How To Obtain A Private Pilot License
This article provides some guidelines and offers some tips on how to obtain a private pilot license in the US, where the holder only handles an aircraft privately. To obtain a Private Pilot Certificate (PPC), a person must be at least 17 years of age but he or she can begin training at one of the helicopter flight schools at the age of 16. Most pilots will need to have 60 to 70 hours of flight time although the minimum required flight time is 40 hours. According to the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Authority, a private pilot license can only be issued if the candidate has passed a written test, successfully shown that he or she possesses the required flying skills to an examiner, passed an oral exam, and obtained a third class Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical certificate.
An important part of getting a private pilot license, is quality helicopter flight training at a quality school. Therefore, it is important to carefully choose this school. Some of the factors to consider when evaluating the various schools include the fees and the different expenses, the schedule of training as compared to your own schedule, the credentials and experiences of the instructors, the length of time in which the school has been in existence, and the possibility of getting some kind of assistance for the funding of the training. You may also prefer a school that provides you with a study guide and prepares you well for the tests that you have to take to get the license.
Another important requirement for a person to get this kind of license in the US is that he or she should be capable of reading, speaking and writing in English. This is only common sense because the pilot has to read manuals and instructions in English and he or she has to communicate with air traffic controllers in English. The candidate will also need to perform a solo flight, without being guided by an instructor, for at least 10 hours of flight time. Meanwhile, the medical certification means that the candidate must comply with certain requirements regarding distant vision, near vision, hearing, color vision, blood pressure, no problems with vertigo or equilibrium, no substance addiction, and no severe personality disorders, bipolar disorder or psychosis.
It is the FAA that is in charge of issuing a private pilot license, although this is better known as a private pilot certificate because the person is actually certified and not licensed. The certification is based on Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This is also called the Federal Aviation Regulations or FARs. It should be noted that the private certification means that the pilot cannot be paid for flying an aircraft. If he or she wants to embark on a career as a helicopter pilot and get hired by a company or organization, he should get a commercial license, which has more stringent requirements. For example, the required flight time is at least 150 hours.
