Flight Instructor Jobs | Flight Attendant School

How to Select a Flight School

How to Select a Flight School

How to Select a Flight School

Free Online Articles Directory

Why Submit Articles?
Top Authors
Top Articles
FAQ
AB Answers

Publish Article

0 && $.browser.msie ) {
var ie_version = parseInt($.browser.version);
if(ie_version Hello Guest
Login

Email

Password

Remember me?
Lost Password?

Home Page > Careers > Career Management > How to Select a Flight School

How to Select a Flight School

Edit Article |

Posted: Sep 23, 2009 |Comments: 0

]]>

In selecting a flight school, you will or have already learned that there are two types of instruction offered at flight schools. To become a pilot in the United States, you learn under either FAR Part 141 or FAR Part 61 flight regulations. FAR, which stands for Federal Aviation Regulations, are a very large set of rules and regulations provided by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).

Over time, as you become a pilot, you will become very familiar with many of the rules which are laid out in the FARs. But in terms of our discussion, FAR Part 141 means the flight school provides a more formal way of learning for the student. Learning is more structured under FAR Part 141. FAR Part 61 means flight schools provide a less structured form of learning.

What this means is that the hours required for the various certifications are less for those who learn at FAR Part 141 schools. For example, a Private Pilot Certificate may be achieved in 35 hours of flight time under Part 141, rather than 40 hours under Part 61. But in reality, this really doesn’t mean much, because the national average for number of hours needed to obtain the Private Pilot License is 60 to 75 hours. Also, a Commercial Pilot Certificate may be achieved in 190 hours of flight time under Part 141, rather than 250 hours under Part 61.

So does this mean you should select a FAR Part 141 flight school in order to gain the necessary certifications. No, not necessarily. You should select a flight school based on the type of learning you prefer. Many students do much better in a less formal type of learning environment. After your training, regardless of what type of flight school you attended, your certifications are the same. A Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot License, CFI, and other certifications, can all be obtained from either a FAR Part 141 or a FAR Part 61 flight school.

As a matter of fact, your FAA flight examiner does not care what type of school you attended. His or her concern is solely about whether or not you can fly an airplane. The examiner also wants to make sure you have the necessary knowledge to back up your flying skill. So, select either a FAR Part 141 or FAR 61 flight school based on the style of learning you prefer.

After you have decided on the type of flight school, the next step is to ask yourself the question, why do I want to become a pilot? Your answer to this question will also help you decide on the type of flight school you choose. Here we are not talking about FAR Part 141, or FAR Part 61. If you decide that you want to become a professional pilot, then you want to find a flight school which can help you achieve this goal.

The reason for this is because almost all pilots who want to fly as a professional, need to build flight time, and the only real economical way to build hours is to fly as an instructor. This means you should find a flight school which will allow you to gain your Certified Flight Instructor rating, and preferably that same flight school also takes on their own graduates as flight instructors to work at their flight school. But it is not just building hours that are important. It is building the right type of hours.

For example, if you desire to become a crop dusting pilot, you are in a much better position to gain a crop dusting job if you build hours in conventional gear (tail wheel) airplanes. Also, if you want to become a professional pilot, you want to have a diversity of flying experiences in different types of aircraft. So for the crop duster, he or she should have a diversity of flying experiences which includes both conventional gear and tri-gear, but with most of the flight hours in conventional gear aircraft.

To take this a step further, if most of your flying hours are in conventional gear aircraft, you also want to have diversity of flying in terms of conventional gear aircraft as well. Again, assuming you want to fly as a crop duster. This means fly just about every type of tail wheel airplane you can get your hands on, after appropriate check out with an instructor off course.

The point is, the greater the number of different flying experiences you have, the better. Even if you do not desire to become a professional pilot, and you decide to fly for recreation only, you still want to develop a diversity of flying experiences. This will increase your level of safety. So what does this mean in terms of flight school selection. This means you should select a flight school which provides a large selection of different types of airplanes that you can later get checked out in. Select a flight school that provides both tri gear and conventional gear aircraft.

Also, select a flight school that provides an aerobatic course. And take that course after you become a certified Private Pilot. You need to be able to instinctively recover from unusual flight attitudes, in case the situation ever arises during your flying in the future. This is true for all pilots, regardless of whether you want to become a professional pilot or a pilot who flies solely for recreation. If they do not have a aerobatic course, at least as a bare minimum, learn actual spin recovery from an instructor who is proficient in the technique.

Finally, when selecting a flight school, choose one where they have an instructor you feel comfortable with. This means choose an instructor which you feel is compatible with your style of learning. And since you will be shoulder to shoulder with your instructor while flying, it also helps to make sure your personality is compatible with the personality of the instructor. Finding the right instructor is probably the most important component in terms of learning how to fly.

So to conclude, when selecting a flight school, choose either a FAR Part 141 or FAR Part 61 flight school based on the style of learning you prefer. Determine why you want to become a pilot. If you desire to become a professional pilot, select a school which can help you obtain a CFI position. Also, select a flight school which has a diverse fleet of aircraft. Finally, in order to increase your level of safety, make sure the flight school offers an aerobatic course. If you follow these steps, you will find that learning to fly an airplane can be one of the most enjoyable learning experiences that you can have in your life time. And yes, you can fulfill that archetypical dream.

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/career-management-articles/how-to-select-a-flight-school-1263281.html”

(ArticlesBase SC #1263281)

Liked this article? Click here to publish it on your website or blog, it’s free and easy!

Thomas Sullivan -
About the Author:

Thomas Sullivan, the author of this article, is a web publisher and developer. He resides within the Boston, MA area. He is a Private Pilot, and webmaster for Pilot Portal USA, Pilot Jobs, and Weather for Pilots.

Questions and Answers

Ask our experts your Career Management related questions here…200 Characters left

How many years of training to be a pilot ?
I am a mid-career school teacher who REALLY wants out of education, but I don’t have the money right now to re-train. What can I do with 18 years teaching experience and a B/A in English?
Hi there; im interested in the oil industry but id like to know what training one needs and which oil drilling schools give the best training in canada

]]>

Rate this Article

1
2
3
4
5

vote(s)
0 vote(s)

Feedback
RSS
Print
Email
Re-Publish

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/career-management-articles/how-to-select-a-flight-school-1263281.html

Article Tags:
flight school selection, flight training, flight school, pilot training, federal aviation regulations, far

Related Questions

How many hours can a pilot fly in a month ?
How many years of training to be a pilot ?
Do you know a website i could go on to learn how to play freight train on the guitar for free?
I am a full time parent during the day and i work at night. i really want to get back into my training is it possible to loose 20 to 30lbs in 4 months without hurting your body

Almost Upside Down at Night: With all of your flight training, there will be times when you get the notion that your instructor is mean or doesn’t know what they are talking about—perhaps not in such a bold way, but it will happen. This brings me to a story I have of a night cross-country with a student.

The flight itself is a pretty simple one and is safe for night flights. The flight goes from Mesa Falcon Field to Wickenberg, Arizona. I have personally put this flight in my syllabus for many reasons. I have gotten into many arguments with instructors who worked for me about this flight. Several of them refused to do the flight and instead ended up taking the student down to Tucson. As far as I am concerned, this defeats the purpose of the night cross-country. Following a big lit-up highway in between two bright major cities does not expose you to the real situations that can happen on a night cross-country.

Don’t let your instructor take you to an easy-to-find destination that is lit up like New York City. Go somewhere that is pretty difficult to find, at least for you, not your instructor. Yes, you want to make sure the instructor knows where he is going to land in the event of an engine failure, but you need to be on a flight that can get you into a little bit of trouble if you aren’t paying attention.

Back to my story.

I will call the student John. You know that I am totally against using all these high-tech things for private pilot training and even instrument ratings. Remember what job number one of the pilot is ? Yes, fly the airplane! I have also already stated that it will take you about 500 hours before you have this second sense stuck in you inner memory. Even then, a difficult situation will be a battle between many parts of your brain at the same time.

John called me in the afternoon about his night flight. We verified the time, and at the end of the call, John stated that he had just gotten his new Garmin 95 latest-and-greatest GPS device and asked if he could bring it along. You probably know me pretty well by now and know exactly what my answer was: “No!”

John showed up at the airport with his cross-country planned and flight plan filed, and ready to go. Before we walked out of the office, out came that shiny new Garmin box. “Fred, you need to check this out . . . this is the new Garmin 95, top-of-the–line, latest-and-greatest . . . ” This was back in 1996. Garmin was a no-name back then and was just getting into the market.

“Please, please, please can we take it with us?” After all the begging, I finally gave in. Deep in my mind somewhere, I had a little smile, and a voice just said, “Okay.”

Before John even started his pre-flight, he set up his new Garmin 95 on the control column. I knew right then that we were in for a good time! I told John that he couldn’t turn it on until we got out of Phoenix airspace, which is right where it starts to get nice and dark. He said, “Okay, no problem.”

We took off and headed west as planned. John was right on the money with all of his checkpoints and times. Flight plan opened at the right time. He was getting an A+ at this stage of the ball game. We got about five miles west of Deer Valley airport, where it starts to get nice and dark. (Again, don’t do a night cross-country when there is a full moon! It is nice to see the big bright moon from 4,500 above the ground, but it makes your night cross-country easier. If you are doing your first night flight as a licensed pilot with your girlfriend/boyfriend, go for it—that is the safe thing to do.)

John looked at me with those puppy eyes and asked, “Can I turn it on?” At this point, I just looked at him and said, “Yes.” The little voice in my head spoke to me again, “Now it is time for the real lesson to begin.”

John turned on the new greatest gift to mankind. The screen came on, and he said, “Look, Fred, isn’t this great? It tells you everything!” The little voice in my head said, “Yeah. Right. It tells you everything except what your #1 job in an airplane is.”

John kept playing with his new toy. I learned way back in 1989 that there are times when the flight instructor’s job is to shut up and let the student go. This was definitely one of those times.

At first, John had it under control. He was following his line on the screen and was okay, but I knew that sooner or later, it was going to distract him from his number one job . . . Yes, fly the airplane!

A little while passed, and John decided to start playing with the screen options. I knew now that the big lesson had begun, so I just sat there. Slowly, his altitude started to go up and down—not very much at first, but I knew it was just going to get worse.

I looked at John, and his head was down looking right at the GPS. By the way, the time frame of this entire lesson was probably less than a minute.

John continued to look down and said, “Hm, I can’t find the screen I am looking for.” I just sat there. Slowly, he started a right turn, only a few degrees bank, heading right into the mountains. The plane began to slowly lose altitude as the right turn started to get steeper. There was no horizon at all, so John had no clue of what was going on. Luckily, he was one of the students that took my aerobatic option before solo, so he was familiar with extreme unusual attitude. But not at night.

Slowly but surely, the plane had entered the dreaded graveyard spiral at cruise power setting. I waited and waited, hoping that the sound of the wind howling across the airplane would give him a clue, but nope—he had been trained for this many times, but he didn’t pick it up.

The plane kept going into a steeper bank. If it had been daytime, I would have let him get upside down, but not at night. Finally, it was time to open my mouth. “Anything wrong?”

John looked up, and the string of four-letter words began to flow. He got the plane under control. Power back wings level and nose level. However, he was still heading on the quickest path to meet God, right into the mountains a few miles north of the very dimly lit highway I plan as my emergency landing spot.

I said to him, “What can you see in front of you?” “He replied with, “Nothing.” I said, “So that means . . . ?” I got the reply, “I am flying right into the ground.” That answer was pretty much correct; with his new heading, he was flying straight into the hills. Since we lost about 1,500 feet, our altitude was perfect for the big smack.

I raised my voice slightly and said, “If you can’t see anything, you are in trouble. Find some light, start climbing, and head in that direction.”

John got the plane under control, turned the GPS off, and we had an uneventful flight to Wickenberg and then back home to Falcon Field.

When we got back on the ground, John said, “I think I am going to learn to fly before I worry about that GPS.” He also requested some night unusual attitude training. I also highly recommend this.

So again, the little lesson is fly the airplane! John got distracted from that job by

Technorati Tags: Down, Flight, Night, Story, Training, Upside

November 12, 2010 By admin

Flight Attendant School – take the big step for a challenging career

Flight Instructor Jobs — explore new opportunities within the aviation industry

Helicopter Flight School Training helps Aspiring Pilots

Flight Attendant Careers

How to Select a Flight School

Flight Training Story: Upside Down at Night

Recent Posts

Categories

Blogroll

Meta