Private Pilot License from Start to Finish

The whole process of learning to fly

When you first embark on learning to fly you can easily get overwhelmed as there seems to be so much to take in, remember and practice. It doesn’t seem to matter how sharp you are on the ground, it never ceases to amaze how your brain freezes once you get into the air. To give you a taste of what you might expect, I’ve provided you with a breakdown below of some of the main sections you will encounter and go through in your Private Pilot training.

Choice Of Flying School

Right! Have you decided what kind of Private Pilot License you want? Yes – Good then carry on reading. If you haven’t then go and visit the Which Private Pilots License article here, read that and then come back.

Now we have got that little part out of the way, you need to consider how you’re going to fit learning to fly around the rest of your life.
For most, it takes about a year to get a PPL and the majority of people try to fly twice a week. Personally it took me just under 2 years from starting to finally getting my licence. Most of which unfortunately I put down to the good old British weather and lack of flying days. Anyway moving on, even if you have no prior knowledge of flying whatsoever, most if not all flying schools will quickly get you on your way. It’s often a good idea to start by picking three schools near you and going to visit all of them before deciding where to fly. It is important that you talk to your potential instructor as you will be spending quite a bit of time together. On your first visit see how the road journey works out – you’ll likely be making that trip frequently over the next year or so.

Flying schools vary enormously in what they can offer. As I intimated earlier, probably the most important thing is the people. The aircraft and syllabus may all be similar but it’s the people that are going to make or break it. Finding an instructor you like and feel comfortable with makes all the difference. Some schools have the latest aircraft whereas others have older fleets that do the job just fine at a reasonable price. Decide what’s best for you and your budget.

On your visit, assess the atmosphere – some schools are friendly, others firmer and more business-like. If it seems like everything is rushed and unprofessional, look elsewhere. Also talk to other people who may have learned to fly at the schools you’re interested in. After doing all this unless there is an obvious front¬runner, ask for a trial lesson with at least two of them.

I personally fly a flexwing microlight, but had a trial in a 3-axis aircraft first and decided I preferred the flexwing. Interestingly that was before flying through several British winters and freezing my proverbial's off. I currently have a tendency towards giving the 3-axis, with all it’s creature comforts (heating) a try again. But may be not!! the summer is on it’s way, England will win the 2010 World Cup and all will be great again – Anyway the point is, don’t jump at the first opportunity, as tempting as it will be, don’t let the excitement take over. You are going to be spending your hard earned cash and need to make sure your choices are the right ones.

Its Time To Book A Trial Lesson

This is where it all starts and where every pilot begins. Most schools offer a trial lesson. This is when you’ll discover whether the dream of flying you’ve been harboring really does live up to your expectations. The trial lesson is taken in the same aircraft in which you’ll learn to fly and most people are surprised when they get their hands on the controls during this first flight. You will fly out over the local area (and possibly even your house). The instructor will keep you safe but will also allow you to have a go at climbing, descending and turning. A note for budding flexwing microlight pilots – expect to take the back seat on your trial lesson and not have control. Most instructors like to take you up for a 30 or 45 minute flight to see if you like it and then will book you in for a full hour lesson, if you decide to take it up.
See how you get on with the aircraft and more importantly, the instructor. The trial lesson is logged as the first of your 45 hours – it’s then up to you to go on and do more.

Starting Your Training

You’ll probably find the new environment of the cockpit bewildering and depending upon your choice of learning aircraft, a little more cramped/cozy than you expected. Don’t be too concerned that in those first lessons everything will seem to come quickly at you. There is a lot to learn, but don’t let that overwhelm you. Throughout all this you’ll have the excitement and buzz that comes with being up in the air.
Booking your lessons is likely to be done either by phoning the school or using an online system. In the early stages, your instructor will decide if the weather is good enough to go flying and call you if there is to be any cancelled flying days. Eventually you’ll learn what to look for in the weather forecast and this will help you plan which days to book lessons. You may be advised to block book your lessons in advance on the basis that you will only achieve a percentage of them, due to weather. This is of course dependent upon which country you are flying. If you have booked an intensive training course, hopefully you will have done so in an area/country where you can pretty much guarantee good flying weather?

As you go through your training you will have times of pure pleasure and triumphs but then again you’ll also have occasional battles with self-doubt and possibly some fear. Just remember you’re not the first to struggle with landings or to mess up a radio call or even become uncertain of your location and you most definitely will not be the last. You get ups and downs frequently in flying training so staying positive and motivated is essential.

Perhaps one of if not the biggest frustration in learning to fly is the weather. As you can probably sense from this article and a number of others on this web site, the weather and in particular the UK weather has some of the best flying weather, but just nowhere near enough of it. You may have a lesson booked for the weekend or after work one night only to find it’s cancelled and rescheduled. Sometimes even the rescheduled lesson is rescheduled! Even though this may happen and possibly frequently depending upon the time of year, stay positive; as pilots we’ve all been there. Learning to deal with the weather is something you’ll become an expert in!

It may be the studying for the seven written exams that really make you struggle though. This Ground School preparation is the ‘bread and butter’ of your future flying so don’t think of it in terms of learning enough to pass the exams. The more you know off heart, the easier your flying will be. I often tell student pilots that its like learning maths at school. Don’t try to learn ‘Parrot Fashion’ get to understand what it is and why it is and you will be able to tackle any question in an exam. The same is to be said of all the flying topics, the more time you take to understand the subjects the better you will cope. Most flying schools will offer ground instruction for these exams, usually on weekday evenings and there will always be an instructor on hand to support you.

First Solo To Skills Test

Your first solo is a huge milestone in the learning to fly process. On average most people take about 8 to 10 hours of training before they go up alone. This will be very much dependent upon the type of license you are training for and whether your instructor believes you are ready. The first solo will just be for a circuit around the airfield. It doesn’t sound much but you’ll remember this moment for the rest of your life – just ask any pilot. Although this is a huge achievement, the hard work really starts from therein. Every flight from now on will rely more on your new¬found skills.

Shortly after your first solo you’ll fly away from your flying school and make landings at other airfields. During your training you will be taught how to deal with emergencies and make precautionary landings. It’s a daunting prospect at first but fear not as its not as hard you first think. This is because the PPL syllabus is designed so you learn something new or gain another skill on every flight. Much of your progress through the training will depend on how well you consolidate what you have learned in previous lessons. This can take a lot of ‘brain training’ and committing procedures to your memory, so time spent on the ground rehearsing what you’re going to do in the air will make what you learn stick, much easier.

At the end of your flying training you will come to the final hurdle – the PPL Skills Test or GFT (General Flying Test). You’ll fly with a CAA examiner (if in the UK) who will want to see your handling of the aircraft plus a navigational exercise. Often times the CAA examiner is likely to be the Chief Flying Officer (CFO) at your flying school.

Airman-ship

As you study hard and practice to develop those handling skills you should also pay as much if not more attention to your attitude to flying and your thought processes.

This ‘airman-ship’ is difficult to teach but you can learn by observing your instructor and seeing how they behave and perform. You know bad drivers when you see one, they cut you up, they undertake on a motorway, they basically have no care or respect for anyone else. You cannot afford to have this kind of mental attitude in flying. If you do, you will end up injured, injuring someone else or even worse being killed.
Airman-ship covers a whole range of desirable behaviors and is a measure of a pilot’s awareness of their aircraft, the surrounding environment (including other aircraft in the same airspace) and finally, an appreciation of your own capabilities. It’s equally about how you make decisions, learn from mistakes and think about others.

Too often airman-ship is left by the wayside in favor of teaching pure aircraft handling but you should make it equally important.
I strongly suggest that you read up on this subject as much as you can – you should be as proud of your ability to fly as you are of your airman-ship.

The PPL Ground School Training

THE PPL GROUND SCHOOL

So at very long last you have decided that you want to learn to fly…but then you are told that all the ground school exams must be passed before you can obtain your very own Private Pilots Licence.
SCHOOL! GROUND SCHOOL!! EXAMS!!!
Well in those great immortal words of Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army – “DON’T PANIC!”
There are in fact 7 ground school exams required for the JAR PPL that you must study for and pass. Then there is a final practical flying test commonly referred to as the GFT (General Flying Test) that you take, which marks the end of your PPL training.
These exams are not as daunting as they first appear. In fact it is often said that anyone who can pass a driving test should have nothing to fear. Having said that, there is some hard work to put in and there are a number of fairly in depth subjects to get to understand, most of which are likely to be somewhat new to you.
I have known of students from as young as 14 to 70 years embark on the PPL training and even heard of students that left school with little or no qualifications whatsoever at all and all have passed and gone on to become good pilots.
It is worth noting that there are a number of ways in which you can study for your private pilots licence ground school exams. Also a side note that should you pass the JAR PPL exams and go on to obtain an NPPL licence, then the JAR PPL exams would still remain valid for you and you could opt to upgrade your licence at a later date.

Self Study

When it comes to going the self study route, you will likely find that there are numerous books and study material on all of the various ground school subjects. These include the very popular ‘Air Pilot’s Manual Series’ by Trevor Thom; the ‘AFE PPL Course Series’ by Jeremy Pratt and the ‘Skills For Pilots Ground Training Series’ that is published by Oxford Aviation Training.

Each one of these covers all you need to know to pass your ground school exams and get a really good and firm understanding of the subject material. Although they are slightly different in the way that they present the information to the reader, you really cannot go wrong with any of them. However I would advise you to try to have a look at them before you make a purchase and see which you prefer. There are plenty of events or shops such as AFE or Transair, where you can generally go and have a look before you buy. Equally you may find that your instructor has a copy and/or preferred set, which you could peruse.
If the thought of reading all of this information from text books fills you with terror or at least little excitement, you can always consider the various DVD or CD-Roms available from companies like Oxford Aviation Training, who have their Academy series that covers all aspects of the PPL syllabus and beyond.

Intensive Ground School Course.

An alternative to the self study, self paced route is that of an intensive ground school course. These can be either day schools or even intensive residential courses. Often times students are lured away to the sunnier climates of say Florida, where they can incorporate ground school study with almost endless hours of flyable weather. This is really an option for those who want to study and pass the PPL in as short a time as possible. Perhaps you have a desire to go further and embark on a flying career and do an ATPL or CPL.
Equally some student pilots opt for an intensive ground school training course in their own country in order to get the theory out of the way and then undertake an intensive practical course in somewhere like Florida for example.
Lastly many flying schools have a instructors or an instructor that will likely run regular evening classes to cover the ground school exam subjects. This can be a great way of studying with other students, making friends and sharing a common goal.

There Are Some Deadlines

Yes unfortunately there are some deadlines to be considered. You cannot take an eternity to obtain your licence. Well I suppose you could if you keep having to re-sit you exams and this is the very point I am about to make.
When it comes to taking the written PPL exams, there are 7 to be completed before you can obtain that illustrious PPL Licence. Once you have passed the first of these exams, the clock starts ticking and you have 18 months in which you must pass all of the remaining written exams.
I, unfortunately was caught by this rule myself. Flying in the UK can be frustrating at the best of times due to our wonderful weather and where I fly in the North West of England, we can often have all 4 seasons in 1 day, albeit the seasons are much less seasonal these days thanks to global warming (or cooling). Anyway I ended up having to take Air Law again, just after completing my last exam, which I believe was Navigation.
So if the 18 month deadline goes by and you have not passed all the exams, the oldest exam or the first one you took will have to be retaken. Equally you may have to retake more than one if there is 18 months between them. So be warned.
Finally once you have passed all the exams, you have a further 24 months to have your licence issued, otherwise you will have to re-sit all the exams again.
You may ask why anyone would wait 24 months to apply for their licence after having gone through all that study. Well believe you me, it does happen for a number of reasons. Those who embark on intensive ground school courses, may find that they take much longer than anticipated to adapt to the practical aspects of flying and time flies when you’re having fun as the saying goes.
All of the PPL exams are multiple choice and require a 75% pass mark. The only exceptions to this being the radio practical and the GFT (General Flying Test) which are either a pass or fail. PPL exam Pro has been developed to help student pilots gain an unfair advantage in the written exams, go and take a look for yourself.

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