Getting Your Private Pilot License

In order to earn your private pilots license, you'll need to fullfill the following requirments:

1) Be at least 17 years old.
2) Be able to read, write, speak and understand the English language.
3) Receive an endorsement in your logbook from a Certified Flight Instructor indicating your readiness to take the written exam.
4) Pass an 80 question knowledge exam.
5) Complete at least 40 hours of flight training. 20 hours must be with a certified flight instructor and at least 10 must be solo flight time.
6) Successfully passed both the practical and oral portion of the checkride with a Designated FAA examiner.

There are other specific requirements within your 40 hours of flight time that require cross-country flight, take off's and landing at a controlled airport, night flights and more. Your CFI will cover those items for you.

Once you've completed all of the above, you'll get that wonderful handshake and be one of the few people who can call themselves a "licensed private pilot."

The first of your training is to acquire the knowledge you'll need to do the actual flying of the aircraft. This is done in ground school. This can consist of online studies, videos or even classroom time at any of the aircraft schools . You do not need to sign up for an actual course. As a matter of fact, I've actually run across the entire King School's DVD's at my local library. That will really help keep the costs down.

Ground school training will cover weather, aeronautical principles, navigation, communications and more. If you're not learning this with a physical instructor, there are places online you can go to get your questions answered.

Flight Training - Believe it or not, you'll most likely do the majority of the flying the first time you hop in an airplane, so make sure you bring your pilots logbook. As you spend time flying, you're going to learn a lot of stuff all at once. Communicating with the air traffic controllers or the other pilots in the vicinity of the airport, steep turns, stalls, navigation, and even emergency procedures. By far, the most time will be spent learning how to safely land the airplane. There's a joke among pilots that says "It only took me 3 hours to learn how to fly an airplane and 53 hours to learn how to land one."

Once your CFI is confident you can safely pilot the aircraft on your own, you'll have the opportunity to cross a major threshold... the solo! This will usually happen after about 15-20 hours of flight time. Just remember, if your CFI thinks you can do it, you probably can. They've been through this many times before (most likely). Don't be nervous, just keep doing what you did when he was in the airplane with you.

Once you've been signed off to solo, you'll be allowed to take out the airplane on your own and practice your maneuvers. This is very exciting and a little scary at the same time. All of this work is to prepare you for your solo cross-country flights. Don't worry, none of this will come before your CFI is confident you've got the ability. They're in no rush and neither should you be. Enjoy your time learning, remember, it's about the flying, not just the completing.

At some point after you've completed all of the specific flight requirements, your CFI will sign you off to take your checkride with Designated Examiner (DE). No get nervous about this. Again, your CFI won't sign you off until they're confident you can do it. They're graded by how well you do during this.

The first portion of your checkride will be an oral exam. This is when you sit down with the examiner and they have a casual conversation with you about all the rules and principles you've learned up to this point. Don't stress about this and don't try to fool the examiner. Also, don't try to impress them with all of your knowledge. Just answer the question and then be quiet. The more you talk, the more you give them a chance for follow up questions.

Once the examiner feels you've shown yourself to be competent, you'll move out to the aircraft and start the practical portion of the exam. This is where you'll be required to show your ability to maneuver and control the aircraft. You'll have to do all this within the limits of the PTS or Practical Test Standards. Don't worry, you'll be going over the PTS with your CFI many times before you do it with your examiner.

Once you've successfully completed this, your examiner will reach out his or her hand and congratulate you on becoming one of the few people who can call themselves a licensed private pilot. It's an amazing accomplishment you'll never forget. At this point you'll be able to take non-paying passangers with you and share the joy of flight with your friends and family.

Remember, having your private pilot license is simple a "license to learn" and not an indication that you now know everything you need to know. Throughout your time as a pilot, you'll continue to experience new situations and learn from them.

There's never been a better time to earn your private pilots license. Head over to one of your local flight schools and sign up for your first lesson. You won't regret it.

Once you have your private pilots license, one of the most important, fun and safe things you can do is move on to your instrument flight training. Having your instrument rating will open up the world aviation even further than you imagined. No longer will you be grounded when the weather gets bad. Instrument flight time will also make you a much more profienct and safe pilot. The National Transportation Safety Board has proven time again, you increase your level of safety when you complete your instrument rating.