How to get a private pilot license in the USA for two months

Nikolai Batrakov from Russia, step by step, described how to get a pilot license in the USA, how much it costs and what you need to get ready for.

Photos from personal archive

I am a light aviation pilot.

In less than a year, I went from an aerophobe to a private pilot in the United States. To achieve my goal, I moved to Florida for the month of 2,5, every day I studied at the aviation school and passed all the exams.

Here is my way.

Why I decided to study as a pilot

In 30 years I realized that I was an aerophobe. Choking, frantic heartbeat, sweaty palms, clutching the arms of the seats - this state haunted me during each flight.

I began to feed my illness through the media and the Internet. My favorite TV show was not “Game of Thrones” or “Breaking Bad”, but “Air Crash Investigations”.

A side effect of this hobby was a good knowledge of aviation. I figured out the structure of the aircraft, aerodynamics and the influence of weather conditions. At the beginning of each series of “Investigations” my wife and I even began to bet on the possible causes of the disaster.

The turning point was the gift of his wife - a flight on a flight simulator. Flight cost 5000 P ($ 77) for half an hour. The simulator completely simulates the flight of a real aircraft, with the take-off and landing at any airport in the world, in all weather conditions.

Instructor Michael said that he has a CPL - a commercial license of a US pilot. He spent six months learning to fly in Florida, and this was the best time in his life.

A few days later I decided to defeat aerophobia and become a pilot.

In the simulator cabin. Photos from the personal archive

So the simulator looks outside: the cabin can shake, swing, it realistically lifts and falls. Photos from the personal archive

Prepare

There are two types of pilot licenses: a private PPL, a private pilot license, and a commercial CPL, a commercial pilot license. After training, I was not going to build a career in aviation, so I immediately decided that I wanted to get a private pilot license. It is faster and several times cheaper.

According to my preliminary estimate, in 2015, the PPL license cost about 10 000 $, and CPL cost 40 000 $.

There are three training options: in educational centers in Russia, in schools in Europe or in the USA.

I did not consider studying in Europe: firstly, there, on average, becoming a pilot costs 20 — 30% is more expensive than even in the USA. For example, a PPL course at the AeroTour School in Germany would have cost 10 000 €. Secondly, I did not have a suitable European visa, but I still had an American one.

I managed to buy dollars just before the appreciation - in 2014, for 35 rubles per dollar. It means that studying in the USA will cost me 30% cheaper than in Russia. Yes, it will be necessary to spend money each month on housing, car and food, but you can share these costs for two. And if we rent a Moscow apartment, we will be fully capable of living in such a regime for several months.

A busy training schedule would keep the necessary level of motivation, and the beautiful weather and infrastructure significantly increased the chances of success.

It was February 2015 of the year. We discussed all the details with my wife and decided that it was best to leave in the fall. So, I have about six months to prepare and solve all the issues.

I made up a to-do list. It turned out about 25 points. Here are the main ones:

1. Agree with the manager on remote work.
2. Find an aviation school.
3. Book accommodation.
4. Find a tenant of the apartment who agrees to care for our cat.
5. Expand your knowledge in areas related to aviation.

My work is related to Internet projects, and I can easily work remotely. The difference with the east coast of the USA is + 7 hours. We decided to build my workflow like this: early in the morning I do all the urgent tasks and go to school, and after returning I solve the remaining issues.

School search

I studied all the Russian aviation forums and blogs of people who went through training in the USA. I clarified with the instructor Michael and his friends, where they studied. I accidentally saw an article about the former media manager Andrei Borisevich, who bought the Skyeagle Aviation School in the United States.

In the USA, Florida, California and Texas are considered the best pilot training states. There is great weather, you can fly 365 days a year. There are also a lot of airfields and high competition of schools - therefore low prices for education.

I chose Florida because I wanted to live by the warm Atlantic Ocean.

I compiled a list of schools and began to send letters with questions prepared in advance:

1. What visa can I study for?
2. How much and how long does the PPL course take?
3. How much is the cost of renting a plane and instructor?
4. Can help rent housing and car?
5. What month is better to start learning?

In total, I wrote in five schools, I received answers from only three of them. Prices did not differ much: a full course of study with 40 flying hours cost from 8 to 10 thousands of dollars. The extra hour of flight cost 150 $ for renting a plane and 50 $ for an instructor.

Renting an apartment in Florida cost from 1200 $ per month. From November to April here is the most comfortable time for living and training for a pilot. The average temperature is 20 — 25 ° C and there is little rainfall. You can fly every day.

A letter that I sent to schools. Three out of five answered

Visa

While I corresponded with schools, I found out a curious nuance. The US Immigration Rules say that a M1 study visa is required if the study process takes more than 18 hours per week. In this case, the student can not change the selected school in the learning process.

The B1 / B2 tourist visa allows you to study on an abbreviated program - less than 18 hours per week. Some schools have argued that their programs are built that way, and you can safely come to study on a tourist visa.

Application documents

After several weeks of correspondence, I chose the Sky Eagle school. Its director Andrei showed the most patience and attention to my questions. The school is located in the resort town of Fort Lauderdale in 37 km from Miami. The cost of training on a private pilot - 8685 $.

PPL training program in the school "Sky-needle"

Prices for flights in the school "Sky-igl"

The future pilot in the United States must pass a TSA security inspection. TSA is engaged in protecting airports and preventing the capture of aircraft. In order to prevent potential terrorists from driving at the helm of a training plane, the agency checks all students of flight schools: it collects fingerprints and asks to fill out a large questionnaire with personal information.

Official TSA Student Registration Guide

Andrey explained the further procedure:

1. Create a login and fill out a form on the site TSA - transport security agencies.
2. Ask the school to confirm this request.
3. Pay 130 $ in TSA is the fee for processing the questionnaire.
4. Get prior authorization from TSA.
5. Come to the USA.
6. Immediately upon arrival, fingerprint at one of the offices of TSA.
7. Wait until the prints are entered into the TSA database, and get permission to fly.
8. Get a medical examination at a US clinic and get a certificate of airworthiness.
9. You can fly!

Search for housing in the US and renting an apartment in Moscow

The school was not able to offer us suitable housing options, so we started searching on our own. The largest base of real estate in the United States is Craigslist.org, but everything there is leased only to residents and for a long time.

For starters, we booked apartments for a week through Airbnb.com - paid for them around 30 000 P ($ 460). The plan was this: we will arrive at the place, look around and find accommodation for the entire term.

To rent an apartment in Moscow was more difficult. We were looking for a person who would not only agree to rent for only three months, but also be able to care for our cat. I decided to make a good discount and put a low price.

I posted an ad in real estate groups in social networks. By the evening of the same day I received about a dozen messages from cat-lovers. We held a casting, chose the right one, made a lease agreement, where we wrote down all the conditions for the care of our cat - and shook hands.

Cat Yuki. Photo from the personal archive of the author

Pre-training

The school did not impose any additional requirements for advance preparation. But I decided that it would not be superfluous to prepare for classes on my own, because on the spot I will have only two months to study.

I installed Microsoft Flight Simulator on my computer. It has a virtual piloting course, almost the same as the real one. I bought a special joystick for 3000 P ($ 46) and worked every night. A month later, passed the virtual exam.

In Microsoft Flight Simulator there is a course similar to the usual course of pilots. Photo author

Then I decided that it was time to move from theory to practice and fly on a real plane. I went to the Moscow region to the flying club at the Vatulino airfield. Flying on the lightest aircraft of their fleet costs 5000 P ($ 77) in half an hour.

The plane had two seats, I took the place to the right of the pilot. After a brief briefing and checking of onboard systems, we received permission to take off and took off. It was May, and spring is a time of unstable atmosphere, when the earth heats up, and the air masses mix, creating turbulent flows. Due to turbulence, the aircraft was thrown in all directions. The pilot was completely calm, but I was not on my own.

Gaining height, the pilot handed me control. I did a few maneuvers - it reduced the voltage a bit. After half an hour flying over the fields, forests and the river, we landed.

The biggest joy of an aerophobe is landing. Photo from the personal archive of the author

Aviation English

I know English well, but one thing is to talk to a teacher in the classroom, and quite another to talk on the radio with strangers in a stressful state, when any misunderstanding can lead to unpleasant consequences.

English is the international language of communication in aviation. Pilots and controllers do not communicate with each other on the radio in the usual spoken language. Instead, they use a special phraseology, the so-called aviation English.

For each situation - taxiing on the airfield, takeoff, landing, weather forecast - there is a standard set of phrases. Each aircraft is assigned a unique number. It is reported to the other side at each radio contact using the “aviation alphabet”.

How to tighten English in Russia

I studied aviation English from illustrations of a military navigator, Colonel P. V. Iskratov. On YouTube, you can find a lot of videos with recordings of radio communications in different situations, from regular to catastrophic. In aviation, like nowhere does the principle work: it is better to learn from the mistakes of others than from our own.

And there is also a real-time airport radio broadcast service - “Radio Scanner”. You can open the Flight Tracker app or the Flightradar24.com website, find a board that is in talks, and follow its actions on the map. In my experience, this has proven to be very useful for learning.

Aviation Alphabet. Photo from the personal archive of the author

Moving to Florida

To estimate the cost of living in Florida without studying, we have a rough budget. It was 2100 $ per person per month. This amount could be reduced. For example, go to the US alone, rent a room, not an apartment, travel by public transport, abandon all entertainment and eat the cheapest products. But we decided to enjoy life and not save much.

Miami tickets with a transfer in Paris cost 54 000 P ($ 830).

We flew to Florida at the end of October 2015. The first few days I spent on bureaucratic formalities: I passed my fingerprints at TSA, received permission to fly, passed a medical examination - it lasts 10 minutes and costs 100 $.

Life in the eternal summer

Fort Lauderdale is not as busy as Miami, but with the same long embankments and water channels throughout the city, from which he even received the nickname American Venice.

Public transport is very poorly developed, so the car is vital. Fortunately, there are no problems with renting.

With housing all the more difficult. Florida is a rich state with a wonderful climate, Americans and tourists from all over the world come here to relax. Good accommodation options are booked for the months ahead. Therefore, our initial plan that we quickly find an apartment, failed.

Throughout the first week, we drove around the city and looked at the options that we found on Air-en-bi and Craigslist. The housing fund was very old, I did not want to live in such conditions. Finally, fortune smiled on us: an American couple rented out their little guest house for 1600 $ per month.

Our guesthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Photos from the personal archive

Our hosts turned out to be very friendly people, we talked a lot on various topics, including political ones. We were even invited to the Christmas party.

Invitation to the Christmas party. Photos from the personal archive

We tried to eat at home. Several times a week we bought at the local supermarket, cooked on the stove or on the grill. On average, we spent on food about 1500 $ per month, as planned.

Fort Lauderdale is located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, so in the evenings after school and work, we came to half-empty beaches, walked and watched the sunsets.

Fort Lauderdale Beach

Flight demonstration

I arrived at the school and on the very first day I made a demonstration flight with chief instructor Scott Lich on the Cessna-172 plane. During the demo-flight, the student does not take part in piloting, but only observes the pilot's actions.

The teacher decided to show me everything that this old airplane is capable of. He made deep turns, slides - and immediately threw the car at the peak so that I felt weightless for a few seconds. After landing, I was a little alive - but it was too late to retreat.

The Cessna-172 is the world's most popular lightweight aircraft, easy to fly and reliable to operate. They are easy to manage even for beginners, so aviation schools are also very fond of it. Photos from the personal archive

Preparation for classes

According to the training plan, I had to take a theoretical course, fly into the hours required by the rules of the 40 regulator and pass theoretical and practical exams.

The school has a large office with several classes for classes, computers for checking weather and passing exams, and a flight simulator. Classes were conducted by teachers with great experience and the necessary ratings for pilots-instructors. My instructor pilot was Greg Faith.

Greg and I went directly to the airline store and purchased the necessary training materials:

1. Guide for private pilots.
2. Collection of Federal Aviation Regulations FAR / AIM.
3. Catalog of US airports.
4. Aerial map of Florida.
5. Recommendations for the exam.
6. Mechanical computer E6-B.
7. Ruler.
8. The flight book, where information is entered on all performed flights.

For all these materials I paid 300 $.

Materials for training and Pilot Log - the book of the pilot, which records information on all performed flights. Photos from the personal archive

In this office is a briefing before the flight. Photos from the personal archive

Greg recommended that I install the ForeFlight navigation mobile app. It helps the pilot to plan the flight, shows the weather anywhere in the United States, contains detailed maps and leads the plane on the desired course - like a Yandex Navigator, but instead of traffic jams - bad weather. The license for 3 of the month is 50 $.

The course of the aircraft in the application "Fort-flight"

We had a small group of students - just 3 people. In the mornings, there were joint theoretical classes for several hours, and after lunch, flights: each student with his own instructor.

Our group at Sky-Needle is only three people. Polo shirts with the emblem of the school as a gift to students. Photos from the personal archive.

Learning theory is divided into five major sections:

1. Fundamental principles of flight - onboard systems and aircraft design, the principles of aerodynamics.
2. Air operations - airports, maps, airspace, radio, ground services.
3. Weather - meteorology, interpretation of data.
4. Navigation and aircraft operation.
5. Applying skills in practice - psychology, decision making, flight planning.

The structure of education is very different from the Russian “academic school”. Teachers usually give only the most basic knowledge, leaving a wide front for self-study. The main emphasis on practice.

Payment takes place according to any scheme convenient for the student. You can immediately pay the entire course and get a good discount from the school. I decided that it was more comfortable for me to pay for the services provided. On the first day, I deposited 2000 $ into the school account. When they came to the end, I paid for each flight separately from a credit card.

Training airfield

You can not just take off and fly. Any take-off and landing, even on small and private jets, are allowed only at aerodromes. They are “controlled” - with a control tower, and “uncontrolled” - only with runways and without a tower. On unsupervised pilots report their intentions on a specially allocated common frequency.

Commercial airfield Fort Lauderdale - ideal for training. It has two solid long lanes, the control tower operates 24 hours a day, and the air traffic is not as dense as in the main airport, where civil airliners arrive.

The aerodrome code is KFXE.

Fort Lauderdale KFXE commercial airfield - here I learned to fly. Photos from the personal archive

First flights

The first training flight with an instructor occurs almost immediately after the introductory classes, which tell about the device of the aircraft. This knowledge is necessary to conduct a preflight check.

The pilot checks the aircraft on the check list. It describes in detail all the steps: you first need to check the external condition of the aircraft, the main components, fuel, oil. After that, the pilot sits in the cockpit, starts the engine and checks the on-board systems. Then he finds out the weather, contacts the dispatcher on the tower and tells his intentions: where he is going to fly.

The pilot receives permission to take off from the "tower", takes the plane to the taxiway and moves along it to the desired lane. Before the strip stops, once again it checks the systems of the aircraft - and again communicates with the dispatcher. If the lane is busy, the pilot waits until the path is cleared. Finally, takeoff permission is received - acceleration begins along the aerodrome lane.

The first flights take place on the so-called airfield circle. The student takes off, makes a circle around the airfield, sits down and immediately takes off again. Takeoff and landing are the most difficult and crucial phases of flight, so these elements are repeated many times during training.

In parallel, the student conducts radio communications, reports his position and the next step, and the dispatcher confirms his intentions or asks them to change in connection with the actions of other aircraft.

A week after the start of classes and 10 hours of flying in this mode, Greg asked me to return to the hangar after landing. Suddenly, he stepped out of the plane and announced that it was time for my first solo, an independent flight.

Trying to allay the excitement, I contacted the dispatcher and said that I planned to make my first flight, to which the dispatcher wished me luck. I nominally made three takeoffs and landings and returned to the hangar. It was a terrific moment, the emotions overwhelmed me.

A little later, I passed the rite of passage. Students who have performed their first “solo” are cut out part of a T-shirt. This tradition is associated with the times when the aircraft did not yet have a walkie-talkie. Then the student and the instructor in the plane sat behind each other, in tandem. To give the student a command where to direct the plane, the instructor pulled him over the side of the shirt. After a successful first flight, this part of the jersey is cut off - now the pilot can independently decide where to fly.

Me and my instructor Greg in the cabin of Cessna-172. Photos from the personal archive

Traditional cutting of the shirt after the first independent flight. Photo from the personal archive

Training maneuvers

The next stage of training is already in the training zone above the Everglades swamps. Students are taught to make regular maneuvers - climb, descend, turn - and also monitor the environment and the position of the aircraft, use the instruments for navigation.

The most difficult thing is training imitation of abnormal and emergency situations, for example, stalling, stopping the engine, fire on board. After several such lessons with an instructor, the student makes such flights with emergency situations independently.

Flight training over the Everglades swamps. For such a snapshot you need a VERY STRONG hold a selfie stick because of the strong air resistance at a speed of 200 km / h. Photos from the personal archive

Track my training flight over the marshes

Long distance flights

The last test for a student is flying over long distances between several points. They are also called cross-country flights.

This is the pinnacle of pilot skill. They apply all the knowledge about the aircraft and its capabilities, piloting skills, navigation, radio communications, analysis of weather conditions.

To cross-country flight you need to thoroughly prepare:

1. Independently plan a route.
2. Find out the weather throughout the route and think about what to do if the weather worsens.
3. Calculate the required amount of fuel and weight of the aircraft.
4. Determine the speed at take-off, landing and altitude, as well as the effect of wind on speed.

For my first cross-country flight, I chose a scenic path towards Key West. The route of this flight passes at a low altitude, first over the beaches of Miami, then over the winding road in the ocean. During this flight, I experienced tremendous joy and realized that it was all for nothing.

After the first flight of cross-country student makes several more similar flights, including at night.

Before the first flight of cross-country. Photo from personal archive

During the first flight of cross-country, I even managed to take pictures. Photos from the personal archive

Exam

After 40 flight hours, students are allowed to take exams. Training usually takes 2 — 2,5 a month, because of the great weather and daily practice, I managed to do the 42 of the day.

The first stage of the exam is a computer test. You need to answer 60 questions and dial 80% correct answers. This stage is worth 165 $.

The second stage is an oral exam and practical flight with a certified examiner. The examiner is a private individual, so he must be paid separately. The second stage of the exam is 500 $.

I successfully passed the test and held up well on the oral exam, but I unsuccessfully landed on the flight. The examiner took control. That meant I failed.

I had to take extra classes with an instructor. It cost me 600 $ for 3 hours. I had to pay again for the re-exam, but the examiner agreed to reduce my payment by half - to 250 $, since before that I had successfully passed the oral part.

A week later, the second practical exam was held. This time I did not make mistakes. Having received congratulations from the examiner, I first went to the store and for 20 $ I got the deserved pilot stripes.

On the same day, I received a temporary certificate that allowed me to make independent flights with passengers on board. I took a wife, rented a plane - and we started flying over Miami, the Everglades swamps and the azure ocean.

Renting a plane for 2 hours cost me 300 $.

It looks like a completed flight book. All flights performed by the student are entered into it: where it took off and landed, how long the flight lasted, day or night, with an instructor or independently. The flight book is the main supporting document of the pilot's experience. It is needed for the exams, the transition to the next stage of training, employment. Photos from the personal archive

The first independent flight with his wife over Florida. Photos from the personal archive

Looking around

From the time of my first visit to school, a little more than two months passed. I exceeded my budget because I could not pass the exam the first time. Well, do not worry.

Even with a Russian pilot license, in Russia it is impossible to just come to the airfield and rent a plane. To do this, you must join one of the aeroclubs and pay membership dues.

I set a goal to defeat aerophobia and reached it. But I did not plan to dive into the Russian bureaucracy. I decided that I would fly when I next came to USA.

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