EP 08 - Learning to Fly — Getting Your Private Pilot Licence

Do you dream about flying? Ever wanted to become a pilot? “How do I become a pilot?” is a question professional pilots get all the time. Whether you want to become a professional pilot or just fly for fun, getting your Private Pilot Licence (PPL) is where most start!

In this episode, Mike and his good friend Melissa talk about how to go about getting your flight training started, finding the right flight school and instructor, the steps your training will take, equipment you might need and other advice to make you successful.

Some notes from the show:

• The Familiarization (Fam) Flight is also commonly called the Discovery Flight

• A PPL student is trained to be a visual flight rules (VFR) pilot. This means they have to have reference to the ground at all times, not the horizon. Although when learning to fly, the horizon is used as your reference point for the attitude of the aircraft.

• Minimum flight hours required to hold a PPL is 45 hours which shall include a minimum of 17 hours dual, 3 hours dual cross country, 5 hours instrument, 17 hours solo, of which 5 hours must be solo cross country.

• On average, most students will take an average of 60-80 hours or more to complete their flight training. This is due to weather delays, instructor or aircraft availability, frequency of flight lessons, commitment to training etc.

• 40 hours of ground school must be completed before writing the Transport Canada written exam

• A Category III medical is required to hold a PPL

• To acquire a PPL, the candidate must be at least 17 years of age. This means they must be 17 to hold the license, but can fly solo at 14 years old.

Contact your local flight school for more information about learning to fly!

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Edited & Produced by Jason Rosewell
Music intro by Tyler Wilson
Artwork by Achilles Concepcion