A road dreamt by many and taken by penny
Many of us must have dreamt of being a Pilot in our childhood or adolescent years. As the age progresses to twenties, brain takes centre stage to pursue something that promises more money. And when money really comes, first thing it does, is to replace aspirations. Materialistic goals like car, house, brands, and endless upgrade to them keep stretching. One day when you get time to think, it’s too late to live your dreams.
Pursuing your passion for flying as hobby is possible in Indian scenario. It may not be as convenient as western countries. However, it is possible if one takes right path and shows bit of determination. Indian Flight schools showcase Private Pilot License (PPL) as one of their offerings. However, the facts are not impressive when we look for real numbers of people completing their license from these schools. Also, post license, how many of the PPL holders keep flying? I will take the topic of flying after PPL as separate blog.
When I finally decided to pursue my childhood dream and a continued pass time read, I was 35 years old. Few past attempts of gathering information on PPL and even taking admissions didn’t materialized due to some or the other factors. Nevertheless, when I decided to sail the journey of PPL, the journey was much different than it has been portrayed in pre-admission discussions. I joined flight school with most of the document formalities completed and passing majority of exams.
With adequate support from flight instructors, my first flight took few days to happen. Consecutive training flights happened with hiccups, and I remained clueless for few weeks on why there is so much delay and slow learning on my side as well. Flying an airplane is a psychometric process and needs to be dealt in same manner. I got released solo by Chief Flying Instructor I and completed my training for the license. It was no surprise that I was the first one to complete PPL from my flight school. Many enrolled, paid and never completed. The key to accomplish it is - Passion, Patience and Perseverance.
The journey just started for real, that was just a dream for decades. When you study to gather knowledge, passing exams is just a by-product. On the same principle, qualifying CPL exams too, was not difficult. Flying is now part of life and living your dream is something priceless and unexplainable. Life can be short or long, I don’t know, all I know is today in my hands and past is just a memory. Making a great memory is today’s act.
PPL is best way to initiate a legitimate journey of following up your passion for flying. Glider or microlight are also a possibility to pursue flying. However, the same has limited venues for training as well as for flying. Further, PPL is a higher license and gives more flexibility to add aircraft and other machines to it.
In Indian context, my experience is people desire to learn to fly. Although, desire rarely turn in to determination. I agree that pursuing PPL in India is not a cake walk in present infrastructure, but it can possibly be done and the experience of solo flying an airplane is beyond imagination. Journey of flying starts, when you choose to initiate your formal training. A right mentor is required to help you reduce hassles one may face for training. India has scenic and awesome terrain to fly and live your dream. There are unexplored routes that can best enjoyed by small aircraft only. Don’t get demotivated by hiccups, Live your dream and you will fall in Love for Lifetime with flying.
OFLY objective is to disseminate fair and genuine information regarding Aviation. We do not represent any specific flight school. Author of this blog is an Indian Private Pilot and keen observer of Indian aviation market. He flies with multiple flying training schools of India. For consultation on Learn to Fly as hobby or profession. Book your appointment here or write to us info@jagaviation.in