|
To obtain a pilot's license, the FAA
Regulations require at least forty hours of flight time. This flight time
is acquired in dual instruction with a certified flight instructor and
solo flight time when you are the only occupant in the aircraft. Ten of
these forty hours must be solo.
Of the ten hours of solo time, five
of these hours must be solo cross country time. To constitute as a cross
country flight, the initial destination must be at least fifty nautical
miles from the departure point.
Included in the curriculum are three
hours of night dual instruction and at least three hours of dual
instruction in preparation for the private pilot check ride. This check
ride is given by a FAA designated examiner and includes an oral test and a
flight check. Upon satisfactory completion of the check ride, the examiner
will issue a pilot's certificate, and you will then be a licensed pilot
able to carry passengers.
A typical private pilot's curriculum
begins, of course, with the first lesson. Initially, you will start with a
preflight briefing with a flight instructor who will tell you what you
will be doing on your first flight, how to visually inspect the interior
and exterior of the aircraft prior to flight, how to perform the engine
startup using checklists, and how to taxi the aircraft to the runway
Your first several flights will be to
the designated practice area five miles east of Lakefront Airport. In
these lessons you will learn the basic handling of the aircraft, how to
fly straight and level, climb, descend, and make shallow and medium bank
turns. You will learn how the airplane feels, how it responds, and how to
control it smoothly.
Having mastered these basics, you
will begin to learn some elementary maneuvers such as slow flight, where
you will explore the speed range of the aircraft. You will learn certain
ground reference maneuvers such as flying rectangular patterns or S-turns
across a road during which you will learn how the wind affects your track
over the ground and what you must do to compensate for wind drift.
At this point, you will have from
four to seven hours of dual instruction and will be ready to enter the
traffic pattern to work on takeoffs and landings. During this phase of
flying you will learn to solo the aircraft and when the instructor decides
you are ready, he will exit the aircraft and you will make your first solo
takeoffs and landings. At this point you will have between eight and
fifteen if teen hours of dual instruction.
Prior to soloing the aircraft, you
must obtain a FAA third class student medical issued by one of several FAA
designated physicians throughout the area. We ask the student to
obtain this medical within the first few hours of training. Every pilot
must also pass a FAA written exam prior to taking his check ride for the
private license. Air Reldan, Inc. uses the Jeppesen private pilot ground
school course, which consists of a manual of flight, a maneuvers manual,
and associated workbooks. A series of three stage tests will be
administered during the course of training to ensure your ground studying
is progressing along with your flight training. These tests are not pass
fail type, but are used mainly to ensure there are no gaps in your ground
training. Any questions missed on the test will be reviewed by a flight
instructor to ensure that you thoroughly understand the subject material.
Prior to soloing you will have taken
the first stage test which covers the first four chapters in the manual of
flight. Once you solo, the next two flight lessons will be supervised solo
where the instructor will fly with you for a few takeoffs and landings to
be sure the wind conditions are suitable for soloing, and you will solo in
the pattern for about an hour, practicing takeoffs and landings. At this
point, you will have about two and a half to three hours of solo time.
When you build to four or five hours of solo time, the instructor will
then check you out in the practice area, reviewing the basic maneuvers you
learned and introducing you to the advanced private maneuvers. He will
check to make sure you can find your way back to the airport, enter the
pattern, and land without any help. During this phase, you will take the
second stage test which covers through chapter eight. You will then be
allowed to make solo flights to the practice area and continue building
solo time working on maneuvers and various types of takeoffs and landings.
You will build to a total of nine hours of solo time and will begin
preparing for the cross country phase.
Your first cross country flight will,
of course, be dual with the instructor. This flight will generally include
three stops; such as from Lakefront to Mobile, to Picayune, and return to
Lakefront, about three hours of flight time. If everything goes well, you
will then repeat this same cross country flight solo. You will also take
the third stage test which covers the last four chapters of the manual of
flight. This test will be followed by two final exams in preparation for
the FAA written test.
Having completed the first solo
cross-country flight, you will make one more solo cross country flight
totaling at least five hours of solo cross country, and a total of ten
hours of solo flight time. By now you will have taken the actual FAA
written test, which requires a minimum passing grade of seventy percent
(there are sixty multiple choice questions on the exam). Having completed
the cross country requirements, you will have three hours of dual night
flight, including at least ten night takeoffs and landings. All that
remains at this point is the final preparation for the check ride you will
fly dual with the instructor as he prepares and fine tunes you for both
the oral and flight light check. Once you pass the private pilot check
ride, you will be a licensed private pilot able to carry passengers.
To Top
|
