Licenses and Careers in the Aviation World

To pilot a plane necessitates that you are habilitated to do so. To get such a capacity, you will have first to hold the basic piloting 'license' as linked to the plane considered. A license, in the aviation world, is a permit equivalent to what the driver's licence is for cars. Building upon a licence, a pilot will be then able to get trained to 'qualifications' allowing to such or such type of plane, or such or such type of flight. A qualification, strictly is not another license but a successful specialized training instead which will have been performed on a certain type of plane, or in a certain type of flight conditions

• a 'private pilot' is a pilot who holds a private pilot license (PPL), which is the level of entry into the world of aviation. Such a pilot is allowed to fly, for its private use or pleasure, basic GA planes (like a Cessna 172, or a Robin DR-400), in mild weather conditions permitting to maintain a visual contact with the ground, by daytime. A private pilote can take passengers aboard at no charge as they only are able to have them share the cost of the flight. They are allowed to fly only in the national airspace where the ATC is performed in the national language of the country where they passed their license (a Spanish-speaking pilot which will have passed his license in Nicaragua is allowed to fly either in that country, or in countries where the ATC is performed in Spanish). A nighttime flight qualification allows such a pilot to fly, in that same conditions, by night and keeping a visual contact with ground. A additional, language qualification may be passed to be able to fly in national airspaces where the tongue of the ATC is English. Of note that the PPL -- unless laws in your country are specific -- is acquired for life and that it is only the qualification to fly, which is only acquired from year to year as subject to fulfilling a number of conditions (number of hours of flight, such number of takeoffs and landings, medical certificate, etc.) A private pilot either is the owner of his plane, with all the expenses linked to that like the insurance fee, the hangar fee and the mandatory mechanical inspections by interval, etc., or he may rent a plane in a flying school or a renting agent. That operation is made on a hourly basis with the school or the agent taking in charge the fees and expenses as just described. The real flight hours are counted only, with the hours spent by the plane on a parking during a journey not charged. The top training a private pilot usually afford is the IFR qualification which allow to fly through the plane's instruments only and thus to get free from the weather conditions. That qualification often is passed along with the one allowing to a twin engines plane, or some advanced GA one. If one makes abstraction of the cost of such a training and the cost of flying aboard such planes, a private pilote holding such qualifications can perform most types of flight in most types of airspace
• a 'commercial pilot' is a pilot who holds a commercial pilot license. Such a license is the first one allowing to have aviation like a job. A commercial pilot is trained to fly first level commercial planes, like a twin engine of the Beechcraft King Air 350 type, a private jet, or small-sized cargo planes as they have not the capacity to fly airliners. A commercial pilot is allowed to fly passengers or cargo professionally, against a fee that is. A commercial pilot usually is hired by small air companies. Additional qualifications acquirable by a commercial pilot mostly are so-called 'type qualifications' allowing to fly such or such type of plane
• a 'ATP pilots' is holding a ATP license which come to crown a training allowing to fly passengers or cargo airliners with a large airline. Such a pilot is hired by a large airline company as he exemplifies the type of captain the general public is thinking about. The same as before as far as the qualifications are concerned
• a army pilot is a military pilot. He mostly is flying with the Air Force as he hold a army pilot license. He has followed a training allowing to the military flight and he is specialized into flying such or such army plane, like a fighter, a bomber-fighter, or a cargo plane, etc. A air force dedicated to fly with the Army may exist as the Navy pilots fly with the Navy's carriers. In the USA, there is even a National Guard Air Force

All such trainings -leading either to a license or to a qualification- are directed by a flight instructor who holds a flight instructor license. A flight instructor is officially allowed to train a pilot to one of the licenses as described above or to a qualification. Other trainings like the ones for a deltaplane, paragliding, or motorized paragliding, etc. are not described here. One thing to know: flying among a mountainous environment does not require a qualification for a private pilot. A private pilot however during his training is awared to the specific air conditions he may encounter in such conditions like the ascending and descending drafts, the valley winds or the risk to be trapped by nefarious weather conditions, etc. A private pilot too is made aware of the specific air conditions he may encounter when flying along seashore like the morning, earthbound or evening, seabound wind

How does one get trained to all those licenses or qualifications? Mostly three ways of access are encountered

• you will wish to fly for your own pleasure and use. In that case, you will have to get trained in a flight school and to get your private pilot license (PPL) and possibly the useful nighttime and English-speaking qualifications like described above. Some will go beyond still, like training for IFR and a twin engine plan. When a private pilot wants to get to a professional license, he mostly usually aims to the commercial pilot license as, once gotten the nighttime and English-speaking qualifications, he will enter a training to the commercial pilot license and be allowed into aviation like a job
• the ATP training mostly is usually entered straight. People aiming to that either will train with the national air highschool of their country, or they will be trained by a airline, as such a practice that airlines are now training their own pilots had developed. In some countries the access to the ATP statute also is performed from the Air Force as former army pilots are hired
• becoming a army pilot is the feat of people who are kean with getting into the army. A military pilot career may sometimes be considered like a mid-term way to turn into a ATP pilot. Air Force pilots usually get trained to get the basic PPL level and then into a army flight training whence they are sorted, with a additional training, like a pilot for such or such type of army plane, like the fighting, or the cargo ones, etc.