Pilot License facts
While investigating facts about Pilot License Cost and Pilot License Requirements, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Dexter Holland from The Offspring graduated high school as valedictorian, has a PhD in Molecular Biology from USC, has his pilot license and flew solo around the world in 10 days, runs marathons, and has his own hot sauce company.
how to get a pilot license?
Morgan Freeman turned down a drama scholarship because he dreamed of being an Air Force fighter pilot. He spent four years as a tracking radar repairman. At age 65, he finally earned his private pilot license.
What pilot's license?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what can you do with a private pilot license. Here are 50 of the best facts about Pilot License Types and Pilot License Lookup I managed to collect.
what pilot license do i need?
-
The first African American to hold an international pilot license was Bessie Coleman, a woman who had to learn to fly in France when no one would agree to train her in the US because of her gender and race. She was licensed two years before Amelia Earhart was.
-
Morgan Freeman turned down a drama scholarship because he dreamed of being an Air Force fighter pilot. He spent four years as a tracking radar repairman. At age 65, he finally earned his private pilot license.
-
In 2009 two Northwest Airlines pilots lost their licenses when they overshot their planned destination by 150 miles, only realizing their mistake when a flight attendant asked about landing. The pilots were both on their personal laptops and ignored inquiries from flight control for 90 minutes.
-
James Stewart is the highest-ranking actor in military history (Brigadier General). He was World War II and Vietnam War Veteran and Licensed Commercial Pilot. In 1996, he was due to have the battery in his pacemaker changed, but opted not to, preferring to let things happen naturally.
-
Martine Rothblatt, a lawyer and Ph.D in medical ethics who founded Sirius XM satellite radio, worked on the Human Genome Project, designed an electric helicopter for organ delivery, is a licensed pilot, and is transgender.
-
Pope Benedict XVI enjoyed flying helicopters, had a helicopter's pilot's license, but he did not have a driver's license.
-
BB King was a licensed pilot and flew to his own gigs up until age 70.
-
There are over 100 US airplane pilots over 90-years-old who have valid, medically-cleared licenses.
-
About Bessie Coleman - the first African American woman to obtain a pilot's license in 1921.
-
The first female granted a pilot's license by the NAA Amelia Earhart, also the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, was from Atchison, Kansas.
Pilot License data charts
For your convenience take a look at Pilot License figures with stats and charts presented as graphic.
Why get a pilot's license?
You can easily fact check why get a drone pilot license by examining the linked well-known sources.
Jessica Cox is the world's first licensed armless pilot, and in 2011 she nabbed the Guinness World Record for the "First Armless Person in the World Ever to Have Obtained a Pilot's License."
In 1930, Ellen Church (a licensed pilot herself) persuaded airlines to change their minds about hiring females by challenging them: "Don’t you think that it would be good psychology to have women up in the air? How is a man going to say he is afraid to fly when a woman is working on the plane?". - source
The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, was a nuclear policy analyst for the Ford and Carter White House administrations and has her pilot's license. - source
The only civilian pilot in the U.S. licensed to perform aerobatics in a helicopter. Chuck Aaron, taught himself to perform dangerous inverted helicopter flying maneuvers; once thought impossible.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh wasn't just married to a famous aviator, she was also the first American woman to obtain a Glider Pilots license. She flew with her husband throughout the 1930s, charting air routes between continents and making the first air trip between Africa and South America. - source
When can you get your pilot's license?
An African-American lawyer and publisher of the Chicago Defender, Robert S. Abbott, supported Bessie Coleman's desire to become a pilot and encouraged her to go to Europe to study for her pilot's license.
How much does it cost to get a pilot's license?
Bessie Coleman was the first female pilot of African American descent and was also the first woman of Native American descent to hold a pilot license. She is also the first person of African American and Native American descent to hold an international pilot license.
Bill Burr is a licensed helicopter pilot
Patrick Swayze's late wife, Lisa Niemi, was a licensed pilot and flew him to cancer treatment centers prior to his death.
Bessie Coleman learned to fly in a Neuport 82 biplane. She earned her aviation pilot's license on June 15th, 1921, making her the first female of African-American/Native American ancestry to earn her pilot's license. She was also the first female of African-American/Native American ancestry to earn the international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has a pilots license and often flies his own VIP transport. To keep his license current, he sometimes flies for scheduled KLM flights.