All posts by Terry Pitts

Terry is a retired school teacher, retired Army Reservist, and retired civilian Department of the Army Civilian working about half the time as a pilot and flight instructor. He has been flying since age 19, adding gliders in 2011. He's been an FAA certificated flight instructor since 2013.
Airplanes, Cessna 172, Flight Training, Flying

Pilot Study Materials / Getting Started

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Initial Pilot Certificates

Private Pilot – Federal Aviation Regulation 61.109 defines the aeronautical experience requirements for a Private Pilot – minimum of 40 hours of experience, but average is 65-80. See paragraph A. The Airman Certification Standard details the knowledge and skills required – print just the “Airplane Single Engine Land” portions.

Sport Pilot – Federal Aviation Regulation 61.309 defines the aeronautical experience requirements for a Sport Pilot – minimum of 20 hours of experience, but average is about twice that. The Practical Test Standards detail the knowledge and skills required – print just the “Airplane Single Engine Land” portions.

The Minimum Library

The path to your first or next checkride is well defined by the FAA. Here’s what you need to buy, print, download, etc to get started building your study materials. I have some advice on how to use them, too.

Air Space

Air Space is important, and there’s a lot of straight forward memorization. The FAA Safety page has a nice summary PDF worth printing and putting in a binder. When studying, I suggest looking for patterns. “They are all ‘3 152s’ except…” And the exceptions all make sense!

Rod Machado has a useful graphic. I memorized how to draw it, then as soon as I sat down for the knowledge test (‘written’) I sketched out the triangle to be my own reference for the test. I’m not great at rote memorization, so this really helped. Print this for your student pilot binder. Rod has a good video on YouTube explaining this as well.

Instrument Flying / View Limiting Device (‘Hood’)

What you use is your choice. I happen to like/use this one. The owner of the company offer to send me some and let me sell them, but I’ll just refer people to the site!

Summary Cheat Sheet

As you build your study materials, this Private Pilot Cheat Sheet is very good. Be sure to work backward from it to highlight the important bits in your primary documents. Expect for the Private Pilot-specific content, much of this summary is useful for Sport Pilots too.

I instruct Light Sport, ASEL, AMEL, and IFR at Spirit Aviation in Thomson, GA (KHQU) and gliders with the Mid-Georgia Soaring Association in Monroe, GA (D73).

Airplanes, Flight Training, Flying, Gliders, Training

How to get a Student Pilot Certificate

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Back in the days of yore*, a Student Pilot’s medical also served as the Student Pilot Certificate. It’s been long enough that all those have expired. A Student Pilot Certificate is now a permanent, plastic, credit card-sized document with no expiration date. (Pilots who require a medical will do that separately.)

You and your instructor will both use the FAA’s Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website. There you will:

  • Create an account (be sure to safely note your FTN, you will need this later)
  • Initiate a request for a Student Pilot Certificate
  • Coordinate with your instructor to validate his/her portion (Will need your ID & FTN)
  • Go back in and sign

TSA will review and give the FAA the go ahead to issue the Certificate. At that point you can print a Temporary Certificate from the website while patiently waiting for the permanent one to arrive in the mail.

The website is not super intuitive. Here’s a good set of instructions, but you can ignore the university-specific guidance if flying with me!

You and your instructor will visit IACRA again just before your checkride to initiate an application for your first “license to learn” as a Sport Pilot or Private Pilot.

Storm clouds.

*Long ago Pilot Certificates were printed on cardboard and used your Social Security Number as your pilot number. Yikes!

I instruct Light Sport, ASEL, AMEL, and IFR at Spirit Aviation in Thomson, GA (KHQU) and gliders with the Mid-Georgia Soaring Association in Monroe, GA (D73).