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But, if you have dreamed of being a pilot, it should be worth the effort and time.
If you are interested in obtaining your pilot's license, below is the general guide to how to go through this process.
Locate a good flight training center.
If you have any friends that are pilots, they can advise you on a good flight school.
Often, they can either recommend their own school or direct you to a better one.
It's not difficult to make friends with other pilots.
Pilots are generally very nice, friendly people.
You will be welcomed into their extended family.
Try asking around at a small airport and chances are good you'll find plenty of answers from local pilots.
If all else fails, search through your local phone book for flight universities.
Before you enroll in a flight school, check them out.
There are many important things to know about a flight school, including how long they have been teaching pilots, the type of planes used for training, the age of the training planes, and how often the planes have had maintenance checks.
The flight board requires that an airplane be inspected every 100 hours, but a reputable flight school will make these inspections more frequently.
Ensuring that the flight school that you choose gauges their engine hour meters with Hobbs Meters may be a good choice.
Instrumental in recording your accurate flight time, an engine hour meter will be used to record the time between the start and shutdown of your plane's engine.
Complete your ground school training.
It is very essential that you obtain ground school training and endure flight hours.
Before you can get into the airplane, there are several topics you must cover in the classroom, which is what ground school is for.
While some flight schools run ground school and flight training at the same time, most require you to finish ground school before you get any instruction in the air.
Ground training will be defined by comprehending aerodynamics, airport protocol, and the basics of flying, while experiencing first hand tutorials on what it is to fly and how to ensure the safety of a plane.
You will also be exposed to reading sectionals such as maps, radio frequencies, avionics, and the like.
The written portion of your upcoming exam is taken from ground training.
Pass the medical exam.
Passing your physical exam is the first requirement to being permitted to do any flying, including basic training maneuvers.
The flight exam covers more than your basic physical.
It also consists of a drug test, a blood test for health issues that could negatively affect your flying, and perhaps most importantly - an eye test.
Yes, people with corrective lenses can still become pilots! However, a doctor must determine whether or not your vision is sharp enough to fly a plane without incident.
Log as many hours in the air as you possibly can.
At the beginning of your training, you will spend many hours with an instructor, as the flight lessons will be mainly educational.
You will learn many critical maneuvers, such as how to take off, how to stall, and how to land.
It is imperative that you learn how to stall the plane because this will inherently train you on how to get out of a stall.
Power on stalling and power off stalling are the two forms of stalls that you will need to become familiar with.
When a stall occurs while the plane is at full throttle and taking off, this is referred to as power on stalling.
Another form of stalling takes place in the landing sequence when the plane resides at a low idle, and it is referred to as power off stalling.
You have to be prepared for all scenarios in the event of a malfunction, thus it is very important that you know how to deal with both types of stalling.
You will go through the process of learning how to execute a number of techniques including ground reference maneuvers during your flight hours.
The successful execution of ground reference maneuvers entails locating an object, and then circling it 360 degrees in addition to maintaining your initial starting altitude and equidistance.
During flight hours, you will learn how to read navigation panels and fly with and without instruments.
After the basic training you will need to fly solo.
At this time, you will be on your own to fulfill your needed amount of solo flight hours.
It is imperative that you approach your testing very seriously.
You can begin the actual testing process upon the completion of your ground training and when all of your flight hours have been amassed and collected.
In this step of the process, it is very important that you do very well in this area, and this is even more important if you are intending to pursue a career as a commercial airline pilot.
Without success on every test, you cannot hope to become a commercial pilot; however, you are permitted to take a test over again if you do fail it.
Your instructor usually recommends a facility where you will take your written test.
The test will cover items from both your in-air training and ground school.
If you pass the written exam, you'll then be able to take the final exam: a flight with a certified examiner.
The flight examiner will be asking questions during the course of this test flight, and it is very likely that he or she will focus in on things that you may have erred on in the written portion.
Among the tests you must pass are inspecting the plane prior to flight, flying proficiently according to your instructor's commands, and landing the plane numerous times.
If the flight examiner is satisfied with your performance, you'll have passed your test and can expect your pilot's license in the mail!
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