Getting License
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It was my long time dream for me to fly
the blue sky freely. I got a licensed in the US last summer when I was in
northern California.
The first step to get a private license is to find the flight school or flying club that fits you. The points are;
?P?jThe choice of FAA
certified flight schools or flight schools which hold instructors.
At
flight schools certified (authorized?) by FAA, you can take practical skills
test (which is necessary for the license) by the school chief instructors
instead of FAA examiners. FAA checks the leading manuals of flight schools so
that they provide proper plans under various regulations.
Therefore you can acquire certain flying skills, but it usually costs you
more. In the long run it is not
very expensive as you can take reliable lessons. This is because, although the
cost per lesson is higher, it allows you to obtain sound skills, which take
fewer lessons
On the other hand, at uncertified flight
schools, you can get less expensive lessons as well as more flexible time
schedule. At these flying clubs,
you make an appointment with an instructor, and then you rent an airplane. You
can enjoy practicing if you find good instructor who gets along well with you.
?Q?jYou should chose
school that provide sound explanation about the curriculum and tuition.
There are some schools that provide minimum explanation, reluctant to
introduce other students. You should avoid these **** schools.
I especially recommend you to meet instructors yourself to talk about
your plan.
Although we often see those
advertisements saying ?gYou can get your license for just $xxx ! ?h. But, in
my opinion, you can never get a license for just within some thousand of dollars
for sure. In the US. approximately
60,000 people start practicing and register as student pilot every year, the
ones who get the license is only around 20,000.
The fact is, as much as 2/3 of the applicants are giving up on their way.
Of course there may be many reasons such as running out of time and money
(find out it takes more money than expected.
In my case, after comparing several ads,
I chose American Flyer?fs, which
operates many schools all over the US. The
reason of my choice was, because it
had a school in San Jose Airport, close to my
house, in Mountain View (in North California). Besides, I have received a school
guide from Mr. Hanamura, the General Manager, whose name sounds like Japanese.
This made me expect that he could speak Japanese, but the result fall short of
my expectation. He was a third-generation Japanese-American but he speaks no
Japanese. I made up my mind when I visited the school. I liked the instructors
and school. I paid my fees at the day and made appointment for the first lesson.
Now you decide your school, you can
start the real preparation.
Money and Medical certificate are the
mandatory preparation. How much does it cost? It depends on your age and
aptitude, location and type of your school, how much you can concentrate on the
training. (Of course, the younger, the more aptitude you have, the more
concentrate your attention on, or the more rural area you chose, the more the
cost will be reasonable.?j The general lesson
related cost will be approximately $7,000 to $14,000.?iIn Japan, for reference, it costs about
from $70,000 to $100,000. Cost in the US is one eighth to one tenth.?j
After you make (or manage) the budget,
the next step is to take FAA Medical Exam. This is a physical examination for
pilot and it?fs nothing but an ordinary annual medical examination.
There are a few certified doctors in every
city. You can make an appointment (as soon as possible), and get Class III
Medical Certificate (accompanied with Student Pilot Certificate) with around
$65. This piece of paper allows you to be seated in the pilot seat to practice
in the sky. By the way, the pilot
license is divided into three classes. Class III is for Private Pilot ?iprivate
use?j,
Class II is for Commercial Pilot
(commercial use) , Class I is for
Airline Transportation Pilot (for Airline pilots).
Now
you are set. You will soon need sectional
charts (flight map), flight computer (a
slide rule or an electrical calculator), flight
logbook (recording of flight) and a headset (a headphone with microphone, you
can rent it temporarily). These gears are minimum requirements. These cost you
about $150 to $500 in all (depends on the qualities you choose).
On the first day, after two hours grand
school (at desk), I could approach an airplane. The instructor explained the pre
flight check procedure before take off in full detail. Then I got on.
I got so strained and after getting on
the pilot sheet (left side) I came to myself in the air. I had no composure to
look around and enjoy the scenery, instructed so many things to do. Since I had
some piloting experience in the entrance
examination of the civil
aviation collage and sightseeing tour in a Cessna, I could keep my head
cool. If I had no experience at
all, it would be an impressing moment.
Your instructor gives you a ground school in which you will study about Aeronautical dynamics, regulations, airplane function and basic structure and Weather. Those basic knowledge are, anyway necessary for flying as well as passing a written test. You may get those basic knowledge at home to save a time and money for ground school. In the sky, you will practice several maneuvers like take off and landing, stall recovery, steep turn, slow flight, ground reference maneuvers, and emergency procedure.
After flying several times, I faced
wall. It is easier when you can concentrate on operating control stick and
steering only. It gets harder when
your instructor tells you to access to Airport Control Tower. (Usually
instructor does this instead of you during several first flights?j. I was
troubled with this so much. Even native English speaker gets nervous and forget
what to speak or find difficult to understand what the ATC people is indicating.
I was almost a terrified at first. This
is an example. (Live broadcast). Here is another
example at San Jose airport (satisfactory transactions after getting take off
permission till going out of the area)
It was not until I acquired a scanner
(radio/transceiver for ATC frequency), Video tape teaching materials, audio
teaching materials, CD-ROM materials, and two textbooks and practiced with them
every day and night that I overcame the fear when putting a bottom of
microphone. After repeating these
things twenty to thirty hours, I could try ?hFirst Solo?h. After flying with
instructor (in order to make sure nothing is wrong by several touch and goes),
the instructor gets off.
Then I declared to the Air Control that
I am ?gfirst solo?h, and took off. For the first solo, it is permitted only to
pattern above the airport for several times. You will never forget to make an
airplane takeoff and landing by oneself for the first time in life with no one
besides you
By
the way, there is a MIG fighter that is owned and operated by Larry Elson, CEO
of Oracle, at the San Jose International Airport. He occasionally comes to enjoy
the Mach flight by himself. The left photo is the picture of that time.
Practicing cross-country by oneself
(solo), emergency procedure, and taking phase check ride twice, and then the
training is on final phase. You
have to be passed the written examination by this time. In the US, you can make
an appointment for the computer-based written examination, as you like, 365 days
a year.
The final test takes about five hours
including oral knowledge test. The first two
hours, oral examination for flying knowledge of every kind and examination for
making flight plans. After that, getting on an airplane, three hours of
practical examination. The test items are ordinary landing, short field landing
and take off, some types of recoveries from stall, simulation of engine stop,
emergency landing procedure, S-curve, slow flight, steep turns, and so on.
After all, you will get your temporary license, now you can fly wherever you like.
Here is the link to Student
Pilot net
