Introduction to Aviation

Back to "Private Pilot Aeronautical Knowledge"

Welcome to the world of aviation. Aviation can be an addiction for many people. For others, it may just be a life bucket goal to solo or get a pilots certificate, and then they never fly again. It is my personal opinion that aviation is one of the best hobbies to have. There are almost endless possibilities with a million places to see. There are of course, some downsides to aviation. One is that it is a very expensive hobby and another is that mistakes can be deadly. Not to sound too scary, but some will say, if you are in aviation long enough, you’ll know someone who died in an airplane crash. One saying I like when it comes to learning to fly is “You start out with a luck bucket and a skill bucket. At first, the skill bucket is completely empty. Your goal is to learn to fly and fill your skill bucket before your luck bucket runs out”.

Aviation Adventures

How would you like to be able to fly from Texas to Colorado for a day on some ski slopes? How would you like to be able to take some friends to a popular barbeque place 200 miles away for lunch? How would you like to take a romantic hot air balloon ride? How would you like to visit friends several states over for a weekend, without spending the entire time off work driving and being restricted to airline schedules?

Those are several questions that come to mind when I think of the fun side of aviation. You can get the necessary training and become certificated to fly many different types of aircraft, and open yourself up to a world of opportunities both on the personal level and professional level.

Acronym Use in Aviation

Brief Introduction to FAA Regulations

This is not much of an introduction, but more of a “keep in mind as you learn the regulations”. While learning the regulations, you might say “this is a dumb regulation, why should I follow it”, the following may help shed some light on where some regulations came from. As I mentioned earlier, aviation can be dangerous and some say that Federal Aviation Regulations are written in blood. Insurance companies have also driven some regulation changes. Several regulations come to be because a pilot or mechanic somewhere once made a mistake, which cost many lives. The FAA may have realized that many pilots are making the same mistake, and the FAA decides to make a solution, which becomes a new law. Experience requirements for several FAA pilot certificates used to require a certain amount of solo flight time, and for higher-level certificates, that meant a more complex aircraft must be used. Some of those requirements were changed and now certain certificate requirements state that a Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) may be on board, but the pilot trying to gain the required experience must be performing all duties of the pilot in command. An example of this is the long distance solo cross-country flight for the commercial pilot certificate. This is an example of insurance companies writing the regulation. This regulation was driven by the difficulty pilots had in attaining the insurance required to gain this experience; especially for something like a multi-engine aircraft.

The path to getting a pilot certificate

The real reason you are probably reading this, is you have a great desire (or at least a little curiosity) about obtaining a pilots certificate. Learning to fly can be one of the most enjoyable things to do with your spare time and can be a very rewarding career. It might be easiest to just go to a local airport and ask to talk to a local flight instructor. However, it is always smart to do some research first, so that you know what to ask, or what to look for.

There are several things to consider before diving into your flight training. First, Consider your aviation goals. Do you want to just fly for fun locally? Do you want to fly professionally? Do you want to fly yourself around for business travel? Decide what type of training you wish to do. These questions might lead you to decide what type of certificate to get. The certificates to choose from are: Sport Pilot, Recreational Pilot, and Private Pilot. My opinion is to go for the Private Pilot, because it is not all that much work than the others, and it is less restrictive. The differences in these certificates will be covered in more detail later.

To fly professionally, most airlines prefer you have a degree in something. Having a college degree will make you more competitive as most other pilots wishing to fly professionally will. Most airlines do not care what your degree is in, as long as you have one.

There are two main types of pilot schools. “Part 61 Training” and “Part 141 Training” are the two sets of regulations to get certificated under. These parts are sections of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Both types of training will get you to the same place. Airlines do not care which type of training you receive. The main difference is how they are structured and minimum flight time to be eligible for a pilot certificate.

Part 61 is a more casual come and go whenever you and your instructor’s schedules mesh. You need a minimum 40 hours flight time for Private Pilot and minimum 250 hours flight time for Commercial Pilot. Part 61 offers flexible training and allows you option of doing home study type programs for ground school knowledge.

Part 141 is a structured training program, sometimes with a community college, with standardized training syllabus approved by the FAA. You need to do formal ground instruction in classroom environment. This will essentially be a college degree type program. You need a minimum 35 hours flight time for Private Pilot and a minimum 190 hours flight time for Commercial Pilot.

Looking at some key differences above, keep in mind the average flight time to obtain a private pilot certificate is about 55 hours. Therefore, neither part is necessarily better than the other for the private pilot certificate. The key difference is the flight time for the commercial certificate. If flying professionally is your goal, being able to gain your certificates in as little flight time as possible may be worthwhile. Keep in mind that airlines require a lot more flight time than 190. Most pilots intending to fly for an airline will become a certificated flight instructor (CFI) and give flight instruction to build the minimum required airline time. A commercial pilots certificate is a requirement to become a CFI.

Once you determine your goals and type of training you would like, find a local flight school and meet with their instructors and talk to them about the type of aircraft they offer and what their rates are. When considering getting a private pilots license, it is a good idea to make sure you can afford to finish before you start, and be able to fly at least once or twice a week for an hour each time at the bare minimum. If you start and stop, or only fly once a month, you’ll end up spending half of each lesson relearning the previous lesson.

Take a “Discovery Flight” or “Introductory Lesson” from your chosen school. This might include a flight to a near by airport. The instructor will let you have the controls and show you the fundamentals such as “Straight and Level Flight”, “Turns”, “Climbs” and “Descents”. This might last about an hour long and should give you a good idea if you will really like it or not. This will also allow you to tell if you will get along with your instructor. The idea of a discovery flight is to show you what you can potentially do later. This isn’t meant to show you every possible emergency scenario that isn’t likely to happen, or to bore you with complicated procedures that might overwhelm and intimidate you. Most importantly, enjoy your discovery flight and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Before you begin training, you should consider the minimum student pilot requirements. You can begin pilot training at just about any age with a certificated flight instructor, however you must be at least 16 years old to be eligible for a student pilot certificate (You must have a Student Pilot Certificate before you are allowed to fly solo) and you must be able to read, speak, write and understand the English language.

In order to fly an airplane as a solo student, or as a pilot in command once certificated, you must maintain an FAA medical certificate. This is the FAA’s way of determining if you are fit to fly. It is recommended to get FAA medical certificate as soon as possible to avoid potentially wasting money on flight training to find out you have a disqualifying medical condition. As a student pilot, your medical certificate is your student pilot certificate. To get an FAA medical certificate, you must visit an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) to get a “flight physical”. One thing to keep in mind is, you are allowed to fly a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) with out a medical certificate. Your drivers license is proof enough that you are physically fit enough to fly LSA. You should know you are going to pass the physical, before you go. Once the medical examiner has your application, there are only three possible outcomes; Approved, Denied, or Deferred. A denial will revoke any possibility of flying LSA without a medical. A denial will come from a disqualifying medical condition, such as bipolar disorder. A deferral will come if the examiner sees something that might be bad and requires additional medical testing. Sometimes a special issuance will be necessary and you will be given a Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA). If you have trouble hearing, or have trouble with the color vision test, but can demonstrate you can operate an airplane safely, and can identify light gun signals from a control tower, they can issue the SODA. If you have any doubts about your ability to obtain a medical certificate, you can try to have a consultation with an AME (do not fill out an application for this!) and discuss certain issues. There are also many great pilot forums, which allow you to post anonymous and get answers from very good AME’s. One such forum is Pilots of America (www.pilotsofamerica.com).

There are three types of medical certificates. First Class, Second Class, and Third Class. Third class is the minimum certificate required for a private pilot. A private pilot is required to have at least a third class medical. In order for a commercial pilot to exercise commercial pilot privileges, they must have at least a second class medical. An Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) is required to have a first class medical to exercise ATP privileges.

The length of time a medical certificate is valid depends on the class and age of pilot. First class medicals do not last as long as third class. See Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 61.23 for more information regarding medical certificates. When the time for a first class medical expires, it reverts to a second class medical. When a second-class medical expires, it reverts to a third class medical. Under the age of 40, third class medicals last till the 60th month after the date of examination shown on certificate. Over of age of 40, third class medicals last until the 24th month after the date of examination shown on certificate.

Once you have taken a discovery flight (and decided this is what you want to do, and with the right school), gotten your medical and student pilot certificate, continue on with your training! Make sure to speak with the flight school and determine what type of insurance they have, if you are covered as a student, and if you need to purchase your own renter insurance policy. Make sure to do this especially before solo flight. Up until this point, your instructor is the pilot in command and is liable. They are still liable after and while you solo, but in different aspects.

Aircraft you can fly after you get your pilot certificate

Once you obtain your pilots certificate, you might ask, what aircraft can I fly? Your pilots certificate will have a category and class of aircraft on it. Category and Class Ratings are placed on a pilot certificate (other than student pilot) when an applicant satisfactorily accomplishes the training and certification requirements for the rating sought.

• Airplane
• Rotorcraft
• Glider
• Lighter-than-air
• Powered-Lift
• Powered Parachute
• Weight-shift-control aircraft

Most of those categories break down further into classes. I will only go into Airplane and Rotorcraft classes here, but more can be found in 14 C.F.R Part 61.5.

• Single-Engine Land
• Multi-Engine Land
• Single-Engine Sea
• Multi-Engine Sea

Rotorcraft Class Ratings are:

• Helicopter
• Gryoplane

If you are training in a Cessna 172 or Piper Warrior (both popular trainer single engine airplanes), take your private pilot check ride in one of those and pass, you will get a “Private Pilot Certificate” with “Airplane Single-Engine Land” Category and class ratings. This means that you are rated for any airplane that is single engine and is meant for land use. One thing to keep in mind is that, some airplanes require additional endorsements to operate as pilot in command, but that is different than being “rated” in the aircraft. You may need a “complex endorsement” or “high performance endorsement” to operate an airplane with retractable landing gear, or more than 200 HP (these endorsements will be discussed more in a later section) as pilot in command.

When you are done your training, and perhaps you move to a new area and find a new flight school or rental place, you may need to switch airplanes. If all of your experience was in a Cessna 172, and the school only has Piper Warriors; that is completely OK. You are equally rated to fly the Piper Warrior, as it is the same category and class as what you are rated for. The rental place will likely require you to get what is called a “checkout” (it is smart to do so, even if it is not required). This is basically a familiarization flight with an instructor that allows you to get to know the new aircraft systems, and the handling characteristics of the new plane. This also proves to the flight school and their insurance company that you are most likely competent to fly their airplanes and won’t crash. Insurance issues will be discussed in a later section.

Now, as you get to more advanced aircraft, or larger aircraft, you may hear of something called a “type rating” which is also on your pilot certificate with your category and class ratings. A type rating is required for aircraft that weight more than 12,500 pounds or have jet engines. This is basically an aircraft that requires more training than the one you got for a basic private pilots license. These larger more advanced aircraft often have many more complicated aircraft systems to get to know, and are often different from aircraft to aircraft. Each aircraft might have its own type rating such as a Boeing 727, 737, 747, or even a DC-8. This means that, if you have the category, class, and type rating to fly a Boeing 747, you will need to get an additional type rating to fly a DC-8. Variants of these aircraft might fall under the same type rating. Think of the training as something similar to a checkout but is required by the FAA and is for much larger aircraft.