| If you want to become a professional pilot, how | | | | companies like Jeppensen and Gleim at your disposal. |
| successful you are in reaching this goal will depend | | | | Also, ask about the airplanes the school has for your |
| primarily on your determination and secondly on the | | | | flight training. Consider whether they are high-wing |
| pilot training that you get at a local flight school or a | | | | (Cessna) or low-wing (Piper Cherokee or Cirrus) |
| flight training academy. | | | | airplanes. Some people like high-wing airplanes and |
| Like so many other schools, there are great schools, | | | | some prefer low-wing airplanes. They basically fly the |
| good schools, and schools that should have gone out | | | | same but in many cases it is a personal choice. Does |
| of business a long time ago. Unfortunately, you won't | | | | the school offer complex, high-performance, and |
| find an evaluation on their web site, in their yellow page | | | | multi-engine airplane training? |
| ads, or in the brochures that they send you. It is up to | | | | Are the airplanes equipped to offer both VOR and |
| you to learn to thoroughly evaluate the school before | | | | GPS training? Do they offer Electronic Flight Instrument |
| you put your money down for flight training to become | | | | System (EFIS) training? If you can learn on a variety of |
| a pilot. | | | | different kinds of airplanes, the greater your depth of |
| Where Do You Find Flight Schools? | | | | knowledge will be. Ask how old the airplanes are and |
| The first part of deciding where you want to do your | | | | how many of each kind of airplane do they have? |
| flight training is to find the flight school that suits you. It | | | | This is important because sadly older airplanes break |
| might surprise you how many flight schools there are in | | | | more and don't have the latest avionics. The more |
| your area. The yellow pages is a good place to start | | | | airplanes, the more likely you are going to get an |
| your search. Look under "flight training" or "aviation" as | | | | airplane when you want it. You want to know that the |
| a starting point. | | | | airplanes are in good repair and that the school always |
| There is also the Internet. Just type in the words, "flight | | | | has airplanes available for your training even if some |
| training" or "airplane training" in your favorite search | | | | are in the hangers for inspection or repair. |
| engine and see the results. You will discover several | | | | What About Your Flight Instructor? |
| websites that are dedicated to helping you find any | | | | You should have a list of what you expect of a flight |
| type of flight school you are looking for. Start with | | | | instructor and specifically of the flight instructor who will |
| looking in your local area and then expand it to areas | | | | be your primary mentor for this process. That person |
| that you think you may be willing to go to get flight | | | | should have a good resume of accomplishments both |
| training. Finally, there are several aviation forums that | | | | flying for a living and working in the airline industry. You |
| you can post questions to and view the responses. is | | | | want a seasoned pro to be sitting next to you when |
| a great forum to join and submit questions, but be | | | | you take the controls of an airplane and you also want |
| careful...you will have to weed out the replies that don't | | | | an instructor who has the heart of a teacher. Be very |
| offer anything useful and look for the information that | | | | cautious of the flight instructor that just got their flight |
| you need. | | | | instructor rating and you are their first student. I would |
| Two Qualifications That Must Be Meet | | | | say pass on that flight instructor. Your flight instructor |
| There are two clear cut qualifications that will tell if one | | | | should love sharing information about flying and should |
| school is better than another: | | | | enjoy taking a "civilian" and turning them into an |
| 1. The flight instructors depth and knowledge of the | | | | accomplished pilot. You also want an instructor who is |
| airline industry and the technical field of study of | | | | confident and willing to let you make mistakes, then |
| aeronautics | | | | help you learn from those mistakes. |
| 2. The flight instructors ability to teach and their | | | | Ask Lots of Questions |
| commitment to your success. | | | | My daughter is four years old and I always tell her to |
| A flight school may have wonderful pilots with | | | | ask lots of questions. The more questions she asks |
| hundreds of hours of flight time but if they don't know | | | | the faster she is going to learn. If she waits for me to |
| how to teach, they won't be much good to you. | | | | tell her things, she may be waiting a long time. The |
| Similarly, the flight school may have wonderful | | | | same goes with you. You have the right to ask a lot |
| teachers who can take you from beginner (Private | | | | of questions. During your training, if you don't |
| Pilot) to expert (Airline Transport Pilot) in the curriculum | | | | understand, ask your flight instructor. The instructor |
| but if they don't have any more than a surface | | | | wants you to learn but if you don't understand |
| knowledge of what it means to be a professional pilot, | | | | something they may not know that you don't |
| their credibility is questionable. Look for schools that | | | | understand. |
| have flight instructors that have flown either for | | | | So ask. You should also ask for details about the flight |
| charter companies or for the airlines and that aren't | | | | training costs which will include supplemental costs like |
| just trying to build hours. These are the flight instructors | | | | books, training materials, briefing fees, flight time fees, |
| that enjoy teaching and can guide you on your path to | | | | and flight instructor fees. You should ask questions |
| becoming a professional pilot. | | | | about everything that was mentioned above. You |
| More Things To Consider | | | | should ask about airplane and instructor availability. You |
| Furthermore, the flight school itself should be well | | | | should ask questions about scheduling training flights |
| equipped with the equipment necessary to give you | | | | and cancellations. If you have a questions...ask! |
| the education to be a pilot and empowers the flight | | | | By the time your evaluation is done, you should have a |
| instructors with the material they need to teach you. | | | | firm idea what the school has to offer, what the flight |
| Don't be shy to inspect the classrooms, the books and | | | | instructors are like and what their experience level is, |
| the other equipment that will be needed in ground | | | | and a solid base of knowledge to use to compare |
| school to get you ready for the written pilot's license | | | | flight schools. From there you can make the right |
| exams and your flight lessons. There should be | | | | choice who will be teaching you to take to the air and |
| several different types of aviation books, computers | | | | fulfill your lifelong dream of becoming a pilot. |
| loaded with training aides, and a library of videos from | | | | |