Basic Private Pilot Certificate Requirements

• The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours of flight training for the private pilot certificate. It usually takes about 60 to 70 hours, with the national average being 70 hours. Plan for 60 hours and be pleasantly surprised if it ends up being less.
• You’ll take an FAA written exam, 60 questions.
• At the end of your training, you’ll have a checkride which consists of a flight test and oral exam with a designated FAA examiner

Do Your Research

Earning your pilot certificate is a significant investment, so you’ll need to do some serious research. Start by finding all the general aviation airports within comfortable driving distance. A quick internet search can accomplish that goal. Next, dig around on the internet and find all the flying schools and flying clubs at your nearby airports. You may also want to visit the airports and ask the front desk about flight schools at the airport. There may be a few smaller (but possibly good) organizations that don’t show up on your internet search.  Now it’s time to get into the nitty gritty.

Types Of Flight Schools

There are basically 3 types of flight schools you’ll find out there.

1. Part 141 flight schools
2. Part 61 flight schools
3. Flying clubs that offer part 61 flight instruction

Part 141 flight schools

Part 141 flight schools are a very structured environment regulated by part 141 of the federal aviation regulations and typically move pilots through their training programs very quickly…sometimes a little too quickly. An example of a part 141 flight school is ATP Flight School. Flight schools of this sort often want large amounts of money up front and don’t offer refunds under any circumstances. At schools like this, it’s common for the flight instructors to be interested in building flight time and not so concerned about your well being as an aspiring pilot. In addition, their goal is to move you through the training program quickly, so you may be missing some valuable training experience. You may get your pilot certificates faster, but you’re trading a small time savings for a significant hit in quality of training. These flight schools are often known as puppy farms…large quantity of puppies, not so concerned about quality.

However, there are circumstances for advanced ratings such as the instrument rating that part 141 schools can offer a significant cost savings. Part 141 schools for example, don’t require you to have 50 hours cross country time to complete the instrument rating while part 61 schools do. You can always start with a more flexible part 61 flight school for your private pilot certificate and then switch to a part 141 school for the instrument rating. Just weigh the pros and cons.

Part 61 flight schools

Part 61 flight schools are regulated by part 61 of the federal aviation regulations. The training programs are more flexible, but often times still structured. At part 61 flight schools, you can learn at your own pace and most importantly…pay as you go. These flight schools usually also allow pilots to rent the fleet aircraft so you can spread your wings once you earn your pilot certificate. The quality of instruction is usually very high at part 61 flight schools and the flight instructors are there because they want to be there and they are (usually) genuinely concerned about your well being as an aspiring pilot. It may take a little longer to get your pilot license, but it’ll be at a pace comfortable for you and you’ll get good quality training and the experience you need to be a safe pilot. And, even though it may take a little longer, it’ll probably still be cheaper than the part 141 flight school. The aircraft are usually pretty new (won’t find many planes over 10 years old), and the option to learn in a more advanced glass cockpit is usually available.

Flying Clubs

Flying clubs are usually non-profit organizations and often offer part 61 flight instruction. The flight instructors in flying clubs are either retired from their jobs or still working and flight instruct on the side in the evenings and weekends. You can rest assured that these organizations are not out to get your money. The flight instructors are there because they love flight instructing. You’ll likely get great quality instruction for a very good price at a flying club. If you work a full time job yourself and are learning to fly on the evenings and weekends, this could be a great option for you. Flying clubs generally have low aircraft and instructor rates because they’re non-profit organizations with older aircraft. The aircraft are generally mid-70’s or 80’s models, but are also typically very well kept. It is possible you might save a couple thousand going with a flying club with older aircraft over a part 61 flight school. It’ s an option to consider as long as it meets your needs. This is actually the option I chose to get my private pilot certificate and instrument rating.

Estimating Costs

What you pay for is what you get! If you learn to fly in lat model aircraft with nice glass cockpits, you’ll pay more. If you learn in 70’s model aircraft with steam gauges, you’ll pay less. The rental rate of the aircraft really dominates your total cost. To estimate your total training cost for your private pilot certificate, add the aircraft rental rate to the instructor hourly rate and multiply by 60. This gives you a quick and dirty estimate of your cost for 60 hours of flight training at a given flight school. Of course, there are additional costs such as books, ground school enrollment, etc. Below is a list of all the costs you might incur so you can hunt down prices. It does no good for me to post prices because they vary widely by region.

• Rental rate for the aircraft multiplied by an average training time of 60 hours
• Instructor rate for an average training time of 60 hours (varies widely depending on amount of ground training
• Training materials such as books, CDs, etc
• Ground school course
• FAR/AIM
• VFR charts
• Airport/Facility directory
• Private pilot practical test standards book
• FAA medical exam
• FAA written exam
• FAA practical test
• Flying club initiation fee and insurance
• Flying club dues
• Insurance coverage for solo flight hours

Ground School

All types of flight schools usually offer at least a spring and fall private pilot ground school. Part 141 schools will typically work you through ground school in a matter of weeks while part 61 operations usually spread the ground school over 2 -3 months meeting once or twice a week. Ground school is usually recommended because it will prepare you for the FAA written exam and oral exam in a nice structured classroom environment.

Picking a Flight Instructor

You have every right to be picky when selecting a flight instructor. If you don’t like the one you are assigned or don’t feel a good connection with the one you’ve been working with, don’t be afraid to make a change. It is your money…end of story. Here’s a few things you should look for in a flight instructor, and don’t be afraid to interview them.

• Professional and organized
• Friendly and easy to talk to
• Patient
• Easy to get in touch with (answers the phone, responds promptly to emails, etc)
• Availability fits your schedule
• Detail oriented
• Adapts his/her teaching style to match your needs

It may take you a while to figure out if your instructor has the right qualities and is a good match for you, but don’t be afraid to do something about it if you decide your instructor isn’t a good match. You should also be aware that different instructors have different ideas on how to charge for ground training. Some believe that the minute you walk in the door, it’s time to start charging while others are a little more cautious about what they charge for. A good instructor will only charge you for time spent specifically on training…not including the time you talk about what you did over the weekend. Overall, as long as you’re happy with your flight instructor and you’re moving along in your training, that’s all that matters.

Conclusion

I know this is a ton of information, but it’s worth your time investigating. You’ll be spending quite a bit of money on your flight training and a lot of time with your flight instructor. If you take your time to select the right flight school or club and instructor, you’ll enjoy your flight training journey the way it should be enjoyed. Getting your pilot certificate could be the most fun and rewarding thing you ever do, so enjoy it!

Not keeping your hand on the throttle during all phases of flight except cruise. If you’re just starting your flight training, you’ll save yourself a lot of grief if you just go ahead and accept your default position in the airplane: left hand gently holding the yoke and right hand on the throttle. Your right hand should be on that throttle except for the short time you take it off to adjust your flaps or mixture. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s okay to take your hand off the throttle during cruise when everything’s established and your throttle friction lock is set. Why all the fuss about keeping your hand on the throttle all the time? The throttle likes to back out during climbs, especially just after take off. You could have to make a quick throttle adjustment in the pattern on base. And most importantly, the need may arise for a go-around during a landing. That’s not the time to accidentally try to push in the mixture because you can’t find the throttle.

Inadequate use of rudder. As you’re learning to fly or teaching someone who’s just starting their training. you’ve got to start the habit of good rudder use right away. Even if you’re training in a Cessna 150 where the rudder requirements during climb are almost nonexistent, you must practice the use of rudder. One day you’ll move into a bigger plane and wish you had. If you can habitually force yourself or somehow convince your students to correlate right rudder with climbs and rudder with turns, then you will save yourself so much frustration down the road. For some reason, the right rudder during climb is the one that gets left out the most. If you’re a student, I challenge you to use your right rudder every time you climb and every time you turn, all on your own without your instructor asking. Your instructor will be so impressed he won’t know what to do with himself.

Not paying attention to airspeed. This one mostly affects the new students with less than about 10 hours, but is still a habit to pay special attention to whether you’re a seasoned pilot or a new student. Airspeed is your friend, especially in the traffic pattern. And for every flap and throttle setting, there’s a pitch attitude you should be able to memorize that will give you a specific airspeed. I’m a big fan of just  going ahead and memorizing the Vy climb pitch attitude and the descent to landing pitch attitudes. If you have those memorized and you check your airspeed every now and then, it will keep you alive. What we don’t want is to hear the stall horn going off on the turn from upwind to crosswind or base to final. So, pay special attention to the pitch attitudes that give you your desired airspeeds and you’ll quickly learn to keep that airspeed right on target. One mistake pilots often make is chasing the airspeed indicator. This will cause a yo-yo affect with your pitch attitude as you constantly pitch up and down to chase the airspeed needle. Just set your pitch and average out your airspeed for a nice smooth descent that will be sure to impress any flight instructor. I know 300 hour pilots that still haven’t gotten the hang of that one.

It was a nice toasty 82 degree day in McKinney, Texas on April 19, 2008 with about 35% humidity when I was flying N7929U, a Cessna 150, up to McAlester Oklahoma. Just as I was crossing the Red River at cruise power (practically full power in that bird) at 5000 feet, the RPMs suddenly dropped. The drop was not as gradual as I would imagine for carb ice…and the drop was definitely enough to put me in a decent.  Where was that panic button again? It was really happening to me, not some other person out there.

As I was working through the emergency checks, I also called McKinney tower back at the home airport and reported my position and situation. I was about 12 miles north of Bonham F00 airport at the time. As I was working through my emergency check flow, I came to the carb heat and was hoping that this strange situation was carb ice and that power would be recovered slowly as the ice melts off.

In my racing emergency-mode mind, I’m thinking it’s not too likely to be carb ice because the RPM drop definitely wasn’t gradual, the power was at pretty high RPM for cruise, and  it was 90 degrees with only 30% humidity. The second I pulled on the carb heat, the RPMs jumped back to life, almost full power…no rough running engine, and no gradual RPM increase. Being that the symptoms didn’t match up with carb ice, I headed straight to the nearest airport to make a precautionary landing. Bonham (F00) was the closest airport.

McKinney tower made sure there was someone there to greet me at Bonham airport. As I got closer to the airport, I saw an abundance of fire trucks and police cars waiting patiently for me. I definitely wanted to bust out a nice landing for them since they took the time to come out there. I was definitely relieved to be on the ground safely.

Looking back at the situation I learned that carb ice may not always behave like they say in the text books. You’ve got to be ready for anything. I mean seriously… 82 degree temperature, only 35% humidity, and cruise power…and still carb ice!  At 5000 feet with a 3.5 degree F per 1000 ft temperature lapse rate, the temperature aloft was about 72 degrees F. Apparently, a temperature of around 72 degrees and a little extra moisture while crossing the Red River were just the right ingredients to develop some nasty carb ice.

Something they may not tell you in the aviation books is that for any unexplained loss of RPMs, carb heat should be one of the first things to try. After you do your immediate emergency checks and find your emergency landing destination, it can make your life much easier to let someone know where you are, whether it be the local tower or on the emergency frequency, 121.5. McKinney Tower was extremely helpful…it was so nice to hear their familiar voices on the radio.

Check out this graph that shows when carburetor ice is likely to happen. Some of these conditions may be surprising. For my situation, the temperature was 82 degrees F and the dewpoint was 43 degrees F. According to the graph, that definitely puts me in the icing during glide and cruise category. Had I paid more attention to this graph before that flight, I might have known to expect it and been more prepared. For some reason, I was under the misconception that carb ice only happened at low power settings…wrong.

Carb ice can happen at any temperature any time of the year and at any power setting, so be prepared and be safe.

Flying the chair is simply mentally practicing all the maneuvers required for your checkride until they are flawless and smooth. Then, each time you get in the plane to fly after your chair flying, your maneuvers will be smooth, confident, and you’ll only have to focus on tiny little corrections your instructor may find…if he can find anything wrong. Yes, it is that helpful.

For example, as a commercial student preparing for commercial checkride, you can fly the chair to practice slow flight and maintain your altitude within 50 feet. If the VSI even budges any, you’ll probably bust your altitude. So, even more important that your technique is smooth and your scan of the instruments and outside be perfect. Start your practice by clearing the airspace around your chair with some clearing turns, check the airspace to make sure you’re not too close to any airports or class airspace, set your references (find a mountain to point at or set your heading bug), and get your cockpit set up for the maneuver (cowl flaps, mixture, prop setting, throttle, etc). That’s known as the TARS check: Traffic, Airspace, References, and Setup.

Once you’ve completed your TARS check, you can start the maneuver. This is really when people start making fun of you because you’ve got to get your hands and feet moving. That’s right, don’t forget the rudders. Put your gear down and say your gear operating speed limitation out loud, put your flaps down progressively stating the speed limitations for each flap setting out loud. As you drop the flaps, you know you’re going to have to make pitch adjustments to keep the VSI from budging off of zero, so get the left hand involved in pushing the yoke down as you add flaps. As you think forward, you know you’ll probably need to reduce power to slow down to just above your stall speed, but watch the altitude and don’t forget the carb heat. And as you think further, you know you’ll need to add power as you get closer to stall speed to maintain that altitude. And while you’re in slow flight, walk yourself through a 20 degree bank turn while you’re at it. Think about what you’ll need as you turn…a little rudder perhaps. Include the turn coordinator in your scan and be ready to put in a little power as you work through the turn. Think about where your scan will be…nose, VSI, altimeter, VSI, nose, altimeter, turn coordinator, nose, VSI, altimeter….you get the idea.

If you control your mind long enough to thoroughly fly the chair for your maneuvers, your instructor will be pleasantly surprised and you will be very pleased with the results. As checkride gets closer, go through the entire checkride several times to get it just right in your mind. Then, you’ll know what to expect, you’ll be ahead of the airplane, and you’ll be smooth and confident. Checkride examiners love all those things. And as you chair fly more, you’ll be able to work through your maneuvers quicker to the point where you can do your whole checkride in about 30 minutes max.

Moreover, it’s a really good idea to practice emergency procedures often, not just when you’re approaching a checkride. If your engine does fail, you want your restart procedure to be smooth and efficient with nothing left out. Practice that engine out all the way down to the ground including your securing procedures on final approach. This is one time you don’t want to be stumbling through what to do next. Of course, don’t leave out the checklist…consult your checklist to make sure you’ve done everything correctly.

Yes, my husband most definitely makes fun of me, but I don’t care because it makes me a better, safer, smoother, more confident pilot and that’s all that matters. Give it a try. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

Here I am, the able pilot in command…

No, there were not passengers, that’s me stretching to take the picture. It was a beautiful day for flying. The winds aloft were in my favor on the way down. The Cessna 172SP I was flying cruises at 110 knots, and I was consistently doing 135 to 145 knots nearly the whole way down there. Not so good for the trip home.

I’m a sucker for a beautiful beach coast, and I could feel the excitement building as I approached it. I love Florida.

It took about 2 and a half hours to get down there, thanks to the fantastic tail wind. I paid for it later, don’t worry. Based on the forecast winds aloft and surface winds for the St. Augustine area, I knew it was going to be a fun approach and landing. Since I have a shiny new instrument rating, I had to ask for an ILS approach to runway 31 that took me out over the ocean to join the localizer.

As I flew over the bay, I realized that the winds may be even stronger than forecast…

You don’t even have to look closely to see the folds in the water from the wind! Yikes! I almost felt like I was back in Texas. I’m so glad I learned to fly in Texas where it’s rare to have winds less than 10 knots. Upon checking weather at St. Augustine before descent, I discovered that the winds were 010 degrees at 13 knots gusting 17. Runway 31 was the active runway. Here comes the cross wind landing practice. As I was turned out over the ocean to join the ILS for runway 31, the view was was distractingly beautiful. This is why I fly. Can’t express how much I appreciate it.

Here’s some further evidence of my location at the time…look at that su-weeeeet moving map!

So, I joined the approach and crabbed all the way down to the runway. After applying nearly full rudder, I put the right wheel down softly, held her there for what seemed like forever while the wind gusted, then the left wheel settled down, followed by the nose wheel. Was a great cross wind landing right on the centerline…credit goes straight to Calvin, my instructor from Texas for doing such an awesome job teaching me cross wind landings.

After an awesome Mahi sandwich right there at St. Augustine Airport (yes, that’s how I pick my airports…must have food!), I was off to Valdosta. The bay was beautiful on climbout…

On the way over to Valdosta, I experienced my token “impossible to understand” controller. He told me to “cross 25 southeast at 4000.” I’m used to hearing something like “descend to 4000 at your discretion” or “descend and maintain 4000.” I just wasn’t sure what he wanted…so I had to ask. I hate that becuase I inevitably get attitude. Turns out, as I suspected, he meant that I was supposed to be at 4000 feet when I was 25 NM southeast of valdosta. I just wanted to know if I was authorized to descend immediately or not. The way it was said threw me off. Then, I knew it wasn’t just me when while getting vectors for the GPS 35 at Valdosta, I was barked at with the question “32W, say your cross wind component.” The cross wind was about 25 knots right on my right wing, he he. Then he figured it out and yapped “turn 20 degrees right”…that’s a pretty sizeable correction. So I was getting blown all over God’s creation. You can tell exactly where I transitioned to this controller by where the zig-zags begin in the picture below…

My stay in Valdosta wasn’t very long. I topped off the fuel, filed a flight plan for the final leg, and off I went. While waiting to receive my takeoff clearance at the runway, I spotted a passenger jet taxiing towards me. I knew it would be trouble. Since I was blocking the entrance to the runway, he parked himself at the first taxiway…

I knew I was about to get “reprioritized”. Of course, he got clearance for take-off first, proceeded to taxi onto the runway, backtaxi the 30 feet back to the very end of the 8002 foot runway just to rub it in, and take off. Caution wake turbulance!

Maybe that’ll be me one day taking priority over the peons. I can’t complain. Check out this beautiful sunset on the way back north just before Macon, Georgia. So stinking pretty.

Just after taking this picture, I was asked by the controller, “see those cars down there on the highway, does it bother you that they’re passing you?” He he. I don’t know why he would ask since I was screaming along at 85 knots! That head wind did indeed end up to be pretty stinking aweful. Yeah, slow ride home, but I enjoyed every second.

What a great learning experience. Overall, it was a great flight. I landed at Gainesville at 7:30 for a full, full day of flying (7 hours!). The final landing of the day was good to finish the day off.

Look forward to the next flight!