Flight School
Skill Aviation’s professional flight instructors provide training for advanced Pilot Certification:
Private Pilot
Multi-Engine
Instrument
Commercial
ATP
CFI
The private pilot certificate is the certificate held by the majority of active pilots. It allows command of any aircraft (subject to appropriate ratings) for any non-commercial purpose, and gives almost unlimited authority to fly under visual flight rules (VFR). Passengers may be carried and flight in furtherance of a business is permitted; however, a private pilot may not be compensated in any way for services as a pilot, although passengers can pay a pro rata share of flight expenses, such as fuel or rental costs. Private pilots may also operate charity flights, subject to certain restrictions, and may participate in similar activities, such as Angel Flights.
The requirements to obtain a private pilot certificate for "airplane, single-engine, land", or ASEL, (which is the most common certificate) are:
- Be at least 17 years old (training can begin at any age, and one can "solo" a plane at 16 years old)
- Be able to read, speak, and write the English language
- Obtain at least a third class medical certificate from an Aviation Medical Examiner
- Pass a computerized aeronautical knowledge test
- Accumulate and log a specified amount of training and experience,
including the following:
- If training under Part 61, experience requirements are specified in
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 61.109 including at
least 40 hours of piloting time including 20 hours of flight with an
instructor and 10 hours of solo flight, and other requirements including
"cross-country", 10 hours of solo (i.e., by yourself) flight time in an
airplane, including at least
- Solo requirements:
- 5 hours of solo cross-country time
- One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 NM total distance, with full-stop landings at a minimum of three points and with one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 50 NM between the takeoff and landing locations
- Three solo takeoffs and landings to a full stop at an airport with an operating control tower.
- Night requirements:
- 3 hours of night flight training
- One cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles (190 km) total distance
- 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport
- 3 hours of flight training on the control and maneuvering solely by reference to instruments
- Solo requirements:
- If training under Part 141, at least 35 hours of piloting time including 20 hours with an instructor and 5 hours of solo flight, and other requirements including cross-country and night flights
- If training under Part 61, experience requirements are specified in
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 61.109 including at
least 40 hours of piloting time including 20 hours of flight with an
instructor and 10 hours of solo flight, and other requirements including
"cross-country", 10 hours of solo (i.e., by yourself) flight time in an
airplane, including at least
- Pass an oral test and flight test administered by an FAA inspector, FAA-designated examiner
A multi-engine rating allows a private pilot to fly an aircraft with two or more engines. A private pilot certificate (license) and an FAA practical exam is required.
To prepare for the Multi-engine Rating, a pilot must learn how to safely
operate a multi-engine aircraft with one engine inoperative. The pilot must
understand the aerodynamic principles and special safety considerations of
multiengine flight.
Skill operates a new Diamond DA42 Twin Star. It has turbo diesel engines (liquid cooled and FADEC controlled). It has a Garmin G1000 glass cockpit and is certified for flight into known icing conditions.
Skill’s Multi-engine training program is $3995. This price includes multiengine ground school, G1000 certification, and 10 hours of instruction in the aircraft. If additional training is required: $289/hour for the aircraft and $64 for the instructor.
Requirements:
- Hold at least a private pilot certificate
- Be able to read, speak, write, and converse fluently in English
- Hold at least a current third-class FAA medical certificate
- Flight experience
- 50 hr. as pilot in command on cross-country flight (of which 10 hr. must be in airplanes) to airports more than 50 NM from the original departure point
- 40 hr. of simulated or actual instrument time (of which up to 20 hr. can be in a flight simulator or flight training device; up to 10 hr. can be in a personal computer based aviation training device)
- 15 hr. of instrument flight instruction in an airplane. This must be with a CFII (a CFI who has been certificated to instruct instrument flight).
- Appropriate ground instruction to learn:
- FARs applicable to instrument pilots
- IFR navigation
- Aviation weather
- Safe and efficient flying skills applicable to IFR
- Aeronautical decision making and judgment
- Pass the computer based FAA "written" test, which consists of sixty
multiple-choice questions covering:
- Airplane Instruments
- Attitude Instrument Flying & Aerodynamics
- Navigation Systems
- Federal Aviation Regulations
- Airports, Air Traffic Control, & Airspace
- Holding & Instrument Approaches
- Aeromedical Factors
- Aviation Weather & Weather Services
- IFR En Route
- IFR Flights
- Flight instruction and development of the necessary skills to pass the instrument rating practical test. Your instrument instructor must provide a signed recommendation that you are competent as an instrument pilot.
- Pass a Practical Test (Checkride) with an FAA Inspector or Designated
Examiner, which includes 24 tasks to be tested:
- Preflight Preparation
- Weather Information
- Cross-Country Flight Planning
- Preflight Procedures
- Aircraft Systems Related to IFR Operations
- Aircraft Flight Instruments & Navigation Equipment
- Instrument Cockpit Check
- Air Traffic Control Clearances and Procedures
- Air Traffic Control Clearances
- Compliance with Departure, En Route, and Arrival Procedures and Clearances
- Holding Procedures
- Flight by Reference to Instruments
- Straight-and-Level Flight
- Change of Airspeed
- Constant Airspeed Climbs and Descents
- Rate Climbs and Descents
- Timed Turns to Magnetic Compass Headings
- Steep Turns
- Recovery from Unusual Plight Attitudes
- Navigation Aids
- Intercepting & Tracking Navigational Systems and DME Arcs
- Instrument Approach Procedures
- Non precision Instrument Approach
- Precision ILS Instrument Approach
- Missed Approach
- Circling Approach
- Landing from a Straight-ln or Circling Approach
- Emergency Operations
- Loss of Communications
- Loss of Gyro Attitude and/or Heading Indicators
- Post flight Procedures
- Checking Instruments and Equipment
- Preflight Preparation
A commercial pilot may be compensated for flying. Training for the certificate focuses on a better understanding of aircraft systems and a higher standard of airmanship. A commercial airplane pilot must be able to operate a complex airplane (retractable landing gear, flaps and controllable pitch propeller), as a specific number of hours of complex (or turbine-powered) aircraft time are among the prerequisites, and at least a portion of the practical examination is performed in a complex aircraft.
The requirements are:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Hold a private pilot certificate
- Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language
- Accumulate and log a specified amount of training and experience; the
following are part of the airplane single-engine land class rating
requirements:
- at least 250 hours of piloting time including 20 hours of training with an instructor and 10 hours of solo flight, and other requirements including several "cross-country" flights, i.e. more than 50 nautical miles (93 km) from the departure airport and both solo and instructor-accompanied night flights
- Pass a 100 question aeronautical knowledge test
- Pass an oral test and flight test administered by an FAA inspector, FAA-designated examiner, or authorized check instructor (Part 141 only)
By itself, this certificate does not permit the pilot to set up an operation that carries members of the public for hire; such operations are governed by other regulations. Otherwise, a commercial pilot can be paid for certain types of operation, such as banner towing, agricultural applications, and photography, and can be paid for instructing if he holds a flight instructor certificate. To fly for hire, the pilot must hold a second class medical certificate, which is valid for one year.
Often, the commercial certificate will reduce the pilot’s insurance premiums, as it is evidence of training to a higher safety standard.
An airline transport pilot is tested to the highest level of piloting ability. The certificate is a prerequisite for acting as a pilot-in-command in scheduled airline operations.
The minimum pilot experience is 1500 hours of flight time and 500 hours of cross-country flight time. Other requirements include being 23 years of age, being able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language, and being of good moral character.
Flight instructors must hold at least a commercial pilot certificate. Individuals wishing to give instruction in airplanes are additionally required to hold an instrument rating in the desired category and class. All individuals desiring flight instructor privileges must pass two additional written exams (Fundamentals of Instruction, or FOI; and a knowledge test specific to the category of aircraft in which instructional privileges are desired) and finally a practical test.
