To the sky... and beyond!

I've dreamed of being a pilot since I was a child. The 'blame' for this lies with some of the movies and TV series from the 80s and 90s that I watched at home. That, and the fact that my parents loved to travel, and I, being the child I still carry inside me, was blown away by takeoffs and landings. My favorite moment has always been, and always will be, the instant the plane reaches takeoff speed (generally referred to as V₁, which is actually the speed beyond which it's no longer advisable to abort the takeoff). The pilot executes the rotation procedure (the moment they pull the controls (or joystick) back to lift the aircraft's nose, thereby increasing the angle of attack and initiating the climb), and a few seconds later, you feel as though gravity wants to pull you back down, but the thrust generated by the engines keeps you suspended in the air, and you feel yourself lifting off the ground.

In practical terms, what happens is that you experience an acceleration of approximately ±0.2/0.3G, meaning that at the moment of maximum thrust, you're surpassing the acceleration of gravity on our planet (defined as 1G¹) by almost 30% (reaching up to 1.3G). Pretty cool, right? ;)

I'm truly fascinated by both airplanes and helicopters. There are certain differences between them in terms of design (airplanes are fixed-wing aircraft, while helicopters are rotary-wing aircraft) or propulsion (airplanes like the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 use jet engines, while helicopters may have turboshaft engines like the Airbus H135, or piston engines like the Cabri G2) but, in general, they're two truly amazing types of machines.

If it were up to me and I had a blank check² (or sufficient funds), I'd get flight licenses for both types of aircraft. But I have to acknowledge that time isn't entirely on my side, so, personally, and since I'm considering a career change, I'm going to focus my efforts on becoming an airline pilot.

It's quite a challenge and, regardless of how I achieve the ATPL license (which can be pursued either as an integrated course or modularly, though in the latter case, you first need to obtain the PPL (Private Pilot License) and then the CPL (Commercial Pilot License) before you can obtain the ATPL), I can tell you it's³ like going back to high school for the theoretical part: math, physics, and a whole lot of memorization of concepts, procedures, and terms.

In the practical part I'll get to experience both real and simulated flights, putting into practice what I learned in the theoretical part during the different phases of flight: taxiing, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, and landing. This includes communication, maneuvers, and managing different scenarios during the flight.

After the licenses (and following the path I intend to take), there's the MCC (Multi-Crew Cooperation module) or APS MCC (similar to MCC but tailored to airline pilot standards), the IR (instrument rating), the ME (multi-engine certification), and some additional ratings (like the type rating for the specific aircraft you'll fly, such as the Boeing 737, Airbus A350, or ATR 72).

So, I'm facing a considerable challenge, and whether I succeed or not will depend on several factors (some of which are beyond my control) but, regardless of the path I've chosen and the results I achieve, I want to share this journey with you. A journey filled with concepts, diagrams, laws, calculations, procedures, and other things that make for an exciting adventure :)

So, buckle up and get ready because... we're taking off!