Commercial Pilot – The First 500 Hours
Notice: This publication is no longer in print though the entire contents are available in PDF format below.
PDF format (3.2Mb) 500hrs.pdf
The purpose of this book is to assist you in maximising your potential for employment in the aviation industry and to provide you with some ideas that will strengthen your success potential as a pilot. In Australia there has been no text available to cover this very important topic… until now.
This book was written by John Radge, an experienced pilot, who walked this same path and now puts his thoughts to paper to assist fellow pilots. Aviation is a difficult and expensive industry to break into. The varied paths that one can follow is daunting enough for the budding pilot without the added frustration of knowing the wrong path could limit your career or waste a lot of your money. What you’ll read is the collection of the basic groundwork knowledge required before embarking on a flying career. Unfortunately, it’s not until one has committed a lot of time and money that they start to get a feel for how the industry operates. Attempting to plan any career without having experience or knowledge can be costly… more so with aviation. Hopefully this book will act as a guide to smooth your path and reduce mistakes.
The first 500 hours is considered to be the make or break period for pilots. The first 500 hours is the period that shapes or moulds your flying that carries you through your career. For this reason it is important that a plan is put together and followed to completion. Conducting training in a haphazard fashion can cost you dearly. Your first flying job after completion of the training is a very important step in your flying career. It is a sad fact that a large percentage of new commercial pilots never get a first flying job. That is to say that these same people are unable to get employment flying and seek employment in a different industry. To maximise your ability to secure the first job, you must have a plan of training to match your intended first job.
Commercial Pilot – The first 500 hours, walks you through all the stages leading from your first lesson to securing your first job. The first chapter looks at why you want to be a pilot. Chapter two deals with the General Aviation industry, it’s health, trends and future. Chapter three deals with training. Chapter four deals with how you go about securing that first position as well who to contact. Chapter five looks at the Mecca of General Aviation, the United States of America. The USA has many training and employment opportunities that aren’t available in Australia. Chapter six looks at setting up your own flying business. Chapter seven looks at success secrets and why some people succeed whilst others don’t. Finally chapter eight heeds advice for the new commercial pilot working in the industry. Prospective aviation operators are listed in Appendix Two who may be contacted to find that elusive first flying position. The information gleamed in this book will, hopefully, make the path to a career as a commercial pilot a lot smoother with less heartache.