You need to be at least 17 years old in order to take the Private Pilot practical exam. You must be at least 16 years old to solo an airplane.

As a private pilot, you may not receive any form of compensation for flying. You can, however, fly with friends and share the expenses of the flight. You must fly within the legal weather limitations as prescribed by the FAA. You may require specific training and special endorsements to fly into Class B airports, which are typically high traffic volume international airports.

There are many variables that affect how quickly one earns their Private Pilot certificate. For example, bad weather on a day you are scheduled to fly. Generally, if a student studies the material and flies frequently, he or she will complete training in the shortest amount of time. If you fly a couple times a week it can be done in as little as 3 months. Some people take upwards of a year to complete training.

With a private pilot’s license, you can fly alone or with friends and family and share in the aircraft rental expense.  Certain weather minimums must be met if you do not have an instrument rating.

You can keep your license current in one of two ways. You can add another certificate or rating or, alternatively, you can take a biennial flight review (once every 24 calendar months) with an authorized flight instructor.

Your training will involve a certain amount of dual instruction (with an instructor) and solo flight. You will also need some ground instruction. You can lesson the hours you spend going over ground training with your instructor, if you study the material at home. (Remember, ground is not required, but you will need it.)

Not necessarily. We try to keep you with the same instructor throughout your training for your own benefit, since it allows the instructor to better gauge your progress, and it will prevent you from becoming confused by the slightly different techniques of different pilots. However, choosing the instructor that is right for you is a very important decision, and there is nothing wrong with trying a flight with each of our instructors in the beginning. This way, you may choose the one with whom you feel most comfortable.