Instruction

At a minimum, private pilot students will have logged 40 hours of flight time that includes 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor as well as 10 hours of solo flight.

You can earn your private pilot license in as little as 2 weeks with the average (working a job or going to school) 3-months.

The training includes the following elements:

• 3 hours of cross-country flight training
• 3 hours of night flight training consisting of:
  • One cross country flight over 100 nautical miles total distance
  • 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern at an airport
• 3 hours of flight training on control and maneuvering solely by reference to instruments
• 3 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor in preparation for the practical test within the preceding 2 calendar months from the month of the test
• 10 hours of solo flight time consisting of:
  • 5 hours of solo cross-country time
  • One solo cross country flight of 150 nautical miles total distance with full stop landings at three points and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between takeoff and landing locations
  • Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower

Why get your Instrument Rating? It will make you a better pilot! Additionally, it is a great skill and rating to have in the event you do have a need to fly on those non-sunny clear days. You must have logged the following:

• At least 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command. At least 10 of these hours must be in airplanes for an instrument-airplane rating.
• A total of 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time on the areas of operation listed in 61.65(c).
• At least 15 hours of instrument flight training from an authorized instructor in the aircraft category for the instrument rating sought.

For instrument-airplane rating, instrument training on cross-country flight procedures that includes at least one cross-country flight in an airplane that is performed under instrument flight rules. This flight must consist of:

• A distance of at least 250 nm along airways or ATC-directed routing.
• An instrument approach at each airport.
• Three different kinds of approaches with the use of navigation systems (Example: ILS, VOR, GPS, etc).
• At least 3 hours of instrument training that is appropriate to the instrument rating sought from an authorized instructor in preparation for the checkride within two calendar months before the examination date.

Commercial Pilot License is the natural progression after your Instrument Rating. If helps you refine your flying skills and also give you opportunity to fly for compensation. To obtain a commercial certificate in an airplane under FAR Part 61 rules a pilot must have:

• 250 hours of flight time, 100 hours of which must be in powered aircraft, and 50 must be in airplanes.
• 100 hours of pilot-in-command time, 50 of which must be in airplanes.
• 50 hours of cross-country time, 10 of which must be in an airplane.
• 20 hours of training, including 10 of instrument, 10 of complex or TAA, and a smattering of cross-country and practical test preparation.
• 10 hours of solo training, including a smattering of cross-country and night.

Similar to your Private Pilot Rating you will do a set of maneuvers and landings on your practical checkride, but the ACS requirements are half of what they were for your private pilot rating. What you can do with a Commercial Pilot License

Sport Pilot is a unique rating that does not require a FAA Medical, but does come with restrictions on what aircraft you can fly, where you can fly and when you can fly. We offer Sport Pilot training in our Light Sport, Sports Cruiser N601CF. Training requirements for a sport pilot certificate with airplane category —

• A minimum of 20 hours flight time including:
  • 15 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor.
  • 5 hours solo flight.
• Flight training must include at least:
  • 2 hours cross-country flight training.
  • 10 takeoffs and landings to a full stop.
  • One solo cross-country flight of at least 75 nautical miles total distance with a full-stop landing at a minimum of two points and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 25 nautical miles between takeoff and landing locations.
  • 2 hours flight training in preparation for the practical test.
  • Ground training from an instructor or home-study course.

AOPA has a great article on Sport Pilot Licenses.

Become a Certified Flight Instructor after you have achieved your Commercial Pilot License. Being a CFI is both challenging and rewarding.  It will help you dig in and get a better understanding and knowledge of flying because you know how to teach it and students always ask questions you don't know the answer to, so you learn where to find the answer and then teach it. There are no minimum hour requirements to achieve these ratings (outside of your Commercial Rating).  You will be rested based on the FAA PTS The challenges are:

• Learning to fly right seat
• Learning to instruct while you are flying
• Creating lesson plans and then teaching them

There are three FAA knowledge exams required for CFI through CFII.