How to Become a Pilot in Europe/UK

There are 100s of flight training organizations listed so it is reasonable to believe that if you live in the UK there is a school or a club close to you. The first step is to contact one of them to schedule a trial lesson. This is normally a ground introduction followed by a 30 minute flight. Depending on where you are, an introduction flight like this range from £50-100 and should leave you with most of your questions answered.

The first step is to get class II medicals.

Get private pilot license (PPL)

You have to be at least 17 years of age to obtain the PPL but you can start training before then. There is no upper age restriction but you do have to be able to pass a class 2 medical examination. You will need to have at least 45 hours, however most students finish in about 60 hours.

You also have to study for 7 written exams ranging from air law, to navigation, to human performance and limitations. This is mostly done as self study and the exams are multiple choice questions with four alternatives - one being the right answer.


ATPL

After PPL, you need to do the ground school learning course and the course takes approximately 8 months to a year to complete.

The ATPL written exams are multiple choice questions with four alternatives, one being the correct answer. Once you have passed all 14 exams you will have the general knowledge level required to be a professional pilot. The next step is to get the commercial pilot license (CPL), and here is how you do it.

After you have passed all of your ATPL written exams, the next step is the commercial pilot license.

CPL

TO get a CPL you need to have 200 hours of flying.

After CPL, get your instrument rating done if you want to fly in an airline.



Training for a PPL in the UK will cost you about £3000-3500.