Fly Little Blimp, Fly!

Jacob said . . .

How does one go about becoming a blimp pilot? It seems like a cool
job, but nobody ever talks about it.

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According to Fujifilm and Lee Montgomery of Turner Sports Interactive (who are affiliated with these guys) their are fewer blimp pilots than space-shuttle pilots.

Obviously not the most popular career in the books, but then again, training to become an astronaut, despite all its glory, must be an expensive pain in the ass (the majority of the expense coming from a hefty-education; anything less than A's, and you're not allowed to fly jets in the airforce. Imagine what it must be like for space shuttle pilots).

Anyway, back to blimps. (These guys have the right idea.)

Firstly, according to Fujifilm (yes, more blimps exist than the Goodyear blimp), you need a commercial pilots license. Then the company (Goodyear, Fujifilm, whomever) teach you to fly the blimp. Wait? No blimp license? 'Fraid so, just a commercial pilots license.

Go to the company, ask around, and apply.

Alas, I cannot speak in such brevity, and therefore I'll tell you how to obtain a commercial pilots license (hell, even Tom Cruise has one, curse his talentless Scientological soul).

To get a private pilots license (detailed list here, which I'm basically just going to repeat for you:

1) Get a medical check by an FAA approved doctor
2) Pass a bunch of tests (medical, oral, history, command of English lanuage, etc.)
3) Log flight hours (night, cross-country, solo, etc.)

This will take a lot of time, and cost a hefty amount ($15-20 an hour on average). Oh, and on a minor note, you'll need a student license prior to this. Speak with-

actually, you should probably talk to these guys.

Frankly, Jake, there were only 13 blimps in the world at this point a few years ago, and nine of them were in the United States. The largest is actually the Fujifilm blimp mentioned above, but if you were wondering how there could be more shuttle pilots than blimp pilots, now you know.

On the upside, you can buy your own zepplin if you want, for an easy $10,000,000 (ten million) dead presidents.

Note: A blimp is deflateable. A zepplin is a rigid shelled aircraft. Hence why there are so few blimps, not including zepplins. The actual number depends entirely on how picky you are.

So don't be picky. Fly a space shuttle instead. You'll get laid more that way..