Flight Planning 101

When you learn to fly an aircraft, you would also have to learn about the other aspects of aviation since you’ll be immersing yourself in it once you have been issued as a certificate. One concern that is universal to all pilots in the industry is the filing of a flight plan. In the US, the FAA still you to fly without having to file a plan with the agency as long as your holding a private pilot license, because you’re not earning any money from it. However, it is still required for you to learn how to file a flight plan because it can be useful later on when you upgrade your certificate to pursue a career as an aviator.

Filing a Flight Plan

In order to file a flight plan, you would have to fill up a flight plan form. In here, you will have to provide the FAA with the certain information including the following:

• ·         Tail number designation, which also acts as your callsign.
• ·         Aircraft type and specifications.
• ·         The true airspeed that your airplane is capable of, in knots.
• ·         Intended airport of departure, and proposed departure time.
• ·         Airport of destination, and estimated time you think you think your flight is going to take.
• ·         Crew and passenger information.
• ·         Alternate airports in case of emergency.
• ·         Initial cruise altitude.
• ·         Pilot contact information.

The flight plan is very detailed. Once you have filled out the form, you can then file it by calling your local flight service center by phone or by filing it online. There are many flight plan filing services that does it online for you, including DUATS.

Opening Your Flight Plan

It is not enough to simply file a flight plan. In order for the flight plan to become active, you would have to open it up after you have taken off. Such a service is available through your local flight service centers and VORs, and is done through the radio. To do that, you would have to contact the frequency specified in the communication box of the area you are flying in and inform them that you want to have your flight plan opened. Take note that, in some areas, you have to use two frequencies: a “transmitting” frequency through which you talk to the flight center and a “receiving” frequency where you can receive transmissions from them. You can find this information in the communications box.

Closing Your Flight Plan

The last step is to close your flight plan as soon as you can after you have touched down. This is necessary, or the FAA will come looking for you. It’s easy... you just give your local flight service center a phone call notifying them that you have completed your flight and would like to have the plan closed.

The Private Pilot Checkride: What Is It About?

Before we delve deeper into learning to fly, let us first talk about the private pilot checkride. This is sort of the final test that one has to pass and succeed in order to be issued a private pilot license.

The FAA mandates that every pilot is able to show his proficiency in the general aviation industry through the checkride. This exam involves two parts: a  written exam, and the actual flight itself. The checkride is facilitated by an examiner that has been duly accredited by the FAA. This person is authorized to look into a pilot’s skills and has the final say in whether or not one is good and safe enough to be awarded a certificate to operate as a private pilot.

Hence, you can expect the private pilot checkride to grill you on any topic that you have touched through in your 40 hours of flight training with your certified flight instructor. The difficult part here is that the topic or procedure that you will be told to demonstrate to the examiner will be random; you will have no idea beforehand what you will be facing, making the preparation daunting and difficult. Every student pilot fears or is anxious about the private pilot checkride, and that is understandable.

While the test preparation may be difficult for every aspiring aviatior, it is not impossible! What you really need is a good resource, the help of which you can facilitate a good test preparation. There are plenty of resources in the Internet, most of which you can download for free or have to buy a price. Buying a reviewer would certainly be worth the price, since these books are meant to condition your mind to memorizing or recalling previous lessons that you may have stuffed into the back of your head.

With your resource at hand, all you have to do now is engage in a thorough private pilot test prep. Diligently study your lessons and you’ll be fine when you take your checkride.  Take some breaks every now and then – to prevent your head from cramming – but always keep up with your review. 

Learning to Fly An Airplane: Becoming a Student Pilot

In our previous blog, we talked about how one’s desire to become a pilot begins by the desire and what are the things that could stop one from becoming a private pilot like he wanted to. In this post, we shall talk about how one could start taking the steps to becoming an aviator and that is to become a student pilot.

Finding a CFI

First off, you should find a flight school that you could go to. Like mentioned before, you could choose to go to aviation college but it could be very expensive for you to do so. Not unless you could find yourself some grants, you might be better off going to a Part 61 instruction. To do that, you need to first find yourself a certified flight instructor. Doing so should be easy, you just need to find one that you can work with and can work with you full time. Be sure to ask for some referrals and do some interviews.

Getting a Medical

A Level 3 medical is what private pilot requirements compel every student to have. This serves as one’s student pilot license, and is needed before on can start private pilot flight lessons. Now don’t think about going to your regular physician; the FAA only authorized certain doctors to issue these medicals. These are accredited physicians, which are sometimes called aviation medical examiners. This shouldn’t be a problem; most of these AMEs are willing to work with you about your medical history and get you cleared to start your flight training.

With your level 3 medical, you are now on your way to becoming a private pilot. You are now licensed to begin flight training with your CFI! This is where you really start to learn to fly. Take note that you have to pass a private pilot checkride at the end of your training, and before that private pilot requirements state that you have to log in at least 40 hours before your instructor endorses you for the exam.