Recreational pilot licence. Private Pilot License – This is the most common type of pilot license issued by the FAA. The national average is 60 to 70 hours. With just a little extra investment of time and money, a private license grants you far more privileges than a recreational one. But the license constitutes only one requirement for solo flight, though. Moreover, a private pilot license is a prerequisite for a CPL, which adds up to the total time to become a commercial pilot. Note that you must also be 21 years old before applying for this license. On average, a flight lesson lasts one and a half hours. It depends on your goal, aptitude, and availability among other variables. To earn a Private Pilot License single-engine rating, the student: must log at least 40 hours of flight time, including at least 20 hours of flight training from a flight instructor and 10 hours of solo time, 5 of which need to be cross-country to include one solo cross-country of at least 150 nautical miles. We briefly mentioned the variables affecting how many hours it takes to become a pilot. Your schedule can be as relaxed as you should be as you live your dream of learning to fly. Most notably, a recreational license allows you to lift many restrictions through instructor endorsement. That slight difference is negligible, though, since most pilots need 60 to 75 hours to become qualified for a PPL. That threshold goes up to 40 hours in a part 61 flight school, though, including at least 20 hours of training and 10 hours of solo time. All in all, the duration of a recreational pilot course varies from 4 weeks to around 3 months depending on whether you choose a fast-track or a standard course. You got to log 1,500 hours to meet the minimum flight time requirement for an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). The Private Pilot program is divided into two separate related paths, ground school and air instruction. Well, “Pilot” is a general term that encompasses all kinds of aviators. Private Pilot Salary: How Much Do Private Pilots Make? FARs are the Federal Aviation Regulations, a set of rules issued by the FAA governing all aviation activities in the US. The minimum age to fly solo is 15. Think of the time of the year, your financial situation, and your purpose of becoming a pilot. If you can take your checkride in 35-40 hours, and you fly 5-6 hours per week, you could finish in as little as 6 weeks. It matters little how many hours you fly, what matters is the quality of those hours in the air. A minimum of 12 hours must be Solo, which must include 5 hours of cross country time. To become a flight instructor, you need to have a commercial pilot license. You certainly will retain knowledge a lot better without long gaps between lessons. What’s interesting is that you can get your private pilot license in 14 days through an accelerated training course. The information below describes the eligibility, training, experience, and testing requirements for Student Pilots, Recreational Pilots and Private Pilots. It’s worth noting that it takes less time if you use the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website instead of submitting a paper application. Why? So far, none of the pilot license we discussed permits you to get paid for flying aircraft. The FAA, in all its wisdom, allows flight school to operate either under part 61 or part 141 of the FARs. It was great you mention that a commercial pilot will not be able to carry passengers, but could work as a banner towing advertiser. Flying a few times per week is very different from a couple of flights a month. Because the FAA demands more requirements, structure, and paperwork from such a school. Why? Zero, that’s how many hours you need to obtain a student pilot certificate. Those 35 hours must include a minimum of 20 hours of instruction time and 5 hours of solo flight. Another factor that influences the number of hours required to become a pilot is how often you fly. Ground school will furnish you with the required background knowledge and understandings to successfully challenge the written examination, while the air instruction and solo practice will provide you with the skills required to succeed at the flight test. The private pilot license (PPL) makes you wonder why anyone would go for a recreational. 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