Learn to Fly, Private Pilot License Requirements

The Pilot Training Requirements for the Private Pilot License are in other articles I have written. For the purpose of this article I will just give you an idea of what the regulations mean.

Most people will just look at the basic requirements that are the General Private Pilot License requirements. Most flight schools don't explain all of the student pilot requirements and the aeronautical experience requirements.

Also most people don't understand that your instructor has to Sign you off as "competent" in each of these areas.

When you end up switching instructors, your new instructor has to go through everything with you. This adds up to added flights and increased expense. If you didn't choose the right school or instructor ahead of time, this will happen. This does happen a lot in the industry.

Lets start off with the basics and go from there.

The national average for the private pilot rating is somewhere around 65 hours. It changes from year to year. The FAA only requires 40, so why the big difference? There are many reasons for this that I will explain to you through-out this mini course.

As far as the general requirements for the private pilot certificate, you will have to:

1: Be 17 years of age or older.

2: Be able to read, speak and understand the English language

3: Pass a written test on the required aeronautical subjects

4: Meet the minimum requirements of the FAA Regulations

5: Pass a practical test on all the subject areas

This is just a general requirement for you to obtain a Private Pilot License ( certificate) If you notice number 4 is meet the minimum requirements of the FAA regulations. This means you have to meet the requirements of the following Two Areas:
Aeronautical Experience. This is all of your Training In the Airplane
Aeronautical Knowledge. This is the Bookwork Subject areas.

During your flight training you are known as a student pilot. This means that you have regulations that apply to you during your flight training. The term STUDENT PILOT means that you are out there on your own practicing. At each phase of your training you have requirements that need to be met. I have them outlined below:

The Student Pilot Aeronautical Experience Requirements

The Student Pilot Aeronautical Knowledge Requirements

The Student Pilot Pre Solo Cross Country Requirements

The Prerequisites for the Flight Test Requirements

The Private Pilot Aeronautical Experience Requirements

The Private Pilot Aeronautical Knowledge Requirements

Now most of the Schools will just mention the minimum requirements and not all of the student pilot requirements. Most time the student doesn't understand how everything works so of course you are doing extra flights because something was missed.

If you look into this further you will find the following number of requirements
15 Individual Requirements for Student Pilot Aeronautical Experience.

A written test requirement for Student Pilot Solo Flight ( Not the FAA Written Test)

12 Individual Requirements for Student Pilot Solo Cross Country Flight

7 Individual Requirements for the Prerequisites for the Flight Test

12 Individual Requirements for Aeronautical Experience

13 Individual Requirements for Aeronautical Knowledge

The other thing that you need to understand is that the word "Competent" is attached to all of these subject areas. That means that you need to show your instructor that you are competent in these areas before you can get a signature for any one of the 6 sets of requirements.

Now the requirement you probably have seen out there is the general requirement:

40 Hours Total

20 Hours Dual Instruction

10 Hours Solo

Now in other places you may see some added information These are other requirements that are subparts of the above regulation.

3 Hours Instrument

3 Hours Night

5 Hours Solo Cross Country

If you look at this regulation itself it states the following:

(a) For an airplane single-engine rating. Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this section, a person who applies for a private pilot certificate with an airplane category and single-engine class rating must log at least 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training in the areas of operation listed in §61.107(b)(1) of this part, and the training must include at least—

(1) 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a single-engine airplane;

(2) Except as provided in §61.110 of this part, 3 hours of night flight training in a single-engine airplane that includes— ( SMALL ISLANDS AND ALASKA)

(i) One cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance; and
(ii) 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport.

(3) 3 hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments, including straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to a heading, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, radio communications, and the use of navigation systems/facilities and radar services appropriate to instrument flight;

(4) 3 hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test in a single-engine airplane, which must have been performed within 60 days preceding the date of the test; and

(5) 10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane, consisting of at least—

(i) 5 hours of solo cross-country time;
(ii) One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at a minimum of three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations; and

(iii) Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.

Many people will get a little flustered at all of this. Like anything new it will seem like a lot at first but once you get going it is not that bad. You will notice that within this regulation it refers to other regulations. These are the ones that I have listed in my requirements section. I have links to them throughout this course..

There is another regulation that is for the Aeronautical Knowledge, this regulation is listed below:

(a) General. A person who is applying for a private pilot certificate must receive and log ground training from an authorized instructor or complete a home-study course on the aeronautical knowledge areas of paragraph (b) of this section that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought.

(b) Aeronautical knowledge areas.

(1) Applicable Federal Aviation Regulations of this chapter that relate to private pilot privileges, limitations, and flight operations;

(2) Accident reporting requirements of the National Transportation Safety Board;

(3) Use of the applicable portions of the “Aeronautical Information Manual” and FAA advisory circulars;

(4) Use of aeronautical charts for VFR navigation using pilotage, dead reckoning, and navigation systems;

(5) Radio communication procedures;

(6) Recognition of critical weather situations from the ground and in flight, windshear avoidance, and the procurement and use of aeronautical weather reports and forecasts;

(7) Safe and efficient operation of aircraft, including collision avoidance, and recognition and avoidance of wake turbulence;

(8) Effects of density altitude on takeoff and climb performance;

(9) Weight and balance computations;

(10) Principles of aerodynamics, powerplants, and aircraft systems;

(11) Stall awareness, spin entry, spins, and spin recovery techniques for the airplane and glider category ratings;

(12) Aeronautical decision making and judgment; and

(13) Preflight action that includes—

(i) How to obtain information on runway lengths at airports of intended use, data on takeoff and landing distances, weather reports and forecasts, and fuel requirements; and
(ii) How to plan for alternatives if the planned flight cannot be completed or delays are encountered

These are the regulations that have to be met the day of your flight test, not all of the student pilot regulations. I have all of the student pilot regulations in the regulations section of this site. I have them broken down into 3 parts:

The individual regulations for the student pilot Pre-Solo and Post-Solo are explained in the next lesson.. One thing that people don't understand is the fact that if you are at a school that is going through instructors left and right, the instructor who signs your logbook for solo, solo cross countries or you private pilot flight test has to go through everything with you before he/she can sign you off. If you end up with six instructors ( I have seen this), You are doing a lot of extra flights.

You may be ready to solo and your instructor leaves. The next instructor has to go through everything with you before they can sign you off. If this happens two or three times ( yes it happens all the time) you have added another 10-15 hours to your training. At up to $200 Per hour that can be from $2,000-$3,000.

Tomorrows Installment is Student Pilot Requirements

Hope To See You In the Sky

Airfreddy

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