How To Become A Fighter Pilot (2023)

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As a kid, many of us dreamed of becoming a pilot or a fighter pilot, but lucky are those who are still pursuing their dream and working towards becoming a fighter pilot. If you are one of those people, then you may want to prepare yourself and do everything you can to become a fighter pilot.
Being a fighter pilot means you would be flying various aircrafts such as fighter jets, bombers, tankers, transport planes and other unknown aerial vehicles for your country. This requires aviation skills to lead several missions including combat missions or rescue missions.
There is a certain glory in calling yourself a fighter pilot and being in the air force to defend your country against any possible threat. If you are also one of the people who wants to see themselves as a fighter pilot in the near future then this article is for you.
Let’s move forward and find out how you can become a fighter pilot and what are the requirements and conditions.
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How To Become A Fighter Pilot

1. Join the AirForce

The first thing you need to do to become a fighter pilot is to join the Airforce of your country. You have to be a part of the military then you need to go to the AirForce recruiter station and join the services.
The recruiters will see if you can meet the certain requirements and are eligible to become a fighter pilot.

2. Earn a Bachelor’s Degree

The next step to become a fighter pilot is to get a Bachelor’s degree.  You need to get a degree in science related majors like aerospace engineering, computer science or even chemistry. You need to get a degree in order to be eligible to become a fighter pilot.
There would be cutoff marks too, which you need to get otherwise you won’t be eligible for becoming a pilot in the air force.

3. Meet Officer Qualifications

Once you have graduated, you will become the officers and complete this step as part of their programs.
If you have enlisted in the AirForce your age must be between 18 to 28, to pursue the officer training. You have to make sure you appear before the military board before the age of 29 to get commissioned as an officer. You have to complete the training before turning 30. In some cases the age limit extends to 35.
Once commissioned, the candidate must take the AirForce qualifications test. This test would include 12 subjects and the subjects would include:
  • General science
  • Reasoning
  • Arithmetic
  • Instrument comprehension
  • Verbal analogies
  • Maths
Again there would be a passing mark cap that a candidate would have to meet.

4. Attend Officer Training School

Now the next step would be to attend the training school. During the training program, you will go through numerous physical fitness tests and you will have to pass them all. There would be classroom sessions and in field training exercises.
You would be trained in land navigation, first aid, self defense, tactical marching and base defense tactics.

5. Pass Undergraduate Training

Now you will enter the undergraduate training program where you will learn about navigation, formation flying, aerobatics, and how to use instruments in the aircrafts.
Once you have completed this process, you would be assigned to airlift/tanker tank/fighter tack. This would evaluate your ability, and based on the results of these tests you would be assigned further duties and responsibilities at a certain rank or post in AirForce.
Now you can pass the training to become a fighter pilot. After that you would specialize in this field. As you remain in the program, you will master the aviation skills and become a good fighter pilot and receive ranks and valuable experiences.
This would be the last step of becoming a fighter pilot.

AirForce Pilot Minimum Requirements

There are a few requirements that you need to have. These requirements would mean you are physically and psychologically able to perform the pilot task correctly.
  • 18-30 years of age
  • Height between 5 feet 4 inches and 6 feet 5 inches
  • Seated height between 30 and 40 inches tall
  • At least 20/40 vision for both eyes for near vision and 20/200 for distant vision, must be corrected to 20/20
  • May not be colorblind, have had laser eye surgery or have poor depth perception
  • Must have perfect hearing
  • Must withstand several G’s of pressure without passing out or getting sick
  • No history of hay fever, asthma, or allergies after 12
  • Healthy weight
So these are the requirements that you must fulfill to be eligible to become a fighter pilot.
Other than the requirements, there are certain sets of skills that you must have. Let’s take a look at them as well.

Important Skills to Become a Fighter Pilot

These are some of the soft and technical skills that you must have or attain to become a fighter pilot:
  • Control and operation of complex equipment
  • Monitoring the operation of complex equipment
  • Active listening
  • Critical thinking
  • Complex problem solving
  • Reading comprehension
  • Judgement and decision making
  • Time management
  • Coordination
  • System analysis and evaluation
  • Math and reasoning
  • Quality control analysis
Make sure you have these technical and soft skills, or you work hard to master them to become a fighter pilot.

Conclusion:

So that is all you need to know about becoming a fighter pilot. The aforementioned steps may slightly vary from one country to another, but this is an overview and a common procedure that most of the countries follow. Some criteria such as the age, height, education may vary as well, so make sure you look for the criteria to become a fighter pilot and see if it fits you. Be determine and work hard, and you would be able to achieve your goal and become a good  enough fighter pilot in the near future.
That would be all that we have to offer you for now. We hope you liked our article and found it helpful as well. Thank you for visiting our page and keep coming for more such content in the future as well.