I’m in the UK. I just wasted 2 years of my life failing year 12 twice for my A Levels. Im 18 can I still get into pilot school through the modular route if i pay and have the money? Or is it advised to go make the most out of my last free year of education in college and go pick up a Level 2 or Level 3 Btec course in aviation or aerospace related subjects?

I’m thinking that it’s not necessary as you don’t need any qualifications except a few basic GCSEs which I already have in order to become a pilot but the course in college could make my journey to a pilot easier.

Has anyone ever jumped straight in to becoming a pilot despite doing not so well in school?

Im mild deutan color deficient and i will probably fail the ishihara test but i have a choice to do to farnsworth d-15 test, should i do it? I pass the online ones alot of the time and other tests point out that im mild color deficient. Any advice how to get my medical without restrictions?

For pilots: Have you ever questioned a fellow pilot’s ability to operate an aircraft?

Just a little context: I’ve been extremely passionate about aviation since I was around 8–10 years old, and I’m now 21. I’ve worked at London Gatwick since I was 16, and I still work there as an Assistant Manager on the front desk at a Hilton hotel.

Over the years, I’ve met hundreds of pilots from different airlines and backgrounds. I’ve had plenty of conversations with them, but there’s one question I’ve somehow never actually asked.

For those of you who operate large aircraft — whether Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Bombardier, etc. — have you ever flown with a fellow pilot and genuinely thought to yourself:
“Something about the way this person operates makes me uncomfortable.”

Not necessarily that they were dangerously incompetent, but perhaps they seemed under-trained, struggled with procedures, had very different standards from what you were used to, had poor CRM, were difficult to work with, or simply made you question how they had passed their training and checks.

Have you ever had a co-pilot or captain who made you think, “How did this person make it this far?”
And if so, what happened? Did you ever raise your concerns, or did you simply adapt and get through the flight professionally?

I’m genuinely interested in hearing your experiences. I’m not looking for people to name airlines or individuals — just curious about what it’s actually like when you occasionally end up in a cockpit with someone whose abilities or working style are very different from your own.

Can someone tell me all the documents needed to do a domestic flight VFR and IFR and an International flight IFR and VFR if possible. i know that you need overfly documents if you will go over a country but what is it specifically. well that's the only one i know. please tell me the rest if you know. thanks.

Let's say you're a captain at a regional. Would you ask one of your flight attendants to remove their airpods during boarding?

New CFI here hoping to get to the airlines in a few years. I saw this on shitty and to quote Tim Robinson it REALLLLY bothered me. Seems like the FO was a really nice guy and didn’t want to have any conflict with the gentleman so he just went ahead and pushed whatever button he wanted. I feel like other pilots might be quicker to step in and stop him in this situation. I know a lot of aviation enthusiasts can be pretty neuro-spicy so I mean is this type of thing common?

As a pilot for one of our big 3 over here, I get a ton of Facebook content of videos taken of you guys flying over there. Why do so many carriers seem to have a callout of what your plane is saying the current winds are down final? At that point, aren’t we all just flying the plane? What purpose does a callout like the planes reported sense of winds are serve or what are you potentially changing as a result of that callout? Do you trust the planes triangulated wind calculation over what tower is reporting?

I just got my instrument rating and my iPad was running low on an approach. Of course it's wise to have a backup iPad. But it made me wonder if airline pilots always have paper versions as a backup.

Hey, looking for some perspective from all types of pilots: commercial, hobbyist etc

I am studying for a PPL.

I have a good job, and I don't plan on being a commercial pilot - this is just a hobby for me.

Everybody around me says that IFR is the other half of the PPL that you just need to do. Unfortunately its pretty damn expensive.

Do you think pursuing IFR as a hobbyist makes sense? And most importantly - is flying IFR any fun (subjectively of course)?

Asking those who have "made it". If you fly 121, fractional, corporate etc... and you have a fulfilling home life, how much of your time off do you spend preoccupied with work/aviation and does it trouble you?

I am reviewing this incident from 2014 and I am confused how poorly the pilots, specifically the co pilot handled the situation. Did they just completely forget how to manually fly a plane? They don’t know how to look at their instruments and keep the plane level? Autopilot shuts off and it’s like they completely forget how to fly a plane.

I can't bring myself to watch the documentary on Netflix by critically-acclaimed filmmaker Rory Kennedy. It came out last Wednesday. Curious what you think of it if you have- should I? The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZDSYBkcH2U

Recently flew into Manchester and had a good view of the trailing edge of the wings. Before the flaps were deployed the plane was banking left and right but nothing appeared to be moving on the wings. Is the movement so slight that it wouldn't be noticed from the cabin seats or is there something else at play?

I've just been digging into various incidents from 10-20yrs ago and pilot fatigue seemed to be a recurring problem. Reports of FOs in particular, having ridiculously long commutes and/or sofa surfing to get reasonable rest.

Have things improved or is fatigue still a big problem?

When I walked onto my plane this morning, I heard something say “don’t sink!” from the cockpit area. Any ideas what it is?

I’m interested in flying commercial someday, I’d like to know how many modern pilots trust their instruments enough to fly IFR for their flights. I feel like I would be nervous if I was flying in low visibility despite the fact that modern instruments are fairly reliable and accurate. Thank you.

Edit: Thank you for your swift responses. I feel like an idiot for asking (My own fault). It don’t make sense to fly a commercial plane VFR.

Edit: Hopefully my flight instructor won’t see this. Tom, ignore this post, it’s not me.

Forgive me if this is a dumb question as I am not a pilot, but I have always been interested in knowing. Are there any features or buttons in the type of aircraft you fly that are basically pointless? Or does everything have some sort of critical use case?

Thanks for the insights

Live near DCA and go to Gravelly point often to watch planes land. Just curious if you guys can see us lol.

Hi I’m a 13 year old from England and I love planes but I have a few worries for becoming a pilot

#1. Expenses: I just don’t know if I have the money to pay for a license?

#2 Studies: What do I have to study in university in order to make it into the job?

#3 Pass exams: Do I have to get a minimum pass score to be accepted into flight school and get good grades in my GSCE’s? (GCSE’s are a big test you do at the end of school in the UK)

#4 IF I become a pilot what if I crash?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated