Enrol Process to Become Professional Pilot

Summary: Learning to become a pilot is a major decision, requiring a great deal of time and money being invested. This being the case, you’re going to want to ensure that you complete your training in the most cost effective, time efficient way possible, and complete your training knowing that you’ve been trained to be a safe and competent pilot.

Do you have a passion for flying? Are you interested in learning to fly? This article is intended to cover the basics of obtaining a Federal Aviation Administration Private Pilot Certificate with a Single-Engine Land Rating. To earn this certificate, there is a lot of time, dedication, hard work, and passion involved. While there are other certificates available from the FAA, such as the Recreational Pilot Certificate, and the Sport Pilot Certificate, these certificates impose weight, distance, and passenger restrictions. As such, I have decided in this article to focus instead on the Private Pilot Certificate.

A Private Pilot Certificate with a Single-Engine Land Rating, or private pilot license as some refer to it, allows a pilot to fly any single-engine aircraft that will take off from, and land on, the ground. This certificate also grants increased privileges over the lower certifications like the student pilot certificate, recreational pilot certificate or the newer sport pilot certificate.

Requirements

The basic requirements to obtaining a Private Pilot License with a Single-Engine Land Rating are stated in the Code of Federal Regulations, or CFR, 61.103 and are as follows:

• Must be at least 17 years of age
• Read, write, speak and understand English
• Pass an FAA Medical Exam
• Pass an FAA Written Knowledge Test with a score of at least 70
• Obtain at least 40 Hours of logged flight time and aviation training.

Pass an FAA Check Ride / Oral Exam

It should also be noted that in order to earn a Private Pilot Certificate, you will need to start with a Student Pilot Certificate. The requirements of which are stated in CFR 61.83 and are as follows:

• Must be at least 16 years of age
• Read, write, speak and understand English
• Pass an FAA Medical Exam
• Before you can solo you will need to pass a knowledge test.
• The Path to Flight

The normal path to becoming a pilot is as follows:

The most important first step you can take to becoming a pilot is to simply do it. Start flight school near me to get private pilot training today. Too often people put off their dreams, I strongly encourage anyone with a passion to learn how to fly to get started as soon as you can. Taking the first step towards your dreams is the most effective way to achieve them.

Get an FAA Medical Exam

This is a physical that requires certain health requirements to obtain. It is required to obtain your Student Pilot License during private pilot training, and you will have to maintain a current valid FAA Medical Certification as long as you want to be able to fly.

Funding

Make sure you are financially prepared to follow through on the training. Average costs to obtain your cirrus flight training can range between $5,000 to $10,000 and up depending on the flight school, the aircraft being flown, and gas prices. My research suggests the average cost is about $8,000.

Locate a School

Find a good flight school for your private pilot training. There are two basic categories of schools you can go to, part 61 and part 141. Part 61 schools are the schools you will find at your local airport and have easier schedules for training. These generally require a more flight instruction training hours to receive your license. A part 141 school is an institutionalized school or college program accredited by the FAA to train pilots. These programs follow FAA approved training aids and have to meet performance standards and will typically require more time overall to receive your license.

Your authorized instructor will still need to review the course you completed and check you off before you take the exam, but this can be a money saving method that allows you to get started right away towards your goal.

Pick the Plane

Pick the plane you would like to fly, there are many types of single-engine airplanes but most pilots end up training in a Cessna. Once you have you private pilot certificate you can receive training on other airframes and get checked off to fly other makes and models.

Start Training

Start your training with your ground school or home-study course. Read your books, and learn everything you can while studying for your first test. You will also be getting in your first practical flight instruction and learning how to apply what you are learning in ground school during actual flight.

The FAA Written Knowledge Exam

Once you are ready, have a few flights under your belt, and have studied… it is time to take the FAA Written Aeronautical Knowledge Test. You must score a 70 or higher to pass.

Solo Flying

Your solo flight is a “right of passage” into the world of being a pilot. When you are ready, with around 12-20 hours of flight instruction under your belt, your instructor will endorse you to complete your first solo. This is the first real test you will face to find out if you are ready to move forward with your training. During the solo you will rent an aircraft, climb in, and fly it alone. Your first solo typically consists of making three take-offs and three full stop landings while flying the traffic pattern. Once completed you will have proven your new learned skills to yourself and your instructor, it is a great confidence builder.

Cross-Country Flight

The next major step is to complete a cross-country flight. During this flight you will be utilizing all of the information and experience you have gained. It will be a test of your skills and aeronautical knowledge. This flight typically consists of a solo flight to three different points far away from your home airport and your instructor.

The Check-Ride

You have completed several solo flights, your cross-country flights, and you night-time solos and cross-country flights. You have met or exceeded the minimum required 40 hours of flight instruction, and your instructor has recommended you to take the Practical / Oral exam.

You will meet with a FAA Designated Pilot Examiner, or DPE, and after an extensive exam they will judge whether you are worthy of your Private Pilot Certification. During the exam you will be drilled orally on everything you learned. You will then need to prove your skills in the cockpit, and in the air to within certain FAA prescribed limits. Your DPE will provide you with instructions, and you will be expected to perform them unassisted.

The Goal

It has been a long hard journey, but it has also been a very rewarding experience and you have learned much. You have completed your private pilot training, and developed your skills. You prepared for and passed your check-ride and at last, you have the distinction and pride to call yourself a FAA Certified Private Pilot. The sky is yours to explore freely! But there is still much more to do! You can now choose to acquire your instrument rating so you can fly when the weather conditions prevent visual flight rules, you can also go on to seek your multi-engine rating, or even continue your certification path to fly for commercial purposes, or become yourself a Certified Flight Instructor. For you have been challenged and succeeded. For you can now literally reach for the sky’s limit.