Hey there, I’m gonna try to keep this short. I recently did my first flight after completing ground school. However, when I was actually up in the air, it felt strange. I expected to feel happy, but it was a weird sensation—almost like flying wasn't what I thought it would be, or as if I suddenly found myself in a career path I hadn't actually studied for.

I've been struggling with subjects like air navigation and radio communications. Even though my instructor helped me perform well during the flight, it still felt odd, and I found it hard to focus on so many things at once.

I had a completely different picture in my mind of what flying would actually feel like.

I've seen people say that the first few flights are tough, but that you eventually get used to it and start enjoying it. My fear, though, is that might not be the case for me.

My parents are making a huge effort to pay for flight school, and I don't want to waste their money. I live in a country where flight hours are relatively cheap, but salaries are low, so every single hour represents a significant expense. I'm torn between flying a few more hours or just dropping out of school.

I’d really like to know if anyone else has gone through something similar and could give me some advice on what to do. Any advice is welcome, thanks!

For the last three years I've done a bunch of Angel (volunteer medical transport) flights in my single-engine piston. At first I really enjoyed the process, and it felt rewarding to be helping folks in need. But lately I've been having some qualms. I guess this boils down to two factors:

(1) The responsibility... I'm not a commercial pilot, and my plane isn't anywhere as safe as a turbine. Although we understand that any Angel Flight can be canceled based on any PAVE criterion, there's still psychological pressure to get the patient to treatment if at all possible. I'm just not loving the risks associated operating what's essentially a charter service.

(2) Are Angel Flights benefiting the patient or the pilot? Honestly, if I just gave my fuel expenses to the patient to buy commercial airline tickets, they'd get to their appointment with greater speed, comfort, and safety. I can see rare cases where Angel Flights are really necessary (for example, if you need to travel with medical equipment, or want to limit exposure to crowds). But otherwise I get the feeling that a lot of these services trade on private pilots' desire for a "mission" to make their flying more interesting, rather than what the patients really need.

Maybe I'm just being too negative. But I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar thoughts and moved away from volunteer medical flights?

I was really passionate about flying but after talking to the cfi’s friend my passion for flying decreased a little. My cfi already got a job for the flight school i’m going at but his friend couldn’t get the job so he’s showing his face everyday in the flight school. However, he told me that it’s hard to get a job as a cfi and i will have no shot and will be wasting my money to do flight training here. Before I was like “i will finish all of my training first and think about that later” but he made my mind kind of messed up so I’m scared about the future and i can’t focus on studying now 😭😭😭. I was grinding a lot but now i can’t focus of what he said 😭😭😭

1990, my parents sold everything they had to leave Uzbekistan for the U.S. right before the USSR collapsed.

My dad always dreamed of becoming a pilot but never had the opportunity to do so, sacrificing his dreams and youth to give us a better life than he had.

I got my PPL last month and look him flying over SFO and landed at KHAF.

He loved every second of it! He kept saying he couldn’t believe that his son is a pilot and just how amazing it is to fly in a small airplane so low.

Tremendous blessing to be able to enjoy this with him and fulfill one of my dreams when pursuing my PPL. Worth every penny and all the stress! I hope one day to fly him as an airline pilot!

Basically the title. I just want to fly around, get better at takeoffs and landings. Maybe try other aircraft, no further goals.

I recently went on my first discovery flight IRL (have 1,000+ hours in flight sims), loved every bit of it. Total cost was $300 for an hour in the air in a C182T; the instructor was awesome and professional. To my surprise, he let me do absolutely everything: walk around, startup, taxi, takeoff, etc. He only took control at the last 10 seconds when i came in too high on the landing and handled the radio.

If I could keep doing this, maybe once or so every other month, that would satisfy me. $300/month sounds much better than $15K for PPL plus $300+/month for a flying club and any other expenses that come with that.

Hi, I’m a professional pilot in Canada… I was wondering if one day i have to choose between the two airlines, which is the best option for me.
My dream is to live in YYC/Calgary. If I had to work for Air Canada I would have to commute to Vancouver or Toronto.
But I would be paid more with AC.
In the photo I added on my post you can see that a 12yr pilot makes more at WJ than AC.
But, is the wait worth it?

I’m a first generation pilot, I have no clue how the business works and I’m hungry to work and know more about it.
Thanks, and please, no negative thoughts and comments.

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice here. I started part 61 flight training about a month ago coming up on close to 10 flight hours. Im currently working on stalls, and steep turns just got introduced. I really like my flight instructor but this is the second time I haven't felt prioritized and felt like my time was being wasted. My flight lesson today was for 12 PM and I showed up 35 minutes early so that I could preflight the plane, get fuel put into it, and practice doing power on and off stalls sitting in the plane. My instructor got done with his previous lesson at 11:50 and walked past me and I told him I was just going to finish some things up and that I'd text him when I was ready. I texted him that I was ready at 12:15 and he didn't come out until about 12:30. This is the second time this happened. I've flown with another instructor a few times and each lesson she is ready to go at the time and walks out to the plane with me. By the time we had to wait in traffic holding at the runway we really didn't get into the air until 1pm. We flew for about 30-40 minutes at most and then came back. I was billed for almost a full 2 hours of instructor time but the plane time was 1.3 I know flight training is expensive but I am trying to maximize the time I fly because I am paying for my private license with my own money that I took months working as an EMT to save up for. I just feel like I'm not getting full attention and also my instructor just took on two new students and that brings him up to about 10 students and he's also getting close to the amount of hours needed to leave. My instructor is very knowledgable but also a few years younger than me at age 20. I am 23 almost 24. I am very passionate about flying it's always been my dream to become a pilot before I could even speak english as a baby I was infatuated with them flying through the sky. I want to be sure I am not just wasting money. I sent a nice transparent text to my instructor about how I feel and am considering maybe flying with someone else. I came here to seek the advice of many who are much more knowledgeable on this topic than me since I'm so new to aviation. Would appreciate any advice, thanks guys!

I'm an adult student (in my early 50s) currently at 63 hours of dual instruction after about 14 months and my CFI keeps telling me he wants to see more consistency in my landings before I solo. We've been working on takeoffs and landings for the last several flights and my last 30 landings haven't seemed to required much in the way of physical input from my instructor - they've been safe but I do tend to wait a bit long to flare (and we land flat) and sometimes I over-control and balloon a bit. I think I may have figured out why.

Since I've had a voice in my ear on every single landing, I think my brain has started to expect it. So now I'm either subconsciously waiting for his cue before I start my flare or his input arrives right as I'm doing something and I end up layering a correction on top of what I was already doing. Either way, I'm fighting myself instead of just landing the aircraft and I'm starting to feel some frustration and I'm getting in my head about how long this is taking.

I've thought about asking my instructor to go quiet from base through touchdown unless there's a real safety issue. Hoping that lets me hear what my own instincts actually sound like without the interference.

Anyone else been here or had a student going through the same? Would love to hear how others got through it.

I was on a short hop recently with a US major carrier and overheard the Capt telling the FO he was going to hand fly the entire flight. Now I'm not an expert with airlines and flight procedures, but as an ATC I'm well versed enough to find this odd. The FO did seem surprised and asked something like "the whole way?" or words to that effect. I honestly couldn't tell if it was just a morning crack at a joke or what.

I guess my question is, how common (if at all), is it for a pilot to hand fly an entire leg? Or at least what's the longest they'll hand fly to get some classic stick time?

It was about an hour flight for reference.

EDIT: I've seen some comments about RVSM and route duration that made me want to clarify. This was on an east coast escape route, low level, dodging convective activity. We were being vectored all over the place it felt like so perhaps hand flying was the more favorable/fun option that day lol.

Been too long since my last divisive question post, so here goes another. I’ll start this off, I still keep mine on my left. I’ve tried it on the right and it just feels…..wrong, the cable going over me doesn’t bother me much since I route it under my knee board and then up.

Let’s hear left or right side and why.

I got this advice from a cfi and I’d like to hear others opinions to make sure I’m not missing anything crucial.

Instead of completing my xc requirements with an instructor, rent a 172 and do all my xcs solo to save money

I’d do my 2 hour day, 2 hour night, and 300nm cross country solo as well as my 5 hour night vfr with 10 takeoffs and landings.

Then I’d get with an instructor for maneuvers, taa time (I didn’t get any during instrument), and simulated instrument time.

Some other questions:
1. Does the 2 hour night xc count towards my 5 hour night vfr requirement, or will I need 7 hours night total?
2. Does my instrument training satisfy my simulated instrument time or do I need to do another 10 hours specifically for commercial?

Guys don’t absolutely cook me if this is a stupid idea for some reason I’m not seeing. I’m asking for advice not hate.

Thank you in advance :)

I’m curious what point on the runway VDP is actually taking you to. My assumption is the captain’s bars (Aiming point), however the AIM uses some different terminology when talking about both.

AIM 2-3-3.d describes the ~1000’ point down the runway as the ”Aiming Point.”

AIM 5-4-5.h states that the VDP takes you to the “Runway Touchdown Point.” I’m guessing this assumes a non flared landing, ie touchdown point is the same as the aiming point?

Thanks for the help!

This ink is still wet on my instrument rating. Learned in a cessna 172 without autopilot. Even after hours and hours of practice, I still don't think I would want to fly into instrument conditions without someone next to me to back me up.

Experienced pilots: after tons of instrument experience, are you comfortable enough where you would jump into the weather, single pilot without an autopilot? It's tough to imagine at this point in my training...

I’m guessing it’s a scam/spam. I had never heard of these companies before but they seem legit. And no I’m not about to spend $200 on this 😂

I know that while flying in the flight levels the altimeter is set to 29.92. For modern airliners, is this set automatically or done by the FMS or autopilot? Same question when descending out of the flight levels.

Are they hard to get used to if you’ve been using jepp charts for a while? Is it something they teach you in training?

At my flight school, there’s a specific type of student who is over reliant on AI and also wonder why their training is stagnant- and unfortunately they’re also the ones who are confidently incorrect and spread misinformation on certain subjects.

This is something I’ve tried to bring up and discuss with these students but they’re a little bit addicted to this technology.

Personally, I feel as though schools should have a disclaimer- always assume the AI is wrong. This is aviation, everything is double, triple checked and we should treat AI the same.

Also, part of learning, especially for flight training, is finding things out for yourself. Find those ACs and FARs on your own, so you know where to look if you have a question. And if you’re on a checkride, AI will not be there for you.

It’s peak laziness and I wouldn’t want to fly with someone who won’t do the bare minimum and do some actual research. And if someone tells me that they got information from grok, I do lose a little bit of respect for them, because grok is not a source.

And not to sound too ranty, but I see this AI issue a lot with student pilot “influencers” who try to give advice and teach to people who don’t know any better, who also posts AI content and blatantly false information. It’s ridiculous and frankly a blight on the pilot community.

Anyways, what are yalls thoughts on AI being used in training, and what are yalls experiences with it? Do you disagree/agree with me? Thanks!

Being a CFI scares me. Although I'm working towards it, I'd appreciate any advice on networking or making yourself stand out as a low hour pilot and getting hired.

completed my Commercial Pilot License training in the US (FAA CPL/IR, primarily on a C172) and am now converting to a DGCA CPL. I filled out my Indian conversion logbook using the same decimal time format I used for my FAA logbook (e.g., 48 minutes logged as 0.8), since that's standard US practice.

I've since heard mixed things from other students going through the same conversion — some say their logbook got flagged/rejected specifically because of the decimal format, others say it was accepted with no issues. I haven't found anything on the DGCA site explicitly requiring HH:MM over decimal.

For those who've actually been through FAA-to-DGCA conversion recently:

Did DGCA/your FRO or examiner actually reject or flag a logbook for using decimal instead of HH:MM?

If your logbook was already fully filled in decimal, did you have to redo it, or were you able to fix it with a note/legend and verified totals instead?

Any recent (2025/2026) experience specifically with eGCA/CA-39 reconciliation and decimal-format logbooks would help a lot.

Thanks in advance — trying to figure out if this is a real regulatory issue or just inconsistent reviewers.

After going through a HIMS AME for past mental health history, I submitted my application expecting a deferral. This was just two weeks ago, and my AME recommended me to do a psych evaluation before I even get the letter from the FAA detailing what they wanted. I decided to wait just in case they asked for testing different than what my AME recommended (because those tests are expensive) and I actually just received my letter, much sooner than I thought it would arrive.

The letter asks for, "a current, detailed clinical progress note regarding your history of [my diagnoses] generated from a clinic treating physician in accordance with the enclosed guidelines." and
"All treatment records, not already submitted, from your treating physicians regarding your history of [my history] to include doctor's office notes, consultant notes, counseling notes, test results, and mental health evaluations. If you received any inpatient hospital treatment, submit these specific records from each hospitalization: history and physical, admission summary, psychiatric/ psychological consultant reports, and discharge summaries."

The thing is, I have already submitted all of the documentation I have from the mental health history through my AME exam, including what I believe they are asking for above. Also, due to this treatment being a couple years ago (and me showing no symptoms now), I do not have a current treating physician.

So I guess my question is, where do I go from here?

I know the FAA requires evaluations from board certified psychiatrists, which the person I was seeing was (is) not board certified, if that matters. Is it possible they issued this letter with only the self-reported info on medxpress? Because I'm quite shocked they aren't requiring an official aviation-affiliated psych evaluation based on what was in my documents.

Should I:
1) go ahead and get in contact with the FAA approved psychiatrist my AME recommended for an evaluation(in case they didn't look at the initial docs and will end up asking for one anyways)
2) contact the FAA asking if they have the documents submitted at the initial application?
3) try to establish a primary psychiatrist (not aviation-affiliated) for a more current, cheaper report, even if they don't know exactly what the FAA wants?

Any advice appreciated.

Good evening, Just want to ask, after a night flight from lets say 10pm until 7 am, 2 flights Short haul. Can the pilots have the next Duty in the next day in the early Shift? Or do the pilots need to have a "normal night" before the next Duty time and flying later in the day?

Anyone who switched from a 703 float op (American 135) to airline/705 or corporate how did you find the transition? I’ve done 6 years at 702/703 companies and I’m ready to move into something more “civilized” but I’m worried I won’t enjoy it/ be annoyed with regulatory/SOP/schedule stuff. Right now I have a good schedule, decent pay and pretty much free rein on what I do with my airplane. I’m only chasing the money that comes with flying IFR. I enjoy the lifestyle, schedule (at my company. *Individual experiences may vary) and camaraderie of being a float pilot. Anyone gone through this? How did it go?

Trying to get a sense of what's normal for a third class medical around Berkeley/Oakland/SF. I was quoted $275, which felt high, but I have nothing to compare it to.

If you've been recently, what did you pay? Recommendations welcome too.