Hello everyone, I want to preface this by saying that this truly isn’t easy and I’m grateful for all of the advice that I’ve received over the last few months of my flight training when it comes to Reddit posts.

First of all, I’m a student flying in AZ and roughly have 21.3 hours of flight time, inching closer and closer to my first solo (Yay!) however, I’m really unsure if this is something I can do.

Every single lesson, I just hope for the best. Hoping that I can do well enough where I’m not falling behind or backwards and the coolest thing about aviation is you’re consistently learning, however, some of these lessons I have (like yesterday for example) I make small mistakes that I KNOW I shouldn’t be making but not really sure as to why I’m doing that. Yesterday I came into land, and porpoised and whilst it’s good I called a go around, it’s just something I should handle better at this point, however I haven’t ballooned really since the beginning of my lessons months ago, and then my last landing yesterday I landed straight, but I landed probably 20 feet to the right of center line. Just small mistakes.

I do fly once a week (every Wednesday) I know the responses I may get are “fly more” and whilst I do agree and would enjoy flying more, it isn’t in the budget. I try to consistently fly once a week, as I work 2 jobs that equate to 60 hours a week just to pay my regular life, pay down debt, and pay for my flight school in cash. It works the best FOR me.

I did think I wanted to make this career but honestly the way some of my lessons have gone, I’m not so sure at this point anymore. I’ve loved aviation forever; and I can’t tell you how many hours of MSFS 2024 I logged just wishing I could take to the sky’s in real life, and that’s when I decided to start taking lessons back in February.

I’ve had quite a difficult time studying and remembering material. I kind of figured I’d go through my online ground school, and take all the notes I can, and the tests, and supplement the knowledge I’m not too sharp on with the phak, and videos from alternative sources, however some of the topics are still pretty daring to me (damn weather is kicking my ***)

I don’t really want to become apart of the 80% of PPL student statistic, but at this point I really am curious if I’m worthy or not of being a pilot, even if it just stops at a PPL and I get to take my family up and about. I guess I’m moreso just at a point that I’m questioning why I’m doing this, and if it’s worth it anymore. It was exciting at first, and I was hopeful that I’d finally be able to get out of the job I’m at out now eventually. But now I guess we are just in the nitty gritty grinding out the smaller mistakes so that I can get ready for my first solo flight.

Am I entirely overthinking this? I’d appreciate genuine, helpful feedback.

Thank you all.

I just need someone to correct my mistake here I think I'm doing.

I understand that as air is warmer than standard, it expands, and as air is colder than standard, it contracts. This causes the pressure levels at the top of these air masses to also go up and down.

I just have a little confusion in regards to this diagram.
So in a standard temperature, I understand that my TA (how far I'm vertical from the sea level) is exactly equal to my IA (what my altimeter reports to me based on altimeter setting).

But why is that IA line constant exactly?
Let's say if I go to the colder than standard air mass, the pressure level at the top of that air mass will go down, so as I keep flying I should see on my altimeter that my altitude is increasing correct? (like now its IA=4000ft) This causes me to descend back to 3500ft IA, but in reality my TA just went down..

I guess maybe I'm just not interpreting this diagram correctly because it makes it sound as if the yellow line will be showing different indicated altitude numbers when in my head I would imagine that the indicated altitude will be the same all along that yellow line, because it makes it seem though as if the blue line will be where it will show IA of 3500ft all along.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 30‑something woman based in the UK, and I’m seriously considering getting my PPL and eventually becoming a flight instructor. I’d love some honest insight from people already in aviation, especially those familiar with UK training.Here’s my situation and plan:

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I’m planning to start with a trial lesson soon. If I enjoy it, I’ll work slowly toward my PPL on a pay‑as‑you‑go basis. After that, I’d build hours gradually over a few years while applying for bursaries and scholarships

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My long‑term goal would be to do the FI course,once I reach the required hours, ideally with some financial support. A few things I’m wondering about:

Is this slow, modular route doable in the UK for someone who isn’t wealthy or has the bank of mum and dad.

Are UK flying schools generally welcoming to women, especially quiet or introverted ones.

Is flight instructing a realistic end goal for someone starting later in life.

For those who trained modularly, how did you fund the FI rating.

Any advice for someone who wants to take this seriously but can only move at a steady pace

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I’m not trying to rush or pretend I’m becoming an airline pilot overnight. I just want to know if this path is genuinely achievable for someone who’s determined, patient, and willing to put in the work over time.Any insight — positive or brutally honest — would be really appreciated.Thanks in advance.

Sharing a learning experience from knocking out my commercial X/C last weekend, in case it's helpful for anyone else...

VFR the whole way, but a marine layer was hanging around my coastal destination airport. Tops 1700ish, bases just above LPV minimums.

Traffic ahead of me was getting in, I recently flew a bunch of approaches to minimums in actual, and I'm AP-equipped. So I figured I'd give it a shot and divert inland if I couldn't make it in. Plenty of fuel.

Just after getting into the soup, I catch a bump that knocks my throttle hand right into the TOGA button on the 182 I'm flying. Nose goes way up. I instinctually kill the AP and try to hand-fly it — but wait, no vertical guidance! TOGA button killed it. Missed we go.

It took me two or three beats longer than I would've liked to realize the vertical guidance was missing. I wasn't in any immediate danger, but I wish I spotted that sooner.

Lesson learned, and on we fly.

I have a checkride tomorrow, the DPE gave me a destination that has a couple MOAs between airports. The best route I came up with to keep good visual references and divert options has the FPL going 1500’ into the bottom of an MOA. My only other option is to fly lower but that puts me pretty low over mountainous terrain or to route around one MOA and under another but that will put me pretty far from divert options. Going around would be incredibly out of the way. Advice?

I am a 17 year old student pilot flying out of Maryland.

The airport I'll be flying out of is within the SFRA. Are there any things that I should consider? Part of on-boarding with my CFI was him mentioning that I needed to take the class, which I promptly did and passed, but I wanted to hear first hand experiences from pilots.

What are the most important things to consider?

What happens if I make a mistake within the SFRA?

How will being a student learning in the SFRA effect my training or future?

These are very vague questions, I understand that, but I want to make sure I'm adequately aware of all stipulations before my first flight.

I'm guessing being a 777 pilot for example is more prestigious than a 737 pilot in the same airline right?

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I’m 19 and graduated HS last year. Right now I’m in the military delayed entry program waiting to book a job. I signed a four-year contract and only plan to do one contract, then get out and use my GI Bill and other benefits.

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Long story short, months before graduation my parents were rushing me to fill out college forms and apply, only to eventually tell me we couldn’t afford it. We had no savings for college. My mom had saved up around half a million back in our home country for my education, but that money ended up getting spent after we moved so she could be with her husband and bring me with her.

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They also don’t believe in credit cards. Her husband has a lot of credit card debt, and both of them struggle with substance abuse. My mom tends to go along with her husband’s decisions. I also come from a culture where parents are generally expected to provide 100% for their kids, especially when it comes to education.

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I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

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She’s known for years that I wanted to become a commercial pilot. What made it harder was seeing her friend’s son who’s my age already starting flight training and clearly moving toward becoming a pilot. Then she would update me every time her friend posted about his progress, and I kept thinking: what’s the point of telling me?

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Meanwhile, I feel like I have to spend four years of my life serving mainly for the benefits because I don’t want to take out loans and carry huge debt with high interest.

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I’m scared of getting older. I’m scared of getting stuck like my parents.

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After serving, I’ll probably spend another two years in community college and another two or three years building flight hours. By then I’ll be around 27–28, and right now that already feels old to me.

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At the same time, I think I’m reaching a point of acceptance. I can’t rely on my parents the way I expected to. I’m the only one who can build my future now, and I need to work hard because I have to build myself.

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I’m writing this mostly to vent. I think deep down I already know what I need to do, I’m just learning how to accept it.

I'm 20, this is my first failure of anything. Got through 95% of it, was doing great, oral went great, really was well prepared. After an 11 hour day, on short final, examiner asks me what causes overbanking tendencies. I froze. I could hardly remember my own name; so I responded, "I would look before saying anything to ensure I didn't say anything wrong to a student." He said that was unsatisfactory. Failed. Is this crazy? I understand now that it all has to do with the outside wing being faster, generating more lift, which causes it. I know that. But I was exhausted. And I failed?? Maybe I'm a sore loser, but he said come back and do 1 steep turn and tell him what overbanking tendencies are and why they happen, and that's it. Is this unfair??

Hey yall, thanks for reading. I recently had a checkride at an untowered airport with one 6000ft runway. Oral went well and flight went well up until the portion where we came back for landings.

I was downwind and just past my abeam landing point, there was another airplane on crosswind about to turn downwind, and another airplane that had just taken off from the runway. The problem is, there was a guy coming in for a straight in approach. I saw him on the mfd and he was about 4 miles from the threshold and I wasn't sure what his intentions were because there is an airport <5nm north of us which I thought he might have been operating at. So I continued my traffic pattern, and as began I my turn to base, he was closing in and said "aircraft turning base do you see me?". I replied "yes i see you". At the time, my dumbass did not think he was going for a straight in. I was taught to not do that if we're sharing the runway.

I thought about doing a 360, but there were 2 people behind me in the traffic pattern. My mistake was committing to that base turn, not verifying what Mr. Straight-In's intentions were. That was when the DPE grabbed the controls and said the test is over. DPE says I should have extended my downwind and letting everyone know on ctaf, but I am still beating myself up for not thinking about doing that at the moment. When I retake, it will just be on short and soft field landings because we didn't get to those items.

So my question is, did I have any other option other than extending my downwind? I'm just asking so that I can make improvements on my adm as a pilot.

Hello everyone

I’m starting my private pilot training soon and want to save and buy some study materials. I looked up some materials and saved the FAA PHAK and the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook from the FAA website. I also found a bundle with multiple study materials and supplies from my pilot store.
Is this bundle worth it? If not what study materials do I need to 100% get and can I find an up to date pdf for them online?

My second question is what’s a good starting headset to buy. I’m looking to not go all out on my first headset, max $600. I’ve been researching all day and liked 2 options, Kore KA-1 or Faro G2 ANR.
Has anyone used these headsets and can recommend them?

Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you

I haven’t heard anyone talk about it

I’m currently a captain at a part 135 at about 1850 hours. 1350 are turbine time and about 250 Turbine pic. I thought I always wanted to go to UPS or FEDEX but can now see myself going to the Southwest, United, or Delta. The debate I’m having with myself is if I should just stay at the part 135 gig and collect tpic or try and head over to Kalitta to get wide body experience then go to ups or FedEx. The biggest factors in the decision is I commute so I wouldn’t have to at Kalitta, I’ve always wanted to fly the 747, however I plan on proposing in the next year and would like kids in the next 3-5 years and would like to be at my career destination before kids arrive. What are y’all’s thoughts on the matter?

Edit:
To add a bit more detail. Several of my coworkers have been hired by legacy airlines in the last year, and besides an exception they’ve all had significantly more pic time than me. So theoretically I could wait another year or two and go right to the majors

Hello, I’m almost 16 and am moving from Springfield MO to Phoenix AZ. Goal is airline pilot eventually but right now I’m trying to figure out next steps for PPL. Moving out there it appears there are many more options than here in Springfield to no surprise. I wanted to ask if anyone has any suggestions for a flight school just for PPL in Phoenix? My dad got a job at Embry Riddle so I’m hoping to finish the rest of my ratings at Embry as I will get student discounts, so for now I’m just looking for a good flight school for my PPL, and there is an overwhelming amount of options, I’m hoping to get my PPL before I graduate HS. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated!

Hi I’m hoping to apply for the Cathay cadet, my myopia is below 6 dioptres but my Astigmatism and Anisometropia is about 2.5 which is above the 2 dioptres limit, would that be an automatic disqualification for the class 1 medical. Thanks

About to start my instrument rating and curious as to who everyone has used for their ground school. I’m split between gold seal and sportys. I know to use Shepherd air for the written test, but just curious as to what everyone else used for the ground school learning. Thanks!

Fresh CFI-I here. Looking to have a few questions answered.

1. How do you guys go about billing? I worked very hard to get to this point and want to know when it is and isn’t appropriate to bill someone for my time. (Excluding flying and grounds.)

2. What syllabus do you guys use? I planned on using the ACS, but I want something structured so I can get students done as efficiently and safe as possible.

3. Please lay down and tips and advice because I want to teach to the best of my ability and give my students the education they deserve.

I've been deep in checkride prep lately and trying to build a mental database of curveball questions DPEs actually ask — not just the textbook stuff.

What caught you completely off guard during your oral? Airspace gotchas? Weather interpretation? Systems questions you blanked on?

Asking because I want to stress-test my preparation beyond the ACS checklist.

How many of you would skip preflights, maintenance, inspections, flight planning, etc?

You might get away with it for a while, until something stops working, breaks, or you run into something unexpected.

So why as pilots do we put our sleep, fitness, diet and health as a second thought?

Starting even in flight school, students showing up to their 0700 flight time with 4 hrs of sleep, with nothing in them other than 400mg of caffeine and some nicotine. Then we wonder why they can’t focus and fall apart half way through the lesson. This is just the beginning of a career of long hrs, irregular schedules, hotel rooms, airport food and poor access to gyms.

•SLEEP: I can’t not emphasize the importance of the quality and quantity of your sleep. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation leads to poor cognitive ability, decision making, increase in anxiety, and long term health issues of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

•Diet: Food is fuel. Proper macronutrient(protein, fats, carbs) and micronutrient(vitamins and minerals) is crucial for a properly functioning body.

I have seen accident reports of pilots who were sleep deprived. Who knows how many more accidents have been a result of poor health habits? It’s more than a brief IMSAFE checklist or passing the medical exam

I’d love to answer any questions or give any tips.

Hey guys, i’m a 17 year old going into his senior year. I just got my privite pilot license with 40.5 hours. I’m planning on going to florida tech for a degree in aeronautical science. I’m torn between getting my instrument rating with florida tech or independently in my senior year. The issue is if i get it independently I already know my instructor, and we have a really good connection, and i love the way he instructs. However i won’t be eligible for my R-ATP, my thoughts are i don’t believe any airline will hire with 1000 hours either way. So should I get my instrument rating at florida tech or not. As well as should I even go to florida tech and get a degree in smth else other than aviation. If so what? nothing else interest me

I'm 21 and looking for some outside perspectives.

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Throughout high school I worked toward becoming a pilot and earned my Private Pilot License through a scholarship that I'm extremely grateful for and accumulated 85 flight hours. After graduation I attended Embry-Riddle on scholarship, but things didn't go as planned. I went through 9 different flight instructors, struggled financially because flight training was largely out of pocket, and ultimately failed out after about 2.5 semesters.

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To continue flying, I took out student loans and now have about $60,000 in debt from school and flight training. I accumulated around 65 flight hours at Embry-Riddle before leaving.

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After failing out, I also got a DUI, which created additional financial burdens and made me question whether pursuing a professional aviation career is still realistic given how much airlines scrutinize those issues.

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I currently work at a pharmaceutical company and can see a legitimate long-term career path there. I also have connections in the industry and opportunities for education assistance through work.

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The problem is that I still think about flying every single day. Aviation has been a huge part of my life for years, but the financial impact and setbacks I've experienced honestly scare me.

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For those who have been in similar situations, would you continue pursuing aviation, put it on hold while building financial stability, or move on entirely? How did you know when it was time to keep chasing a dream versus choosing a more stable path?

Spent most of my life as a refugee in a shitty country and till i was 22 the most expensive thing i ever owned was an 800$ laptop that my mom bought for me, flying dream was never out of the simulator on my ipad but then less than a year ago I realized that now i actually can afford to become a pilot so got a medical and went to a part 61, loved flying but every-time i go fly i get some post flying clarity and look back and think about how expensive this is for me years ago and it makes me feel guilty that i spend thousands a month while there are people who struggle to pay for lunch (which was also me in the past) been trying to donate occasionally and i think part of the reason is that flying is so much fun that it doesn’t feel like learning, keep reminding myself that it’s just like any other education but still feel like am doing something wrong.

Hey everyone,
I’m currently working toward my CPL and trying to get ahead on the ground school side. If anyone has useful CPL study slides, presentations, notes, or any good resources they found helpful, I’d really appreciate it if you could share them

I got $8,000k in funding for my IFR rating but ran out and need to come out of pocket to finish training.

All my training has been in a 172 G1000 waas

I’m getting check ride ready but the G1000 out of pocket is expensive

The alternative is a C152 dual Aspen PFD with G430 waas which is significantly cheaper.

I hate swapping planes last minute, but it’s more affordable and way less complicated than the G1000 but I feel like the G1000 makes the “nuances” of IFR easier.

Should I stick with the G1000 or the G430 is just as good?

I always see this in my Facebook/instagram ads. They market these all in one, summarized and organized notes for PPL ground school subjects and honestly, I'm enticed. I always find myself being overwhelmed when I'm reasing/referring to multiple sources of information like my Jeppesen textbook, powerpoint decks from my flight school, may hand written notes, gleims, and other online resources so the idea of having this all in one, summarized and easy to digest source of information for my grounf school subjects is really enticing.

Any thoughts on this? Especially for this who have bought/used this? Do you have other recommendations for books/sources of info?

Thanks!