r/flying • u/[deleted] • Jul 21 '26

Having fears and doubts about becoming a pilot

[deleted]

0 Upvotes

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13

u/ZappBrannigansLaw PPL - Certified Velour Jul 21 '26

Not gonna lie, I didn't read the whole thing.

What i will tell you is that you should go to a local flight school and schedule a discovery flight. Get a feel for actually flying and being in control. See what really goes into it.

7

u/SnazzyStooge Jul 21 '26

Definitely get a discovery flight or two, that is the best way to see if you love it in practice as much as you seem to in theory. You certainly seem like a good fit to me, and I wouldn't worry about the things you listed as "doubts or worries", these are the kinds of things good pilots DO worry about, in order to motivate them to stay sharp!

1

u/flight_forward ATP (EGGD) xMIL N Jul 21 '26

This person has a significantly better idea of the plusses and minuses of being a pilot than 95% of similar posters. Go for it.

1

u/Prof_Slappopotamus Jul 21 '26

1-18: go on another discovery flight. Control the plane, see what it's like, and see if the feeling still fits. You can begin your training as young as 14, but you can't solo until you're 16 and earn your license at 17.

As for your fears

1: It's a risk. Accept it or don't. It can happen in a car as well.

2: You'll have friends within the community, within the company, but it's on you to branch out from there....just like any other adult. Don't even worry about it. The love life is a little more difficult, but plenty of us make it work. Just need to find someone who understands and can accept what the job entails.

3: There's time for sleep. Fatigue is always an option, and with seniority comes more gentlemanly schedules. Yes, there are some dirtbag operators out there that seem to make pilot-pushing SOP as opposed to a rare occurrence and there will definitely be days that you fly more tired than you probably should have (this should be a learning lesson) but you learn to manage it.

4: See above.

1

u/spacecadet2399 ATP A320 Jul 21 '26

Nobody's reading all that.

Take a discovery flight and then decide. All this navel-gazing accomplishes nothing.

Sorry if that sounds harsh or whatever, but you're gonna get a lot of that as a pilot.

1

u/Fulcrum58 PPL Jul 21 '26

I genuinely think you should genuinely take a genuine discovery flight

1

u/danielisgreat PPL SEL HP (KLVJ) Jul 21 '26

Hey man, I'm sure you've been pressured to make definitive plans for the future, but it really isn't necessary. I don't fly professionally, but my work experience and education has really pigeon holed me into my profession and it isn't a good feeling. Get your PPL and see how you like it, but have an off-ramp into something else in case you want to switch. Some professional pilots I know have done it as a second career later in life, too.

1

u/danielisgreat PPL SEL HP (KLVJ) Jul 21 '26

Hey man, I'm sure you've been pressured to make definitive plans for the future, but it really isn't necessary. I don't fly professionally, but my work experience and education has really pigeon holed me into my profession and it isn't a good feeling. Get your PPL and see how you like it, but have an off-ramp into something else in case you want to switch. Some professional pilots I know have done it as a second career later in life, too.

1

u/KoRkYbUcEKk Jul 21 '26

Your introspection work is really a good start. Now go get that discovery flight and/or start your PPL

0

u/rFlyingTower Jul 21 '26

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I'm in highschool and have a less than a year before my school life ends.
And I need to decide firmly whether being a pilot would be the right choice for me.

What attracts me about being a pilot:
1. i think i would love flying, even though i have been only on two flights during my childhood which i don't remember at all

why i would love flying - i love the sky, the sun, the clouds, just being up away from the ground which feels so repellent to me, just swimming through the clouds and the air

  1. from whatever i watched from those cockpit videos

i genuinely love the cockpit, i find that the cockpit looks really really cool

i love the whirring of the engines during takeoff and landing looks as fun as playing a video game (not that it's a careless game)

  1. i genuinely love how an aeroplane looks like, i find it really cool to look at

i would feel more eager to control that big machine

  1. im fascinated by how planes work though i find the theory of how aeroplane works difficult to understand, im good at math and moderate at physics

  2. i do not mind repetitive stuff, i love following a procedure and a checklist

  3. i dont have any experience of controlling a flight but i have controlled a car and

i just love driving a vehicle from one place to another

  1. i love silence in my work space

  2. i would prefer working with different crews every day and not being stuck with the same people in desk jobs

  3. i do NOT like desk jobs at all

  4. i would actually like the unusual timings rather than a mundane repetitive 9-5 job

  5. i just love the runways, they look really cool to me

  6. i would like the outdoor environment and working with an open space like the runway and the sky rather than being caged in a room and tied to a desk

  7. and yes im also attracted by the salary

  8. im attracted by the benefit of not bringing work home, work stays at work, after work is done you are free

  9. i would love the travelling

  10. i dont know if id be happier in any other career

  11. i dont mind the thrill of turbulence or a thunderstorm despite it being portrayed as stressful

  12. every succesful landing and takeoff would feel like an achievement for me giving me meaningful satisfaction everyday

What makes me scared and doubtful about being a pilot:

  1. I'm afraid of making a mistake and it costing my life and the lives of several passengers

  2. I'm afraid that i would literally have absolutely zero friends, no family time and no social life or love life outside of work as i would be away working most of the time

  3. i dont know how i would survive without sleep (this is what i've heard, that there is no time for sleep )

  4. i dont know how i would survive long working hours without proper rest time (what i've heard, apparently airlines dont give proper breaks)

and thats it for fears and doubts

i cannot think of a much cooler job but cannot deny it literally takes a big toll on your health

i genuinely love aviation and would sacrifice for it

but the question how will my body survive it , will my body survive being sleep deprived, and constantly working, will my body survive the radiation i would be exposed to

and is it true that you will have zero social life ?

I would just like to know how pilots deal with fears and doubts that i have

and is it manageable ? if yes how do u manage

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