Commercial Pilot Jobs in North Dakota
Cities in North Dakota with Aviation Schools:
- Belcourt
- Beulah
- Bismarck
- Bottineau
- Bowman
- Burlington
- Carrington
- Casselton
- Cavalier
- Crosby
- Devils Lake
- Dickinson
- Fargo
- Fort Totten
- Garrison
- Grafton
- Grand Forks
- Grand Forks Air Force Base
- Harvey
- Hazen
- Hettinger
- Hillsboro
- Horace
- Jamestown
- Langdon
- Larimore
- Lincoln
- Lisbon
- Mandan
- Mapleton
- Mayville
- Minot
- Minot Air Force Base
- New Rockford
- New Town
- Oakes
- Park River
- Parshall
- Rolla
- Rugby
- Shell Valley
- Stanley
- Surrey
- Tioga
- Valley City
- Wahpeton
- Washburn
- Watford City
- West Fargo
- Williston
Commercial Pilot Jobs North Dakota

North Dakota Commercial Pilot Salary - How Much Do Commercial Pilots Make?
Commercial Pilot Benefits

Depending on the company you work for, as a commercial pilot you may be eligible to receive health insurance, life insurance, and disability benefits, along with retirement plans and "per diem" pay for longer trips, but these benefits are fairly rare for most commercial pilot jobs.
Seniority Affects Pay
As a new commercial pilot, you can expect to make entry level pay, fly older, less sophisticated aircraft, and fly less desirable routes and schedules. New commercial pilots typically must "pay their dues" in this role in order to accumulate the required hours to apply for better jobs and move up the career ladder into higher paying jobs. Get more information about commercial pilot training.
Pilot Training - What you need to know to fly for a living

Commercial pilots with two years of college or more have an advantage over pilots with only a high school diploma. However, many operations do hire pilots with only a high school education. Pilots who have degrees in aviation-related fields like aeronautics have a better chance of landing a job. If you want to become a commercial pilot, there are two routes to take: military or civilian training. Military training is only a viable option for people with top grades and a four year degree, as competition for military flying slots is fierce, to say the least. The majority of new commercial pilot training occurs at flight schools, flight academies, and colleges with flight training programs.
Where to Find Commercial Pilot Training Near North Dakota
Most schools, academies, and colleges offer pilot training for people with no experience. These programs will have a base price for earning all the required licenses and ratings to become a commercial pilot and begin building your flight hours to find a job. Keep in mind that the quoted price is for people who progress at the "average" rate, so the price can go lower or higher, depending on your personal progress.
Building Commercial Pilot Hours

Since you will need to build flight hours after earning your licenses and ratings, it's important to find a flight school or academy that offers jobs to its graduates. This way, assuming you are professional in your approach to flying and the flight training environment, you are virtually assured of having your first "commercial pilot" job after graduation, and have a chance to build those flight hours and experience you need to move on to your next position. Learn about commercial pilot jobs.
As a commercial pilot, you will be required to take additional training and check rides periodically, depending on the type of operation you work for, and the type of aircraft being flown. Ongoing training is a reality for all commercial pilots.
FAA - A History of Airplane Structures Facts for North Dakota
There are five major stresses to which all aircraft are subjected: Torsion. Torsion is the stress that produces twisting. [Figure 1-14C] While moving the aircraft forward, the engine also tends to twist it to one side, but other aircraft components hold it on course. Thus, torsion is created. The torsion strength of a material is its resistance to twisting or torque.
Aviation Facts - Trim Control Systems for Large Aircraft
Control Systems for Large Aircraft - Mechanical Control
This is the basic type of system that was used to control early aircraft and is currently used in smaller aircraft where aerodynamic forces are not excessive. The controls are mechanical and manually operated. The mechanical system of controlling an aircraft can include cables, push-pull tubes, and torque tubes. The cable system is the most widely used because deflections of the structure to which it is attached do not affect its operation. Some aircraft incorporate control systems that are a combination of all three.
Commercial Pilot Jobs North Dakota
Commercial Pilot License - Which License and Ratings Will You Need?
To become a commercial pilot in North Dakota, you need to be at least 18 years old (although you can earn your private pilot's license at 17, you must be 18 or older to get your commercial pilot license) and get at least a third class FAA medical certificate. The medical certificate ensures that you are in good overall health, have good vision (corrected or uncorrected is okay) and don't have any disabilities which could affect your ability to fly, although the FAA may grant a waiver for individual cases. Learn about commercial pilot jobs.
List of Licenses and Ratings
Commercial pilots typically hold some or all of the following licenses, ratings, and certificates, depending on the operation:
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Medical First Class - Certificate
- Private Pilot - License
- Commercial Pilot - License
- Instrument Pilot - Rating
- Multi-Engine - Rating
- Type Rating - Rating specific to the type of aircraft being flown, if necessary
The Road to a Commercial Pilot License
The first license you earn is private pilot. Next, most people get their instrument rating, and then go on to the commercial pilot license. Some operations don't require an instrument rating. However, possessing the rating is always beneficial both for piloting skills and getting jobs. If you'll be flying multi-engine aircraft (and you probably will), you'll need to earn a multi-engine rating, and, if flying larger aircraft (over 12,500 pounds gross weight) or turbo jet aircraft, you'll also need a type rating for that specific model or family of aircraft. Many companies offer type rating training specifically for this purpose. Get more information on commercial pilot training.
North Dakota Commercial Pilot License Tests
Most, but not all, FAA licenses and ratings require that you pass written, oral, and practical (check ride) tests given by approved testing centers and designated examiners.
Accelerated Flight Training - Condensed training helps pilots retain info, earn more ratings, and get jobs
No matter how you look at it, flight training is a lengthy process. There are many new things to learn and hundreds of flight hours to gain. When it comes down to it, flight training can only be condensed so much before it bumps up against regulations. This presents a bit of a problem to someone looking to start a career in aviation. Training costs money, but it's going to be a while before flying will pay. So what's the best solution? Accelerated training. Accelerated flight training offers some notable benefits including being good for career pilots, quick progression through ratings, and increased job placement opportunities. Great for Career Pilots
Accelerated training is great for career pilots. It allows the student to condense their training into a few weeks or months rather than years. This works by allowing the student to fly multiple lessons per week while also taking consolidated ground school. The nature of the training typically demands the student train like a full-time job--eight hours a day, five days a week. This is great for someone who's looking to get started with a career in the quickest amount of time. It's unfortunately not so great for someone who can't devote more than a few hours per week.
Most accelerated training programs function similarly to military training in that students alternate between flying and classroom instruction before entering a phase of longer flights. Some accelerated programs even dispatch students and aircraft on a series of long flights that are intended to provide a large amount of flight time and allow the student a more varied cross-country experience.
Quick Progression Through Ratings
This type of training is primarily designed to fast track students to ratings. Rather than taking six months to obtain a private pilot certificate or an instrument rating, it can take as little as fourteen days. How can you take something that takes six months and effectively learn it in fourteen days? Attend ground school and flight training eight hours per day. The bottom line on all flight training is the more you do it, the more you retain. Accelerated programs are based on this concept and their success stems from the fact that their students are immersed in flying so much that they can't help but learn.
Job Placement Opportunities
Most of the larger accelerated flight training schools offer job placement to graduates. They have agreements with some airlines and often directly offer employment to some of the graduates. This is a great asset to someone looking to break into the aviation career field. When considering job placement agreements, some schools offer actual job placements while some offer guaranteed interviews. Either is better than nothing no matter how you look at it. It's debatable, but the single biggest employer of many accelerated flight training program graduates is often the schools offering the programs. After all, they need flight instructors to teach their students and someone who's familiar with the program is a great asset.
As you can see, for someone trying to launch into an aviation career, accelerated flight training has a number of benefits. Even people that are just trying to get several ratings at once can benefit from an accelerated program. So if you're looking for a flying career and you have time to devote to training, consider an accelerated program.
Interesting Helicopter and Fixed-wing Facts for Bismarck
Sikorsky soon became a successful aircraft manufacturer in his adopted homeland. But his dream was vertical take-off, rotary wing flight. He experimented for more than twenty years and finally, in 1939, flew his first flight in a craft dubbed the VS 300.
The record for the fastest helicopter in the world is held by the Sikorsky X2 which, during a flyby over Florida, United States, clocked 258mph (416kph). But this was beaten recently. On June 7th 2013, the X3 blew through the previous air speed record for helicopters by cruising at 255 knots (293 MPH) during a 40-minute flight over Southern France near Istres.
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Bismarck
Helicopter Pilot's License:Private pilot certificates allow pilots who are 17 and older to command single-engine aircraft and carry passengers night or day. Eligibility includes 40 flight hours, 20 of them solo. If attending flight school, pilots need 35 on-the-ground training hours, with another 35 in the air, 15 of those hours flown solo.
Interesting Helicopter and Fixed-wing Facts for Dickinson
Igor Sikorsky is considered to be the \father of helicopters not because he invented the first. He is called that because he invented the first successful helicopter
The record for the fastest helicopter in the world is held by the Sikorsky X2 which during a flyby over Florida United States clocked 258mph (416kph). But this was beaten recently. On June 7th 2013 the X3 blew through the previous air speed record for helicopters by cruising at 255 knots (293 MPH) during a 40-minute flight over Southern France near Istres.
Helicopter Facts for Dickinson
In order to fly, an object must have “lift”. Lift is what pushes something upwards. Lift is made by wings (rotors). Wings have a curved shape on top and are flatter on the bottom. This specific shape makes air flow over the top of the wing faster than under the bottom of the wing. The faster air on top of the wing makes suction on the top of the wing and the wing moves up. Airplanes get lift from their wings. A helicopter's rotor blades are spinning wings. A helicopter moves air over its rotor by spinning the blades. The rotor makes the lift that carries the helicopter up. One problem associated with helicopter rotor blades occurs because airflow along the length of each blade differs widely. This means that lift and drag fluctuate for each blade throughout the rotational cycle, thereby exerting an unsteadying influence upon the helicopter. The autogiro had a rotor that functioned something like a windmill. Once set in motion by taxiing on the ground, the rotor could generate supplemental lift; however, the autogiro was powered primarily by a conventional airplane engine.
Fun Facts for Helicopter and Airplane Flight Training for Fargo
Typically, the means of compensating for these unpredictable variations in lift and drag is to manufacture flexible blades connected to the rotor by a hinge. This design allows each blade to shift up or down, adjusting to changes in lift and drag.
The first reference to a rotor system is credited to inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who designed an ‘aerial screw’ in 1480. No full-scale variant was constructed during his lifetime.
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Fargo
Before potential rotary wing aviators begin actual helicopter training, they must complete the U.S. Army Aviation Center Survival Escape Resistance and Evasion, or SERE-C, course, and Helicopter Ditching and Dunker training. The SERE-C course teaches how to survive in extreme circumstances, including how to find water and food and even how to improvise weapons.
Interesting Helicopter and Fixed-wing Facts for Grand Forks
A helicopter is an engine-driven rotorcraft (a type of aircraft) which uses rotating blades for lift, propulsion, thrust and steering. The word 'Helicopter' comes from the French word 'hlicoptre' which is derived from the Greek words 'helix/helik' (which means 'twisted / curved') and 'pteron' (which means 'wing').
The biggest helicopter was the Russian Mil Mi-12 Homer of 1968 which could lift 40,204 kg up to 2255 m.
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Grand Forks
On average, a helicopter ground school program takes 12 to 15 weeks to complete. Although there are schools that offer degree programs, traditional programs concentrate on hands-on training and building the flight hours needed for a license.
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Jamestown
There are over 3 million people in the air on planes at any one time. The worlds first flying car arrives in 2015. Called the Terrafugia it costs $279,000. Terrafugia, a Woburn manufacturer of flying cars has been working on its vehicles for almost eight years. The MIT-born company has been working on two kinds of cars: the Transition, which is scheduled to be released in mid-2016 and can fly at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour at up to 10,000 feet in the air;
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Jamestown
The best way to become a U.S. military pilot is to prepare academically, physically and mentally before applying for aviation selection and training. Generally, U.S. military pilots need to possess at least a four-year college degree before commencement of aviator training.
FAA - A History of Aircraft Structures Factoid
There are five major stresses to which all aircraft are subjected: Torsion. Torsion is the stress that produces twisting. [Figure 1-14C] While moving the aircraft forward, the engine also tends to twist it to one side, but other aircraft components hold it on course. Thus, torsion is created. The torsion strength of a material is its resistance to twisting or torque.
Interesting Helicopter and Fixed-wing Facts for Mandan
Over 3 million lives have been saved by helicopters in both peacetime and wartime operations since the first person was rescued from the sea in 1944.
The biggest helicopter was the Russian Mil Mi-12 Homer of 1968 which could lift 40,204 kg up to 2255 m.
The first reference to a rotor system is credited to inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who designed an ‘aerial screw’ in 1480. No full-scale variant was constructed during his lifetime.
More Fun Helicopter Facts for Mandan
The first practically successful rotorcraft (the Autogiro) was built by the Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva, in the year 1923.
If he could design an aircraft in which lift and thrust (forward speed) were separate functions, Cierva speculated, he could circumvent this problem. The autogiro he subsequently invented incorporated features of both the helicopter and the airplane, although it resembled the latter more.
Fun Facts for Helicopter and Airplane Flight Training for Minot
The forerunner of modern helicopters is the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300. It was designed by the Russian American Igor Sikorsky in the year 1939.
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Minot
On average, a helicopter ground school program takes 12 to 15 weeks to complete. Although there are schools that offer degree programs, traditional programs concentrate on hands-on training and building the flight hours needed for a license.
FAA - A History of Aircraft Structures Factoid
There are five major stresses to which all aircraft are subjected: Compression. Compression is the stress that resists a crushing force. The compressive strength of a material is also measured in psi. Compression is the stress that tends to shorten or squeeze aircraft parts.
Fun Helicopter Facts for Wahpeton
The R22 is the basis for Boeing's Maverick military unmanned aerial vehicle helicopter, and its Renegade version. In 1999, Frontier Systems developed a remotely piloted R22, the Maverick. This aircraft, along with the company, was later acquired by Boeing Phantom Works. In 2003 the U.S. Navy purchased four aircraft, equipped with Wescam EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infrared) systems.
Helicopter Fun Facts for Wahpeton
As the helicopter approaches the ground, the pilot must then get rid of most of their forward motion and slow the decent using the stored up kinetic energy in the rotors. If done perfectly, the landing will be quite gentle. They accomplish this by executing a flare, pitching the nose up, at the right moment.
In fact, you have a better chance at surviving in a helicopter when the engine fails than you do in an airplane. Helicopters are designed specifically to allow pilots to have a reasonable chance of landing them safely in the case where the engine stops working during flight, often with no damage at all.
Interesting Helicopter and Fixed-wing Facts for West Fargo
In 1951, an American aeronautical engineer Charles Kaman modified his Kaman K-225 helicopter with the turboshaft engine. This modified Kaman K-225 became the world's first gas turbine-powered helicopter. The introduction of turboshaft engines to helicopters enabled the creation of faster, larger, reliable and efficient helicopters.
The FAA and Weather
Inclement weather, including thunderstorms, snowstorms, wind shear, icing and fog, creates potentially hazardous conditions in the nation’s airspace system. These conditions are, by far, the largest cause of flight delays. In an average year, inclement weather is the reason for nearly 70 percent of all delays. Delays translate into real costs for the airlines and the flying public. The cost to an airline for an hour of delay ranges from about $1,400 to $4,500, with the value of passenger time ranging from $35 to $63 per hour. This means that delays cost the airlines and their passengers billions of dollars each year. Each kind of inclement weather presents challenges to the FAA’s air traffic control operation, but perhaps the most disruptive are the convective storms that strike in the summer. Winter storms, while potentially dangerous, often form and move slowly. By contrast, summer storms typically form, grow and move swiftly, covering large swaths of airspace. Many start in the Ohio Valley and move east, impacting air travel in the Northeast, particularly New York. Approximately one-third of all flights in the U.S. “touch” New York, flying to or from John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports, connecting with those flights or transiting New York airspace, so severe weather impacting New York has a ripple down effect over the entire country.
Helicopter Fun Facts for Williston
Helicopters are classified as rotary wing aircraft, and their rotary wing is commonly referred to as the main rotor or simply the rotor.
Helicopters are classified as rotary wing aircraft, and their rotary wing is commonly referred to as the main rotor or simply the rotor.
Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Williston
Modern Day Military Pilot Training: Navy pilots must be 18 to 34 for enlisted officers and 19 to 35 for commissioned officers, Air Force pilots must be between 17 and 28 for enlisted officers and 17 and 35 for commissioned officers, and Marine pilots must be 17 to 29 for enlisted officers and 20 to 28 for commissioned officers. All pilots must be United States citizens and have clean criminal records.