I shifted careers from airline pilot to Flutter mobile app developer & that’s how I did it
I know it sounds weird and might not make any sense to some people to quit a dream job as an airline pilot to be a mobile app developer, However, I had my own reasons which you can read about it here.
This article is an example that there’s no impossible, you can learn anything you wish and master it, even if you have zero background about it, all it takes is patience, will, passion, and never to give up.
Given that I've finished 3 semesters in Faculty of software engineering before I start working as an airline pilot, and also that all my life I've been into computers and software, programming was my second passion after flying.
When I decided to quit my job and shift careers, I couldn’t think of a more fun job than a programmer, full of creativity and thinking, a job that I can do remotely, wherever I’m. I started searching for the most fun and wanted jobs in the field until I decided that mobile development is what I want to do, by then, I didn’t know that flutter exists. A lot of people told me that mobile app development is not easy especially the iOS Development, but given that I’ve had Macbook pro, so I thought to make good use of it by starting to learn iOS Development.
However, I needed first some introduction to programming to refresh my mind and get it ready for more complicated stuff like Swift and Xcode, so I started with some JavaScript basics, variables, functions, and classes.
Udemy.com was my best friend, I bought the JavaScript course with Jonas Schmedtmann which was really useful for beginners, easy to learn with, and full of information. I only finished almost half of the course until one day I was talking with a pilot colleague who has a huge experience with programming and software, I told him my plan and he encouraged me more to start with iOS Development immediately especially that he has been working on a project for airline crew management that he finished its back-end and android app and he was looking for someone to build the iOS app for it, he told me it will be a great opportunity for me to learn with this app.
I agreed and started learning iOS Development, also on Udemy. Thanks to the Amazing Angela Yu and her Complete iOS App Development Bootcamp. After I finished almost half of the course, I started building the app my colleague told me about, I was building and learning at the same time, whenever I get stuck at a task or step, I watch that part from Angela Yu course, or google it and I usually found the answers either on StackOverFlow, Medium or other websites.
I was so proud of how I managed to do all these learning while working a full-time job as an airline pilot.
A couple of months later, I finished my first app, it was so complicated for me as it implemented Firebase Auth & Firebase Cloud messaging.
After finishing my first iOS App with Swift & Xcode, I and my colleague decided to start a tech startup for web and mobile development, and that’s where I discovered and started learning Flutter ( a framework by google for cross-platform mobile app development ). Again I searched Udemy, and I was so happy to find a flutter course by my favorite teacher, Angela Yu. That was when I quit my job, I started learning flutter watching Angela Yu course along with building my first own app with flutter. A Mobile app for pilots and aviation enthusiasts where they can get aviation weather, search world airports with runways and all technical info, navigation aids, and more.
Aviation Nerd, my first mobile app with flutter that took me one month of working full time to finish. The UI was inspired by the onboard flight bag on the Boeing Airliners. However, it didn’t have a fancy UI nor the best performance, but I think it was good for a start.
I kept working on the app and updating it’s content, adding more features and trying to make a better UI, I implemented Google Admob, Google Maps, Firebase Notifications, Firebase Analytics & Crashlytics. I faced a lot of errors and bugs, but after a lot of searches all over the web, I always found solutions or workarounds.
I even created a pro version of Aviation Nerd that is ad-free.
You can check Aviation Nerd here.
At the same time I was working on Aviation Nerd, we got a project for a pet store mobile app, which had a complicated design that was really challenging for me. However, practice is the best way to learn.
A couple of weeks later, The Pilot’s Association in Egypt heard about our tech startup and asked us to build a social community mobile app for them. which was my second mobile app with flutter.
EGALPA, my third flutter app, where I implemented Firebase Auth, Firebase Crashlytics, Firebase Cloud Messaging, and many more major dependencies.
Now, 7 months after I started learning flutter, I’ve finished 3 mobile apps with flutter and 1 app with Swift & Xcode, I decided to make my first flutter tutorial!
Flutter Pinned TabBar with triggered scrolling and page anchors — Slivers
Bottom line is, there’s no impossible, any human being can learn and do anything! with proper education and practice, you can master any skill or profession, you just have to have the will, patience, and never give up.
If you’re thinking to start learning mobile app development, I definitely recommend that you start with flutter, it’s easy, fun, has a lot of tutorials and you will have your app for both iOS & Android with only 1 code!
