The Hangar

Most of the time pilots eat between flights. But often they bring food with them to eat during the cruise portion of the flight (when not taking off or landing).

How much food to bring depends on the size of the aircraft and how long a day it might be. Two and four-seat aircraft a bag lunch is best. In larger planes like airliners, you can bring a small cooler.When eating it’s usually picnic style, which means balancing food on your lap.

Because an aircraft is constantly moving and sometimes there is turbulence, the best foods are finger foods, like fruits, vegetables, sandwiches, etc. Soups or other foods with lots of liquid can be challenging but it’s not against the rules!

Pilots usually learn how to fly in light aircraft. Light aircraft are usually two and four-seat planes that are powered by an engine that turns a propellor. Some pilots move on to more and more sophisticated planes including large airliners.

Because it’s too expensive to use large planes to train pilots they use what are called full-motion simulators that can sometimes seem like a ride at the carnival. These simulators come in all sizes and now simulators are used more and more by light aircraft students. However, most beginning training is still done in an actual airplane.