Pilot training

[Dokhu]

Hello everyone.

Could you tell me how many flight hours a pilot needs to become a captain and if it is possible for a pilot to fly a real aircraft after receiving training only in high level simulators?

Thanks in advance.

[Zortan]

It depends on the airline. If you are flying for SkyWest (a US regional carrier), for example, it'll probably take you between 2-4 years to upgrade to captain from first officer depending on how much you work.

You cannot get a pilot license (at least in the US or Canada) without flying an actual plane. Simulators may be good, but flying is always better. In Canada, I believe you need 35 hours of time with an instructor in a plane plus maybe an additional 70 or something solo in a plane.

[Anzatax]

Simulators nowadays are powerful, but nothing beats the real thing . You've got to really feel a plane in the air to know what it is like.

[WhiteFright]

In the U.S., it's 1500 hours to get hired at an airline, though there are exceptions to make that number lower (about 1,100 hours iirc) if you go through a university program to earn your ATP cert. However, you'd most likely be hired as a first officer at a regional airline first, move to captain at that airline, get hired as a first officer to a mainline airline, and then become captain at that carrier.

[Unknown98]

I think the only way you'd fly a real aircraft without any formal training is to buy one of those flight experience packages that allow you to fly a Cessna or other light aircraft