Ground school
Training for a pilot's license follows two tracks, ground school and flight training. The ground school covers the facts and theories of flying, everything from aerodynamics to meteorology to Federal Aviation Regulations. Santa Fe Community College offers a for-credit Private Pilot Ground School each fall and spring semester. There are also several fine self-study courses available to which we can refer you. The cost will be about $250 to $350. You can check out the following web sites for ground study courses:
www.sportys.com
www.jeppesen.com
www.kingschools.com
www.asa2fly.com
www.gleim.com/aviation
Several of our students have had good results with the Sporty's and Jeppesen packages, and the King package is also very popular.
The end result of the ground school is taking and passing the FAA Knowledge Test.
Flight Training
The flight training is where you'll actually get your hands on a real airplane. This training unfolds in three parts; the first is learning to make the airplane do what you want it to do. You'll start out with the elementary stuff like climbs, descents, straight-and-level flight and turns, and progress toward more complicated things like landings. When your instructor feels you can do these things reasonably well and reasonably consistently, he or she will turn you loose to fly solo (with some supervision). The next phase of training will involve learning things like navigating to other airports, flying at night, and flying the airplane only by reference to the instruments inside it. When you've met the FAA's requirements and your instructor feels you have the proficiency to handle these kinds of flying, you'll move to the final training phase, which is simply honing your skills to the standards the FAA expects you to demonstrate in the Practical Test.
Requirements
According to the FAA, you must complete at least 40 hours of flight training (plus the ground training) to prepare for the practical test. Most students take quite a bit longer; our national average is probably closer to 75 to 80 hours of flight training. You can help shorten the training time by flying as regularly and frequently as possible, and by being well prepared for each lesson. In addition, a student must be able to read, write, speak and understand English, pass a fairly rudimentary physical exam, and present proof of US citizenship or undergo a background check before beginning flight training.
The ground training does not have to be completed before starting flying. They can be taken in any order, although we suggest, if budget and schedule allow, that students start them about the same time; the two tracks tend to reinforce each other. The only requirement is that a student must pass the Knowledge Test before taking the Practical (Flight) Test.
Getting Started
To schedule, just email us (sierraav@cybermesa.com) or give us a call (505 474 0774); weather and other appointments permitting, we can make an appointment for most any time. The best flying (and training) conditions are usually in the morning (before 10 or 11 AM) or a couple of hours before sunset. If you want to get appointments during those times, we'll need some advance notice, since all our other students will be booking those times too.
