How I became a pilot

It all started when I was very young. According to my mother, typical young boy dreams like firefighters or police officers didn’t catch my interest, I always wanted to become a pilot.

After graduating from high school, I applied to a large flight school in Germany, the name of which I am unfortunately not allowed to name. The selection process was quite exhausting and very demanding.  Overall, the selection process took almost one and a half years.

About the selection process:

I decided to have myself prepared professionally by a company, specialized in preparing future pilots for the various tests at the DLR (German Aerospace) in Hamburg. I only had this one chance in life and wanted to be sure, to do everything to be able to pass these tests.  I didn’t want to blame myself for not having done everything I could, in case I would have failed.

The first phase of the DLR selection process included the following topics:

Maths, physics, English, technology, spatial imagination, memory and concentration, to name a few of the subjects.

In a retroactive view, these tests were doable and not as impossible to pass, as some people told me in advance. You should do well in all of the mentioned subjects, but you don’t have to be a “high flyer” to pass the tests. They are looking for an all-rounder.

After passing the basic qualification test, I was invited to the second and final part of the screening. The second section of the DLR test focused on the mental state and included a  simulator part. The flight sim was quite unfamiliar to fly. As we were flying along given tracks, we had to solve arithmetical problems.

In order to obtain the Medical Certificate Class 1, the medical constitution was put to the test. The Aeromedical Center basically turned me upside down completely, it took a whole day. Hearing tests, eyesight tests, stress ECG, EEG, blood and urine samples were part of that examination. In short, I passed :).

After another waiting period, my training as a commercial aircraft pilot finally began. Around one year of theory was laying ahead of us. That was quite crispy because a lot of stuff had to be internalized. So that you can imagine how much it actually was, here is a picture of all the scripts.

It was about aerodynamics, technology, the correct radio transmitting techniques, the structure and functioning of engines, performance, air law, electrical engineering, navigation, flight planning, and meteorology.

After a year of learning, learning and even more learning, the final exams of the flight school and the Federal Aviation Office were due. After passing all the these  exams, the theoretical part of the pilot training was successfully completed.

After some more waiting time, our first flight training in the USA finally began. First stop: Beechcraft Bonanza F33A.

Since I had never flown myself before, it was of course very exciting. After only 12 flights with a flight instructor, the first solo was due, all by myself, without a flight instructor, unforgettable till today and by far one of the coolest experiences.

The first flying part was completed after about four and a half months and we went back to Germany onboard the Airbus 380.

Unfortunately, there was a long waiting period again, before we could continue with the second part of the flight training. A way bigger aircraft was waiting for us, the Cessna Citation CJ1 +. A jet that is very popular with well-heeled customers for private or business trips.

Of course, a jet is flown very differently compared to a small propeller plane with a piston engine, so it took quite some time to get used to our new toy. At this time, the MCC, the so-called Multi Crew Coordination was introduced for the first time.  This means that the aircraft will now be flown by two pilots and not as the Bonanza, by only one single pilot. This should prepare us for our role in the cockpit of a large passenger jet. Big jets are always flown by two pilots.

After plenty of  hours of simulator and aircraft training, we finally completed this flight phase. Now we were ready for the last and final part of the training, the type rating for the Airbus 320 family.

To become qualified to fly a big plane like this, the type rating included approximately another four months of simulator training with a final landing training in a real Airbus. We flew from Frankfurt to Lake Balaton in Hungary. Goosebumps feeling again. Taking off and landing a real Airbus for the first time, was simply indescribable.

After 12 take-offs and landings, we finally made it and after all these years, I could finally hold my own pilot license in my hands.

Fun fact:

After all these years of waiting, things couldn’t go fast enough in the end. I took a taxi from Hungary to Vienna the same day, in order to begin my first job as a commercial pilot the day after.

Happy landings.