Several months ago I decided that it was time for me to learn more about aviation and the world of flying airplanes. For reasons that I won't go into, I found out that I may never be able to obtain a private pilot's certificate. I am not taking flight training through a flight school, and am not a student pilot. But I found out that there are still things that I can do to learn more about the world of flying airplanes. To that end, I took what is known is ground school, offered at a nearby general aviation airport. What was great about this ground school, was that this was an actual school, on site, two nights a week.
For those who are able to, a few words about the process of getting a private pilot's certificate. Obtaining a private pilot's certificate involves a couple of things, one is ground school and then passing the FAA private pilot written test, At the same time if you are working on getting your private pilot's certificate you will enroll in the flight training component of the flight school In flight training, you will go flying with your certified flight instructor in a trainer, often a Cessna 172, and learn how to fly the airplane. When you have passed your FAA private pilot written test and another pre-solo test administered by your flight school, your certified flight instructor endorses your log book for solos as a student pilot.
There are a variety of maneuvers that you must have learned how to perform, and a minimum amount of flight time (including solo time) required before you go for the practical exam administered by an FAA flight examiner. This involves an oral test as well as a practical flying test where the student is in the left seat as pilot, and the examiner is sitting in the right seat asking you to perform various maneuvers. If you pass both then you will have your pilot's certificate with the appropriate endorsement in your logbook.
Back to what I can and can do. I can go as far as taking the FAA private pilot written exam and that is all. I am not enrolled in flight training, so I do not have a flight instructor. I'll talk about the FAA private pilot exam a little later. I will not get as far as having my log book endorsed as a student pilot. Of course, I will never solo. I can go on scenic rides and continue learning more about aviation.
I do have a young pilot, who takes me on scenic flights, the added benefit being that I have learned a lot about flying and aviation from him. These scenic rides helped me as I was studying for the exam. For example, there are many questions about the various instruments on the airplane as well as navigation aides ("those damn needles'). And I had to learn them all, taking scenic flights in the right seat helped me to learn the instruments and the needles.
After completing ground school, I took and passed the FAA private pilot exam. The date was April 13, 2010.
The pictures above are of one of the Cessna 172 airplanes (aka trainers) that I take my scenic rides in. Where the pilot is sitting in the left seat, flying the plane. And I am in the right seat. We have a great time. She is a nice little airplane.
I'll be writing more about journey into aviation from time to time, so stay tuned.
One thing that I have done that fits in here is that I have added a new page -- Aviation Info and Links -- on my blog highlighting some of the things that I learned in ground school. You will also note that I moved the links to my blog pages to the right side of my blog page. I will be referring to some of this information in future blog articles. I rely heavily on various links that I have found over the last several months, some sent to me by my tanker pilot friends. Thank-you guys!
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