PRIVATE PILOT LICENSE

DescriptOnce you’ve taken to the skies at the controls of an airplane, you’ll never look at the world in quite the same way. Imagine leaving the Bay Area on a busy Friday afternoon, speeding over the choked-up freeways below, and landing in Tahoe less than an hour later. Or heading to L.A. for the weekend, without dealing with overbooked airlines, lost luggage, and all the hassles of airline travel. Or you could simply take your friends on an awe-inspiring aerial tour of the beautiful Bay Area. In fact, once you have your private pilot certificate, you can pretty much fly anywhere in the world you want. You set your own schedule, enjoy the freedom of the skies, and witness gorgeous views that are far better than those you’ll get on an airliner. And if you share the cost of the flight with your friends, you can often fly somewhere for less than you’d pay for a coach-class ticket.

No human activity is perfectly safe. But despite all the overblown news stories to the contrary, flying is simply the world’s safest form of transportation. General aviation fatalities occur approximately once every 100,000 hours of flight time, which means you’d have to stay in the air for eleven straight years (that’s 24 hours a day, 365 days a year) before you’d be likely to die in an accident. To put that in perspective, even senior airline captains don’t log much more than 20,000 hours in an entire lifetime, while most non-professional pilots will log much less. At California Airways, we pride ourselves on our perfect safety record. Our aircraft are stringently maintained to FAA standards, and our veteran instructors have logged thousands of accident-free hours.

Flying isn’t as difficult as most people think. While it’s admittedly more complicated than driving a car, it’s still within the grasp of most people. Of course, experienced flight instructors make a huge difference. Our seasoned instructors have taught hundreds of people how to fly, ranging from 15-year-old high-school students to 75-year-old retirees. If you’d like to see for yourself, take an introductory flight with us. You’ll fly the airplane from the pilot’s seat, with your instructor assisting you. It’ll open up a world you probably never knew existed.

That depends on how often you fly. The average person logs 70 hours of flight time before earning the private pilot certificate. If you fly twice a week, and log 1.5 hours of flight time per lesson, you should be finished in six months or less. Of course, you can fly more often if you prefer, and earn your certificate quicker.

Since every student has different skills, it's difficult to provide an exact cost number. However, assuming that you train in a Cessna 152 and complete your flight training in the average time, you can expect to spend approximately $15,000-$20,000 to earn your private pilot certificate.

If you are not a citizen, you will need an M-1 student visa before you arrive in the United States. We issue I-20 sponsorship forms for the M-1 visa. Please click here for application information.

If you are in the United States but you are not a citizen, you must first complete the Transportation Security Administration's verification process. Visit the TSA web site and register as a "Candidate" for the Alien Flight Student Training Program. Select California Airways, Inc. as your course provider. TSA approval must be granted before you begin training. TSA approval is required for all non-citizens, even if you have a green card and are a legal U.S. resident.

Yes. Many pilots wear glasses, including bifocals or trifocals. To fly an airplane solo (or with passengers,) you must pass a simple FAA exam. Assuming you’re in fair health, you should pass the exam. Special medical exemptions are possible. There are plenty of deaf pilots and even paraplegic pilots flying today. (There aren’t any blind pilots, however.)

To fly an airplane solo, you must be at least 16. To earn your private pilot’s certificate (which allows you to carry passengers), you must be at least 17. You can start training before you turn 16.

There is no maximum age limitation for starting flight training. We have trained student pilots in their mid-70s.

There are three parts: the written, oral, and flight tests. The written test is a 60-question, multiple-choice, computerized test. After you’ve passed the written, and your instructor certifies that you’re prepared for the oral and flight tests, a Designated Examiner will administer the final exam, or “checkride.” If you meet the performance standards, congratulations! You’ll be issued your license that same day.

Just about anything you can imagine! Here’s a sample list:

•Take your friends on an aerial tour of the Bay Area

•Have lunch in Mendocino (a 1-hour flight from Hayward)

•Have dinner in Reno (90 minutes from Hayward)

•Fly somewhere remote and camp for the weekend

•Just fly around and enjoy the view!

While weekend trips might sound expensive, you don’t pay for every hour that you have the airplane. You only pay for the time the engine is running, so weekend trips are actually quite affordable. (We do have hourly minimums for weekend trips, however.)

While you won’t be able to fly for hire until you have your commercial certificate or fly inside clouds until you have your instrument rating, the private pilot certificate grants you access to a magical, beautiful world in which traffic jams have no meaning, sunsets last forever, and birds look upon you as equals.

61.109 Aeronautical Experience

(a) For an airplane single-engine rating. Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this section, a person who applies for a private pilot certificate with an airplane category and single-engine class rating must log at least 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training in the areas of operation listed in § 61.107(b)(1) of this part, and the training must include at least—

(1) 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a single-engine airplane;

(2) Except as provided in § 61.110 of this part, 3 hours of night flight training in a single-engine airplane that includes—

(i) One cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance; and

(ii) 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport.

(3) 3 hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments, including straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to a heading, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, radio communications, and the use of navigation systems/facilities and radar services appropriate to instrument flight;

(4) 3 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor in a single-engine airplane in preparation for the practical test, which must have been performed within the preceding 2 calendar months from the month of the test; and

(5) 10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane, consisting of at least—

(i) 5 hours of solo cross-country time;

(ii) One solo cross country flight of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations; and

(iii) Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.