Licensed to fly!
A short guide to getting your Pilot License
” Once you have tested flight you would forever walk on the Earth with your eyes turn skyward, for there you have been and for there you would always long to return.” Leonardo Di Vinci
How easy is it to learn to fly and what do I need to do to get a license?
You can attend a flight school, and for a job with an airline getting your Airline Transport Pilot license from an ATP flight school will put you on the fast track.
Most Private Pilot licenses and Commercial Pilot licenses are earned at flight centers at local airports. Many study for the FAA knowledge tests with home study courses available from pilot supply shops such as the Avid Aviator.
Let’s take a brief look at some of the different licenses and some of the different aircraft and see what’s available. By the way, the FAA calls them certificates, but we’ll use the term license to avoid confusion.
At first glance the FAA designations of aircraft and pilot licenses appear to be confusing. The same words, “Category,” “Class,” “Rating,” and, “Type,” are used for both pilot and aircraft certification but they mean different things for each.
An aircraft will be certified as one of three Categories, normal, utility, or acrobatic. These Categories can be further defines as limited, restricted and provisional. The Class of an aircraft is defined as airplane, rotorcraft, glider, balloon, landplane and seaplane. In aircraft certification type refers to aircraft of similar design and method of operation. Type is also applied to the aircraft’s method of propulsion, which could be reciprocating engine, turbo prop, turbo shaft, turbo jet, turbo fan, or ramjet. The word, “Rating,” used in used in the certification of either pilots or aircraft means the special conditions, limitations, or privileges placed on the certification.
A pilot’s license will list one or more of five categories of aircraft: airplane, rotorcraft, lighter-than-air, gliders, and powered-lift. Categories are subdivided into classes. So one or more of the four classes (single engine land, single engine sea, multi-engine land, multi-engine sea) will follow the category. Included in the ratings section of the license may be the word, “Instrument,” which indicates that the pilot may fly under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).
Recently the FAA added another category called Light Sport Aircraft. Most people’s first thought of an aircraft is a fixed-wing airplane. However, powered parachutes, weight-shift-control aircraft (i.e., Trikes), balloons, airships, gliders and gyroplanes meeting the definition outlined in Federal Aviation Regulations Part 1.1 can be Light Sport Aircraft.
In addition to Category and class of aircraft, a pilot’s license may also have Type ratings indicating that the pilot may fly large aircraft (12,500 pounds or more gross weight), and, as appropriate, turbo prop, turbo shaft, turbo jet, turbo fan, or ramjet aircraft.
So, now that we know about the licenses, what is required to get them and what can we fly?
Everyone starts out as a student pilot, even if you’re going to fly an ultralight and nothing else.
Ultralight
A single seat ultralight aircraft does not require FAA registration or a pilot’s license to fly it. But don’t let that fool you into a false sense of security. An ultralight pilot needs to know about aerodynamics and flight safety, and he definitely needs to know where and when he can fly his machine legally. FAA regulation compliance is mandatory. The Ultralight page of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) at http://www.eaa.org/ultralights/ has a link to those regulations.
An ultralight with more than one seat needs to be registered with the FAA and have the N number visible on the aircraft. You’ll need at least a Light Sport Aircraft or Private Pilot license to fly the multi-seat ultralight as pilot in command.
Light Sport Aircraft – Airplane
For our purposes here we’ll say the next level up in aircraft is the Light Sport Aircraft. The Light Sport Aircraft is a simple, low-performance, low-energy aircraft that must have an FAA registration N number. Airplanes, gliders, gyroplanes, balloons, airships, weight-shift control (trikes), and powered parachutes can fit into this class. You must be 16 years old to become a student and 17 to test for the certification. The FAA requires that you take instruction from a Certified Flight Instructor to earn this license.
The requirements for Light Sport Aircraft – Airplane Category are the same for Light Sport Aircraft – Rotorcraft, – Airship, and – Weight-Shift-Control. Fewer flight hours are required Light Sport Aircraft – Glider, – Balloon, and – Power Parachute.
Certification for Airplane – Light Sport Aircraft requires that you prepare for and pass an aeronautical knowledge test for the Light Sport Aircraft certification. You may study for it in a ground school or use a home-study course. You must have 20 hours of flight time that includes 15 hours instruction from a Certified Flight Instructor in a single engine airplane. Five of the minimum 20 hours required must be solo. Your instruction and solo work must include preflight preparation, preflight procedures, airport, and seaplane base operations, as applicable, takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds, performance maneuvers, ground reference maneuvers, navigation, slow flight, stalls, emergency operations, and post-flight procedures.
You will also need two hours of cross-country flight training, 10 takeoffs and landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport; one solo cross-country flight of at least 75 nautical miles total distance, with one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 25 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations. Finally, you’ll need 3 hours of flight training covering all of the above in preparing for the practical test within 60 days before the date of the test.
The Light Sport Aircraft certification requires either a 3rd class FAA medical license or a current and valid U.S. driver’s license as evidence of medical eligibility. That means your driver’s license is evidence of medical fitness. However, if your most recent application for an FAA medical license was denied, revoked, suspended or withdrawn you must apply to the FAA for the cause of the denial, revocation or withdrawal.
If you are transitioning from aircraft that you flew as a private pilot to the Light Sport Aircraft category and keeping your private pilot certification there are no restrictions added to your flying. Even night flying is permitted if you have a third-class medical and the airplane is properly equipped.
If you started your flying experience by getting a Light Sport Aircraft license your instruction and flight time can be credited toward more advanced pilot ratings.
Recreational Pilot
The Recreational Pilot license has more restrictions than the Light Sport Aircraft pilot license and it requires a third-class medical. It takes more time and training to acquire. Its only advantage over the Light Sport Aircraft rating is that you may fly a larger aircraft (but no more than a four place aircraft). Since the rating has little use we’ll bypass comment on it in this article.
Ultralights and Light Sport Aircraft make it easy, affordable, and certainly less time-consuming than other levels of pilot licenses to learn to fly. Because of the mandatory instruction and requirements of the aircraft the Light Sport Aircraft is the safest way to go. Once you’ve flown a small airplane you’ll find it hard to wait until you can do it again.
Nothing compares to the exhilaration of flying!
This is the first of a two part series on this subject. The second part is titled, “Licensed to Fly Higher and Faster! A short guide to getting Advanced Pilot Licenses”
September 9th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Thanks for the insight.Very informative article.I always wanted to fly, more precisely i am born to fly:p. I have joined an institution for this
.SOmeday I am gonna fly.