How to Become a Pilot. Flying an airplane can be an expensive and painstaking process. But does it have to be?

We turned to flight instructor and plane designer Terry Raber about how quickly someone can go from the couch to the air.

He says, first you need to know what you want to fly.

"If you want to go fly, people just show up at an airport, go talk to an instructor there. The instructor kind of gives you the sales pitch," Raber said.

He says to fly a bigger plane with multiple passengers, you need a private pilot license. That takes 40 hours of training and costs about $8,000.

For smaller, two-seater planes, you need a sport pilot license. That takes 25 hours of instruction and costs about $3,500.

"Basically, when you learn to fly, about half of that 25 hours is going to be with an instructor. Someone is going to be teaching you how to fly."

But if you want to get in the air quicker and cheaper, there are ultra-lights. You don't need to license to fly these, and Raber says all you need is roughly $500 to pay for five hours of instructions and you'll be piloting an aircraft.

"It's really like driving an ATV for sport, or a motorcycle. It's the exact same thing, except you can go where you want. You don't have to follow the road. Point it and go."

Buying your own plane is a different story. You can purchase ultra-light planes for under $10,000, but all other options go up quickly in price from there.

Source:  http://www.wbay.com