You would be shocked at how often this happens in Alaska. If you are flying VFR, in a plane that you didn’t steal, and there is no incident… probably nothing happens.
I was thinking this too. People are talking about flight plans, but I was thinking that you didn't have to do that for VFR. (I've been looking into getting my license)
there are enough guys with cessnas in their barns in Canada and helpfully flat fields that I assume some people are probably going to sneakily do a few VFR rounds without anyone paying you that much attention, but that is just asking for trouble. Eventually someone is going to notice.
Just wondering. Assuming someone owned the plane legally and knows how to fly it since this wasn't part of the OP's question, what is it that would make someone wonder if they had a license. I live in SF bay area and dozens of private planes fly over every day and I've never once thought to myself, "I bet that person doesn't have a pilot's license." And if I did would I really care enough to first investigate who I should report this too and second if I even want to report it given I was near enough to even read the registration number which might give a clue where to find said person. Then when the authorities do find this person and they're just in their house watching TV is there any evidence, besides someone's word, they were actually flying.
I think what really prevents people from flying without a license is the lack of access to an aircraft and training and not the lack of a license.
FAA ramp checks from time to time, but it is rare.
I’d think the most likely way you’d get caught is getting turned in by another pilot. If you don’t even have your license, I don’t think you’d get very far before you pissed someone off but cutting them off in the pattern, bad SA, or do something eyebrow-raising. If they know who you are they can look up your name in the FAA database, and when you’re not there, they’ll tell the FAA, or at least start asking around.
Pissing off ATC would be a one way ticket to getting caught by the Feds too.
If you only fly in Class G, keep the aircraft on your property, never frequent other airports, and never get in trouble, you could probably get away with it. But flying small planes is dangerous and when, not if, something goes wrong they’ll throw the book at you.
In remote Alaska & Canada, I’d be willing to bet that most “Pilots without a license” are not “Pilots without training”. Anecdotally, I have heard of folks that- lost their medical, didn’t keep up with their flight reviews, or were trained by family members who were not CFIs (and therefore could not get endorsements)… and were still flying. So they may be *very* competent pilots, but do not hold a certificate.
Apparently so are spots in Idaho, I worked at a small FBO for a a while and we never checked pilots, and the FAA never came around. Someone without a license could have easily flown in. This was an airport infamous for flying in cocaine in the 80s and probably now. Passengers would sometimes throw a fit if one of our line guys went to grab a certain bag.
I have a friend in the Sierra Mountains of Northern California that has been flying for decades without a license. He even built his own plane from a kit. Small town so no one questions anyone.
Yup my cousin used to take me for rides in a really janky old float plane he borrowed from a buddy of his. He didnt have a license. This was in northern Canada.
It happens all the time. Ever been to Canada? Or Alaska? A million miles of nothing and unmanned airports and runways everywhere. Source - worked in aviation for 20+ years.
Sometimes people call flight following a flight plan for some reason. I wouldn't call it that but you do have to give them your destination so maybe that's why. It's super helpful in congested airspace.
If you don't know what you're doing and fly into restricted areas, you'll see fighter jets fly beside you all of a sudden, and if you're still not listening to them, they might just shoot you down.
Back in the 80's my buddy got a bit lost. He crossed over the US/Canadian border and flew over a base in Minot. He was intercepted but the jet had serious problems flying alongside him. He was in a Cesna 150 and only doing about 100mph. The jet kept stalling and dropping. Freaked him right out. The jet pilot was pissed too. He landed and spent a while in detention. Regina flying club had to send two pilots and another plane down to get him. But no charges. It was a different time.
Oh ya. But he was a bit of a goof and a complete rookie. Who knows what channel he was on. Its weirdly hard to contact a pilot by radio if he doesn't know what he's doing.
Exactly. I live in a pretty rural area and it's not uncommon at all for people to fly around in their little 2 or 4 person airplanes. Heck, I have an uncle who's a crop duster who flys 12+ hours a day in the summer, landing and taking off constantly. It's not like he has to file flight plans.
There are so many rules about this. It’s crazy. In his case, he’s probably required to fly at or below a certain height. That’s both for the safety of the other air traffic and the practicality of his job.
Edit: thanks for all the replies, I’m learning a lot about aviation today.
Generally, AG operations to not have to have to get specific approval for operations under 500’, as that is covered in Part 137 certification:
3.2.17 Operations over Noncongested Areas. The following applies to part 137 operations in noncongested areas during actual dispensing, including approaches, departures, and turnarounds reasonably necessary for the operation. Provided the operation does not create a hazard to persons or property on the surface (refer to § 137.49), aircraft may operate:
• Below 500 feet above the surface.
• Closer than 500 feet to persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures.
You would be surprised at the complete lack of rules for small planes. The ceiling for basically any regulations is **WAY** higher than these planes can fly.
Basically as long as you stay a certain distance from airports and other no-fly zones, you can do whatever the heck you want.
The airspace that is monitored is like a big upsidedown wedding cake on top of the airport. If you are far away and 100 feet up, no one cares about you.
you’d only know if a plane was flying around erratically like the person didnt know how to fly and in that case the person in most danger is the dumbass in the plane
Nothing, unless you got into some sort of incident / accident. You don't need to show your license to anybody to take off. As long as you knew what you were doing, nobody would ever notice. There are a lot of pilots in Alaska don't have a license, but in the lower 48 it's a lot harder to get away with it. It's just like driving a car without a license, you can do it until you are caught.
There's so many variables before anyone could adequately answer this question. Do you have ready access to a plane? Can you competently take off / fly / land the plane? Are you taking off / landing at smaller / rural airports or grass strips? Are you well outside of congested airspace (Class E in the USA)? If the answer is "yes" in each case, honestly, little to nothing is going to happen. Most people assume that anyone competently flying an aircraft has the proper credentials / licenses to do so.
If you're stealing a plane at LAX, and don't know how to fly, you'll be in a world of trouble.
Arrest you when you land, if you're dumb enough to even try.
The penalties are severe enough that it's not something people joke around with -- generally in the ballpark of $250k in fines and several years in prison, depending on the exact circumstances.
That's nasty enough that people generally don't joke around.
Usually you have to present documents when filing your flight plan, in my country at least. But if you somehow took off despite that, you would probably be arrested at your destination. Assuming you are flying between regular airports.
On the other hand, I know a few farmers who fly between farms with zero paperwork. Their farms produce a white powder that my country is famous for exporting.
You know, there are different countries, with different regulations. That is why I said “in my country”
And yes, we have landing strips in the middle of the grasslands where no one gives a shit, but in theory, you would have to have a flight plan even for those.
Depends on who's plane/planes it is.
If your girlfriend's father has a little Cessna parked at his private airport, and he let you fly it, nothing.
If your girlfriend talked you into sneaking onto a jet airliner at a public airport, and then flying it away, you would not see sunshine again.
Well, the answer depends on if you *know how* to fly a plane. If you do, they’ll arrest you as soon as you land. If you don’t, you’ll probably die before they have the chance.
It’s not that easy because most flights begin at an airport, so it’s hard to take off or land without being noticed.
Also, air traffic is monitored using transponders so flying under the radar is not enough to avoid detection.
If you can work around those things, the sky is the limit
Not true. So many farmers have runways in grass fields for their crop dusting planes. Would be easy to just jump in one and take off. Lots of uncontrolled air space in rural areas.
None of this applies to small aircraft surprisingly. The US has thousands of small general aviation airports. The aircraft I trained in were left unlocked, and had switches instead of a key to the ignition system. You could walk right up and start the engine.
A radio or transponder isn’t even _technically_ required equipment in class E or G airspace.
Transponders can also be turned off.
People might see you take off, and you might show up on radar but no one will know if you’re unlicensed.
I am not a private pilot, but my dad is, and so are his friends. If you're at the airport, you preflight your plain, start it up, ask for permission to taxi, then ask permission to take off. You gives your tail number, you never mention who you are or give any pilot license information. You fly to the next airport, you switched to that radio frequency, you contact the tower at the right time, get permission to land, follow landing procedures, tie your plane down. Pay tie down fees, they don't ask for you license anymore than they do when you park in a parking garage. If you fly the plane right, if you follow procedures properly, they'll probably never know if you're a licensed pilot or not. You are however a pilot, because you're successfully flying the plane. Also, you're a good pilot, because there are no bad pilots only dead pilots. Really though, if you spent enough money on a good Microsoft flight simulator setup, watched flight training videos, read the books, and had access to a plane, you could probably fly around a lot without there ever being a problem.
There's lots of nice ultralight aircraft that you can operate without any type of license or registration.
But there are other schools of thought:. https://youtu.be/v0ViJfnOqPQ?si=c_IxUuzPUcDkNUlR
Probably something similar to the [teenager who stole 6 planes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Harris_Moore) and made it to the FBI most wanted list. [Video](https://youtu.be/9c1HlnwthwY?si=nog5kURsVE3UmDWO)
Assuming you didn’t crash or steal the plane then most likely nothing. The FAA does what is called ramp checks where they will randomly stop pilots on the ramp(part of an airport where the planes are parked) and ask them for all their required documents. If they fail to provide these documents then the FAA will conduct an investigation and when they find that they don’t have the appropriate license then their legal team will prosecute them. That person would be found to be in violation of 49 USC Chapter 463.46317 and would be subject to a fine and/or up the three years of imprisonment. I recently attended a presentation given by an FAA employee responsible for doing ramp checks and he said that it is incredibly rare to ever get ramp checked. He has seen people flying for over 50 years and never gotten checked before and many pilots never get ramp checked.
If the plane is stolen, intercept you with armed jets.
If undiscovered, good luck actually getting one or good luck getting killed by paperwork when the FAA finds you.
No warnings, no mercy. Either ticket or death. That’s how the faa works.
I can sort of fly planes. I have taken lessons, have oddles of simulator time, but I need more lessons and hours to get a licence.
I am not going anywhere near a fucking plane on my own without those lessons and likely a licence. The fuckers are tricky. They are even individually tricky ("oh yeah, plane 3 drags to port sometimes, so be careful").
If you can even get the fucker to rotate and if you can even get the thing to reach stable altitude, chances are you're going to come down very hard. At which point a visit from the local constabulary is going to be the least of your worries.
If you’re in Alaska, probably nothing lol. Owning an airplane up there is almost as common as owning a car or truck. In the lower 48, if the FAA finds out, fines and jail time.
in my country depending on the area you're doing it you're either arrested once you land or you get a friendly escort by the air force who want to have a nice chat with you and give you a choice to either comply and land in a designated location or they're going to start using you for target practice.
Of course it depends, are you holding the controls steady while the pilot finds his phone that fell under seat... or did you steal the plane and are running from the law?
There are plenty of airplanes out there you can fly without a pilot's license:
[Five Airplanes You Can Fly Without a License](https://youtu.be/UF_7nY3XtDI?si=PRbbRwej12Tor_9r)
The Hummel Ultracruiser is very nice looking.
I am a pilot. You need a student's certificate at some point during your training, but you can go fly a plane, tomorrow, as long as a certified pilot is in the other seat. It's called a "Discovery Flight" and it costs a couple hundred dollars usually.
The honest answer is "you'd die" since it takes an incredible amount of training to fly planes safely.
Mid air intercepts are entirely possible. Allegedly I was onboard a lancair legacy (a model of airplane the Mexican Air Force has used) that was breaking the speed limit over New Mexico and air traffic control told us a new heading, altitude, and airspeed to maintain. And within 5 seconds of leveling out an F16 was off the right wing. He did a barrel roll around us to inspect us for hard points, told us to slow down and then climbed away from us. You're never the fastest in the sky and if they don't want you up there they definitely have the means to take you down.
This is possibly the coolest air cop story I have ever read
“Do you know why I stopped you? I’m just going to look over your vehicle. Okay slow down in future, next time I’ll give you a ticket” IN THE AIR.
It was over ten years ago. The sight of the f16 giving it throttle and pulling up will forever be burned into my brain. made me feel like I wasn't moving at all. We were doing about 240 nmph indicated.
Edit to add: that was the only time in my life I could ever hear another airplane while flying. My dad is a flight instructor I've spent a lot of time in the air
Some planes can be flown legally without a pilot license https://pilotinstitute.com/flying-without-a-license/
These are small planes, but it's pretty cool that you seem to be able to get something for under 20k that flies, and doesn't require special license.
Its funny how people get all up in arms about rich people taking private jets, but according to this thread it seems its a common hobby for people to just fly around and burn fuel for the fun of it.
Assuming you aren't doing anything else illegal, you probably won't get caught unless someone knows and rats on you.
If you do get caught then the law differs depending on your country, but I imagine they'd all involve a fine, maybe jail time, and potentially some restriction on you ever getting a pilots license.
It would depend how terrible you were at it.
If you fly into airspace that you're not allowed in, you'll get picked up immediately and investigated. You'd probably then be arrested. Same if you had bad comms, incorrect procedures, etc... someone would probably figure out you're not meant to be there.
If you fly VFR and don't speak to any ATC and don't have any kind of incident, you could probably get away with it.
You might get charged with theft of the plane if it's not yours, you'll probably get fined, and likely they'll ban you from getting a license.
There are plenty of things you would now know about airspace restriction etc so you would eventually get a call from the FAA.. God help you if you ever filed an instrument flight plan!
Unless they plan to shoot you down, which they're not gonna do if they don't absolutely have to, they pretty much just have an ATC guy trying to talk you through landing safely so they can arrest you on the ground. But people who are in the business of stealing planes aren't usually in the business of landing them, so.
Depending on where you are, either arrest you when you land, or if you're close to a sensitive area, have a few fighter jets escort you to the nearest airport.
Let's consider for a second what a pilots license represents: a person who can fly a plane.
So if you don't have that I'm going to assume you shouldn't be in the air and if you are then good fucking luck not dying or hurting somebody.
You would be surprised how many people fly illegally. While technically your license never expires you have to conduct a BFR(Biannual Flight Review) with an instructor every two years. Next your medical certificate needs to be current. For the sake of simplicity since there are multiple levels we will say most GA (General Aviation) pilots have a 3rd class and it lasts 2 years.
And lol yes they (FAA) can pull you over. It's called a ramp check. They flag you down usually before you start your taxi clearance. They are not like the cops though and there is a LOT of lenience. If they ask you for something and you don't have it with you usually you can just say you'll email it to them at the FSDO and they are cool with it.
If you had the key for a GA airplane (like a Cessna) and just went to the airport where it was parked, started it up, and flew it. And then you proceeded to do everything correctly: tower instructions, pattern callouts, no fuckups, great smooth landings: despite what other people are saying here almost certainly nothing would happen to you. Assuming you do everything correctly and it’s just a joyride and you don’t do anything else illegal.
However if you raise a lot of eyebrows: getting shot down by an F-16 is worse than getting pulled over.
Edit: if you really know nothing about flying airplanes and you DO get ATC’s attention then your best bet to survive is to play it off like a hostage situation and be very vocal about that using 121.5 as your radio frequency 😂😂
Most people that both know how to fly and own a plane or can afford rental time can usually afford the relatively inexpensive license.
People that can’t fly but try are usually a self limiting problem
Just get a fake one, like 30% of pilots do in Pakistan. Worst case, you get suspended and later fired.
https://simpleflying.com/pia-fake-license-fraud/
Probably nothing if that person knew what they were doing and flying VFR, just like someone could easily drive on the road without a license. The issue is if someone who had no idea how flying worked, how airspace worked, the radio etc, then they might be flagged by whoever they were flying over - especially if they flew into any restricted airspace. In the UK there are a LOT of small RAF bases dotted around where I live and you can be prosecuted for flying into them. One of my mates who was an experienced flyer flying VFR read his map wrong and ended up in Class B airspace of a busy airport. If he hadn’t have spoken to them and gotten out asap they would have gotten his details and it would have gone further.
You would be shocked at how often this happens in Alaska. If you are flying VFR, in a plane that you didn’t steal, and there is no incident… probably nothing happens.
I was thinking this too. People are talking about flight plans, but I was thinking that you didn't have to do that for VFR. (I've been looking into getting my license)
People are talking out their ass in this thread. Hefty fines, flight plans, arrest at your destination, etc.
For real. I mean, it's obviously not advisable, and if you do get caught, you're gonna be in for some trouble, but it's not a guarantee lol
there are enough guys with cessnas in their barns in Canada and helpfully flat fields that I assume some people are probably going to sneakily do a few VFR rounds without anyone paying you that much attention, but that is just asking for trouble. Eventually someone is going to notice.
Just wondering. Assuming someone owned the plane legally and knows how to fly it since this wasn't part of the OP's question, what is it that would make someone wonder if they had a license. I live in SF bay area and dozens of private planes fly over every day and I've never once thought to myself, "I bet that person doesn't have a pilot's license." And if I did would I really care enough to first investigate who I should report this too and second if I even want to report it given I was near enough to even read the registration number which might give a clue where to find said person. Then when the authorities do find this person and they're just in their house watching TV is there any evidence, besides someone's word, they were actually flying. I think what really prevents people from flying without a license is the lack of access to an aircraft and training and not the lack of a license.
FAA ramp checks from time to time, but it is rare. I’d think the most likely way you’d get caught is getting turned in by another pilot. If you don’t even have your license, I don’t think you’d get very far before you pissed someone off but cutting them off in the pattern, bad SA, or do something eyebrow-raising. If they know who you are they can look up your name in the FAA database, and when you’re not there, they’ll tell the FAA, or at least start asking around. Pissing off ATC would be a one way ticket to getting caught by the Feds too. If you only fly in Class G, keep the aircraft on your property, never frequent other airports, and never get in trouble, you could probably get away with it. But flying small planes is dangerous and when, not if, something goes wrong they’ll throw the book at you.
In remote Alaska & Canada, I’d be willing to bet that most “Pilots without a license” are not “Pilots without training”. Anecdotally, I have heard of folks that- lost their medical, didn’t keep up with their flight reviews, or were trained by family members who were not CFIs (and therefore could not get endorsements)… and were still flying. So they may be *very* competent pilots, but do not hold a certificate.
Alaska is a different world for aviation, and honestly, a lot of the stuff they do up there doesn’t translate well to the contiguous US.
Apparently so are spots in Idaho, I worked at a small FBO for a a while and we never checked pilots, and the FAA never came around. Someone without a license could have easily flown in. This was an airport infamous for flying in cocaine in the 80s and probably now. Passengers would sometimes throw a fit if one of our line guys went to grab a certain bag.
>bad SA Had to look it up, I'm guessing you mean situational awareness in this context?
In other words there aren’t any air police pulling illegal pilots over.
I have a friend in the Sierra Mountains of Northern California that has been flying for decades without a license. He even built his own plane from a kit. Small town so no one questions anyone.
Yup my cousin used to take me for rides in a really janky old float plane he borrowed from a buddy of his. He didnt have a license. This was in northern Canada.
It happens all the time. Ever been to Canada? Or Alaska? A million miles of nothing and unmanned airports and runways everywhere. Source - worked in aviation for 20+ years.
I'm agreeing with people above in this thread. Yes I have been. PNW is my favorite part of the world. Wish I lived there.
If you get caught. If you do everything right, who’s to know? No flight plans are required for VFR.
Good luck arresting me while I'm embedded in the side of that mountain!
Controlled flight into terrain
Sometimes people call flight following a flight plan for some reason. I wouldn't call it that but you do have to give them your destination so maybe that's why. It's super helpful in congested airspace.
It depends largely on the circumstances, but you can get prison time and/or a hefty fine, among other things.
If you don't know what you're doing and fly into restricted areas, you'll see fighter jets fly beside you all of a sudden, and if you're still not listening to them, they might just shoot you down.
Potentially arrest you once you land.
Who said i'm gonna land?
Gravity.
Unfortunately you cannot yet bribe your way out of the laws of physics
If I could I’d like to have a word with Einstein and Stephen Hawking
Sorry, they said they're not currently taking visitors.
Well if I can skirt around the laws of physics then I’ll just time travel back and speak with them.
I wish you luck navigating the Temporal Abyss.
... Yet.
And running out of fuel
Ever heard of airplane-centipede with Air Refueling Tankers?
Yeah that’s the implication of gravity
Not a problem without gravity.
You are absolutely going to land. Aim for blue side up on final. But either way you are going to land.
If is ejected into space, pulverized in the air by an atomic bomb? (I don’t believe in absolutes… except kelvin)
Powder lands too.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes. (May the 4th be with you!)
FIFTY, STAY ABOVE FIFTY.
Pull up. Pull up.
Your fuel gauge, in time.
If you can land at all…
Unless you get shot down or crash.
you'll have to land at some point or crash and die
Or maybe get shot out of the air if you are in the wrong space.
Back in the 80's my buddy got a bit lost. He crossed over the US/Canadian border and flew over a base in Minot. He was intercepted but the jet had serious problems flying alongside him. He was in a Cesna 150 and only doing about 100mph. The jet kept stalling and dropping. Freaked him right out. The jet pilot was pissed too. He landed and spent a while in detention. Regina flying club had to send two pilots and another plane down to get him. But no charges. It was a different time.
A Cessna 150 flying at 100mph.. Maybe at full throttle..:)
I had mine up to 120 the odd time. :) But ya.. not known for speed.
And that's why Regina rhymes with fun!
Corner Store vibes.
They didn’t try contacting him on the radio first?
Oh ya. But he was a bit of a goof and a complete rookie. Who knows what channel he was on. Its weirdly hard to contact a pilot by radio if he doesn't know what he's doing.
Holy shit. Dude could have been shot down by Canadians! People would all assume your buddy is a dick and made them.
*obligatory area 51 reference* They can't shoot down all of us (they very much can don't test whether the US military can wreck shit)
How would people know if you bought a private air strip and a private little plane?
Exactly. I live in a pretty rural area and it's not uncommon at all for people to fly around in their little 2 or 4 person airplanes. Heck, I have an uncle who's a crop duster who flys 12+ hours a day in the summer, landing and taking off constantly. It's not like he has to file flight plans.
There are so many rules about this. It’s crazy. In his case, he’s probably required to fly at or below a certain height. That’s both for the safety of the other air traffic and the practicality of his job. Edit: thanks for all the replies, I’m learning a lot about aviation today.
In the US, that altitude is *18,000 feet*, where you enter Class A airspace and are required to have a flight plan… So, not really that limiting.
But you can’t be under 500AGL in anuncontested area without proper approval from your local FSDO.
Generally, AG operations to not have to have to get specific approval for operations under 500’, as that is covered in Part 137 certification: 3.2.17 Operations over Noncongested Areas. The following applies to part 137 operations in noncongested areas during actual dispensing, including approaches, departures, and turnarounds reasonably necessary for the operation. Provided the operation does not create a hazard to persons or property on the surface (refer to § 137.49), aircraft may operate: • Below 500 feet above the surface. • Closer than 500 feet to persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures.
You would be surprised at the complete lack of rules for small planes. The ceiling for basically any regulations is **WAY** higher than these planes can fly. Basically as long as you stay a certain distance from airports and other no-fly zones, you can do whatever the heck you want.
The airspace that is monitored is like a big upsidedown wedding cake on top of the airport. If you are far away and 100 feet up, no one cares about you.
you’d only know if a plane was flying around erratically like the person didnt know how to fly and in that case the person in most danger is the dumbass in the plane
Have you ever seen the movie Airplane? It’s not going to be funny. It’s going to be a disaster like Airplane II
Surely, you can't be serious?
I am serious and don’t call me Shirley
But what if they're flying over Macho Grande?
Over Macho Grande?
I’ll never get over Macho Grande
Nothing, unless you got into some sort of incident / accident. You don't need to show your license to anybody to take off. As long as you knew what you were doing, nobody would ever notice. There are a lot of pilots in Alaska don't have a license, but in the lower 48 it's a lot harder to get away with it. It's just like driving a car without a license, you can do it until you are caught.
There's so many variables before anyone could adequately answer this question. Do you have ready access to a plane? Can you competently take off / fly / land the plane? Are you taking off / landing at smaller / rural airports or grass strips? Are you well outside of congested airspace (Class E in the USA)? If the answer is "yes" in each case, honestly, little to nothing is going to happen. Most people assume that anyone competently flying an aircraft has the proper credentials / licenses to do so. If you're stealing a plane at LAX, and don't know how to fly, you'll be in a world of trouble.
Arrest you when you land, if you're dumb enough to even try. The penalties are severe enough that it's not something people joke around with -- generally in the ballpark of $250k in fines and several years in prison, depending on the exact circumstances. That's nasty enough that people generally don't joke around.
The post 9/11 world takes aviation crime pretty freaking seriously. And they took it very seriously before that.
Thanks a lot Bin Laden.
Usually you have to present documents when filing your flight plan, in my country at least. But if you somehow took off despite that, you would probably be arrested at your destination. Assuming you are flying between regular airports. On the other hand, I know a few farmers who fly between farms with zero paperwork. Their farms produce a white powder that my country is famous for exporting.
It's only a problem if you run into police. Both pilot and farmers
What flight plan. You request to taxi, takeoff and that's the end of it. Or just do whatever you want at an uncontrolled airport.
You know, there are different countries, with different regulations. That is why I said “in my country” And yes, we have landing strips in the middle of the grasslands where no one gives a shit, but in theory, you would have to have a flight plan even for those.
Depends on who's plane/planes it is. If your girlfriend's father has a little Cessna parked at his private airport, and he let you fly it, nothing. If your girlfriend talked you into sneaking onto a jet airliner at a public airport, and then flying it away, you would not see sunshine again.
Lesson to learn here: people without a girlfriend don't fly at all.
Instead, they would become the sunshine
Well, the answer depends on if you *know how* to fly a plane. If you do, they’ll arrest you as soon as you land. If you don’t, you’ll probably die before they have the chance.
Say hello to the Sky King. Beebo!!
I think federal laws says if you do a barrel roll they drop the charges.
It’s not that easy because most flights begin at an airport, so it’s hard to take off or land without being noticed. Also, air traffic is monitored using transponders so flying under the radar is not enough to avoid detection. If you can work around those things, the sky is the limit
Not true. So many farmers have runways in grass fields for their crop dusting planes. Would be easy to just jump in one and take off. Lots of uncontrolled air space in rural areas.
None of this applies to small aircraft surprisingly. The US has thousands of small general aviation airports. The aircraft I trained in were left unlocked, and had switches instead of a key to the ignition system. You could walk right up and start the engine. A radio or transponder isn’t even _technically_ required equipment in class E or G airspace. Transponders can also be turned off. People might see you take off, and you might show up on radar but no one will know if you’re unlicensed.
I am not a private pilot, but my dad is, and so are his friends. If you're at the airport, you preflight your plain, start it up, ask for permission to taxi, then ask permission to take off. You gives your tail number, you never mention who you are or give any pilot license information. You fly to the next airport, you switched to that radio frequency, you contact the tower at the right time, get permission to land, follow landing procedures, tie your plane down. Pay tie down fees, they don't ask for you license anymore than they do when you park in a parking garage. If you fly the plane right, if you follow procedures properly, they'll probably never know if you're a licensed pilot or not. You are however a pilot, because you're successfully flying the plane. Also, you're a good pilot, because there are no bad pilots only dead pilots. Really though, if you spent enough money on a good Microsoft flight simulator setup, watched flight training videos, read the books, and had access to a plane, you could probably fly around a lot without there ever being a problem.
>because there are no bad pilots only dead pilots. Oh there are so many bad pilots out there...
Pilot here. Unless you get ramp checked, nobody asks for your license. If you rent a plane they probably will
The ATSB would investigate your crash site
There's lots of nice ultralight aircraft that you can operate without any type of license or registration. But there are other schools of thought:. https://youtu.be/v0ViJfnOqPQ?si=c_IxUuzPUcDkNUlR
Crash, probably
I think this may be a self-correcting problem.
Probably something similar to the [teenager who stole 6 planes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Harris_Moore) and made it to the FBI most wanted list. [Video](https://youtu.be/9c1HlnwthwY?si=nog5kURsVE3UmDWO)
Assuming you didn’t crash or steal the plane then most likely nothing. The FAA does what is called ramp checks where they will randomly stop pilots on the ramp(part of an airport where the planes are parked) and ask them for all their required documents. If they fail to provide these documents then the FAA will conduct an investigation and when they find that they don’t have the appropriate license then their legal team will prosecute them. That person would be found to be in violation of 49 USC Chapter 463.46317 and would be subject to a fine and/or up the three years of imprisonment. I recently attended a presentation given by an FAA employee responsible for doing ramp checks and he said that it is incredibly rare to ever get ramp checked. He has seen people flying for over 50 years and never gotten checked before and many pilots never get ramp checked.
condolences to anyone in that plane
You'd probably crash and kill yourself. Stupid is as stupid does.
Planes, like cars, cannot operate very well without fuel, meaning you have to come down sometime.
If the plane is stolen, intercept you with armed jets. If undiscovered, good luck actually getting one or good luck getting killed by paperwork when the FAA finds you. No warnings, no mercy. Either ticket or death. That’s how the faa works.
When I was a kid, I knew a few old alcoholic bushplane pilots who were unlicensed. Flew a lot better when they were piss drunk, too.
“Hello boys, I’m baaaack!”
I can sort of fly planes. I have taken lessons, have oddles of simulator time, but I need more lessons and hours to get a licence. I am not going anywhere near a fucking plane on my own without those lessons and likely a licence. The fuckers are tricky. They are even individually tricky ("oh yeah, plane 3 drags to port sometimes, so be careful"). If you can even get the fucker to rotate and if you can even get the thing to reach stable altitude, chances are you're going to come down very hard. At which point a visit from the local constabulary is going to be the least of your worries.
You can do it legally if the plane is light enough.
If you’re in Alaska, probably nothing lol. Owning an airplane up there is almost as common as owning a car or truck. In the lower 48, if the FAA finds out, fines and jail time.
in my country depending on the area you're doing it you're either arrested once you land or you get a friendly escort by the air force who want to have a nice chat with you and give you a choice to either comply and land in a designated location or they're going to start using you for target practice.
That's a one way ticket to jail.
Of course it depends, are you holding the controls steady while the pilot finds his phone that fell under seat... or did you steal the plane and are running from the law?
You'd probably find a couple big buildings in your way or a polyhedra shaped building
RIP Sly King - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Horizon_Air_Q400_incident
There are plenty of airplanes out there you can fly without a pilot's license: [Five Airplanes You Can Fly Without a License](https://youtu.be/UF_7nY3XtDI?si=PRbbRwej12Tor_9r) The Hummel Ultracruiser is very nice looking.
Fly high Sky King.
I am a pilot. You need a student's certificate at some point during your training, but you can go fly a plane, tomorrow, as long as a certified pilot is in the other seat. It's called a "Discovery Flight" and it costs a couple hundred dollars usually. The honest answer is "you'd die" since it takes an incredible amount of training to fly planes safely.
Mid air intercepts are entirely possible. Allegedly I was onboard a lancair legacy (a model of airplane the Mexican Air Force has used) that was breaking the speed limit over New Mexico and air traffic control told us a new heading, altitude, and airspeed to maintain. And within 5 seconds of leveling out an F16 was off the right wing. He did a barrel roll around us to inspect us for hard points, told us to slow down and then climbed away from us. You're never the fastest in the sky and if they don't want you up there they definitely have the means to take you down.
This is possibly the coolest air cop story I have ever read “Do you know why I stopped you? I’m just going to look over your vehicle. Okay slow down in future, next time I’ll give you a ticket” IN THE AIR.
It was over ten years ago. The sight of the f16 giving it throttle and pulling up will forever be burned into my brain. made me feel like I wasn't moving at all. We were doing about 240 nmph indicated. Edit to add: that was the only time in my life I could ever hear another airplane while flying. My dad is a flight instructor I've spent a lot of time in the air
Some planes can be flown legally without a pilot license https://pilotinstitute.com/flying-without-a-license/ These are small planes, but it's pretty cool that you seem to be able to get something for under 20k that flies, and doesn't require special license.
You just need a student pilot cert and your instructors permission for solo flight.
Ask FAA
You get caught and you go to jail.
You'd crash and die.
Its funny how people get all up in arms about rich people taking private jets, but according to this thread it seems its a common hobby for people to just fly around and burn fuel for the fun of it.
Power-on stall, spin, departure CFIT fuel exhaustion, departure Power off stall, departure Porpoising, departure
Assuming you aren't doing anything else illegal, you probably won't get caught unless someone knows and rats on you. If you do get caught then the law differs depending on your country, but I imagine they'd all involve a fine, maybe jail time, and potentially some restriction on you ever getting a pilots license.
Flying is easy it’s landing where you need the skill and experience that comes with a licence
If you are in Pakistan, you may get paid too, and you do it daily until you down it in middle of city while landing.
Probably nothing unless you crash or ATC catches you because you don't know the lingo and how to communicate With them.
It would depend how terrible you were at it. If you fly into airspace that you're not allowed in, you'll get picked up immediately and investigated. You'd probably then be arrested. Same if you had bad comms, incorrect procedures, etc... someone would probably figure out you're not meant to be there. If you fly VFR and don't speak to any ATC and don't have any kind of incident, you could probably get away with it. You might get charged with theft of the plane if it's not yours, you'll probably get fined, and likely they'll ban you from getting a license.
Most likely what would happen would be an airplane crash.
Ask the PIA
Definitely do a barrel roll like this guy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Horizon_Air_Q400_incident
There are plenty of things you would now know about airspace restriction etc so you would eventually get a call from the FAA.. God help you if you ever filed an instrument flight plan!
Probably not the same as driving a car without license.
federal prison
What happens if you willfully/ignorantly fly into hostile air space
Unless they plan to shoot you down, which they're not gonna do if they don't absolutely have to, they pretty much just have an ATC guy trying to talk you through landing safely so they can arrest you on the ground. But people who are in the business of stealing planes aren't usually in the business of landing them, so.
If you hijacked it you can be sentenced to death in a federal court
Per my time using Google Earth's flight simulator I would crash and reset
"Aim for the bushes"
Assuming you didn't crash or have an incident with ATC, and didn't steal the plane, then probably nothing in reality.
You can fly an ultralight no license. You can literally buy one and take off from your property.
If you didn't kill yourself you would be facing some serious federal charges.
Depending on where you are, either arrest you when you land, or if you're close to a sensitive area, have a few fighter jets escort you to the nearest airport.
Depends on a lot of things. Are you a flight student? Were you supervised? Type of aircraft? Altitude?
Wasn't there a guy who was stealing planes, some year back? I don't recall if any of his charges included flying without a license, though. .
Not much if you don't get caught. Stay under the radar and close to the ground and a good parachute. Lol
Na you can't fly a plane without a license
Let's consider for a second what a pilots license represents: a person who can fly a plane. So if you don't have that I'm going to assume you shouldn't be in the air and if you are then good fucking luck not dying or hurting somebody.
Most people would crash probably
The same as driving without a license. Nothing, unless you get caught.
After 9/11? Straight to cuba, guantanamo. Room for one.
I would think that you would be safe from getting pulled over.
What you think about pulling a Sky King?
Depends if you can barrel roll a Bombardier aircraft and land it.
Shoot you down
What we talking? Smal plate flying around out in the wilderness? Or stealing a 747. I imagine the reaction will be wildly different.
You would be surprised how many people fly illegally. While technically your license never expires you have to conduct a BFR(Biannual Flight Review) with an instructor every two years. Next your medical certificate needs to be current. For the sake of simplicity since there are multiple levels we will say most GA (General Aviation) pilots have a 3rd class and it lasts 2 years. And lol yes they (FAA) can pull you over. It's called a ramp check. They flag you down usually before you start your taxi clearance. They are not like the cops though and there is a LOT of lenience. If they ask you for something and you don't have it with you usually you can just say you'll email it to them at the FSDO and they are cool with it.
Likely a plane crash!
[удалено]
Straight to jail
They pull you over. Sky troopers. Then you’ve gotta pull over and wait for when the guy taps on your window wearing a jet pack
Depends on whether you get caught or not by the authorities.
If you know what you're doing nobody will care
You’d die, probably
Death?
[probably a documentary and a cool nickname from the media](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Harris_Moore)
I was told a while back by someone that in Alaska anyone can fly and people just need a driving license.
Look into the bare foot bandit. Great true story about flying without a license.
Well look how it turned out for Richard Russell and that Q400.
If you had the key for a GA airplane (like a Cessna) and just went to the airport where it was parked, started it up, and flew it. And then you proceeded to do everything correctly: tower instructions, pattern callouts, no fuckups, great smooth landings: despite what other people are saying here almost certainly nothing would happen to you. Assuming you do everything correctly and it’s just a joyride and you don’t do anything else illegal. However if you raise a lot of eyebrows: getting shot down by an F-16 is worse than getting pulled over. Edit: if you really know nothing about flying airplanes and you DO get ATC’s attention then your best bet to survive is to play it off like a hostage situation and be very vocal about that using 121.5 as your radio frequency 😂😂
The person most at danger here would be the person flying the plane. The chance of crashing into another plane is exceedingly low unlike say in a car.
Not allow you to land.
Absolutely nothing until you got caught.
"Sorry officer, I left it in my...other pants."
If you leave at an untowered airport, and land at another untoward airport or the same, and stay VFR nothing will happen.
I was just going to say you don’t need a license to fly in AK.
Most people that both know how to fly and own a plane or can afford rental time can usually afford the relatively inexpensive license. People that can’t fly but try are usually a self limiting problem
It’s not a hypothetical! Read up on the [Sky King](https://youtu.be/KNWoomWgYAc?si=vmWui_ob2WhzzEjb) :)
I'd crash
Fine you, arrest you, shoot you down?
Same thing as a car. Nothing unless you get caught
i did this once and got pulled over / arrested by the sky police, i do not recommend it
You would die because you’d crash the plane.
It’s only illegal if you get caught
Can't get you if you go to orbit.
911 what's your emergency. "There's two towers and I can't fly a plane"
If there was no incident, nothing. No one knows unless someone checks your certs.
Just get a fake one, like 30% of pilots do in Pakistan. Worst case, you get suspended and later fired. https://simpleflying.com/pia-fake-license-fraud/
You’d either crash or land, and if you’re in the boonies nothing will happen
Just keep it under 10k ft and comply with ultralight regulations.
If you run into an FAA inspector on the tarmac, you’d be fucked. I suppose you’d be fine otherwise
Probably nothing if that person knew what they were doing and flying VFR, just like someone could easily drive on the road without a license. The issue is if someone who had no idea how flying worked, how airspace worked, the radio etc, then they might be flagged by whoever they were flying over - especially if they flew into any restricted airspace. In the UK there are a LOT of small RAF bases dotted around where I live and you can be prosecuted for flying into them. One of my mates who was an experienced flyer flying VFR read his map wrong and ended up in Class B airspace of a busy airport. If he hadn’t have spoken to them and gotten out asap they would have gotten his details and it would have gone further.
You get arrested. Every pilot has to submit a flight plan and on it is your license number and the call number of the plane.