Becoming a flight instructor is a great goal to have but can be hard to pursue without guidance. So, whether you’re trying to become a flight instructor full time or are using it as a pit stop for the rest of your career, there are only good things to come by following this path. Here you can learn how to become a flight instructor.

How To Certify

Getting your certification as a flight instructor is no easy task but there are flight instructor classes you can take for assistance. The first step is simple: you must be 18 years old to be eligible for a certificate. The second requirement isn’t much harder as you need to be able to read, write, speak, and understand English, even as a second language. Once you fulfill these two requirements you’ll need to hold a commercial pilot certification or an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate. The commercial pilot certification is a requirement to get an ATP and is the major certificate to aim for. To get a commercial pilot certification requires at least 250 hours of actual flight, and for 100 of those hours you have to be the pilot in command. You’ll also need 50 hours of cross-country flying, 10 hours in a complex aircraft, and another 10 hours of instrument training. Getting these hours and training can be difficult and is best done with the help of flight school. Once you meet all the requirements you can get your license as a flight instructor without delay.

Why Become a Flight Trainer?

There are several benefits to becoming a flight instructor, although the exact reason is up to you. The first reason is to make money for being a pilot. Getting all of those licenses can be time consuming and being a flight instructor can make it worth your time with money. However, there are other reasons to become a flight instructor. The biggest one is to become a pilot for a major commercial airline as they all require at least 1,500 hours of flight time. Becoming a flight instructor will help you get these flight hours quickly while still making money. This isn’t to say that becoming a flight instructor isn’t a good goal to have; the job can make quite a good sum of money ($28,000-$65,000 a year) and teaching is a very respectable job.

Now that you know how to become a flight instructor you can set a plan to accomplish you goal. There are many requirements, and it will take some time, but it’s well worth the investment and can lead to a fulfilling career, especially if you like flying.