Age Requirement for Private Pilot Certificate

FARS

I often find myself answering this common question: How old do you have to be to get a private pilot license? Well, the answer from the FAA is 17 years old, but before you close this window, consider some of these things.

You do need a student pilot certificate in order solo in an airplane, but guess what?! You can get a student pilot certificate when you are 16 years old! If you’re not 16, there is still some hope for you. If you want to get started in a glider or balloon, you can get your student pilot certificate when you’re 14 years old!

Of course, if you are planning on flying an airplane, I would recommend getting a glider rating over the balloon. Keep in mind though, that FAR 61.103(b) says that you have to be 16 in order to get your rating in a glider or balloon. But that means that if you time your training just right, you can be ready by your 16th birthday and be flying a glider before getting your drivers license. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

The controls of a glider are very similar to a powered aircraft, so the transition from glider to a powered airplane will have less of a learning curve. When you’re 16 and have a student pilot certificate and at least a 3rd class medical, you can start your private pilot training toward your solo flight. Interestingly, by assumption, it seems that you can take flying lessons at any age! I have yet to run across a regulation that says otherwise.
So what are you waiting for? Buy an official logbook and run down to the airport to get your aviation career started! You can read more frequently asked questions on the FAA’s website.

Private Pilot Certification Checklist

Uncategorized

I recently added some things to the Private Pilot page. When reading the FARs, I would often find myself flipping through different sections of the book to read all the exceptions to the laws. So for that reason, I added links to all part 91 and 61 references. The links will lead you to the current regulations. I hope this will help you piece together the regulations easier.
Secondly, I broke out a few of the regulations to include checklists for private pilot logging requirements, separated for ground vs. ground and flight training. I included a field for you to put the dates logged in the student’s logbook. This will hopefully give you an idea what you still need to train on and log.
Hopefully that is helpful for you! Keep the blue side up!
P.S. I stumbled on some of Steve-o’s YouTube videos. Check it out if you get a chance.

Engine Systems

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Sometimes it’s difficult to explain airplane systems because you can’t usually see the moving parts of an engine. Today, I stumbled across a site that shows how car engines and systems work. Though, some of the systems in airplanes are different (air cooled, for instance), many of the concepts and designs are the same. Without further explanation, this site might help clarify some things. Hopefully you can learn something you didn’t know!

How a car engine works

And while I’m at it, here is how a jet engine works.

Mobile Optimized

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I hope you like the new design. Sorry about the down time, but mobile menus are working again! The idea is that if you need a lesson plan when you’re not at your desk or in your hangar, or care to study up on some things, you can pick up your phone and review concepts or procedures on your phone or tablet. You can also show your students the pictures on your tablet right in your lesson plan! That’s one of the primary reasons for making this website.

I was in an instructor check ride once and I was explaining a system of the airplane. Instead of printing a lot of pages or flipping through a book with a million tabs, I opened my phone and zoomed into a picture file I had on dropbox. It didn’t zoom very well and was frustrating to me. Alas, the website was born! The only thing I haven’t figured out completely is how to get a mobile browser to cache the site so it doesn’t need an internet connection. If you have ideas how to do this, be sure to let me know! I imagine it may require an extra browser plugin of sorts.

Also, if you see any pages that need updates or would like improvements, please drop me a note on the contact page, or comment to this post. I’m working on adding pictures to the pages that are mobile friendly. Thanks for all your support!