Everybody has dreamt once of becoming a pilot during their childhood and few are able to make it possible. Becoming a Pilot takes lot of pain and labour, as it is one of the prestigious professions one can dream of and take the challenge to achieve it.However, a career as a pilot is an option that will allows undertaking a passion on a daily basis, with the added bonus of earning a more than reasonable salary from doing what you love.
Pilot Training
The main three things you need to successfully complete flight training are passion, ambition and desire. The training sessions in flying schools follow similar criteria; let us have a brief introduction about that-
1. Preparatory Ground Instruction
Most lessons will start with a short classroom briefing from the instructor on what will be covered during the flight. You’ll talk about what the exercise to be learned is, why you’re learning it, the theory behind it, and the practical steps in the maneuvers.
2. Preflight Briefing
Every flight will start with a preflight briefing, discussing the weather, route of flight, any special conditions, and outlining your responsibilities and objectives.
3. Dual Instruction
The airplane you train in has two complete sets of controls, one for you, and one for your instructor.
Your instructor will let you learn by making mistakes, but can easily correct your mistakes.
4. Postflight Briefing
After the
lesson, the instructor should tell you how well you met the lesson objectives, what you need to improve, and what you will do next time. If you don’t receive this information, ask for it. You will probably be assigned some reading or other preparation for the next lesson. The instructor will also fill out your PTR (Pilot Training Record), a booklet recording your progress.
5. Exercises
The content of all your lessons is prescribed by Transport Canada. Your flight instructor had to pass a written and practical
test to ensure that he or she could follow the approved training methods, and every so often a flight instructor must take another test or attend a course in order to keep his or her flight instructor rating valid. You will work through the exercises bit by bit and will not proceed to the next one until your instructor is happy with your understanding and performance on the preceding one.
The exercises that you will learn are described in the Flight Training Manual. You will learn the basics about your airplane; how to ensure it is ready for flight, how to use the main and the ancillary controls, and how to “taxi” (drive) it on the ground.
You then learn the attitudes and movements of the airplane, essential background for flying the airplane straight and level, climbing, descending, and turning.
You also learn how to fly the airplane to maximize range and endurance.
There are special exercises that prepare you for safely landing the airplane: slow flight, stalls, spins, spiral dive recovery and slips. You will spend some time learning to safely take-off, fly a circuit, and land. Once you can do this safely, use the radio properly, if your airplane has one, and know the emergency procedures, you will go solo. Then you will
Learn specialized take-off and landing techniques for short or unpaved runways with obstacles around. You will learn about the illusions caused by wind when you are flying at low altitude.
You will learn how to make a precautionary landing in case you cannot reach an airport, and how to land safely even if your engine quits while you are flying.
You will learn how to navigate from one place to another, and also how to divert to an alternate airport if there is some problem.
As part of your Canadian private pilot license you will also receive instruction in instrument flying, flying by reference to the instruments only, in case something happened where you could not see anything out of the window.
6. Review
Once you have learned all the exercises, you will review them and practice them until they are up to the flight test standards. You may be asked to do a flight with your school’s chief flight instructor or another instructor, as a sort of a mock flight test.
7. Flight Test
When your instructor is sure you are ready, he or she will book a test with an examiner. Usually the examiner will come to your school. You will be asked to prepare a navigation plan for the flight, along with all the other required documentation. You will spend an hour or more on the ground answering questions about your preparation and your airplane’s performance. Your examiner will ask you more questions about your preflight inspection, and then you will take the examiner flying. The flight itself takes about an hour and a half.
8.Groundschool
One of the requirements of flight training is 40 hours of groundschool. You can fulfill this in a number of ways. Your school probably offers a course. If the time is not convenient, check your
local community college. There are also
online courses, and a self-study option is available, under an instructor’s supervision. The groundschool prepares you for the
written test. It is best to take the groundschool at the same time as the flight training, because they reinforce each other, but if scheduling is a problem, groundschool can be taken before or after the practical training. You can also arrange to take groundschool by private tutoring.
9.Written Test
Once you have completed groundschool, and usually a practice exam, so your instructor can tell you have studied, your school will give you a letter of recommendation so you can go and write the government exam. You can write it at a Transport Canada office, where in most places it is no longer a “written” exam, but a computer administrated one. Questions appear on the screen, and you select a multiple choice answer using the mouse. For
admission to the examination, you’ll need a minimum of ten hours flying time, a letter of recommendation from your school, a test fee , a medical certificate, photo ID, pencils to use for calculations,an electronic calculator, a chart ruler and the knowledge required to pass a four part exam. You can do the flight test and the written test in any order. It’s fun to do the flight test last, though, because you can get your licence signed right then and
there and now you’re a pilot, and you’re already at the airport!
Everybody has dreamt once of becoming a pilot during their childhood and few are able to make it possible. Becoming a Pilot takes lot of pain and labour, as it is one of the prestigious professions one can dream of and take the challenge to achieve it.However, a career as a pilot is an option that will allows undertaking a passion on a daily basis, with the added bonus of earning a more than reasonable salary from doing what you love.
Pilot TrainingThe main three things you need to successfully complete flight training are passion, ambition and desire. The training sessions in flying schools follow similar criteria; let us have a brief introduction about that-
1. Preparatory Ground InstructionMost lessons will start with a short classroom briefing from the instructor on what will be covered during the flight. You’ll talk about what the exercise to be learned is, why you’re learning it, the theory behind it, and the practical steps in the maneuvers.2. Preflight BriefingEvery flight will start with a preflight briefing, discussing the weather, route of flight, any special conditions, and outlining your responsibilities and objectives.3. Dual InstructionThe airplane you train in has two complete sets of controls, one for you, and one for your instructor.Your instructor will let you learn by making mistakes, but can easily correct your mistakes. 4. Postflight BriefingAfter the lesson, the instructor should tell you how well you met the lesson objectives, what you need to improve, and what you will do next time. If you don’t receive this information, ask for it. You will probably be assigned some reading or other preparation for the next lesson. The instructor will also fill out your PTR (Pilot Training Record), a booklet recording your progress.5. ExercisesThe content of all your lessons is prescribed by Transport Canada. Your flight instructor had to pass a written and practical test to ensure that he or she could follow the approved training methods, and every so often a flight instructor must take another test or attend a course in order to keep his or her flight instructor rating valid. You will work through the exercises bit by bit and will not proceed to the next one until your instructor is happy with your understanding and performance on the preceding one.The exercises that you will learn are described in the Flight Training Manual. You will learn the basics about your airplane; how to ensure it is ready for flight, how to use the main and the ancillary controls, and how to “taxi” (drive) it on the ground.You then learn the attitudes and movements of the airplane, essential background for flying the airplane straight and level, climbing, descending, and turning.You also learn how to fly the airplane to maximize range and endurance.There are special exercises that prepare you for safely landing the airplane: slow flight, stalls, spins, spiral dive recovery and slips. You will spend some time learning to safely take-off, fly a circuit, and land. Once you can do this safely, use the radio properly, if your airplane has one, and know the emergency procedures, you will go solo. Then you willLearn specialized take-off and landing techniques for short or unpaved runways with obstacles around. You will learn about the illusions caused by wind when you are flying at low altitude.You will learn how to make a precautionary landing in case you cannot reach an airport, and how to land safely even if your engine quits while you are flying.You will learn how to navigate from one place to another, and also how to divert to an alternate airport if there is some problem.As part of your Canadian private pilot license you will also receive instruction in instrument flying, flying by reference to the instruments only, in case something happened where you could not see anything out of the window.6. ReviewOnce you have learned all the exercises, you will review them and practice them until they are up to the flight test standards. You may be asked to do a flight with your school’s chief flight instructor or another instructor, as a sort of a mock flight test.
7. Flight TestWhen your instructor is sure you are ready, he or she will book a test with an examiner. Usually the examiner will come to your school. You will be asked to prepare a navigation plan for the flight, along with all the other required documentation. You will spend an hour or more on the ground answering questions about your preparation and your airplane’s performance. Your examiner will ask you more questions about your preflight inspection, and then you will take the examiner flying. The flight itself takes about an hour and a half.8.GroundschoolOne of the requirements of flight training is 40 hours of groundschool. You can fulfill this in a number of ways. Your school probably offers a course. If the time is not convenient, check your local
community college. There are also online courses, and a self-study option is available, under an instructor’s supervision. The groundschool prepares you for thewritten test. It is best to take the groundschool at the same time as the flight training, because they reinforce each other, but if scheduling is a problem, groundschool can be taken before or after the practical training. You can also arrange to take groundschool by private tutoring.9.Written TestOnce you have completed groundschool, and usually a practice exam, so your instructor can tell you have studied, your school will give you a letter of recommendation so you can go and write the government exam. You can write it at a Transport Canada office, where in most places it is no longer a “written” exam, but a computer administrated one. Questions appear on the screen, and you select a multiple choice answer using the mouse. For admission to the examination, you’ll need a minimum of ten hours flying time, a letter of recommendation from your school, a test fee , a medical certificate, photo ID, pencils to use for calculations,an electronic calculator, a chart ruler and the knowledge required to pass a four part exam. You can do the flight test and the written test in any order. It’s fun to do the flight test last, though, because you can get your licence signed right then andthere and now you’re a pilot, and you’re already at the Airport!
Last but not least… Always remember Take off is optional but landings is compulsory..
Happy Landings……..
Regds,
