FAQ

How Do I Choose An Instructor?

You and your instructor will be spending a lot of time together in a small classroom, so choose a CFI that matches your personality. Different people learn differently, and different instructors teach differently. When the differences between you and your CFI clash, your training will probably not go well.  If you can't understand a prospective CFI's answers to your questions, and the CFI can't reword answers so you do understand, you will likely have similar problems in training. If the two of you can communicate clearly, take an introductory flight lesson to see how you get along in the airplane. In the end, only time will validate your CFI selection. But if your CFI isn't working out, don't be afraid to change.

What Is Ground School?

Flight training is divided into two parts: ground school and flight training. Ground school teaches you the principles, procedures, and regulations you will put into practice in an airplane-how a wing generates lift, how to navigate from one airport to another, and in what kind of weather you can fly. Before you can earn a pilot certificate, you must pass a computerized FAA knowledge test (with a score of at least 70 percent) on this information.  You have several ground school options. You can attend a scheduled classroom course at a flight school, independent ground school, high school, or community college. There are also intense, weekend-long ground schools. Or you can take a home-study course, which is composed of video tapes and may include computerized test preparation software. Regardless of the option you choose, you will need an instructor's endorsement to take the knowledge test.

When Will I Actually Begin Flying?

You will fly on your first lesson, with your CFI's help, of course. With each lesson, your CFI will be helping less, until you won't need any help at all. When you reach this point, you will make your first solo flight, an important milestone in every pilot's training. After you solo, you and your CFI will work on flying cross-country. And when you are ready, you will make several solo cross-country flights, totaling at least 10 hours. When you can consistently demonstrate all of the FAA-required skills, your instructor will recommend you for the FAA checkride.

What's The Checkride Like?

The FAA checkride consists of two parts: an oral quiz, in which the examiner will ask about the knowledge you learned in ground school, and the flight test, in which you will demonstrate the skills you have learned in an aircraft. Don't be intimidated. The examiner isn't out to fail you. He or she just wants to ensure, just as your instructor did, that you are a safe pilot.

What Kinds Of Licenses Are There?

Pilots earn certificates and ratings, not licenses. Student certificates are good for 24 months; the others do not expire (but you need a current medical certificate, which does expire, to use your pilot certificate). Students work toward either a recreational or private certificate. While the training for both is the same, the recreational certificate is designed for fun flying close to home during the day only. Rec pilots don't need or receive the training that private pilots must have for flying at night, cross-country, and at airports requiring communication with air traffic control. Recreational pilots can earn a private pilot certificate when they get training in these areas.  Once you earn a private certificate, you can move up the ladder, if you so desire, to a commercial certificate, which enables you to fly for hire. A flight instructor certificate enables you to teach others to fly, and an airline transport pilot certificate is needed to captain an airliner. You can add a number of ratings to these certificates that let you fly multi-engine airplanes, turbine-powered airplanes, seaplanes, gliders, helicopters, and balloons. You can earn an instrument rating that allows you to fly in clouds and low visibility.

Which Certificate Should I Get?

It depends on why you want to fly. The recreational certificate is a good choice if you plan on spending most of your flying time sticking close to a small suburban or rural airport. If you plan on flying cross-country for pleasure or business, or plan on earning advanced certificates or ratings, the private certificate may be the right choice. But this doesn't mean you can't first earn a recreational certificate, and at a later date receive the additional training for a private certificate.

Can I Carry Passengers?

Student pilots cannot carry passengers when flying solo. Friends or family may ride along on dual lessons (when your instructor is in the plane), but it's a good idea to discuss this with your CFI in advance.

Recreational pilots may carry only one passenger at a time; private pilots may carry as many passengers as the airplane will legally hold without exceeding specified weight limits. While recreational and private pilots may share the expenses of a flight, they may not charge people for flying them someplace. Pilots must have a commercial certificate and fly for an air taxi operation to get paid for transporting people.

WHERE CAN I FLY?

Because CFIs must endorse (approve) their flights, students can basically fly anywhere their instructors say they can. Recreational pilots are limited to a range of 50 nautical miles (yes, aviation uses seafaring terms for distance and, often, speed) from the airport at which they received training, and they cannot fly to or from airports that require talking to an air traffic controller. Of the more than 12,000 airports in the United States, only about 800 have control towers. Private pilots can basically fly anywhere they want, as long as they follow the applicable regulations, such as calling the control tower to request a landing clearance or air traffic control to enter controlled access airspace.

What About A Medical Exam?

Your student pilot certificate is also your medical certificate. This dual-purpose slip of paper is good for 36 months for pilots under age 40 and 24 months for those 40 and older (according to new regulations effective September 16, 1996). You must go to an aviation medical examiner (AME)-an FAA-approved doctor-to get your medical. There are approximately 6,000 AMEs in the United States, and your instructor or flight school can connect you with one. You will need your student/medical certificate before you can fly an airplane solo, but it's often a good idea to get it before you start training, especially if you have a medical condition that may delay its issuance.   The medical exam is not rigorous. It begins with filling out an FAA application/medical history form. Don't omit information when completing this form. The FAA does not look kindly on people who lie, deceive, or don't tell the whole truth-especially when it comes to a conviction for driving under the influence.

The new medical standards say your vision must be at least 20/40 corrected, and you must be able to tell the difference between red and green. You should not have a nose or throat condition that would be aggravated by flying, you must have proper balance, and you must be able to hear a voice at a normal conversational volume at 6 feet. You can't have any mental/neurological problems, such as psychosis, alcoholism, or epilepsy; any unexplained loss of consciousness; any serious medical condition such as heart attack or chronic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, or other debilitating illness.

If you do have a medical problem, it is not necessarily the end of your flying career. Depending on the problem, your medical certificate will be deferred until further testing is done. If you and your AME can prove to the FAA that your condition will not make you unsafe to pilot an airplane, chances are good that you'll get your medical. If you have a condition that automatically disqualifies you, such as chronic alcoholism, history of heart disease, or loss of consciousness, you can still petition the FAA for special issuance of your medical.

How Do I Select A Flight School?

Start by by going to www.aopa.org/flighttraining on the internet.  Find the schools in your area and then call and visit them. Look around and ask an instructor to explain the school's training program. Ask a lot of questions. Ask students how they feel about their training experiences. Are they happy with the school? Have they had scheduling problems with either instructors or airplanes? Remember, you are the customer.

How Do I Choose An Instructor?

You and your instructor will be spending a lot of time together in a small classroom, so choose a CFI that matches your personality. Different people learn differently, and different instructors teach differently. When the differences between you and your CFI clash, your training will probably not go well.  If you can't understand a prospective CFI's answers to your questions, and the CFI can't reword answers so you do understand, you will likely have similar problems in training. If the two of you can communicate clearly, take an introductory flight lesson to see how you get along in the airplane. In the end, only time will validate your CFI selection. But if your CFI isn't working out, don't be afraid to change.

What Is Ground School?

Flight training is divided into two parts: ground school and flight training. Ground school teaches you the principles, procedures, and regulations you will put into practice in an airplane-how a wing generates lift, how to navigate from one airport to another, and in what kind of weather you can fly. Before you can earn a pilot certificate, you must pass a computerized FAA knowledge test (with a score of at least 70 percent) on this information.  You have several ground school options. You can attend a scheduled classroom course at a flight school, independent ground school, high school, or community college. There are also intense, weekend-long ground schools. Or you can take a home-study course, which is composed of video tapes and may include computerized test preparation software. Regardless of the option you choose, you will need an instructor's endorsement to take the knowledge test.

When Will I Actually Begin Flying?

You will fly on your first lesson, with your CFI's help, of course. With each lesson, your CFI will be helping less, until you won't need any help at all. When you reach this point, you will make your first solo flight, an important milestone in every pilot's training. After you solo, you and your CFI will work on flying cross-country. And when you are ready, you will make several solo cross-country flights, totaling at least 10 hours. When you can consistently demonstrate all of the FAA-required skills, your instructor will recommend you for the FAA checkride.

What's The Checkride Like?

The FAA checkride consists of two parts: an oral quiz, in which the examiner will ask about the knowledge you learned in ground school, and the flight test, in which you will demonstrate the skills you have learned in an aircraft. Don't be intimidated. The examiner isn't out to fail you. He or she just wants to ensure, just as your instructor did, that you are a safe pilot.

What Kinds Of Airplanes Can I Fly?

The regulations do not say you have to learn to fly in a particular airplane, but most likely you will use a two- or four-seat airplane with one engine and fixed landing gear. It may have a high wing or a low wing, but where the wing is really doesn't matter.  How fast the airplane goes really isn't important either. At this point your objective is to learn to fly, not go someplace. How far you can fly is important during cross-country training. The airplane's range is determined by how much gas it carries, divided by the amount of gas the engine burns times the airplane's speed. Most training airplanes carry 2 to 4 hours of gas and fly at around 100 mph. You will learn that wind plays an important part in determining range.  You can also learn to fly in a higher-performance airplane that has retractable landing gear and seats four to six people. These aircraft typically carry 4 to 6 hours of gas and fly at 150 to 200 mph. The cost to rent these airplanes per hour can be equal to their speed, so your training dollar may be better spent on a simpler trainer.

Many trainers have just a few communication and navigation radios and all the essential instruments. High-performance airplanes generally have all the latest radios including satellite navigation, advanced instruments, and autopilots. Trainers generally do not have autopilots because you are the one learning to fly-an autopilot already knows how.

Do I Need Special Insurance?

You need to check with your flight school about this. Some schools cover students for liability and damage to airplanes, and some don't. Be sure to ask. If the school does not cover you, a number of inexpensive liability and hull policies are available that are designed for pilots who rent airplanes.

Once I Get My Certificate, What Can I Do With It?

This is a question you should, perhaps, answer before you start learning to fly, because it may have some bearing on the type of training you need. Flying offers a wealth of opportunities from which to choose. First, there is the obvious. You can make local sightseeing flights with friends and family on sunny afternoons, visiting nearby airports and making new friends. You can travel to more distant airports for pleasure or business.   You can also learn aerobatics for fun or competition, build and fly your own airplane, or restore and fly antique/classic aircraft. You can reach out-of-the-way locations by learning to fly floatplanes, airplanes on skis, or tailwheel airplanes, which generally are better suited to rough landing strips.  You can also fly for the good of society. The Civil Air Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary conduct search and rescue operations when called upon to do so, and a growing number of humanitarian flight organizations provide transportation to people in need of noncritical medical treatment (the Air Care Alliance, 800.296.1217, is the umbrella organization for these different groups).

These activities are just a few of flying's possibilities. There are more, and you will learn more about them as you progress in your aviation training and involvement. The important thing is to get started. You have the desire, you have the answers, and you have the phone. Call and schedule that introductory flight you have been dreaming about.