Seniority is Everything

This article was provided to us courtesy of the Mesa flight program at San Juan College and written by former instructor David Walsh who currently flies for United Airlines.

For an airline pilot, seniority is everything. Seniority dictates what equipment you fly, from what domicile and in what seat. Seniority determines when you fly, whether or not you're going to get weekends off, or if you are going to be home for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or your kids' birthdays.

Conventional wisdom has it that you won't get picked up for your first "real" pilot job in aviation until you have at least 1,000 hours Pilot-In-Command (PIC) time. Certainly employers have the right to require a modicum of experience among potential job candidates. And most employers have insurance company guidelines and restrictions to deal with, so the 1,000-hour mark was not simply plucked from thin air.

Learning To Hover

"Did you find the hover button yet?"

It's a question asked in jest of some new students, but learning the fine art of hovering can challenge even the most determined aviator. After all, a stable hover is where helicopter flights begin and end, so it's a maneuver you'll need to master early on.

As we at the beginning of a new year again a lot of people will want to do their private pilot license. Obviously there are many reasons for wanting to fly varying from achieving a long term goal, a life long dream, the start of a new career or maybe simply to be able to say:"I can fly". Whatever the reasons are I often get asked by a new student "do you think I'll be able to fly".

Believe it or not, almost anyone can learn to fly. Flying seems mysterious to many people, but it's really not that hard to master. Learning to fly can be a fun and exciting experience that results in a lifelong hobby, a rewarding career, adventurous vacations, or an asset to your business.

There are millions of Persons around the world, who have learned to fly. Some of them do it just for fun, others use it as a way to travel to work and there are others who become career pilots to earn a living.

If you are starting to do research on how to learn to fly, it can sometimes become an overwhelming task, but stay calm it is not as hard as it looks!!! There are 9 different types of basic certificates. In successive order of qualifications they include student, sport, recreational, private, instrument rated, commercial, certified flight instructor, airline transport pilot and designated pilot examiner.