Where do they study to become civilian pilots? Flight schools of Russia. Higher military aviation schools for pilots and navigators. Personal qualities and skills of future pilots

What profession is it - a pilot, where can you get a document certifying that you belong to it, what you should know before making a choice. What is needed to lift a plane into the sky? ? Is a certain amount of knowledge that is obtained in flight training schools or universities sufficient? These and many other questions are of interest to the young male generation.

To the great regret of applicants and airlines, everything is not so simple. Moreover, the situation in the profession is extremely confusing - on the one hand, there is a shortage of pilots, on the other hand, graduates are not hired. But, everything is in order.

Selection criteria.

Educational institutions of this type mainly exist on the basis of budget places, but not everyone who wants to get into them will get into them. The reason is to undergo a medical examination; any deviation from the norm may be a reason for refusal.

The future pilot must have a healthy heart, blood vessels, lungs, normal blood pressure, and the vestibular system without disorders. During the educational process, students, or rather, cadets, will repeatedly undergo a commission; in case of any health problem, you can part with the profession.

Pilots undergo a medical examination not only during training, but throughout their entire working life, they undergo it carefully, looking ahead with bias. Probably for this reason, in our time, much fewer representatives of this profession are graduating than literally a couple of decades ago, this leads to the fact that, for example, over a five-year period of time, twice as many pilots retire compared to those entering the service.

What are pilots taught?

The life of a flight student is very interesting and eventful. To begin with, he gets acquainted with the design of various types of aircraft. He studies the methods and possibilities of operating and controlling a vessel, in professional language this is called navigation, the scope of which includes the theory and practice of methods for controlling an aircraft, as well as routing - orienting it in the optimally chosen spatial path.

They study the design of aircraft and their engines, meteorology, and aerodynamics. They learn to provide first aid, jump with a parachute, and master lifeguard skills. And every pilot must know English to work on international flights.

Practice usually takes place in educational and training complexes on special simulators.

What awaits graduates?

But, despite the shortage of specialists in this profession, not every company opens its doors to young graduates, or rather, they won’t open it at all. After graduating from an educational institution where cadets acquire a small number of hours spent at the controls, they should begin to improve their qualifications: increase their flight hours and obtain a flight license. The more hours a graduate flies, the more favorable he will appear to his future employer.

And this is where the graduate pilot faces a big problem. Even in the last century, all this was very easy and simple, but the training organizations that issued the license and helped to fly hours were closed or transferred to private management. Because all this is incredibly expensive - fuel, equipment, repairs and simple maintenance.

How to become a pilot without an educational institution.

As mentioned above, there are flying clubs that provide piloting courses and flight hours, mostly commercial, where a graded training system operates.

The first stage - upon completion, you are given a certificate as an amateur pilot, with which you can fly, but you will not be able to get a job, so to speak - you are your own pilot.

The second stage is a commercial pilot. Prior to obtaining a certificate of this level, students are allowed only if they have a certificate from the previous level. A pilot already has the right to work, fly light aircraft, and go on commercial flights on aircraft that have only one engine. Such commercial pilots are usually hired by small airlines to fly short distances.

The third stage is line pilots. A certificate of this category also cannot be obtained without the first two or a pilot’s diploma from any educational institution. A line pilot has ten times more flight hours than a university graduate and the right to fly all aircraft; these are the kind of pilots that airline employers are looking for. And they are not just looking, but literally, tracking and waiting.

To help future applicants, a list of the main higher and secondary educational institutions has been compiled.

Even if you are a person who has completed training in your specialty a long time ago, but really wants to become a pilot, nothing is lost. The main thing is to decide: do you want to just learn how to fly an aircraft or become a full-fledged pilot of a passenger or cargo aircraft. Let's look at the stages of both options and choose the best path for pilot development.

How to become a pilot - private pilot schools

Ideal for those people who do not want to work in their specialty, but only want to learn how to fly an airplane. Such programs are designed for people of all ages, they last from a month to a year, at your discretion. Of course, the cost of such a school will not be small and the price of a practical flight course can fluctuate around twelve thousand rubles per hour of training.

After graduating from such a school, you will be a full-fledged amateur pilot, but you will not be able to get a job as a commercial pilot, since you will not receive a flight certificate. However, if you set such a goal and find a place where you can fly the required hours, then anything is possible. There may be people who will take you on as their private pilot, then you will definitely be able to meet the established hours.

How to become a pilot - flight academies

With academies, everything is much more complicated; people who want to become qualified commercial pilots and fly cargo and passenger airliners go there.

Before admission, you will have to pass many exams, not only physics and other school subjects. The exam course also includes a very tough physical education test. The exam includes several standards, such as running, jumping, and endurance. After this, medical parameters are checked. You will also have to monitor your health during training, since medical commissions are a frequent test for a pilot. Even before getting a job, each time you will go through a very wide range of doctors. After passing, another specialist awaits you - a psychologist. This is an important stage of the exam, since the pilot is responsible for the lives of many people, sometimes several hundred. The mental health of such a person should be at its best. In a critical situation in the sky, the pilot must react quickly and coolly.

If you are admitted to a flight academy, you will have five years of study ahead of you. Upon completion of training, you will receive an appropriate certificate, but no one will let you fly right away. The fact is that to obtain a pilot's passport you need to fly a certain number of hours, and most students have too few of them. In the first stages, try to get a job as a co-pilot in a small company that will allow you to fly the missing time.

Working as a pilot

Get ready for the fact that for each type of piloting you will have to obtain more and more new certificates; at the moment there are the following types:

• private pilot certificate (until 2009, in regulatory documents - amateur pilot certificate);
• commercial pilot certificate;
• multi-crew pilot certificate;
• line pilot certificate;
• glider pilot certificate;
• free balloon pilot certificate;
• ultralight pilot certificate.

Each of them involves passing certain exams and requirements for your experience and qualifications.

In addition to the burden of responsibility and exams, it is worth remembering that pilots have a good salary and a large benefits package. A pilot can retire once he has accumulated about 6,000 hours of flight time and can serve as a captain until he is 60 years old.

A pilot is a professional who controls an aircraft. Such a person is entrusted with an enormous responsibility: delivering the cargo safe and sound, preserving the vehicle and the lives of passengers and crew. Let's find out how to become a civil aviation pilot and what qualities a candidate should have.

The pilot profession has many advantages: it is well paid, is in high demand, but it is difficult to perform and requires serious training. Pilots control the operation of complex devices and are able to interact with colleagues flying other aircraft. If the pilot gets confused or makes a mistake in some small detail, this can lead to irreversible consequences.

The main crew members are the chief pilot and the co-pilot, who partially performs the duties of the first. The co-pilot is required to replace the chief pilot when necessary. In addition, the assistant must know the structure of the aircraft and, together with the chief pilot, study the route before the flight.

Requirements for future pilots

Most often, places in universities are not budgetary, that is, they are paid. Despite this, getting there is not at all as easy as it seems. To pass the medical examination well, the following conditions are important:

• No heart disease;
• Absence of diseases and abnormalities of the lungs;
• No problems with blood vessels;
• Absence of hypotension and hypertension;
• Normal vestibular apparatus;
• Perfect vision (unit);

A medical examination is carried out at each course and if health indicators drop, the student may be expelled. A medical examination is also organized after completion of training, before each flight on an aircraft.

Since the pilot is responsible not only for his own, but also for hundreds of other people’s lives, he must maintain his health at the maximum level, and constantly.

Civil aviation pilot training

Future pilots understand that their training will begin not with flying an airplane, but with studying the “inner world” of the airplane—the structure of the aircraft. For complete study, courses are conducted:

• going through the methods of using air transport;
• theoretical and practical control of aircraft;
• reading maps and routes;
• meteorology;
• aerodynamics;
• engine mechanism;
• skydiving training;
• learning first aid and basic medical skills;
• learning a foreign language for foreign flights.

Additionally, in practice, students practice on simulators that simulate real flights.

After training, not all companies accept workers without experience. To be able to work for an airline, you need to accumulate flight hours and then obtain a special pilot license. More often they hire cadets who have practiced flying for at least a couple of years.

There are probably no people who would have their own plane and runway. But this is exactly what is needed for practice!

For such purposes, there are training organizations that “rent” planes and runways for use. Of course, this is not cheap, because construction and maintenance require large expenses - fuel, repairs and maintenance of aircraft.

How to become a pilot without receiving special education? Not everyone wants to study at a civil aviation academy for six years and then practice on training grounds. This is of interest to those who have received a higher education in a different field and want to become an Aeroflot pilot from scratch, but do not have the opportunity to graduate. Special flying clubs provide a chance for money to undergo training and acquire a license (for example, the Aeroflot aviation school). There are several stages in pilot training:

1. First, the student receives an amateur pilot certificate, with which he can fly (for example, with family and friends), but not work;
2. At the second stage, the title of “commercial pilot” is assigned, which allows you to fly short flights and fly small aircraft with a single engine;
3. After completing the third stage, they are awarded the title of line pilot, who has the right to fly any aircraft.

Specialists trained in this way practice two to three times more than students, and therefore are more likely to be hired immediately after training.

Students study for varying amounts of time depending on the price and level of training, as well as the prestige of the educational institution. Recently, training periods have been reduced almost threefold and the goal is to teach the pilot the most important things, ignoring the unimportant. Therefore, today's pilots are becoming operators rather than civil aviation pilots.

Cost of training and salary for a civil aviation pilot in Russia

Typically, training in flying clubs usually costs about 20-30 thousand dollars, sometimes a loan is provided for training, but in this case, most often you will have to work it off at the airline. Some companies offer accelerated courses and training, but it costs even more: 80-100 thousand.

There are also options with a down payment, after which a loan is provided for the balance. Considering how much a civil aviation pilot earns in Russia (from 200 thousand rubles), you can close the loan quickly.

The best Russian universities

Krasnoyarsk branch of St. Petersburg State University

The university was founded in 2009 on the basis of the Krasnoyarsk Technical College of Civil Aviation. Students here receive secondary specialized education in two specialties. The university offers four faculties: air traffic control, radio engineering, aircraft flight operation and air transport management.

Studying takes place both on a budget and under a contract. Students practice on special simulators that resemble air transport.

Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI)

Built in 1930, popular with “techies”. Specialists are trained on special equipment - airplanes, helicopters, missiles, avionics and radar. Future pilots practice at the airfield of the Institute of Civil Aviation (the only one among other educational institutions).

The Civil Aviation Flight School in Moscow has a low passing score (relative to other educational institutions), and there are a sufficient number of budget places.

Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation School of Civil Aviation

It was built a little earlier than the Buguruslan School, in 1935. The educational institution trains bachelors with a degree in co-pilot and specialists in aircraft operation and flight management. There is a training complex.

St. Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation

Founded in 1955 and since then it has graduated 50 thousand pilots and other specialists. Students receive the qualification "pilot engineer". The program takes a deep dive into navigation and new ways to fly an airplane. The university also provides special simulators for navigators and air traffic controllers.

So, how to become an airplane pilot? This profession is complex and requires composure and responsibility, so only a mentally and physically healthy person can drive such a vehicle - you cannot become a pilot if you have health problems.

If a child from childhood dreams of becoming a civil aviation pilot in the future, then he must harden himself, develop his strength and endurance, study well, and then the dream will become a reality!

Boris Tylevich

How to become a pilot after 30 years

One day I told my girlfriend, my future wife, that I had a dream to one day learn to fly. I was 30 years old, I wouldn’t be upset if it didn’t work out because it seemed unrealistic to me. For my birthday, she gave me a flight - “rides” in the Moscow region on a Yak-18T. This is a legendary Soviet flight training aircraft with a powerful engine.

They let me steer in the air - and that’s it, I was hooked. The instructor said that if you like it, you can learn to fly from them. Since then, every weekend I went to the airfield: studied, flew, communicated with experienced comrades. So I trained to be an amateur pilot - I passed tests and test flights, and received a license. After that, I began to spend even more time at airfields, flying with friends around the Moscow region and the country.

Gradually, I noticed that I was sitting in the office (at that time I was still working at Slando) and thinking only about flights the next weekend. Then we learned that the project was being closed - the work no longer aroused enthusiasm. This coincided with a loss of interest in Internet projects. But I read a lot and with enthusiasm about aerodynamics, meteorology, and aviation. It turned out that this is very close to my education - this is where real physics is.

I decided to change my profession because: I was tired of everything at my job, after the closure of the project we were paid bonuses, and I also found out that there are several pilots who completed their studies in the USA at about my age, and they were hired by Transaero. I decided to become a professional pilot. Then it seemed that now I would live a little frugally, on savings, and then I would get a job at Transaero, and everything would be fine. It all turned out completely wrong, but I haven’t regretted a single day.

I studied to become a commercial pilot with instrument ratings on single-engine and multi-engine aircraft in the USA. I found the school through a recommendation on Russian forums.

The USA has good infrastructure: hundreds of thousands of aircraft, tens of thousands of airfields, the rules are logical and understandable. It is cheaper to study there than in Europe. Europe is more regulated, the theoretical requirements are much higher. For a novice commercial pilot, they are, in my opinion, overpriced. Roughly speaking, in the USA you need to pass one exam out of 1.5 thousand questions, and in Europe there are 14 exams, where there are a thousand questions in each subject. In Europe, in terms of theoretical training, a beginner is immediately required to be a line pilot, and this is the next level after a commercial one. In my opinion, the training system in the USA is the most convenient and logical.

To become a pilot, you not only need to learn how to fly, but also learn many things. In the USA they just give you a book - go study, if you have questions, ask. That is, no one invests any knowledge in you. But you can study in a convenient way: for some, 4 months is enough, while others need a year to obtain a commercial pilot’s license with the necessary permits. Patriots of the Soviet school will say that this is not serious. Probably the truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle.

My “classmates” in the USA were former IT specialists, lawyers, flight attendants, managers - people of completely different specialties and ages. We all trained to be commercial pilots to later work in aviation.

It was not possible to get into Transaero after studying. The company closed, the market shrank: there was little work, a lot of competition. For another year I continued to live mainly on savings.

To strengthen my skills, I looked for opportunities to fly for free. I attended instructor courses and worked for pennies just to fly. This allowed me to gain experience in flight hours (“flying hours”) and establish myself in the community, where I made many good friends, including students.

There was a time when I almost despaired: the crisis was not ending, there was no aviation work, I began to discuss with old colleagues in the Internet industry the possibility of freelancing or part-time work, and worked remotely for a couple of months.

And then, thanks to the recommendation of my boss at the flying club, I became a small jet pilot in business aviation. My partner is 55 years old - he has 30 years of experience and 15 thousand flight hours on various equipment. In aviation, it often happens that an experienced and less experienced pilot work together.

A year later, our plane was sold and a little more was taken. I was sent for training, and now I fly on a medium jet. You always want to master a bigger plane. Three years ago I was able to fly a twin-engine propeller plane weighing 4 thousand kilograms. Two years ago I learned to fly a 6 thousand kilogram jet. Last winter I learned on the 13-ton. I have room to grow.

About flight safety

Aviation is the safest mode of transport, and I know of no other industry where accidents and their causes are investigated in such a way, and information about them is disseminated throughout the entire aviation industry. Manufacturers, airlines and pilots - the whole world is learning from one case. In general, one mistake does not lead to disaster. Disaster happens when errors accumulate. Prevention of errors begins not with the night before the flight, but with training, with annual advanced training, with the airline management, which is sensitive to the maintenance of the aircraft.

However, sometimes attempts to prevent disasters lead to excessive regulation of the industry, which may even have a negative impact on flight safety and deprives those who decided to do so in adulthood from the opportunity to enter aviation. This is exactly how the situation developed in Russia.

Let me explain. There is a standard path to aviation - to study for three years at school at the expense of the state. But not everyone, especially as adults, is ready to live in barracks for three years. Such candidates are highly motivated. They, like me, trained at their own expense to become commercial pilots at independent training centers in Russia or the USA. Many, like me, received a second higher education at the University of Civil Aviation.

But a couple of years ago, the Federal Air Transport Agency began to believe that such pilots were not real and began to deprive them of their licenses, instead of carefully studying their experience when in doubt. And many people have very good experience. Let’s say, just last year I single-handedly transported five training aircraft from the USA to Russia, by the way, for Russian schools. But for the Federal Air Transport Agency I am an under-pilot, since I did not graduate from college, and it does not matter what real experience and knowledge I have. This is sad.

However, I am confident that those who want to fly will still be able to do so. I advise all readers to come to the flying club for an introductory flight. Starting to fly is much easier than it seems.

The profession of a pilot attracts and interests many. After all, there is a certain romance in these takeoffs and landings, in command of an aircraft, in the sky and clouds. And besides, pilots earn very well. According to statistics, their profession is in first place in the TOP of the highest paid jobs. Naturally, many people have a question: how to become a civil aviation pilot.

As experts note, in any case, you can become a pilot only if you have a flight certificate in hand. Without him, no one will be allowed at the helm. Today, there are three types of such access rights to the sky:

• Private pilot
• Commercial pilot
• Linear

Assignment to each of the categories occurs gradually and necessarily one after another. You cannot jump over several steps at once. In addition, pilots are also divided into categories 1, 2 and 3. The first here is the highest. To obtain it, you must first obtain the second and third. Accordingly, you will need to take advanced training courses, etc.

Pilot training today is carried out in:

• Flight schools
• Civil Aviation Academy
• Commercial flying clubs

The first two options imply more serious training, which is why they produce more reliable professionals who later become civil aviation pilots. Commercial clubs mainly train amateur pilots who can fly on small craft only for their own pleasure. Such courses cannot be classified as serious educational programs.

What is required when applying to an educational institution?

Many universities that teach to become pilots have budget places. This means that those who really want it have a chance to enroll. The rest will study on a paid basis, and the price tag for such studies is quite high. But it is important to remember that there is a strict selection process for such educational institutions. For example, even before all entrance examinations, the applicant will have to undergo a rigorous medical examination and pass the necessary standards. Among the main examinations, the functioning of the following body systems is checked:

• Cardiovascular
• Respiratory
• Vestibular apparatus
• Vision

In addition, a student, and in the future a pilot, should not suffer from changes in blood pressure. The same commission will be held in each year of study. And then, when the student gets a job, similar checks will be carried out before each flight. After all, he is responsible for the lives of hundreds of people, so he cannot afford any deviations.

What programs are studied?

Pilot training, for example, in Russia, is carried out in the following specialties:

• Aircraft capabilities during its operation
• Theoretical and practical lessons on aircraft control
• Working with maps and routing
• Aerodynamics
• Meteorology
• Engine Design Basics
• Conducting parachute jumps
• Providing first aid and acquiring the necessary medical skills
• Increased language level

A prerequisite is a certain number of hours of practicing the acquired knowledge on special simulators and simulators, which fully reflect the real cockpit. The situations for them are very diverse.

What types of aircraft can you train for?

Today in Russia they train to become pilots of various types of civil aircraft - both Russian and foreign. This is due to the fact that the Russian aviation industry has many different foreign aircraft in its arsenal. Special simulators and trainers are used for them. Teachers pay special attention to technical characteristics and features.

Later, pilots have to regularly retrain and increase their professional experience in order to be able to develop with the industry and choose modern aircraft.

How to get a job

The question: how to become a pilot is quite difficult. After all, a graduate, even if he is a holder of honors and a gold medalist in one person, is unlikely to be immediately hired as a full-fledged pilot on a flight. He definitely needs to get some practice. After training, such a graduate will have the title of commercial pilot. In a crew of more than one person, he can only fly as an assistant or co-pilot.

A pilot is hired by an airline according to the following scheme:

1. He must have completed his education and have a flight certificate in hand. This document also has its own category - for civil aviation pilots the categories of commercial pilot or lineman are required
2. Results of the passed medical examination
3. Successful delivery of material, both oral and written
4. The number of flights required - the pilot receives them while flying an aircraft in different conditions (after completing training, the student has only 150 hours; to obtain the category of line pilot, 4,000 hours of practical flight time are required)

You can only become a line pilot if you have extensive flying experience, both as a commercial pilot and as a commander. In this case, he has a chance to get a job at a large airline without any problems.

Choosing to become a pilot is a worthy choice. After all, pilots help people quickly get to their desired destination. At the same time, the work is so nervous and difficult - after all, the pilot has a huge number of human lives behind him, and he has no right to make a mistake. If he does them, there may be a result. And this is all constant nervous tension. Plus, pilots are affected by pressure changes, which also negatively affects their health. And all these factors should be taken into account before deciding to become a civil aviation pilot.