Requirements to get a Pilots License

Seaplane & Floatplane Instruction  I  Aircraft & Airplane Flight Training  I  Requirement's to get a Pilot's License

1. Obtain a medical certificate from an AME (Doctor certified for flight physicals). You can find a list of doctors on line who are certified to do this.

2. Choose a flight school. You can find a complete list on BeaPilot.com

3. Choose a flight instructor. This is very important, as different instructors have different personalities. Talk to them first and determine who fits you best.

4. Schedule your flight time. Generally, a block of 2 hours is the standard. This time period will include a short discussion by the instructor on what you will do, preflighting the airplane, the actual flight of about an hour, and a debrief period.

5. Enroll in Ground school training. This is a series of classroom training sessions on all the flight rules and generally runs for 12 weeks, 1 3 hour session per week.

6. Take the flight training which is generally broken into 3 phases.

   • In the first phase, you learn the basics of handling an airplane and practice takeoffs, maneuvering, and landings. This phase is a preparation to your first solo.

   • The second phase involves a combination of solo flights, an introduction to night flying and instrument flying, and more maneuvers. You are also introduced to Navigation and Communicating on the Radio with Air Traffic Controllers and Tower Operators.

   • The third phase involves more solo cross-country flights and preparation for the checkride. The flight training curriculum involves 26 different topics. The flight instructor will not move on to the next lesson until the student had demonstrated mastery of the previous lesson. Don't worry about learning everything right away. The minimum training time is 40 hours; most student pilots take 55-60 hours to complete the course. At the completion of the course, the flight instructor will sign you off to take your checkride.

7. Take the written FAA test. This test is given at most General Avation airports. It is multiple choice, 75 questions.

8. Take your checkride. You will need to schedule this with your local FAA checkride pilot. The FAA pilot will ask you a series of questions to test your knowledge, inspect your paperwork, and fly with you on a checkride. If you pass, he will issue you a temporary pilot license until your permanent one comes in the mail

9. Enjoy flying safely!

10. Click here for the requirements

11. Become a Pilot - FAA website