Learning to Fly? What are your goals?
  

Do you want to be an airline pilot or just fly for fun on the weekends as a hobby? Those who want to turn their love of aviation into a career need to be ready for the road ahead - learning to fly involves long hours of work and studying. Flight training can be a difficult and frustration road. Picking the right flight school can be very important.

Those who want to fly as a hobby need to be ready for the dedication it will take to earn their pilot certificate and stay safe in the air. Unlike bowling or fly fishing, if your piloting skills are rusty you can make fatal mistakes.

Age plays a relatively strong role in aviation. Like many professions, there are years of "apprenticeship" in aviation. To reach the top, flying international for an airline or in corporate jets, takes years (sometimes lifetimes) of working in the lower levels of the industry. If you're 55 and just starting in aviation, you won't make it to the airlines, but if you're 15 you have a good shot. If you're somewhere in between, so are your odds.

Lifestyle is a factor that often times is over looked when it comes to an aviation career. Unlike many jobs, working as a pilot means days, weeks or even months away from home. If you are young and without a family, the lifestyle may be easier. If you're 30 and married with 2 kids, the career change may be very tough. Families can be very supportive but the costs should be strongly weighed. All too often we've heard of men and women who were tired of their day jobs and decided to follow their dreams to become an airline pilot, and just 3 or 4 years later (after racking up major debt), realized they'd made a horrible mistake. As we discuss further in other areas of this site, the road to becoming a professional pilot is far from easy and often over glamorized.

New England Aviation Flight Training is here to help you make the right decisions before you pick a flight school and start your flight training. Learning to fly can be very rewarding. We wish you the best of luck on the road to becoming a pilot. Flying is fun, flight training should be too. We’ll help you learn to fly.

If you’re getting ready for your FAA checkride, visit CheckrideGuide.com for help with private pilot, commercial pilot and instrument flight tests.

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