Category Archives: Cessna 172

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).

Aerobatics, Biographical, Cessna 172, Flying, Seminole, Soaring, Weather

Flying Milestone – 1,000 Hours

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I reached a milestone last night – passing 1,000 hours of flight time.

I had my first solo flight at age 19, but due to college and military service I either had time or money to fly, but rarely had both at the same time! I became a licensed private pilot at age 29. I once went 91 days w/o flying, and I went w/o flying for a year while I was in Iraq. Otherwise, I’ve remained a current, active pilot for 30+ years.

I am fortunate to get to share my passion for flying with others as an instructor. I’ve been a glider instructor since 2013, and in the last several months have been able to instruct in a Piper Seminole.

I spent the last year working on the multi-engine commercial certificate because I had an opportunity to do some charter co-pilot flying. That was a lot of work, and much of my study efforts overlapped with being a multi-engine instructor, so I did that too. Because of this focus, I fell out of instrument currency, now requiring something called an Instrument Proficiency Check. Training to regain instrument proficiency looked like it would be about 1/3 of the training required to just go ahead and become an instrument instructor, so I am now working on that. Knowledge test passed, and the practical training began this past weekend.

Last night, I flew in the right seat of a Cessna 172 with my instructor in the left and a CAP friend in the back. We launched on what turned out to be 2.5 hours of night cross country under the hood with some actual IMC and three approaches. (The needle deflections were much, much smaller than my flight two days before; I’m feeling much better!) I ended the night with 1,001.2 hours!

Somewhere in the vicinity of Columbia (SC) Metropolitan Airport I crossed the 1,000-hour threshold. I’ve had a lot of fun in airplanes, gliders, and even a gyrocopter. I’ve paid for some. Been paid for some. And sometimes even been upside down wishing I was right side up, but I’ve never wished I wasn’t flying.

I’ve had a lot of great instructors over the years. I hope I can continue give to others some of what I’ve learned.

“This will be a normal takeoff on Runway 35 at KAGS. In the event of an abnormality with runway remaining…”