Learning To Fly

VIA AIR FLIGHT SCHOOL

Dad, I left my heart up there!
Francis Gary Powers (CIA U-2 pilot) shot down over the Soviet Union,
describing his first flight at age 14

Introduction

So you want to learn to fly? You probably have a million questions and this page will answer most of them. This will tell you what it takes to fly, what kind of flying you will be getting into and what we have to offer you to accomplish your goals.

Flying is something that can get a hold on you and never let go. You can get into it to get a basic license and go sightseeing whenever there is nice weather or you can make a career out of it or anything in-between.

You will be part of an elite group of people. A group that few people join.

General Aviation

You will be entering an area called General Aviation. This is the area of civil aviation that does not include air carriers (airlines). That basically means all the private-use aviation from single engine planes to corporate jets. This is the bulk of the planes in the US. Most all planes in the US are single engine planes.

Who Can Fly?

Just about anyone can fly although it does take a certain personality to fly. You have probably heard it many times that flying is safer than driving but there are still many people that will not get into a plane. There are also many people that will not get on a roller coaster. Some people are satisfied being at home in front of the tube and others just need that extra excitement out of life. If you have gone as far as to read this then you are probably one of those "exciting" people. Flying opens up a third dimension – vertical travel.

You will need to take a medical examination (list of FAA Medical Examiners). This medical is a basic screening to see if you have any tendencies to pass out and therefore would be unsafe. If you are prone to a heart attack, have fainting spells or seizures then these would be a problem. Other than that, as long as you can see clearly and are of average intelligence you will pass the exam. There are people flying today that are deaf or in wheelchairs. Also, there is no upper age limit. As far as the lower limit, you can learn at any age but you cannot do solos until you are 16.

If you are one of the few that cannot pass the medical exam you can still learn to fly with an instructor or fly with another pilot but would not be able to solo without that medical certificate.

Note: One of the new requirements after 9/11 is that you must be a U.S. Citizens or submit to a background investigation first. If you are a U.S. Citizen bring proof of citizenship to your first flight.

How Safe Is Flying?

Flying is relatively safe. No matter how you calculate it - either by person-hours flown or person-miles flown it is still safer then being on the ground. Flying safely is something that is within the pilot’s control. This usually makes a person more confident. Most problems arise from pilot error. One common problem is running out of fuel. You might ask how such a thing could happen - after all, you have fuel gauges on the panel and you are expected to visually inspect the fuel in the tanks before flying. But some people just insist on trying not to make that pit stop. Just use common sense and you will be a safe pilot. Planes rarely fail the pilot. In almost all cases it’s the pilot that fails themselves. And in a lot of those cases it’s the pilot doing stunts or taking chances. So if you just use your head and don’t try to buzz your friend’s house you’ll be safe.

Aviation is a very structured field. There are a lot of rules and regulations that are put into effect to keep the system safe. It is probably more structured than anything else you can think of. For instance, a car has a spark plug in every cylinder. A plane’s cylinder has two spark plugs and each one is tied to a completely different electrical system. That means that if you lose one system there is a complete backup system that keeps everything running smoothly. This is the kind of redundancy you will find in aviation.

Student training and beginner pilots are actually the safest of all flying. And if you think about it, when you passed your car driving test didn't you drive slowly and carefully with both hands on the wheel? As time passed you then started to become complacent. Here we will teach you proper planning and safe flying. If you use those techniques you will probably never have a problem

And keep this in mind, when you hear about a plane accident it is usually the top story in the news yet many more people have died that day in car accidents and other causes. The reason that a plane accident makes the news is because this type of incident is so rare. Car accidents happen all the time. And even when a pilot makes an emergency landing in a cornfield and there are no injuries, that too is in the news. Maybe it is not the top story but it is in the news. That’s because anything out of the ordinary is rare when it comes to flying.

Privately used planes are required to be inspected once a year (annually). But if a plane is used for training it must get an inspection every 100 hours of use. So the planes you will be flying are torn apart every 100 hours of flying and inspected thoroughly. These records are kept for your inspection or anyone else that cares to see them. They are not hidden from you. We also add a 50-hour limited inspection

Ratings

Your first license (rating) will be your Private Pilot license for Single Engine Land (as opposed to a seaplane) under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). With this certificate you will be able to take passengers (not for hire, but you can share expenses with friends) in a single engine plane in VFR conditions. The VFR means that you have to be able to see where you are going. That basically means that there must be enough room under the clouds to fly and enough visibility in front of you.

There is a Recreational license that is available but is rarely obtained because of its limitations. For a Recreational license you would have less training and no night training. This would cause limitations of no night flying allowed and no traveling more than 50 miles from home plus other restrictions. Therefore, with the extra training for the Private Pilot, the whole world (yes, even other countries) is opened up to you. This is why most people start off with a Private Pilot license.

What Does All This Entail?

To fly you will need two documents issued to a pilot. They are your Medical Certificate and your Private Pilot Certificate.

Medical Certificate: For the level of flying you will be doing requires a third class medical certificate. Don't worry about a medical. It is not as stringent as people who fly for the airlines. There are restrictions made for people who have certain problems just like restrictions on a driver's license but it will rarely stop someone form having a life of flying. As long as you won't pass out while flying you'll pass the exam. There are even cases where people who can not hear can fly because there are certain airspaces where a radio is not required therefore these people are restricted to those areas. A third class medical has to be renewed every two years if you are 40 years old or more and 3 years if you are under 40. Your medical certificate is not needed until you solo so in the beginning you will be under the instructor’s documents.

Private Pilot Certificate: In the beginning we start you right off with flying. On the first day you will be at the controls of an airplane. We will take you up and you will get the feel for the controls.

Your training will involve flight training and ground training.

Your flight training involves a minimum of 40 hours of flight instruction (dual and solo), which will include night training. Keep in mind that this 40 hours is just the legal minimum. The average in the U. S. is 60-70 hours and of course this differs from person to person.

About half way through you will be soloing locally. After that you will be starting your cross-country trips with the instructor and eventually making several cross-country trips on your own. One cross-country solo trip will involve a trip of at least 150 nautical miles landing at at least three different airports. There will also be night cross-country trips.

In the end you will take a written test and a flight test given by an FAA Designated Flight Examiner.

Lesson Structure

Your lessons should be scheduled at a minimum of once a week. If you stretch it any longer you would start to forget and your next lesson would spend time refreshing your memory or getting the feel back for the plane. You will train at your own pace. The more lessons you schedule the sooner you will get your certificate. Usually you will call in at least a day (preferably a week) ahead of when you want to fly. If the plane you want is available and your instructor is available for that time then your lesson is set. When your lesson is done you can schedule your next lesson or call in for one when you feel like taking one. Each student follows their own syllabus so there is no set timetable for you to take lessons

Based on one lesson a week it will take approximately one year to obtain a Private Pilot certificate. If you schedule 2, 3 or 4 lessons a week you could reduce that time to 3 or 4 months. In the summer time sunset is later and therefore it is easier for some people to fit in lessons after work on weekdays although your night lessons will require sunset.

Program Costs

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) mandates certain minimums. Virtually no one is able to learn within those minimums so it would only be deceptive to try to sell you on those types of programs. For instance, the FAA states that you must have a minimum of 40 hours of flight time to get your Private Certificate. The national average is 60-75 hours so we do not advertise that you can do this in the 40-hour minimum. If you are able to complete the course in less than the national average then that would be a bonus. But to be up front and honest about it, expect to spend about 60-75 hours at a total cost of about $6,000 to obtain a Private Pilot certificate if starting from scratch.

We accept any from of payment – cash, checks or credit cards. Payment is due at the end of each lesson or you can deposit a lump sum into your account so you don’t have to worry about payment every time you come in for a lesson.

In the beginning an average lesson entails approximately 1 hour of flight time with approximately 15 minutes of pre & post classroom discussion. These lessons will cost approximately $140 per lesson. These will vary higher or lower based on the actual time spent on each lesson. Later, when you get into cross-country trips, your lessons will get longer.

Where To Train

Via-Air of course! We have been successfully training students to fly since 1984. We have never had an accident in all those years. We stay close to our students and make sure the next step is not taken until the student is ready. Every time a student is ready for the next phase of training we have another instructor check out the student so we can get another opinion about that student.

After Graduation

After you get your license: There are many things you can do. You can go home and say, "I did it" and quit but believe me - you won't. You could go for a higher license or continue on towards a career. The next level could be IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), which will allow you to fly by instruments through clouds or in poor visibility. Possibly a multi-engine rating is your goal. Or as many thousands of people do, just fly for the rest of your life on your VFR Private Pilot Certificate. Eighty percent of all registered aircraft (including helicopters) in the U.S. are single engine planes so there are a lot of people out there that just spend their time content with just flying single engine (either VFR or IFR rated).

When you get your certificate you can go anywhere you want. You can come into Via Air at any time you want and rent a plane. The cost per hour includes all expenses for the plane such as fuel (as opposed to airport expenses which are on you). This is not like a car where you pay for the gas. If you spend $60 for an hour of flying that is all it will cost you unless you decide to go somewhere that has extra expenses. For instance, some airports charge landing fees or parking fees, which they might waive if you refuel at their airport. These fees are small such as $5 for a landing fee or $5 to park long term such as overnight.

If you do rent a plane from us you will pay only for the time the plane is flying - with certain minimums. Obviously we could not afford for you to fly somewhere 15 minutes away and keep the plane all day and return and pay for a total of 30 minutes. If you want to take a plane long term we ask for a two-hour minimum per day during the week and a four-hour minimum per day on weekends. Since it takes about two hours to get to New England these minimums might not even apply. Also keep in mind that you can share expenses with friends so if you were to fly for an hour at $60 per hour this could be split among you and your friends to make it more affordable. We have planes that carry up to four passengers.

So, How Do I Get Started?

Start by filing out the application that follows and call to schedule your first lesson. We can start you flying anytime you wish. We are open 7 days a week. Weekends are the most popular times for lessons so if you can go during the week you would have more choices or you can schedule weekend lessons in advance to get the time slot you want. You basically will be signing out planes by 1-1/2 hour time blocks. This will be filled by going over what the lesson will entail, one hour of flying and then a debriefing session. For this 1-1/2 hours, you will be charged only for the flight time with the instructor and the briefing time. You are not charged for the full 1-1/2 hours.

So whenever you are ready for a lesson just call and the next thing you'll know you will be handling an airplane. Fill out the application and bring it with you to your first lesson.

Introductory Flight Lesson: We offer an intro lesson at $49, which last about 30 minutes. You can start off with this if you wish. It is an abbreviated lesson that is only intended to get you in the air to see if this is something that you would like to pursue. You will not have much time for real training and it will not include any pre or post classroom time. If you are certain that you will pursue this path than the Intro Lesson might be a waste of time for you and you would be better off just starting with a full lesson.

So whenever you are ready for a lesson just call and the next thing you'll know you will be handling an airplane. Fill out the application and bring it with you to your first lesson.

For some further reading AOPA has a good article with objective information on finding a flight school.