The
requirements for earning your private pilot certificate
may seem overwhelming at first but become simple to
understand and master when looked at as pieces which
neatly fit together. Also, remember that you will be
guided each step of the way by a FAA certified flight
instructor.
First, you have to
be at least 16 years old to solo, and at least 17 to
receive a private pilot certificate. You must be
healthy enough to pass a simple medical
examination. At some time before you take your final
flight exam you must pass the Private Pilot Knowledge
Test, given at designated computer testing centers in
the area. Scores from the knowledge test are valid for 24
months; if more time passes before you are ready for your
flight test, you will have to take it again.
The FAA offers a
combined medical certificate and student pilot
certificate; you must have it to solo, but you can start
your training without it. For a student or private pilot,
only a Third Class Medical Certificate is required. It is
good for 24 months if you are older than forty years old
and good for 36 months if you are forty or younger when
it is issued to you. Many students solo after about 10 to
20 hours of flight training, so don't wait too long
before making an appointment with a doctor designated by
the FAA as an Aviation Medical Examiner in the area. You
don't want to drag your feet and spend money on training,
only to discover that something disqualifies you from
receiving the medical certificate.
To earn a private
pilot certificate, you will fly a minimum of 40 hours
in training, including at least 10 hours of solo flight
time. These are minimum figures; in reality, most
students have somewhere in the vicinity of 55 to 65 hours
at the completion of their training. Early flight lessons
usually run about an hour and are dedicated to
familiarizing you with basic aircraft control. Next, you
will explore the airplane's handling in other realms of
flight, such as the slow-speed range (which a pilot
experiences on every flight, during takeoff runs and
landing approaches) and at steeper angles of bank (an
airplane is banked; a wing is lowered to make a turn; the
steeper the bank angle, the quicker the rate of turn).
You will explore flight in different aircraft
configurations such as when wing flaps are extended.
Flaps allow airplanes to fly at lower speeds; they can
also be used to give a steeper approach angle during
landing. Since normal landings are made at the lowest
safe airspeeds, flaps are usually employed during the
landing approach. The next phase will be learning to
maneuver the aircraft with reference to objects on the
ground; this teaches you how the aircraft's speed over
the ground is affected by flying into the wind, downwind,
at an angle to the prevailing flow, and how the pilot
must adjust his or her course to maintain the desired
"track," or direction of flight.
Once you are
familiar with these basic ideas and have mastered them in
the airplane, it is on to practicing takeoffs and
landings and airport traffic-pattern operations, where
all of the skills recently learned come into play. After
several hours of practice, your landings will usually
take on a consistently acceptable quality. And when that
happens, the first solo is not far down the road. That
solo flight is one of flying's magic moments; no matter
how far you go in aviation, that golden occasion when you
rose from the runway for the first time, alone with your
aircraft, will remain one of your brightest
memories.
Now that you are
soloing in the local area, dual flights with your
instructor will enter a new phase: point-to-point flying
in the air traffic control system, known as cross-country
training when the flight exceeds 50 nautical miles. With
your instructor, you will begin to plan, and fly,
cross-countries in preparation for doing at least five
hours of cross-country solo flying en route to
earning your private pilot ticket. During this new
chapter, you will use aeronautical charts and your
aircraft's performance manuals to plan your flights, thus
applying your ground-school knowledge of aircraft
systems, aviation weather, navigation, and the air
traffic system. The cross-country phase also provides
tremendous opportunities for you to grow as a pilot, as
your instructor challenges you to continually assess the
progress of your flight, make in-flight command
decisions, and communicate over the aircraft's
radio.
Night flying,
including at least three hours of flight time, one flight
of at least 100 miles total distance, and 10 takeoffs and
landings, is also part of the training program.
Another training requirement is learning how to keep the
aircraft under control solely by reference to its flight
instruments as an emergency-only method of handling an
unexpected encounter with clouds. The rules mandate
that at least three hours of instrument work be included
in your training.
As you close in on
the required flight-time minimums for each of the various
required flight operations, it is time to focus on your
upcoming flight examination, which is a combined oral and
flight test. During the "test prep" phase, you will put
it all together. Among the training books you acquired
when you began was a small booklet titled Practical Test
Standards (PTS). This is the rulebook for the flight test
that explains how to prepare and what to bring and
defines the knowledge requirements and performance
standards for every item on the test. As you practice in
solo sessions and with your instructor, there should be
no doubt as to whether your performance is acceptable; if
it meets PTS standards, you will pass the
test.
Using the practical
test checklist provided in the rear of the PTS booklet,
you and your instructor will also spend some time in the
classroom putting the finishing touches on your
flight-planning skills and your knowledge of aircraft
systems, aerodynamics, regulations, weather; all the
things you have been studying. Armed with a written
recommendation from your flight instructor, you are ready
for your flight test, or checkride, as pilots call it,
during which you demonstrate your knowledge and skill to
an FAA examiner.
Arriving back at
Green Castle after successfully completing your check
ride, you will step out of the aircraft as a private
pilot; a member of a rather elite group who have mastered
the freedom of flight!
