Many careers will leave you climbing

learn about careers in

the corporate ladder,

but
one
only
will
send
you

Aviation
climbing
through

35,000
feet
 Canadian Flight Centre’s
King Air C90 Turbine Aircraft
 Aviation
...an exciting career like no other!
You've always dreamed of flying, but you're not sure where
to start. This brochure will explain some of the basic steps
you'll go through on the way to earning your pilot’s license.
We'll also cover some of the many options you have for
expanding your flying skills, and how to turn your love of
flying into an exciting and rewarding career!
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 Student Pilot Permit
Career Opportunities for Pilots
Private License
You’ve always wanted to learn to fly, and there’s
Night Rating no better time to turn your passion into an exciting and
Mountain Checkout
rewarding career. Aviation is a thriving business, with
opportunities for new pilots to gain experience in Canada, and
Tail-Wheel Checkout all over the world. In fact, according to a December 2010 CBC
Aerobatics Checkout News article:

Multi-Engine Rating
The shortage [of pilots] is already happening in some
Instrument Rating
countries. Scroll down any airline job board and there
are dozens of pilot positions advertised in Asia, including
Commercial License China, Korea and Vietnam, and in the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirates isn't waiting for pilots to apply.
It came to Canada recently to recruit pilots from
Instructor Bush Pilot & other Air Taxi
Training Specialty Careers domestic airlines, offering big salaries and benefits.

Flight T I M E Regional
Instructor B U I L D I N G Airlines
Two trends that set the tone for the coming years in aviation:
A steady growth in air travel – even the recent events in the
Airline Transport License world economy have only created a temporary slow down –
and the imminent retirement of a huge number of airline pilots
Major Airlines
of the baby boomer generation. Pilot shortages have a domino-
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effect and trigger a migration from pilots of regional carriers to
the majors, from pilots of air taxi and charter operations to
the regional carriers and so on. As a result, flight instructors
and commercial pilots – even with relatively low flight
time – will be in high demand.

If you have a passion for flying and the

ambition to chase your dreams, a career in
aviation is both a practical and exciting goal.
So let’s have a look at the steps you’ll ascend
on your journey.

“For once you have tasted flight you

will walk the earth with your eyes turned
skywards, for there you have been and there
you will long to return.” - Leonardo da Vinci

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 Choosing a Flight School

As you read this, you're already taking the first

steps to becoming a pilot. You should spend
some time researching and visiting different
flight schools before just signing up at the
closest one. Every school has its own character,
and its own approach to teaching – you need
to find one that suits your career goals.

Take some time to chat with the Chief Flight

Instructor or the flying school’s Career
Counselor to discuss your goals, and ask any
questions you might have. A meeting like this
will tell you a lot about the school, and whether
it's the one for you.

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The Interview
Once you have all your questions answered and
you’ve had a chance to explore the school, the aircraft fleet, and
the maintenance facility where the school aircraft are being
maintained, it’s up to the school to ask you some questions.

You wouldn’t want a school to send you down the wrong career
path. That’s why a good school will sit down with you and find out
about your interests and career goals, your school background
and many other questions that allow them to customize a program
"More than anything else the sensation is
for you. Select schools will go so far as to assign a mentor to you
who – independent of your instructors – will
one of perfect peace mingled with an
follow your training progress
and make sure your goals excitement that strains every nerve to the
are achieved in an efficient
and economic manner. utmost, if you can conceive of such a
combination" - Wilbur Wright

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 Fam Flight Earning your Private Pilot License (PPL)
Dual Practice A PPL is the foundation of your aviation career. Once you choose a school,
you’ll begin flying right away with your instructor – this is called dual time. You’ll also begin
Start Ground School ground school, which is a series of classes that teach you about many areas of aviation,
including meteorology, aerodynamics, and the specific laws that pertain to pilots.
Radio License
During this phase of your training, you’ll be preparing for your first solo by obtaining various
pieces of important paperwork, including a medical certificate and radio license, and studying
Acquire Medical
for a pre-solo written exam called a PSTAR. Then you’ll be ready for your Student Pilot Permit,
which qualifies you for one of the most exciting days of your flying career: your first solo.
PSTAR

Student Pilot Permit

It’s a moment you’ll never forget. Your instructor asks you
to return to the airport, and you wonder why, because you still have
First Solo half an hour scheduled in your flight. A few minutes later you land, and
your instructor asks you to stop the plane earlier than usual. As she
Solo/Dual Practice opens the door to get out, she nods toward the controls, “She’s all yours
now. Go do three circuits and I’ll see you inside after you land.” A few
Flight Test minutes later you’re a thousand feet over the airport, a little nervous,
and the tower gives you clearance to land. As you touch down, your
radio sparks to life with a personal message: “Golf Mike X-Ray,
Private License
this is Bay Tower...congratulations on your first solo!”
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Now you’ll build time and experience through dual
and solo trips to both learn new skills, and practice those
you have. Soon you will be ready for your final flight test,
which is flown with a Transport Canada designated
examiner. He will ask you to perform many different tasks,
and mark you on your performance. If you’ve practiced
and studied hard, it will be an enjoyable and exciting
experience, after which you’ll officially be a Private Pilot!

The next step toward a career spent in the clouds is your

Commercial Pilot License.

Canadian Flight Centre’s

GNS 430 equipped Piper Cherokee

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 Earning your Commercial Pilot
License (CPL)

The time between the completion of the PPL and earning

the Commercial Pilot License (CPL) is arguably the most
important training phase in your career. As earning a CPL
requires you to have a minimum 200 hours flight experience,
some schools will simply encourage their students to build
the necessary time by flying random trips with friends. There
is, however, a better way to spend those hours.
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A good flight school will consider your career goals and plan your “time
building phase” around these goals to ensure your training budget is efficiently invested. For
some students this will mean working toward multi-engine and instrument (IFR) ratings for their
airline career, while others could pursue tail wheel and float training in preparation for
bush flying. All students will benefit from exposure to as many different aircraft types
as possible. Being proficient with both high and low-wing aircraft, having some
tail wheel experience, as well as basic aerobatic skills are all valuable assets
when being considered by a potential employer.

Another asset is having done your multi-engine and

IFR training on a turbo-charged aircraft with autopilot,
state of the art avionics, and other advanced systems
(like oxygen or de-icing systems). This kind of
experience will put you well ahead of
the average graduate.

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 A few advanced schools have turbine-driven aircraft Regardless of your career direction, the following
available for training, and this kind of training will definitely help ratings and checkouts are essential parts of your training.
fast-track your career path. A good flight school will go beyond
tailoring your training to specific hardware, and will also help 1. Mountain Checkout
design a program of cross country flights into the US and As rewarding as mountain flying can be, it requires specific skills
Northern Canada that will provide experience that simply cannot that must be understood and practiced. Although mandatory for
be found in the local training environment. Flying in climates all students in this environment, such training will be more intense
ranging from arctic to desert, and navigating busy international and may include subjects like survival training and underwater
airports or uncontrolled remote areas provides valuable experience. egress training for aspiring bush pilots.
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2. Night Rating an essential rating for professional pilots. For the aspiring airline
This is simply a rating that allows a pilot to fly between the hours pilot, high altitude indoctrination and a field trip to experience
of dusk and dawn. a hypobaric chamber may be included in the training.

3. Multi-Engine, Instrument Rating (Muli-IFR) Equally important to employers is the IFR rating, which is an
The industry term Multi-IFR actually refers to two ratings, but acronym for Instrument Flight Rules. This skill enables you to
they are often taught together. Your Multi-Engine rating allows fly your aircraft outside Visual Flight Rules (VFR) – in bad
you to fly aircraft with more than one engine. One look at most weather, for example – using only your instruments for reference.
commercial aviation fleets, and you’ll see why this is considered
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 Cleared for Takeoff:
The next step in your aviation career.
When a commercial pilot graduates with about 200 hours of
flying time from a career program with the right flying school,
he or she will have several options to explore:
Canadian Flight Centre’s
From traffic watch and fire surveillance to pipeline control, pilots King Air C90 Turbine Aircraft

– even without additional ratings for multi-engine and instrument

flying – can find jobs on single engine aircraft that allow them
to build up the time that the airlines require. From there the
operations that have a constant demand for recruits. Any of
career path often leads to air taxi operations with single and
these options will lead a pilot toward the highest level of aviation
multi-engine aircraft before pilots fulfill the experience
license: the Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). This is typically
requirements for regional or major airlines. Once there, the career
earned “on the job” while making a living as a pilot already. This
path will lead them from the smaller models to aircraft of increasing
license requires 1500 hours of flight experience, and opens the
sizes.
door to a position with a major airline: the ultimate goal for many
professional pilots.
Of course there are other opportunities outside this traditional
career path. A career as a flight instructor will lead to relatively
quick time building, often with advanced equipment that will So if you’re looking for a career beyond the
accelerate further career steps. Flying a business jet as a ordinary – one with opportunities and rewards limited only
corporate pilot is another attractive and challenging job. Law by your desire to fly – think seriously about a career in aviation.
enforcement, the military, or fire fighting are other specialized You’ve got one life: make it an exciting one!
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Financing Your Training
To complete career training toward a commercial license, one challenging for some students to afford. But similar to university
should budget $30,000 to $50,000, depending on the desired studies, students can use bursaries earned in high school toward
career path. During the interview process with your chosen their license.
school, a rough figure will be determined based on the chosen
training modules. It is important to understand, however, that the In order to be eligible for student loans, the student must
final cost will vary based on each student’s unique learning pace. look for a school that is accredited (not just registered)
with PCTIA, the Private Career Training Institutions Agency.
While $50,000 is not an amount out of line with other degree-
based educations that take many years, in flight training it is Some schools will assist with financing your training – it’s
concentrated over just one year (approximately) and thus is more worth inquiring!
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This Aviation Career Guidebook has been provided to British Columbia educators by Canadian Flight Centre at
Boundary Bay Airport, BC. Founded over 30 years ago by a high school teacher who combined his love for teaching
with his passion for flying, CFC has trained thousands of professional pilots from over 30 countries. Our graduates
can be found with many major airlines all over the world.

Contact info: 604.946.7744 • www.cfc.aero • facebook.com/cfc.aero