planes. This Certificate will give you the right to fly sport aircrafts for sports and recreational purposes. 

The next one is the Private Pilot License. To get this certificate, you need to be 16 years of age and had passed the medical exam, completed a minimum of 40 flight hours, including 20 hours with your flight instructor, and  passed the written exam and practical flight exam. This will allow you to fly solo and let you fly for personal travel purposes. 

These next 2 will be a bit difficult to obtain, but if you still keep training, you will get these certificates. 

This second-to-last one is the Commercial Pilot License.Requirements for this is to be 18 years of age, hold a Private Pilot certificate, pass a medical exam, complete a minimum of 200 flight hours, and pass the checkride and written exam. This would allow you to fly for hire, like becoming a VIP’s pilot or aerial photography and crop dusting. 

The last one is an Airline Pilot license. To obtain this, you need to be 23 years of age, hold a Commercial Pilot license, complete a minimum of 1,500 flight hours, and pass the written and practical flight exam. This is the highest pilot certification of all certificates, allowing you to fly for airlines like Delta, United, you name it. 

And there you go. The steps on how to become a pilot, from applying to flight school, to ground training and then taking your flight practical exam. And that’s how you become one.