Congress empowered the FAA to foster aviation safety by prescribing safety standards for civil aviation . This is accomplished through the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR’s). Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 61 pertains to the certification of pilots, flight instructors, and ground instructors. This prescribes the eligibility, aeronautical knowledge, flight proficiency, and experience required for each type of pilot certificate issued.

The student pilot’s training program depends upon the quality of the ground and flight training received. An instructor should possess an understanding of the learning process, a knowledge of the fundamentals of teaching, and the ability to communicate effectively with the student pilot. During the certification process, a flight instructor applicant is tested on a practical application of these skills in specific teaching situations. The quality of instruction, and the knowledge and skills acquired from your flight instructor will affect your entire flying career whether you plan to pursue it as a vocation or an avocation. The flight instructors here at Specialized Aviation work together as a team in order to give our students the best possible outcome. When you train with us you get the whole team and not just a single instructor.

A course of instruction will include the ground and flight training necessary to acquire the knowledge and skills required to safely and efficiently function as a certificated pilot. The specific knowledge and skill areas for each category and class of aircraft are outlined in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). These minimum requirements are a great place to set a goal from. Most students achieve their goal within 10-15% of a projected budget set after a series of training lessons that help your flight instructor establish a trend in your ability to learn and fly.

In  order to achieve the lofty goal of becoming a pilot you will need 3 basic things; Money, Family/friend Support and time. The most important being time!

Plan on spending countless hours digging in to the books and working to learn what will seem like a new language. The more time you put in, the faster you finish. The average student working to achieve their first rating as a private pilot will spend 3-5 hours of ground study for each hour in the air. This is similar to taking 1 college level class with a lab once a week. If you spend more or less time then the hours and money it will take usually slides along with the level of effort.

Some students are very good at being a student and learning new things, this type of person often does great through the whole process. Those individuals that struggle with learning new things, have trouble organizing and memorizing will need some additional assistance along the way.

Everyone learns differently and we take that into consideration while learning to fly. You will need to communicate extensivly with your instructor in order to get the most out of the training process for your specific needs.

The FAA has adopted an operational training concept that places the full responsibility for student training on the flight instructor. In this role, the flight instructor assumes total responsibility for training you to meet the standards required for certification within an ever-changing operating environment. Like anything else in life, the more you educated yourself and are aware of what is expected of you and others, the more control you have of your goal’s outcome. Research the avenues open to you. The flight instructor will provide you guidance, and arrange for your academic and flight training lessons. These lessons are presented in a logical manner to achieve desired goals. After each flight, the flight instructor will review the day’s lesson. This will be the time to clear up any questions. It is important that misconceptions be clarified while the subject is still fresh in mind.

We like to follow a simple outline for each lesson: Plan the flight, fly the plan, debrief the flight. This is all done between you and our instructor so expect to get to know your instructor very well as they are not only teaching you but also mentoring you also, and we take this job very seriously. 

Most students get to know their instructors very well. You can expect a friendly yet professional attitude from them as they work closly with you to achieve your goals. The instructor will be highly concerned with your progress and well being because when flying it is a unique experiance that can be scary, intense and amazing all in the same short flight.

As i look back on my flying carrer, i can remember every flight instructor i ever flew with. You can plan on the same positive memories as the student-instructor relationship is one of friendship, trust and professionalism. It is a unique experiance that only aviators understand as learning to fly is basically an intense experiance guided by those that have done it before you.

Pilots, except those who fly gliders or free air balloons, must possess a valid medical certificate in order to exercise the privileges of their airman certificates. Sport pilots must possess either a valid third-class medical certificate or a valid driver’s license. The periodic medical examination required for medical certification is conducted by designated aviation medical examiners, who are physicians with a special interest in aviation safety and have training in aviation medicine. The standards for medical certification are contained in 14 CFR part 67. The requirements for obtaining medical certification are contained in 14 CFR part 61. Prior to beginning flight training, a flight instructor will interview you about any health conditions and determine your goal as a pilot. Good advice would be to obtain the class of medical certificate required, for the certificate level you ultimately want, before beginning flight training. Finding out immediately whether you are medically qualified could save time and money.

If you do have physical limitations, such as impaired vision, loss of a limb, or hearing impairment it is possible you could be issued a medical certificate valid for “Student Pilot Privileges Only.” This kind of medical certificate will allow you to continue flight training and to prepare for the pilot certification practical test. During training, flight instructors will ensure that you can safely perform all required TASKs that pertain to the required standards. Special devices may be necessary to allow you to manipulate the flight controls. If you are unable to perform certain TASKs, you may have a limitation placed on your pilot certificate. For example, hearing impairment would require the limitation “Not Valid for Flight Requiring the Use of Radio.” Another limitation may allow the pilot to only operate a certain make and model airplane, such as one without rudder pedals.

In the past we have trained people with psyical limitations but you should be aware of a few that can be more difficult to work around than others. If you are shorter than 5'0 or have short arms you may not be able to reach all of the controls and instruments properly. You will be required to wear a setbelt at all times and often the cockpits of aircraft require too far of a stretch to reach a required instruent or piece of equipment durring normal or emergency operations.

Those people with color blindness or limited color recognition might be able to distinguish between red, green and white as required for night flight operations and may need to prove this to an FAA offical as the medical exam often does a poor job of determining this and may just fail you for slight color loss issues.

Hart, spin and major organ conditions are always difficult to contend with but it is not  a show stopper, just a delay in some cases. For these types of medical issues, talk with the medical exmainer before you fill in all of the requested paperwork.

Knowledge tests are written exams designed to test your level of knowledge in certain areas of aviation. These are not to be confused with practical exams where a pilot designated by the FAA sits with you and asks questions and also goes with you on a flight to test your level of knowledge and proficiency. 

Communication between individuals through the use of words is a complicated process. In addition to being an exercise in the application and use of aeronautical knowledge, a knowledge test is also an exercise in communication since it involves the use of written language. Since the tests involve written rather than spoken words, communication between the test writer and the person being tested may become a difficult matter if both parties do not exercise care. For this reason, considerable effort is expended to write each question in a clear, precise manner.

You should follow your instructor’s advice on what and when to study. You should recognize the advantages of planning a definite study program and following it as closely as possible. Haphazard or disorganized study habits usually result in an unsatisfactory score on the knowledge test.

The ideal study program is to enroll in one of our  formal ground school courses along with the home study course outlined by your istructor. This offers the advantages of a reinforcing what you learn at home and meeting others interested in what you are learning. This builds a great foundation to spring board the concepts and gather the understanding without spending the additional cost of one on one instruction with a CFI. 

Self-study method alone can be satisfactory, provided the proper study materials are obtained, and a reasonable amount of time is devoted to study. The student should establish realistic periodic goals, and equally important, a target date for completion. Self-discipline is important because it is too easy to “put off” the study period for some other activity.