Recreational Pilot Certificate


A minimum of 30 hours of flight time is required (a minimum of 3 solo and 15 with an instructor—the balance divided between dual instruction and solo practice). During your training you will learn to take off, maneuver, and land under a variety of conditions, how to navigate by pilotage (finger-on-the-map method), and dead-reckoning using map, compass, and watch. You will learn how to communicate with ground stations when communication is optional, but will be prohibited from entering airspace where communication is required (this restriction can be lifted by your instructor by a logbook endorsement after additional training). You will not receive any training in night flight, and in fact will not be allowed to fly at night, and you will not receive any training in electronic navigation or aircraft control by reference to instruments. As a recreational pilot, cross-country flights will be limited to less than 50 nautical miles from the departure airport; this is another restriction that can be removed after you have received additional training to private pilot standards. You and your instructor will take at least one two-hour cross-country flight; no solo cross-country flights are required. Finally, your instructor will devote three hours of flight instruction to prepare you for the practical test with a designated pilot examiner (DPE).


With your recreational pilot certificate in your pocket you will be able to take one passenger at a time for a flight during daylight hours in an airplane with no more than four seats, powered by an engine of 180 horsepower or less with fixed landing gear. As stated above, without additional training you will not be able to fly more than 50 miles from the departure airport or fly into airspace where radio communication is required. But you will be carrying that passenger while your private-pilot-in-training counterpart is still accumulating cross-country hours, unable to carry passengers at all.


Private Pilot Certificate


A minimum of 40 hours of flight time is required (10 solo and a minimum of 20 with an instructor); the national average is closer to 70 hours because of the additional training required to assimilate all of the complexities that have developed since the 40 hour figure was set decades ago. You will learn to take off, maneuver, and land just as the recreational pilot does; “stick and rudder” skills are not dependent on the type of certificate you hold. You will learn electronic navigation in addition to pilotage, you will learn to communicate with air traffic controllers both enroute and at tower-controlled airports, and you will learn how a pilot sees the difference between night and day. Your instructor will also give you three hours of instruction on how to control the airplane solely by reference to the flight instruments (without reference to the outside world) in case you inadvertently fly into poor visibility conditions. Note: This training is to be used to escape from those conditions—it does not make you an instrument pilot.


You will log at least three hours of training to fly cross-country (which for purposes of certification is any flight with a landing at an airport more than 50 nautical miles from the departure airport), including one night flight of at least 100 nautical miles in preparation for your solo cross-country flight time. (Pilots learning to fly in Alaska, where the sun doesn’t set for months at a time, have special regulatory provisions for night flight).


After your instructor endorses your student pilot certificate for solo cross-country, you will log at least five hours of cross-country flying including one trip of 150 nautical miles. Finally, your instructor will devote three hours of training in preparation for the practical test.


With your Private Pilot, Airplane, Single-Engine Land (or Sea) certificate in your pocket, you will be able to carry passengers day and night in good weather in a single-engine airplane. The certificate itself is good forever—but you must have a current medical certificate and take a proficiency check from a flight instructor every other year (if you achieve a new rating or certificate, this requirement is waived).


Both the Recreational Pilot and Private Pilot certificates require a Third-Class Medical Certificate (which is also your student pilot certificate, renewable every 24 or 60 months, depending on your age on the date of the physical exam) issued by an FAA-designated medical examiner before you can fly solo…if you have any medical condition that might affect your flying, get the medical examination before proceeding with your training. Waivers are available for just about any physical problems; you will meet wheelchair pilots, deaf pilots, and pilots with only one eye in the pilot population.


For each certificate, you will be required to pass a knowledge examination administered by an authorized testing center; pilots training under Part 61 are not required to attend a formal ground school, but doing so really helps you to get ready for the exam. Go to www.faa.gov and click on Education and Research to see a selection of sample test questions. Sorry…no answers are provided. But there is a thriving industry eager to help; ASA’s Test Prep Series is the best of the lot, but there are DVD courses, online courses…using a search engine will be like rubbing the genie’s lamp.


The regulations do require that you have logged ground training—this is not the same thing as ground school, and many instructors miss this distinction. Ground training is best accomplished one-on-one with your instructor; Part 61 outlines the subjects that must be covered. Again, the ground training must be logged. Expect to pay your instructor for ground instruction time, by the way—it’s only fair that they be compensated for their time and knowledge whether it is in the air or in the classroom. “Free instruction is worth what you pay for it” is a facile phrase that in itself is unfair to instructors who will bite the bullet and let you get away without paying.


When you have completed the minimum flight hour requirements and your instructor feels that you are ready (his or her certificate is on the line, too), you will take a practical test from a DPE. There are no mysteries to the flight test; the examiner must follow the Practical Test Standards. Get a copy of the PTS early in your training, and be sure that your instructor does not omit anything. Go to www.faa.gov and click on “Education and Training.”


You can enjoy the privileges of the recreational or private pilot certificates for as long as you can meet the physical exam requirements, or you can keep going for the following certificates and ratings (of course, recreational pilots must advance to private pilot status before adding ratings).


Instrument Rating


Smart Visual Flight Rules (VFR) pilots stay on the ground when the clouds are low and the visibility is poor (or they make the six o’clock news), and they begin to work toward their instrument rating as soon as possible. The training makes you a better pilot, even if you never fly in the clouds, but those who use the rating know the joy of breaking through a low cloud layer into a sunlit sky while their VFR comrades stay in the coffee shop. The rating requires a minimum of 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time (Part 61; 35 for Part 141), of which 15 hours must be dual instruction from a flight instructor with an instrument rating on his or her instructor certificate. A CFII, in other words. The other 25 hours can be flown with a safety pilot, but that is a discussion for another book such as The Complete Advanced Pilot.


Commercial Pilot Certificate


Before you can begin to get paid for flying instead of paying for it, you must have a commercial pilot certificate. You must have logged at least 250 hours of flight time (190 for Part 141), of which 100 hours must be pilot-in-command (PIC) time and 50 must be cross-country as PIC. Unless you already have an instrument rating when you get your commercial certificate, your fly-for-pay activities will be severely curtailed. Again, read my advanced pilot book when the time comes.


To fly for hire you must hold a Second Class Medical Certificate (renewable annually). As was the case with the private pilot certificate, the Part 61 ground training is done one-on-one over a cup of coffee with your instructor. Alternatives for ground school to pass the knowledge exam are the same as for the private. 


What kind of jobs can a pilot who holds a commercial pilot certificate get? Pipeline patrol, glider towing, traffic reporter, fire bomber, fire patrol, banner towing, pilot for an organization that owns its own aircraft—those are only a few of the options. What can’t he or she do? Carry passengers for hire except under the most restrictive conditions, of which participation in a drug-testing program is only one. Sightseeing flights must take off and land at the same airport without any other stops; they can’t go more than 25 miles from the departure airport—good for scenic rides and that is about all. Becoming a charter pilot involves getting qualified under Parts 119 and 135 of the FARs and working for an air taxi company.


Multi-Engine Rating


If you think that two engines are better than one, there is no minimum flight time or knowledge exam requirement for the multiengine rating. Just demonstrate proficiency in a twin to a DPE via a practical test. People typically spend 10 to 20 hours learning to fly a twin—mostly dealing with emergencies—and preparing for the checkride. The expense of maintaining proficiency will drive your decision on getting this rating.


Flight Instructor Certificate (CFI)


If you enjoy sharing what you have learned, maybe teaching others to fly is for you. There is no minimum flight time requirement, but you must have a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating and pass two knowledge exams—one on the Fundamentals of Instruction and one that covers everything a private or commercial pilot should know plus a few extra mind-benders just to see if you have been paying attention.


If your only goal is to log flight hours toward that airline job, please do not become an instructor—your primary goal should be to graduate motivated, proficient students. If getting your CFI means just getting your ticket punched, and you can’t wait to move up, you will be unfair to your students. Unmotivated instructors disillusion hundreds of potential pilots every year. There are lots of ways to log hours without taking a student’s money under false pretenses.


The other side of the coin is that being a flight instructor is a truly fulfilling career—I know. There are many, many dedicated instructors who could move up to the airlines but are having too much fun giving flight instruction. And have you checked on what a newbie first officer is taking home these days?


Airline Transport Pilot


This is the pinnacle, the top of the heap. Very few of the pilots that you have referred to as “commercial pilots” all of your life have only a commercial pilot certificate in their pockets. The airlines can afford to be choosy, and an ATP certificate is only one of their requirements. If the front seat of an airliner is in your future, get a four-year college degree and log at least 1,200 hours of flight time—flying turbine-powered airplanes preferred. You must also be 23 years old.


Sport Pilot


No, I didn’t forget the Sport Pilot certificate. This certificate allows you to fly light sport aircraft (LSA) just for fun (you cannot fly out of a tower-controlled airport without further training, you may not carry more than one passenger, nor can you fly at night). Your driver’s license is your medical certificate. Whether or not the hours you log as a sport pilot count toward private pilot eligibility depends on the instructor. Time logged with a sport pilot flight instructor does not count, while time logged with a full-fledged CFI does. Check the ASA website for updates on this (see the note about online book Updates on Page ii, in the front pages of this book). Sport pilot training takes two paths when the level flight cruising speed (V_H) of the plane exceeds 87 knots; students flying the faster planes must receive training in control of the airplane by reference to the flight instruments in the event that they encounter visibility of less than three miles. Also, some sport pilot privileges are grandfathered in for those applicants with prior light plane experience. In this book I am going to assume no prior experience. Passing a knowledge test and a practical (flight) test are required for all pilot certificates. 


The stick-and-rudder skills you learn in Sport Pilot training will serve you well if you decide to move up and it’s the least expensive and quickest path to a pilot certificate with half the required experience requirements. ASA publishes “Be a Sport Pilot,” which explains everything you need to know.


A personal note: When I was a student pilot all I knew was what my instructor told me and what I read in FAA texts. I did not know what students across the field were learning, and I certainly did not know what students in other cities and states were learning or what uncertainties they were encountering. There were few opportunities to compare notes. Today, using the internet, students can do their own research on virtually anything, and they can have discussions with students in other states and even other countries. Many areas of confusion have been uncovered when students have gone online and asked the world at large for help. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.


Other Ratings


There are many other flying possibilities: you can add categories, such as rotorcraft or lighter-than-air, to your pilot certificates. You will read about “type ratings,” as in “category, class, and type if required,” and think that a Cessna 150 is a different type than a Bonanza, but that is not true at the present time. Everything you have read thus far relates to regulations and practices in 2011, and right now you need a type rating only if you want to act as PIC of an airplane that is jet-powered or weighs more than 12,500 pounds. For those aircraft, you will take a “type rating ride” with an examiner, and will have that rating added to your pilot certificate. In some countries, however, the civil aeronautics authorities do consider a Cessna 150 to be a different type than a Bonanza, a Seneca to be a different type than a Baron, and so forth, because to those authorities the differences between the aircraft are significant.


The regulations for pilot certification that I have cited are based on what we now understand is outdated technology. They prepare a student to pass a test, instead of introducing realistic scenarios, and emphasize maneuvers instead of decision making and risk management. Also, there is insufficient emphasis on new flight technologies such as GPS and multifunction devices. In the old days, a pilot or instructor could move from one type (current definition) of aircraft to another and expect the controls and electronics to be functionally the same. No more. An instructor who speaks Garmin 1000 fluently will have no idea how to use the Avidyne PFD without advance study and practice. Manufacturers of these advanced airframes and avionics have taken the lead by developing their own training systems; there are on-line simulators for many of these devices. 


Advances in avionics and aircraft manufacturing have outstripped the FAA’s ability to keep pace, and the FAA readily admits that this is the case. That is why FITS is important now, and why it will become more important in the future.


FAA and Industry Training Standards (FITS)


As I write this, pilots are learning to fly ab initio (latin for “right from the beginning”) in sleek, composite-construction airplanes that have autopilots, single-knob, computerized engine controls, and “glass cockpits” consisting of digital displays of flight instrumentation, weather, terrain, moving-map navigation information, engine operating parameters, and on and on. These “Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA)” are so different from those we have instructed in for the past several decades that the old regulations no longer meet our goal of preparing pilots to fly safely in a complex airspace structure at speeds only dreamed of in the past.


You might be one of those pilots. Or, after being trained in a 1940s technology aircraft, you might buy or join a club that uses TAA. One way or the other, you are going to be affected, so let’s see what FITS, a new FAA/Industry plan will do.


The program will integrate the following:


• Aeronautical Decision Making (Lesson 5)


• Situational Awareness


• Single Pilot Resource Management (Lesson 12)


• Risk Management


• Task Management


• Controlled Flight Into Terrain Awareness (CFIT)


See www.faa.gov/education_research/training/fits/ to see how FITS will work.


Note that FITS applies to technically advanced aircraft only. If you are training in a “legacy” airplane, nothing changes.


After I have covered the individual nuts and bolts of what you need to know under today’s standards, I will put it all together at the end in Lesson 12.


What Will This Book Do For You?


Your mind is like a computer’s memory bank. When you have a new experience or sensation, your mind compares it to earlier experiences and sensations and either modifies what was stored or adds the new data to the memory bank. Each flight will add new experiences and soon your mind will say “That’s not new—I’ve done that before!”…and flying high above the mountains or gliding quietly onto a grass strip will quickly become a part of you. This book is intended to build your aviation knowledge the same way.


Like all instructors, I talk a lot, and I might repeat myself on occasion. I learned long ago that presenting the same material in different ways can be the key to understanding. If you think I am going over the same ground more than once, it is to meet an instructional goal.


Several of the lessons refer to aeronautical charts, and an excerpt from the Seattle sectional chart is provided inside the back cover of this book—you’ll be using this chart excerpt for many interactive exercises throughout the text. Aviation has a language all its own, and you want to speak it fluently, so we have provided a glossary. It includes the Pilot/Controller Glossary, compiled from the Aeronautical Information Manual, for understanding the terms used in the Air Traffic Control System. Always look there first when you hear something new.


Each lesson contains review questions so that you can test your understanding of the material contained in that lesson—but you can go to www.faa.gov to read many more questions you might be asked on your knowledge exam or, as I mentioned earlier, you could purchase a separate book such as ASA’s Private Pilot Test Prep that is written specifically to prepare you for this test.


But First, a Word from Your Instructor… 


Lesson 4 contains a laundry list of publications that you will need as your training progresses. It would be nice if I could teach you everything you have to know to operate safely and legally in the National Airspace System on a one-to-one basis. Unfortunately, this is impossible, because I do not know everything. No one does. I can ensure that you know the basics, and I will encourage you to add to your knowledge with self-study. As you read through the publications you will, I hope, come across areas that are unclear or that I haven’t mentioned. Ask me about them. We will be using a building-block method of instruction, and it is possible that your question will be covered in future flight or ground training sessions…but ask anyway.


As you read Part 61 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, specifically 61.81 through 61.85, you will note that the responsibility for ensuring that all required areas are covered is yours. Those sections are addressed to student pilots, not to instructors. (If your instructor is using a syllabus, as is recommended, this should be a slam dunk…but it is still your job to look at the requirements and ask your instructor “Why haven’t we done this yet?” if a subject has not been covered.) Read the regulations—all of them—and know what is required of you both before and after your checkride. When the examiner asks you a question or tells you to perform a maneuver, you don’t want to say “My instructor never told me/taught me that…” 


During your training, you might fly with another instructor; some schools require it. I’m very much in favor of having your progress monitored by someone else. When flying with another instructor, however, you may run into the procedure versus technique problem: Procedures are contained in manufacturer’s manuals and handbooks, while techniques are pretty much a matter of individual taste. For example, the pilot’s operating handbook might have “Carburetor Heat – On” in the pre-landing checklist; this is a procedure. Different instructors might disagree on just where in the pattern the carburetor heat should be applied…that is technique.


If an instructor wants you to divert from a recommended procedure, ask him or her where the changed procedure is documented; the manufacturer is always right. If an instructor wants you to add flaps at a different point in the pattern than I have taught you to do, or tells you to reduce power at a different place or a different amount than I have taught you to do, that is technique…follow his or her instruction, note the result, and file it away for future reference. No instructor knows it all, and the more insights you develop, the better. Don’t get into the “…but Bob told me to…” discussion.


If the airplane you train in is equipped with state-of-the-art navigation equipment, you may need training in its use beyond that which I can give you. Manufacturers provide online training materials and in some cases put on training seminars. The FAA also supplies a lot of information on the website www.faasafety.gov. I encourage you to take advantage of these sources.


You are my customer (or a customer of the flight school), and I am here to provide a service. If you are not satisfied with the way I teach, go to the chief flight instructor and ask to try another instructor or instructors. Our common goal is to make you a safe pilot.


Good luck!