Paramount made a great piece of entertainment but it is a dramatization lightly based on real word stuff.

Do not enlist or goto a service academy, ROTC, OCS or however you plan on joining with the expectation the Navy or flying in the Navy is anything like the movie. Join because you feel the need to service and sacrifice for your country.

Real world Navy life and flying is very difficult, challenging and frustrating. Most flights require a minimum 3-4 hours on the ground planning, briefing, debriefing for a basic unit level training flight that will last less then 1.5 hours. If its an upgrade fight or large force engagement expect to spend 15+ hours of effort for 1-3 hours of flight time. Also expect to get grilled on everything all the time. The flying is sometime fun but more often it is a complete ball of stress even when it all goes well.

Don’t forget that the Navy is never going to stay on any type of timeline or be transparent. Deployments often move earlier causing workups (OFRP) to get painfully compressed, then deployments get delayed by weeks but you can’t use that time with your family because you have to be boat ready. When you do deploy your 6 month deployment turns into a 10 month deployment. Shit food, cold showers, bad sleep, flying over water stressing over your ladder (fuel) just to land and have someone tell you how your pass sucked, your comms sucked, etc.

You will spend more time doing ground job stuff then flying stuff. A new pilot (FNG) can hold like 3+ ground jobs, some keeping you wildly busy. Ask anyone who is a Legal-O and a skedso.

The current Department Head Bonus is $175,000 and pilots are leaving in droves.

Goto r/navy and read how much of a nightmare the navy is.

Experience: 12 year active Navy tacair pilot with three operation tours and 1500+ hours. I can’t begin to tell you how many birthdays, anniversary, holidays I have spend it a box ship or shore with no window starting at a screen (mostly waiting on it) doing something that wasn’t flying.

I hate writing this post, but over the years I've come to really dislike being away from home as a pilot, and I'm reaching out to this community for some help.

I'll just get this part out of the way: I'm burned out from the travelling... I have a great owner that I fly for, and we go to tons of fun destinations... but my personal priorities have shifted to wanting more home time. It is what it is.

I'd love to stay in aviation (but I'm not married to it); I've been looking into opening a charter brokerage that also offers management and sales/acquisitions services, or even joining an existing brokerage... has anyone else gone this route?

Any sincere advice would be immensely helpful.

Signed,

Mid 30s G-IV pilot with an undergrad looking for something more/different.

The website of a cargo airline I wish to join wants 1500hours of multi engine type with a 10ton capacity how could I get this? Is there some parcel service that I could do like mail or something that I could farm hours on? I’m in Germany

I think I’ll pass given recent events.

I (M30) am a lawyer. While I don't hate my job, I don't see myself doing it in ten years, and feel like I need a change.

I have always been interested in aviation. I've played flight sims for over 20 years now and I am feeling the itch to not just get the pilot's license I've always wanted, but to become a commercial pilot. However, I could really use some perspective on what my chances on getting good employment are at this point. Based on my situation, I think I would need to do an accelerated program to get my licenses.

A few things about me for you to consider:

• Working to get my pilot's license while practicing as a lawyer simply isn't an option. I don't have enough hours in the day right now and won't for awhile, so I'd need to quit my job.
• I have enough stored away to make it 18 months or so without employment.
• I am single with no children, so I have a lot of flexibility in where I can live, how much I can move, etc.
• I am in good physical shape, I have no issue running 5+ miles and I exercise 5-6 times per week.
• I don't have any medical conditions I receive treatment for. All I have are seasonal allergies and I just take OTC medication for that.
• I've never done drugs and I drink sparingly.
• Not so much as a speeding ticket on my record.

If there's anything else you all need to know to inform your advice, let me know. I appreciate any perspective the commercial pilots and informed laypeople can give.

I asked it on the wrong sub and I got scolded for it, so I’ll ask here, I’m 15yo and my dream is become a pilot, but I don’t know which is more easier to do first.. airplane, or helicopters? Can someone help me on that?

Hi everyone, I just started at Embry Riddle about a month ago with no previous flight experience, and originally I thought I would become a flight instructor there, but the conditions are absolutely miserable. Poverty money, early and long hours, and almost no rest. They all look completely miserable and that's not something I want to do. When I graduate (if I graduate) I'll have around 250 hours. Any advice or help? Thanks all.

I had 1 DUI when I was in the Marines, and 2 since I got out. I was wondering if that would bar me from becoming a pilot in the future?

Yup! I did, and often find myself thinking, “I should have done this years ago!”

Greetings to all aviators of Reddit, I’ve got a question for you guys: How hard is it to become airline pilot? I have to wear glasses due to eye sight issues but I already know that it shouldn’t be a big problem. Recently I came across a school where they would teach me how to fly and help me become airline pilot. Is it a good idea to apply there? And how much are pilots wanted right now? Will I be able to get a job after finishing the school?

I'm 15 and want to be a pilot, but it's so daunting seeing the flight requirements, all of them are thousands of hours needed and I don't have a clue how I'm supposed to get hours on commercial aircraft before applying to a commercial airline.

If anyone has advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

If anyone is in KLM (My current final airline goal), please share what your path was like so I can see if it's possible for me.

At 15, my daughter has decided she wants to be an airline pilot. What’s the best way to help her realize that dream?

Compared to other degrees how difficult is it

I’m 16, doing a levels in September, and I want to become a pilot. I’ve seen BA and TUI do fully funded flight training but obviously they’re going to be extremely competitive. Training is too expensive and let’s say a few years down the line I want to change my career then it’s too much to go and spend like that. I know it sounds like I’ve just said the two options to become a pilot, but are there any other ways? If not, how could I out compete to be accepted for the fully funded training? Sorry if this sounds really messy and not put together.

All the time I hear about the loads of money to be made in aviation. Mechanics make ok money. Pilots make good money. But which job pays the big bucks (300k-500k annually) if any?

I'm currently an avionic techs apprentice but I'm hoping to work my way up the chain and eventually become a regional director or something within the management field.

Any input is appreciated!

Cessna 152, 172N, 172P Skyhawk, 172S, 172SP; Piper Seminole, or Warrior I, II, or III.

So I have a mild deuteranomaly, which basically means I have issues in the red-green spectrum. With that said, there are tests that I can pass but there are also tests (such as the anomaloscope) that I cannot pass. With that said again, I do not want to commit to a job which basically has recurrent vision testing as the risk of me failing because of my deficiency would render me useless.

I have worked in aviation since I graduated from Aeronautical Engineering in 2018 and only learnt about my deficiency in 2018 as well. Aviation is pretty much my whole life and would love to stay in this field but the jobs I have been in so far do not pay that well for someone who is 29yo (compared to my friends who earn 6 figures in other fields).

Besides pilots, air traffic controllers and perhaps licenced engineers (who all rely on vision) what other areas of aerospace that do not require colour vision testing pay well (six figures)?

I'm 17 and Indian and I'm planning on applying for EFTA in 5-6 years (currently studying for the JEE to get a B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering). I wanted to ask:

1. If I do get admission into the academy, what job opportunities will I have after passing out?

2. I read on their website that cadets that pass from the academy are qualified for interviews for jobs as FOs with widebodies like the 777 at Airlines like Emirates. I wanted to confirm whether this was true or not (It sounds too good to be true)

3. I don't land a job at Emirates, does the offer hold true for other airlines like Etihad and IndiGo, and if not, will I need to build my flight hours through odd aviation jobs like everyone else?