Training

Ok, so now you are hooked, you have possibly been up in an LSA (Light Sports Aircraft), ultralight, microlight or some other type of aircraft, maybe you have done a trial instructional flight and your head is still up in the sky from the experience and you want to learn to fly. Before we go jumping into that exciting training regime with all guns firing there are some things that we first need to consider.

Of course you can – generally as long as you are in good health, enough to pass a basic medical examination, although some exceptions can be made, you can learn to fly and soar like an eagle. It all starts with what is called a Trial Instructional Flight (TIF) with a club/school which entails in most cases a flight of between 20-45 mins, with an instructor, where you will take the controls under the instructor’s careful eye to get a feel of how easy it is to fly a recreational aircraft. You will love it and when you land you just may find yourself standing 10 feet tall with your head still in the clouds. It has been said “Everyone wants to fly; they just don’t know it yet”. It is so easy to start learning to fly.

Technically speaking you only need a minimum of 20hrs flying – 15hrs with an instructor and 5hrs flying solo to be able to obtain your Pilot Certificate but in most cases it may take the average student just a few hours more – it all depends on you. One of the greatest moments of learning to fly is when you first go solo. Every aviator no matter how old they are never ever forgets the day they went solo which makes for some great tales around the club rooms or dinner table.

Your Pilot Certificate will allow you to fly a recreational aircraft on your own within 25 nautical miles from the airstrip and not in controlled air space until you complete further endorsements that you can elect to do with the most popular being Cross Country and Passenger endorsements. A Cross Country endorsement will allow you to fly a recreational aircraft anywhere in Australia other then in controlled air space, or for your passenger endorsement you only need to have flown for 5 hours solo after you get your Pilot Certificate (some of the cross country hours can even be used for this). To fly in air traffic controlled airspace you may then choose to continue on to your General Aviation Private Pilots Licence to which your recreational training and hours can be cross credited.

What’s stopping you now, it’s that easy so contact a school today and organise your TIF!
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You will be surprised! Did you know that to fly on your own with your own Pilot Certificate may possibly only cost you around $3,500. Offcourse it all depends on the type of aircraft you wish to learn in and clubs/schools can all charge different rates for different aircraft types that they may offer. One of the most important things that you will also need to consider is that it is not just the price itself but the actual instructor(s). You need to feel comfortable with the instructor and sort of “click” together personality wise – remember everyone is different and with the right instructor your flying enjoyment will reach greater heights. Also you may find that training costs are lower at clubs than pure training schools.

You may find it cheaper to perhaps travel a bit further away to a club/school that have a specific aircraft type that you like, or a different instructor and offcourse the weather plays a huge part of making your training so much more enjoyable. Training where the weather is always windy can be off-putting at the beginning to a lot of potentially great aviators. You also may find some clubs/schools have live-in courses over a week or two making it like a holiday where you also learn to fly.

There are also some costs that are required to be paid over and above your actual flying time. These are in the form of training manuals (say $65), Recreation Aviation Australia membership ($132.00) which includes their magazine subscription etc. If you do your training with a club they may also require you to join the club which may include a membership fee of say possibly $40.
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You can actually start your pilot training at any age but you must be at least 15 years of age before you can commence the "Solo" part of your training. So, you could in fact complete a substantial part of your training before your 15th birthday, and then progress on to the solo and beyond components of your training as soon as you turn 15. As for old age, the good thing is that there isn't any maximum age to fly a recreational aircraft as long as you are medically fit to do so and we all know that as we get older our old bodies are just not what they use to be but there are 75 year old students, yes students who have never sat in a light aircraft before starting their training at 75 years of age.

So, are you healthy enough to have a car drivers license? If you are then generally speaking you are healthy enough to fly a recreational aircraft. You may also find that even if you have some light form of disability like blindness in one eye or diabetes you may still be able to fly with some restrictions relevant to the level of disability. Did you know that there is currently a pilot who is totally blind, yes really, and that hasn't stopped him but offcourse he is required to have another pilot with him and a specially modified aircraft. So if you think that there may be a medical reason why you can't learn to fly then it may well be beneficial to contact the RA-aus, a school or club or even just ask the question here in the forum on this web site first just to make sure.

One thing We must always remember to ask ourselves and not just while we are training, but always before each and every flight, "Am I healthy enough to fly today?"
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The difference between a General Aviation (GA) and recreational licensing is that in GA you receive a Licence (Private Pilots Licence - PPL) but with recreational flying you receive a certificate - a Pilot Certificate. The good thing is the hours of training you do for your Recreational Pilot Certificate can be cross credited to your GA PPL which makes training in a recreational aircraft a smart route for anyone thinking that they may progress their training to larger aircraft. But on the other hand if you already hold a PPL and wish to also obtain your Pilot Certificate then you only need to have a minimum of 5 hours instruction (4hrs dual and 1hr solo) in a recreational aircraft. It must be noted that recreational flying just like GA PPL is for recreational purposes only and whilst you may share costs you can never charge a commercial fee of any kind unless you have an instructor rating and even then you may only charge a fee for instructional purposes..

The minimum number of hours training for your certificate is 20 which includes 15hrs of dual instruction and 5hrs of solo flying. Students may take slightly longer then the minimum to be at a level of competency to sit their certificate test but it all depends on your attitude to your training. During your training you will need to sit 2 multiple choice theory tests of about 30 questions, one before your first solo and one called the BAK - Basic Aeronautical Knowledge. It may be wise to obtain a copy of the BAK book after you have completed about 5hrs of training to better prepare you for your certificate test. During your training you will learn about the different control surfaces, what to do when an aircraft stalls, emergency and crosswind landings and much more all making your training a fascinating and exciting experience. Your pilot certificate will allow you to fly a recreational aircraft, on your own, within 25 nautical miles from the airstrip but not in air traffic controlled airspace. From this point you can then start obtaining endorsements to further extend your piloting experience.

There are many endorsements that range right up to being an actual Pilot Examiner with the most common being cross country, passenger carrying and radio operator endorsements.

Endorsement: Cross Country
Learn About: flight planning, meteorology and navigation
Minimum Hours: 10hrs training (mix of dual and solo)
Flight Test: Navigation flight test
Written Test: Multiple choice questions on Flight Rules & Procedures
Result: The cross country endorsement will allow you to fly the recreational aircraft type that you obtained your endorsement in anywhere within Australia during daylight and reasonable weather under visual flight rules (VFR). Generally you will not be allowed to fly over 5000 feet above mean sea level and not in controlled airspace (OCTA), unless you fulfil some specific requirements of Airservices Australia (the Air Traffic Control organisation), or other prohibited or restricted areas.

Endorsement: Passenger Carrying
Learn About: The pre-flight planning of fuel requirements, passenger and baggage arrangement, assessment of runway and air density conditions, calculation of aircraft weight and balance and the physical pre-flight airworthiness checking of the aircraft is emphasised, to ensure the flight will be operated safely
Minimum Hours: 5hrs solo with a minimum of 2hrs in a 2 seat aircraft - 2hrs solo may be cross credited from a cross country endorsement
Flight Test: Passenger handling flight test
Written Test: None
Result: The passenger endorsement will allow you to take a passenger on private flights

Endorsement: Radio Operator
Learn About: The proper use of a radio and radio procedures
Minimum Hours: None
Flight Test: None
Written Test: Multiple choice questions
Result: Greater freedom, ease and safety in flight

Other endorsements include Tail Wheel Aircraft (commonly called a "Tail Dragger" as they have a wheel at the rear of the aircraft instead of at the nose), Instructor, Senior Instructor, Chief Flying Instructor, Pilot Examiner and Theory Instructor.

To continue holding a RA-aus Pilot Certificate you must remain a member of RA-aus, remain medically fit and undertake a biennial recreational flight review (BFR) with a Senior Instructor or Pilot Examiner.
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Learning is easy, the hard part is how best to teach you. Everyone learns differently, some by opening a book and reading about it, some by just jumping in there boots and all and trying it for themselves and others learn within different degrees of both. So, before you start to learn to fly be honest with yourself and work out which is the way that you learn. From that you have an idea of the type of training that will suit you and you can match the way the instructor teaches to the best way that you learn.

Like the shirt on your back, Instructors come in all shapes and sizes so you need to have one that
There are newly qualified young instructors out there that can be very good. Everything is still fresh in their mind and they too are still in the training mindset but then they may not have the experience that you may need or the professionalism that comes with it. There are highly experience older instructors as well that can pass on a massive amount of knowledge gained by experience but because they know how to for example complete a steep turn with their eyes closed, they may not understand why you don't pick up an element of your training straight away.

When considering instructors perhaps ask yourself some questions like if I do something wrong will he/she understand and explain things to me, does he/she approach his/her flying as a professional, does he/she talk to me or down to me, will this instructor explain things to me in a way that I can understand and encourage me when I need it.

Above all, your instructor must help you to enjoy your flying in a safe and professional manner!
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There is a wide range of aircraft available in recreational flying from wind in your face microlights - 3 wheeler motorised hang gliders, basic ultralights like the Thruster or Drifter, easy to learn and forgiving enclosed cabin ultralights like the Gazelle or the Tecnam, and even the high performance "Light Sports Aircraft" such as the CT or Sting that are made from advanced materials of Carbon Fibre and Kevlar.

Some recreational aircraft have flaps and others don't, some have floats for takeoff and landing on water and some are high wing like the standard Cessna and some are low wing like the World War 2 Spitfire. There is one thing for sure and that is whilst all recreational aircraft offer fun and enjoyment they all offer something different. So, remembering that we all learn differently each aircraft offers you a unique training experience and therefore you will need to think hard about the way you learn and what you wish to get out of your training. There are those that are fast learners and thrive on pressure so they can jump straight into a high performance aircraft and use that for training and others may need to work up to the aircraft they would like to fly beginning with a slower and more forgiving aircraft that allows them to learn to fly at their pace making training a fantastic and enjoyable experience. Don't make the mistake of just jumping in the first aircraft that may excite you without first thinking about your own learning style.

The last important consideration when choosing an aircraft to train in is to have a goal of ending your initial training in an aircraft that will suit your needs on how you wish to enjoy your flying once you have achieved your Pilot Certificate - for example if you see yourself at this stage flying more slow local sight seeing flights then aim to finish your initial training in an aircraft that suits this purpose which may even be easier to learn in but if you wish to make long fast cruises travelling large distances then select this type of aircraft for your training or plan your training starting with an easier aircraft and work up to a high performance one. Remember though that you never stop learning when flying so you may find yourself getting certified to fly many different types of aircraft throughout your flying life.
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Ok, if you have read the above you now have an idea about different types of instructors and aircraft so choosing the right club or school in which to learn from becomes the easy part. Naturally if the closest school/club doesn't have the right type of instructor or aircraft to suit you then you should have a very good reason why you would even consider learning with them.

Let me quickly tell you a story about a 45 year old who made all the classic mistakes when he realised that he wanted to learn to fly. A particular aircraft really took his eye, it was quick and had flaps, so when he first started learning he naturally went to the closest school who had this type of aircraft and spent 7hrs learning to fly in an aircraft that was hard to learn in, with an instructor that didn't suit his learning style and in an area that was prone to very windy weather - he had basically learned nothing and being very frustrated he was going to give the whole idea up as a bad experience.

His wife convinced him to try an easier aircraft at a different school, but he found that being a pure school (without an attached club) it was costly and ran as a pure business therefore not having a club atmosphere. So off he want to a club that was 3 hours drive away but when he got there the aircraft that they had advertised for training had been sold leaving only an aircraft type that he had no desire to learn in but still it was a perfect spot for weather and a club for great atmosphere.

He decided to give it one last try and actually did some research. He found the areas that had the most suited weather for training (the least amount of days with rain and wind less than 12kts) and then looked up the clubs in those areas. He phoned each club and ascertained the aircraft they used for training and how long they were likely to be used for training. He then asked to speak to each instructor asking each one questions on their teaching style and what their future intentions were. After all this research he selected a school/club that was 1.75hrs drive away and even had a caravan park right opposite the airstrip. He spent 2 weeks, staying in the caravan park, learning to fly having the best time of his life. 8 months later he purchased the aircraft that he learnt in and kept it at the club for training other students and exactly 1 year after he first sat in a recreational aircraft he purchased a high performance aircraft which is also used at the club for training plus he also spends time flying other types of aircraft that the club have for hire.

This is a true story of someone that made all the classic mistakes in learning fly, I know because I was the one that made all those mistakes so hopefully you can learn from the experience of others in selecting the best school or school/club to begin your fantastic adventure of learning to fly.
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By reading all the above you should now have an idea of what you need to know to commence your training to be a pilot of a recreational aircraft - medically, financially, the licences and endorsements, and what you need to look out for in selecting a school/club, an instructor and the type of aircraft. The pages on this website will go into more detail on the different schools and clubs that are available to you and the different types of aircraft that are in the recreational category plus the forum is available for any questions you may have when you are learning to fly.

Soon we will have lessons accessed by links across the top of this page, which will provide an example of what you would learn over the minimum 20 hour training requirement to achieve your Pilot Certificate. A word of caution though, not all schools/clubs follow the same sequence of lessons as they will base their training on many different influences such as type of aircraft, your learning ability, your strengths and weaknesses etc BUT it is certain that they must cover at some time throughout your training the entire syllabus that will be contained in the lessons that we will soon have here. Enjoy!

So please have a look at the lessons and around the rest of this site for more information and feel free to ask any questions or make any comments that you may have in the discussion forum - it's there for you and you will get to meet many others that are learning to fly, general everyday recreational pilots and even full time instructors, all helping each other making flying the greatest experience of a lifetime.

With all this knowledge in hand you can set out to pick the right school or school/club with the right instructor and the right aircraft to start your training to be a pilot of a recreational aircraft. - happy flying and above all, have fun!

If you have any questions no matter how small or big, how simple of complicated, ask them in the discussion forum of the site – never feel that a question may be stupid or silly as you will always be treated with respect here and there will always be people here that will gladly offer you any help or advice they can.
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