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Private Pilot Certificate |
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The private pilot certificate is a lifetime accomplishment which qualifies you to fly an airplane with or without passengers, day or night, in good weather. This certificate never expires, providing you complete a flight review every 24 months — a two hour review of your knowledge and skills with the flight instructor of your choice. You must be at least 17 years old and possess a current FAA medical certificate.
The course, based on two or three sessions per week, takes about six months.
FAA Requirements
- * Minimum 40 hours (hrs.) total flight time
- The national average is 65 to 75 hrs
- 20 hrs. of dual flight time (with an instructor)
- 3 hrs. of cross-country flight training
- 3 hrs. at night with 10 takeoffs and landings
- 100 nautical mile (nm.) night cross-country flight
- 3 hrs. of instrument training
- 3 hrs. preparing for the FAA checkride
- 10 hrs. of solo flight time (without an instructor)
- 5 hrs. of cross-country flying
- 150 nm. cross-country flight
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Flight Training Sequence:
- Presolo
- Solo (an experience you'll never forget)
- Advanced maneuvers and cross-country flying
- Solo cross-country flight
- Instrument and night flying
- 150 nm. cross-country flight
- Review for the FAA written test
- Review for the FAA checkride
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* Note: FAA time requirements are considerably less than the national average. As a member of the United Nations, the United States must publish those times — grossly inadequate for learning to fly in today's U.S. airspace — as prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). To solve that dilemma, the FAA publishes a practical test standard (PTS) for each certificate and rating, which mandates training to proficiency, not flight time. The national average reflects that requirement.
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