How does one join the Pilots Federation?

IstvaanDCIV

IstvaanDCIV
INB4 "You buy the game".

Something I've wondered about is how, in-universe, the Pilots Federation acquires new members. I've seen it compared to a trade union, a mafia, and a secret society, and each of those kinds of organisations have different requirements for one to join up. So far I've only non-exhaustively read the in-game materials and the wiki, and in so doing I haven't come across an answer to this question. I can think of the following possibilities:

Merit - Is there an Academy where young Cadets seeking a life of independent piloting go to learn the necessary skills, becoming full-fledged members upon graduation? Or is it less involved, merely requiring that one takes a course to become licenced?

Money - Is it like buying an officer's commission in armies during days of yore? Or perhaps, considering how little money we all start out with, acquiring PF membership is contingent on handing over all of one's wealth to start over as a CMDR?

Connections - Is it a question of knowing the right people? Does one need a recommendation from someone already in the PF?

Birth - There's an entire planet populated with retired CMDRs. At least some of them must have started families. Can PF membership be inherited?

Combination - Perhaps more than one of the above methods are valid pathways to PF membership. Given the size of the PF, I wouldn't find it surprising if all them are or have been ways to join at some point in the PF's history.

As I've mentioned I'm not familiar with lore materials outside of ED or the Wiki, so maybe it's a question that's been answered elsewhere. But what do you think? Do you have any fan-theories or headcanon about this question that make sense or otherwise appeal to you?
 

Florenus

Florenus
I think there is no special requirement other than owning a ship, which is probably not all that easy in dystopian world of Elite. Then you just go to local Pilot Federation office and register. With that you gain access to PF resources and contacts, but they are able to track you and keep tabs on your progress. Not to mention probably earn little something for every contract you fulfill thanks to being part of their network.
(I seem to vaguely remember that there was some sort of story presented at the beginning of Elite Dangerous upon registering for the first time - that you, player, were given a ship and PF license that came with it as a inheritance from an uncle after his death?)

Elite Federation of Pilots is next step within PF, where you need to gain Elite ranking within PF.
 
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Mrc_NorthEast

Mrc_NorthEast
In game - I thought it was as soon as you took the first ship training. Once you pass the 'test' you get the free Sidey and your permit for the new players area (not in use anymore) and you became a member of the pilots federation.

Outside of game in the lore I am not aware of anything specific. And since in game that ship training can be skipped (I think) and is therefore optional, not many people probably even get the text from the test instructor. So it might be a birth right thing to become a member of the pilots federation
 

Riverside

Riverside
Raxxla is the friends you made along the way. So I like your idea of a planet of retired Cmdrs having kids ;)

I guess it's like getting a University Degree or at least passing a test that the NPCs have not taken or failed. They can still withstand high-G, earn credits, own & fly ships but they do not have access to the freewinder & bundle of starting credits, nor the insurance & rebuy process we Cmdrs do.
 

aRJay

aRJay
I think the PF own and run the flight academies and administer the licensing, they are the ultimate monopoly.

They even give you your first ship and handle the expensive side of the insurance.

It makes you wonder how much they are getting from our every transaction and if we have numbers for how rich they are.
 

Rakk Jackham

R
aRJay said:
I think the PF own and run the flight academies and administer the licensing, they are the ultimate monopoly.

They even give you your first ship and handle the expensive side of the insurance.

It makes you wonder how much they are getting from our every transaction and if we have numbers for how rich they are.
Click to expand...
but that’s JUST you. You kill 100 people/hour in ResZ’s that aren’t pilots flying around in ships.
 

IstvaanDCIV

IstvaanDCIV
aRJay said:
I think the PF own and run the flight academies and administer the licensing, they are the ultimate monopoly.

They even give you your first ship and handle the expensive side of the insurance.

It makes you wonder how much they are getting from our every transaction and if we have numbers for how rich they are.
Click to expand...

If they are "the ultimate monopoly", then considering the size of the bubble's population, their "cut" need not be all that big for the PF to be fabulously wealthy simply from an interstellar civilisation doing its thing, composed as it is of tens of thousands of inhabited star systems each with, at absolute minimum, thousands of pilots flying in and out of them every day. The scale is astounding if you think about it carefully.

Rakk Jackham said:
but that’s JUST you. You kill 100 people/hour in ResZ’s that aren’t pilots flying around in ships.
Click to expand...

I think Florenus is correct, there are different degrees of involvement in the Pilots Federation for anyone flying a spaceship in the world of Elite Dangerous. In addition to the PF itself and its Elite circle, any pilot outside of the PF and directly employed by governments/corporations may well have been trained by PF personnel or may have accreditation within their organisation that is created or maintained with input from the PF.
 

BDelacroix

BDelacroix
In the original Elite, you were gifted a ship from some benefactor and part of that was becoming a member of the pilot's federation. Details escape me as that was way back in 1984.
 

EdzUp

EdzUp
IIRC it's when you get your wings your added to the PF list, this ID is added to every ship you pilot (maybe there is a card reader or some sort of grip fingerprint scanner on the yoke but who knows).
 

Valorin

Valorin
Membership is free as far as I know, and if you have a CMDR in front of your name, you are a member.
The Pilots' Federation was founded when piracy was getting out of hand back in the golden age of space faring, and the ranking system was put into place to measure a pilot's combat competence (Harmless to Elite). The Pilots' Federation also acted as a neutral faction in conflicts between the Federation and the Empire and otherwise can be seen as something comparable to a union for spaceship pilots/owners.
With time the Pilots' Federation of course grew in influence and the organisation now owns considerable assets and is meddling in things we don't want to know of, or, we do want to know but they won't tell us. :D
 
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