Close up of an airplane pilot equipment epaluetes with doctor’s stethoscope, forms, medical and pilot certificate. Conceptual image of medical exam.
INTRODUCTION
The first step towards becoming a pilot is your medical. Unless you don’t clear your medical, there isn’t any point in taking any steps further. So first comes your class 2 medical and then class 1. The Class-1 Renewal medical is usually done within one day. The Class-1 Initial Medical may take up to 3 days and class 2 might take upto 2-3 days as well. In this section we will be reading about the tests taken during your class 1 medical initial and renewal and also its validity.
So you have decided a life of adventure and fun. You have decided to become a helicopter pilot. But, let it be in case of airplanes or helicopters, becoming a pilot is expensive. As I keep saying, research extremely well before you jump in, as every wrong step can prove very expensive. So let’s have a look at the requirements and detailed flying syllabus to become a helicopter pilot.
So you have pinpointed a flying school and the reviews on google are great. Their website seems legitimate and the schools initial interaction with you is good as well. But still there are a few questions you need to ask the flying school before you pay the initial fee and join. Let’s look at a few of them.
In India, being a flight instructor is not a very common profession, but abroad, this is how many pilots start their careers. In India, this profession is generally practiced by majority of the airforce, army and naval veterans, but I’m here to tell you, that anyone can make it. Though you will have to spend some more money to get this done, but if you like teaching and flying, this might be your dream profession.
Any student who is going abroad for flying training, knows that he or she needs 200 hours of flying training to get a Commercial pilot license. But where they get stuck is when they don’t have an idea of how to fly these 200 hours and make the most out of it. How many PIC, Dual, Cross country hours is needed is always a doubt. The diagram below taken from the dgca website gives a good idea about the documents and the hours needed while doing your CPL but I still think there’s a need to elaborate further.Let’s have a look after you glance through the diagram below.
Seaplanes are widely used around the world, but in India, it hasn’t been able to see much light. However, the government of India is planning to bring seaplanes to the spotlight. A few years back I read the news, “Modi govt plans over 100 routes for seaplane services: Civil aviation and waterways ministries have signed MoU to develop seaplane services. At least 28 routes awarded so far under UDAN scheme & bids are under evaluation for 78 more.”
When you think of flying, you often imagine a pilot sitting in a cockpit transfixed onto multiple instruments. In most cases this is true, but it’s not always the case. When it comes to flying there are two major rules. Your whole career as a pilot will revolve around these rules.
Let me take you through a normal sortie in case of a helicopter pilot flying in India. I’m talking about the flight I did this morning. The route is between Cochin International Airport(VOCI) to Kavaratti via Androth . Let me tell you, Kavaratti and Androth are two islands of Lakshwadweep which is off the south western coast of India. To be more precise,Kavaratti is on a radial of 278 degrees and distance of 225 nm from VOCI and Androth is on a radial of 286 degrees and distance of 165 nm from VOCI. So now you know the route and where we are going. Departure time this morning was 1100. So hop on and enjoy the flight.
When we talk about performance, in simple terms it is how efficiently you can carry out an activity. But when it comes to the performance of an aircraft, it is related to its engines. Now I’ll not go into the depth of functioning of engines, but lets understand in brief. The engines suck in air, which is mixed with fuel. The fuel air mixture is compressed and combusted. Basically a mini explosion of this mixture takes place inside the engine, and the exhaust that comes out acts as the thrust, because of which the aircraft moves forward.
So what do we understand from this, air and fuel are two necessary elements that are necessary for performance. Fuel is in the control of the pilot, but air is in the control of nature. Now lets revise the concept of density. Density is mass per unit volume. It is essentially how tightly matter is packed together. But with respect to the engine, what are we really interested in, it’s the density of air. Let’s look at the factors affecting density of air and in turn the performance of the aircraft.
If you have started your flying training, you might have already heard this acronym. But for those of you who are about to start or planning to start, this acronym is something that you should religiously follow before any flight. The acronym is none other than IMSAFE. As clear as it sounds, it basically means if you are safe to fly for that day or even that flight. Let’s now understand this acronym.
