How to Earn Your Pilot’s License and Make a Living
Any hot air balloon that you ride will have a pilot. Hot air balloon pilots, much like airplane or helicopter pilots, need to be certified to fly their craft in the air. Pilots are passionate about what they do and help keep you safe.
Dreaming of forging your own way among the clouds? Oklahoma is the BEST place to get your hot air balloon pilot’s license. Oklahoma has a variety of terrain, wind speeds, and the weather changes year round. Once you learn to fly a hot air balloon in Oklahoma, you can pretty much fly anywhere.
Requirements for Hot Air Balloon Pilots
How do you become a hot air balloon pilot? You develop a passion for flying. You spend hours training on the ground and in the sky. It requires patience and skill, but the reward is so great!
Let’s break it down for you:
- The best time to train is in the off season.
- The off season/winter means there are less festivals and recreational rides.
- You need to be at least 14 years old.
- You can start young! Once you’ve turned 14, you can begin training.
- Apply for and receive a student certificate.
- This makes it official that you can start training to be a hot air balloon pilot.
- You start on the ground.
- Begin training with a self-paced class that should take you about 1-2 weeks.
- Earn 12-20 hours of flying with an instructor.
- You’ll first fly with a pilot before venturing out on your own.
- Pass the written and oral exam.
- Once you’ve mastered flying, you’ll be asked to prove it in both written and oral exams.
- Fly on your own.
- Before you’re certified to take anyone on a ride, you’ll practice your skills alone.
As pilot training experts ourselves, we know the ins and outs of becoming a pilot. There are a good number of steps, and it’s beneficial to have experts by your side helping you navigate the process.
Flying with Visionary Balloonworx
Serious about earning your ballooning license? Enroll in OUR hot air balloon pilot training program.
We go above and beyond with our student pilots.
As a balloon pilot, you are putting the lives of others in your hands, but also giving them one of the coolest experiences. We require our students to complete more training hours than the national requirement.
We ensure you have experience with a variety of techniques and weather. We conquer high-wind landings. We fly over construction sites. You’ll see countrysides and cityscapes. From sunrise to sunset, you’ll see it all in Oklahoma! After leaving our pilot training program, you’ll be able to conquer skies across the nation.
We can’t wait to sail the skies with you!
Questions? We’d be happy to answer them! Just give us a call or shoot us an email.
