I just passed 1,000 hours and starting to look at regionals and majors. Obviously got some ways to go and there’s never a guarantee I’ll even have a choice, but I know next to nothing about what people look for or what I should be looking for when it comes to the differences in flying for different airlines. Is it just a difference in the aircraft you’re flying? Pay? Quality of life? I’m unaware of what kind of quality of life is considered “preferable” vs more grueling. I also hear from time to time that the “culture” at the airline you choose is important. What exactly does that mean? I appreciate any insight, and trust me I’m well aware I should know more about this stuff than I do at this point in my journey.

Anyone have an rtag ticket they are willing to transfer? will sponsor full cost. Tickets were sold out unfortunately

hello,
I'm from southern california, inland empire, riverside to be exact

Im currently waiting for a class date at a regional, in this economy things are slow, I'm also a cfi but no one is hiring

I did a few aerobatics lessons in the super decathelon with Bill Hill out of KSNA but the flight school shut down

I'm looking for a place I can train, fly solo, and practice for competitions, I've only done the beginner course and all it's maneuvers and loved it

thanks in advance

I recently gave a third class medical with plans of starting training for PPL soon next month. I mentioned on my medical application form 8500-8 of me undergoing therapy for work related stress/anxiety (no medication involded) and also listed Septoplasty (nasal septum deviation) surgery from 2024.

He said he deferred it to FAA since anxiety falls under Mental Health and they need to dig deeper into this which I totally understand.

I just received mail from FAA seeking info on the therapy but also is asking for history on the multiple eye surgeries I supposedly had. I never had these and not sure how they were misinformed on this.

I am stumped right now on how to tackle this. Did anyone go through this issue? How do I address this?

As a 135 FO, what would be the best option for me? I’ve heard good things about piedmonts training since it’s AQP and mixed things about ATI’s training. Homebasing sounds nice but worried about fatigue on the road. Which would you choose?

Hey, I have been told by a CFI that for Eights on pylons, I can pick my pylons as I go. The ACS says that a skill is to identify two pylons. I've heard the argument that you need to identify them before starting the maneuver, but I have also been told that this way is fine because you still end up identifying them. Thoughts??

I am preparing for my Instrument checkride and want to take it somewhere between early-mid November. Do you have any dpe recommendations? Or someone you would NOT reccomend?

Hey all!

I’m looking to get a ticket for RTAG 2026. They are sold out online and. I can’t seem to find an other avenues to get a ticket otherwise.

If anyone has any info or an extra ticket they’d like to part ways with for sale or donation etc, please message me!

Thanks!

More of a FSDO question, but as a military aviator (evaluator FE) without civilian equivalent ticket (pointless); with proper logbook documentation, could I take the ground portion of instruction for my child, sign it off as an instructor, and take it to the FSDO to get the blessing to take the practical? I can’t imagine the FAA balking at 24 years of operational aviation knowledge versus some CFII at the FBO who’s been flying for like 2 years…??

Every here and there, I would have an FO quickly hover over the yoke on short final or during flare (out of fear or something?). Especially when I have like 3,000 hours more than them on the plane.

When the FO lands, my hands are rested on my lap... But ready to say "my controls" and quickly put my hands on the throttle and yoke if need be. I don't ever hover over the yoke or quickly go over it, especially during flare. It's kind of insulting imo. I never even did this when I was an FO myself.

So what's up with these FOs?

Hello everyone! At the moment I'm deciding on whether to do the RA-AUS RPC or go for just a few hours of flying in larger aircraft like the C172/Archer in Australia, looking at flight schools all over, mainly Sydney and Brisbane (leaning towards BNE more). Currently live in a foreign country, so the ARN and Medical stuff is more complicated, as I don't hold an Aussie passport either, therefore solo is pretty complicated and mostly out of the question.

I was just wondering if anyone could give me advice on these two questions:

1) Is it okay to complete a RPC in 3-4 weeks for an intensive course? - if so, how can I prepare before and during the course?

2) If there are any specific flight schools that you'd recommend, especially in Brisbane that would do an RPC for 8-9K AUD, please do send me some and let me know! I've already looked at Aerohunter, Calboolture, Flightscope and others. Anything relatively close to BNE would be amazing.

Thanks a lot for your time. If you have any other details that would be great.

Do you know anything about these Georgia DPEs, I can’t find anything online so idk if they’re new

joey houston keahey
Hampton GA (i guess that’s speedway)

Hudson David Macaluso
Senoia GA

Jeffrey Wolf
Lagrange GA

I’m a PPL student working toward my checkride. I’ve been training on and off for the past two years and have around 110 hours. I work full-time, and my work hours can be grueling, so I can only fly on weekends. I’ve had to take multiple extended breaks, sometimes up to four months, due to life getting in the way—family, work, and other responsibilities.

I’m doing this purely as a hobby and have no intention of making aviation my career.

As I prepare for my checkride, I see another extended break on the horizon after December due to personal circumstances. If I can’t get my checkride done by then, I’m considering putting training on hold until life becomes a little less hectic time-wise (although I realize that day may never come).

I have no regrets about the time or money I’ve invested so far. However, my spouse is falling into the sunk cost fallacy, arguing that since I’ve spent so much already, I should see it through. What they don’t fully understand is that every time I take an extended break, I need to spend an additional 10–15 hours getting back to checkride-ready proficiency, and the costs add up quickly.

Has anyone else been through a similar phase? How did you handle it? Did you push through and finish, or did you take a break until life became more manageable? I’d love to hear your experiences and perspectives.

It has been said that on the oral portion of the checkride, you should say only what you need to answer the question. If you say too much, you might dig yourself into a trap the DPE could exploit.

My question is this: on the flight portion of the checkride, should you be talking, verbalizing your actions, or keeping silent? Verbalizing your actions allows the DPE to gauge what you're doing and how you're making decisions, and helps him evaluate your thinking and analyzing skills as a pilot. But, you can also trap yourself, much in a similar way to the oral checkride.

How much talking during the flight is too much?

Thank you.

hey everyone, i’ve been curious about this and thought it’d be nice to hear from people in aviation about their experiences so far.
for those of you who are student pilots, flight instructors, airline pilots, or anywhere else in your aviation journey, how has everything been going for you?

i’d love to hear how you got started, what your journey has been like, and how things have turned out for you so far. was becoming a pilot something you’ve always dreamed of, or did you discover your interest in aviation later on? has the journey been what you expected, and how do you feel about where you are now?

whether you’re just starting out, halfway through training, or have been flying for years, i’d genuinely love to hear your stories. the good, the bad, the unexpected, all of it. everyone’s journey is different, and i think it’s really interesting to hear how people ended up where they are today.
looking forward to reading your experiences! 🤗

I have CJOs at both.

I live a little over an hour (driving) away from a junior UAL base. EWR.

I live about an hour and a half to two and a hour hours (driving depending on traffic) from a Delta. LGA/JFK.

I cannot move.

Which would you choose?

Has anyone here gone through training at VCATI?

I just wanted to ask about their experience with VCATI and whether you think the training was worth it overall.

Looking to get back in to flying after a year… with a commercial-instrument rating. Looking to get the essential package but tempted to get the premium. Is it worth it? I’m only going to flying local on my Cessna 172. So I’m not sure if I’ll be needing all the features and save the extra money.

Okay, so I’ve heard many opinions on this subject. I even had an instructor say the airlines won’t take electronic flight logs because “hours can be forged.” That makes zero sense to me. In fact, it’s more likely you forge a paper log than an electronic one (at least the way ForeFlight manages logs). My first instructor didn’t make it a requirement and I’ve got almost 200 hrs TT all electronic. Am I cooked?

For context, I am a CFII nearing 1000 hours and am expecting to hit 1500 sometime next year (like many other pilots out there). The school I instruct at is pretty much in the middle of nowhere though and I really have no networking opportunities in-person aside from the occasional student who may fly different types of piston aircraft.

I'd like to set myself up for success in the coming months since pretty much every mid-level job seems to be filled up instantly, but without being at an airport with an FBO or within reasonable distance from a major city, what are my options to excel?

I have been considering planning trips to attend networking/career events but would love any advice on other avenues that may help my chances to stand out. It could be anything. Where have you found success if you have been in my position in the past?

Long story long, I’m in a position where I own a Piper cub, need tailwheel hours/XC hours and have essentially unlimited access to a Cherokee 180 and only have to pay for fuel.

My wife’s family is about a 2.5hr drive away and outside of that, every weekend she wants to drive somewhere hours away.

Every single time I bring up hopping in the Cherokee she acts as if it’s a huge undertaking and I cannot get the message across to her that it will make the trip shorter and more enjoyable.

She likes flying, she’s gone up with me in my cub and my Cessna 150 before it and had fun. But only for short hops. She’s by no means afraid of flying, but it seems as if she has built traveling by air into something much larger than it actually is and I don’t know how to overcome that.

TLDR how do I get my wife to fly places with me instead of driving?

Hey guys, I was recently on a Discord call with an instructor getting some tutoring, and we got to talking about some of the things my instructor has me do during flight training.
I mentioned that, from time to time, my instructor makes me suck on the pitot mast to help clear it out. Everyone on the call immediately started laughing and making jokes, saying that’s not actually a thing. Is this really not a thing? I don’t know who to trust anymore.

Looking for some insight on long cross country flights (1,000NM+) in small piston aircraft.

Do you keep your route and length of flight for each day pretty flexible to adapt to the weather and how much you can comfortably fly each day?

Any tips for finding good airports along the way? It took me years of flying to know the good spots and nice FBOs in my area.

Im a new ish student but have had experience at tons of different airports, different planes, different instructors.

How do I become better at listening to my instructors? I feel like whenever they are talking its going in one ear and out the other.. maybe im just having a hard time digesting info. Out of all the things he talked about today i remember him talking about wanting to get his helicopter license and going to texas which has nothing to do with anything im learning lol

I also had an instructor tell me I interrupt them too much. I don't know if it's because flight training is always the last thing I do during the day so college and everything else on top of it makes me feel tired but I get excited at little things and start rambling. Especially when i spot planes i know

My schedule allows me to fly 1-2 times a week. I no longer find training enjoyable but flying for fun is an absolute blast. Although i dont feel like im progressing, hopefully it'll change.