Private Pilot licence
Background The South African Civil Aviation
Authority (or SACAA) Private Pilot Licence (or PPL) is
an accredited pilot licence by the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (or ICAO). This international
organisation lays down the minimum criteria against
which all signatories of the treaty must abide in order
to be recognised and accredited. Thus it can be said
that the South African licence complies with
International standards and best practices.
The Private Pilot Licence is aimed at the recreational
pilot that wishes to fly themselves, their family or
friends to destinations not served by scheduled
airline services for either business or pleasure.
You would be entitled to fly aircraft that you
are rated on as Pilot-in-Command. However, you
would not be allowed to charge for your services
as a pilot nor would you be allowed to charge
for the use of the aircraft utilised for your
flights. The Civil Aviation Regulations (or
CARs) are very clear on this issue.
The Private Pilot Licence is also the FIRST step
towards a career as a Professional Pilot either
as a Commercial Pilot (or Comm Pilot) or later
on as an Airline Transport Pilot (or ATP Pilot).
The Private Pilot Licence is the FOUNDATION of
your flying career. This is where you learn and
understand the essential principals and disciplines
required for piloting an aircraft. These principals
and disciplines are VERY important as later training
will depend on your previous knowledge in order for
you to continue, upgrade and improve your flying
skills. This means that a PILOT is always learning
and improving his piloting skills. It does not come
to a grinding halt once you have qualified. Many
students do not realise this until much later on
in their piloting career.
So, a student needs to be focused during the course
of his training and should demonstrate self discipline
and self motivation when applying themselves to their
theoretical studies and practical flight training.
At the end of the day it is YOU thats has to
demonstrate your capabilities and piloting skills
to a Designated Examiner or prospective employer.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Requirements We have
The current Part 61 regulations (as at the 2009.01.01)
which govern what is required for the issue of a NEW
Private Pilot Licence state that:
a candidate must be a minimum of 17 years of age;
a candidate holds a minimum Class II Flight Medical;
a candidate holds a valid restricted certificate of
proficiency in radiotelephony; (This is the Restricted Radio Licence)
a candidate holds a valid Student Pilot Licence;
a candidate completes a minimum of 45 hours of flight training at an approved training organization;
a candidate has passed the theoretical knowledge examinations;
a candidate has undergone the appropriate Practical Skills Test;
a candidate also has to provide proof of English Language Proficiency.
Minimum Age The minimum AGE at which
a person can obtain their Private Pilot Licence
is 17 years of age. This does not mean that you
cannot start pilot training if you are younger
than 17 years of age. The regulations do allow
for a person to acquire a Student Pilot Licence
at the age of 16 years, but they cannot obtain
a Private Pilot Licence until they have turned
17 years old. The is NO maximum age for obtaining
a Private Pilot Licence so long has you are
medically fit and have achieved an Aviation
Medical Certificate.
Aviation Medical Certificate An Aviation
Medical Certificate is obtained from an Aviation
Medical Examiner (or AME) who has been approved by
the Institute of Aviation Medicine and the Civil
Aviation Authority. It is their responsibility to
ensure that you meet the requirements for the issue
of an Aviation Medical Certificate.
The aviation medical examination should involve the
following aspects:
An Aviation Chest X-Ray;
A General Medical History;
Please remember that an Aviation Medical Examiner is usually not
your normal doctor and as such does not know your Medical History.
So to assist him you would be required to provide an account of
your Medical History as accurately as possible.
A General Physical Examination;
A Lung Function Test;
A Hearing Test;
A Eye Test including Colour Blindness;
An ECG Stress Test;
A Urine Test;
and a Blood Test may be required but is usually compulsory for persons over the age of 40.
The Aviation Medical Examiner will assess your medical
status and if he/she is happy will then either issue a
CLASS I or CLASS II Aviation Medical Certificate. You
should receive a WHITE certificate and YELLOW certificate
from the Aviation Medical Examiner. Please Note that the
issue of the Medical Certificate is subject to confirmation
by the Institute for Aviation Medicine and the Civil
Aviation Authority. You will be informed by Registered
Mail should any problem arise.
You would be required as a Private Pilot to have an
Aviation Medical Examination conducted every two years
if under the age of 40 and every year if over the age of 40.
Aviation Medical Examiners The following Aviation Medical Examiners can be contacted.
Dr Tony Wannenburg TEL: (031) 201-2221
Dr Rob Rathgeber TEL: (031) 564-4445
Dr Albert Niemann TEL: (031) 582-5301
Dr Alex du Plessis TEL: (031) 904-7460
Restricted Radio Licence The Restricted Radio
Licence is required for the issue of a Private Pilot Licence.
It comprises three (3) elements before a Certificate can be
issued by the appropriate person.
The three (3) elements are:
Attend an Approved Restricted Radio Course conducted at
an Authorised Part 141 Training Organisation;
Pass a Theoretical Examination with more than 75%;
Pass a Practical Skills Test with a Designated Radio Examiner.
Once a student has complied with the above, then a Certificate
will be issued which will need to be sent up to the SACAA with
your application for a Private Pilot Licence. Student Pilot Licence
An Authorised Part 141 Training Organisation (or ATO) will
apply for a Student Pilot Licence once a student has:
Written and Passed a Student Pilot Licence Theoretical Examination set by the Flight School;
Completed all the Technical Examinations on Aircraft they wish to do training on;
Be a minimum of 16 years of age;
Hold a VALID Aviation Medical Certificate;
(Yellow Copy goes to the SACAA)
Two Passport Size Colour Photographs;
(Each Photo to be endorsed on the back with your Name, ID or PASSPORT Number and Signature)
Completed a Student Pilot Licence Application Form which must be SIGNED by a Grade I or Grade II Flight Instructor who is instructor rated on the aircraft you are currently training on.
The Student Pilot Licence is VALID for TWO years
once issued and is subject to a VALID Aviation Medical
Certificate being issued by an Aviation Medical Examiner.
A student pilot may only go SOLO once they have obtained
their Student Pilot Licence and has been recommended by
their Instructor to either the Chief Flight Instructor
or Senior Grade II Flight Instructor for assessment.
Flight Training
The minimum hour requirements, as laid down by Part
61 of the Civil Aviation Regulations (or CARs), is as follows:
25 Hours Dual Flight Training;
15 Hours Solo Flight Training;
o Minimum 3 Hours Solo in the Circuit;
o Minimum 5 Hours Solo in the General Flying Area;
o Minimum 5 Hours Solo Cross-Country;
5 Hours Dual Basic Flight Instrument Training.
Virginia Flight School is an Authorised Part 141 Training
Organisation (or ATO) and has an approved SACAA Flight
Training Syllabus which we follow for the training of our
Student Pilots. Training is conducted on a One-to-One basis
with each lesson following a clearly laid down structure
which involves:
a Theoretical Lecture,
an Air Exercise briefing,
a Practical Air Exercise in the Aircraft and,
a Post-Flight Debrief.
The Theoretical Lecture involves the introduction
and explanation of the Principles and Disciplines that
apply to piloting an aircraft for that training lesson.
The Air Exercise Briefing involves the Instructor
explaining to the student what will be carried out
in the Practical Air Exercise and what a student
should keep in mind when putting this aspects into
practice.
The Practical Air Exercise is then the application
of the Theory into Practice so that the student can
see exactly how these principles and disciplines work.
The student would be expected to demonstrate their
understanding of these principles and discipline to
their Instructor.
The Post-Flight debriefing is very important and will
be a constructive assessment of the lesson just
completed and will decide if a student has reached
the required standard before continuing onto the next lesson.
Each lesson is constructed on the basis of building onto
existing knowledge and skills. This means that a student is
always adding to his skills and knowledge base with each
and every lesson. An instructor will always recap and
reinforce previous training before introducing something
NEW.
The duration of each lesson can vary from 3 to 4 hours
per lesson in the beginning, moderating to about 2 hours
while at the circuit training stage and up to 5 hours
when doing Navigation training.
As a result a students progress is very much an individual
assessment against a set standard. Progression from one
lesson to the next will depend on meeting these set standards.
These standards are further assessed every 10 hours of
flight training by either the Chief Flight Instructor or
Senior Grade II Flight Instructor to ensure that all students
receive the very best instruction and that these standards
are being maintained. These assessment flights are known as
Progress Checks and are built into the training syllabus.
At Virginia Flight School each one of our dedicated Flight
Instructors has gone through an exhaustive and rigorous
training program that far exceeds the SACAA requirements
for Instructor Training. As such each Instructor is well
aware of the required standards that have been set and are
themselves under constant evaluation by the Chief Flight
Instructor. Our standards are constantly verified by
independent SACAA Designated Examiners when they come
and conduct Skills Test with our students.
As a training organization approved by the SACAA, we
have a responsibility to each and every student, and
those persons funding the students training, to be
honest and upfront with a students training and ensure
that where students are not meeting the required standards
that corrective training action is taken before moving
onto additional topics from the training syllabus.
Should a student still not meet the required standards
after corrective action has been taken, then a decision
will need to be made about the future training of that
student. We have a moral and ethical responsibility
to be honest should we find a student not meeting
the required standards.
With the above in mind, we have found that most
students do take longer before they reach the
required standard set by Virginia Flight School.
Although the regulations state a minimum of 45
hours, the current average time it takes a student
to complete the training is between 65 to 75 hours
of flight training. In the end each student will
determine how long they take based on their individual
progress through the training syllabus.
With the above in mind it is important that these aspects
are taken into consideration when budgeting the allocation
of financial resources to your flight training requirements.
It must be stressed from the outset that the objective at
the end of the day is not who will complete their licence
in the quickest possible time, but rather that a student
achieves their licence in a manner which makes them the
best possible pilot who is safe, competent and confident
with his piloting skills and who knows the limits of their
capabilities irrespective of how long it took them to get
their licence.
Training Aircraft
Virginia Flight School has an extensive training
fleet to meet the needs of our students. You can view
the latest list of aircraft on our Website.
Most students start their training in a Cessna 152
trainer. This aircraft is purpose built conventional
trainer for the training environment and is widely used
globally. However, some students exceed the parameters
of the Cessna 152 as their Height and Weight do not
comply with the maximum limits of the aircraft. In this
case we would have to accommodate these students in larger
Training Aircraft such as the Cessna 172 or Piper Cherokee
160. As a result in using a larger aircraft there will
be an associated increase in the cost of training.
Most students use the Cessna 152 to do their Basic Training
in and then UPGRADE later to the larger training aircraft
when they get to the Navigation stages of the training syllabus.
At the end of the day, you will need to decide which aircraft
you feel most comfortable in, for your training requirements.
Scheduling Your Training
Virginia Flight School operates on a ONE-on-ONE training basis.
As such your training requirements can be arranged to meet your
needs and schedule. The flight school is open SEVEN (7) days a
week from 7am in the morning to 5pm in the afternoon. We are
usually closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.
Night Training is arranged after hours when required on an
individual basis.
FULL TIME students usually attend everyday from Monday to
Friday and are scheduled to fly twice a day. However, should
students find that twice a day is to overwhelming, then we
can revised your training schedule accordingly.
Booking of Training is done through the FRONT DESK which is
managed by our wonderful team of Kathy and Lee-Ann. When you
have completed a flight lesson you should ALWAYS check when
your next lesson is scheduled for. We occasionally have to
adjust a persons pre-booked schedule to accommodate Aircraft
Maintenance, Weather issues and Instructor availability.
Frequency Of Training
It is important that you fly as often as possible as
this will ensure that your progress maintained at a
consistent level while at the same time maintaining your
proficiency. However, a PART TIME student usually has a
FULL TIME job, and thus it is difficult to schedule in
the required training when needed. This we understand
completely. So, we recommend that you fly at least a
minimum of 3 to 4 lessons per month. We also understand
that financial circumstances change from time to time,
and hope that any break in training is not for too long.
Duration Of Training
It is difficult to
accurately determine how many hours a person will take
to complete their Private Pilot Licence. Each person
is unique in their learning of skills and theory.
The weather can also be a very frustrating element
of flight training. Essentially your training will
take as long as required to ensure that you become
a SAFE and CONFIDENT pilot.
Required Study Material and Equipment
The following ITEMS below represent the minimum required
Study Material and Equipment. This is available in a
Starter Kit provided by the flight school.
1 x Delux Pilot Case
1 x Aeronav Academy PPL Theoretical Notes Pack
1 x Red Air Law Book incorporating the NEW Part 61 Regulations
1 x The Pilots Radio Handbook 13th Edition
1 x Part 61 Regulation Pilot Logbook
1 x E6-B Manual Flight Computer
1 x Navigation Ruler
1 x Douglas Protractor
1 x 1:500 000 Map of Durban
1 x 1:500 000 Map of Ulundi
1 x 1:250 000 Jeppersen Map of Durban
2 x 1:5,000,000 Plotting Chartrs
Pencil and Eraser
Appropriate Aircraft Checklist
Optional Extras that one should consider getting:
ASA CX-2 Pathfinder Flight Computer;
Airfields Directory of Southern Africa;
A good quality set of Navigation Dividers;
A good quality Large Stop Watch;
(We recommend the ASA Flight Timer)
Copy of Pilots Operating Handbook for the aircraft your are training in;
( A copy can be organised for you from our Front Desk )
A Good quality HEADSET;
(We recommend the Basic David Clark Headset)
A durable HEADSET Bag with additional storage pockets;
A good quality TORCH;
(We recommend the Mini MAGlite with interchangeable lens filters)
A Good pair of Sunglasses;
(It is strongly recommended that the sunglasses you get are NOT POLARISED.)
A good quality Fuel Strainer;
(We recommend a Fuel Strainer with the Metal Spike running through the Fuel Strainer)
OAT Media Computer Based Learning CDs for Private Pilot Licence;
Air Pilot Manuals Volume 1 to 6;
Swales Software Mock PPL Exam questions on CD.
Examinations
There are currently SEVEN (7) theoretical examinations
that have to be written and passed for the issue of a
Private Pilot Licence.
These exams are as follows:
Air Law for Private Pilot;
Principles of Flight;
Aircraft Technical and General (Engine and Airframes);
Aviation Meteorology;
Navigation;
Flight Planning and Performance;
and Human Performance.
These examinations are written in our Authorised
and Approved On-Line Exam Centre. These are NATIONAL
examinations set by the SACAA. So, wherever you are in South
Africa, you all write the same examinations.
At present, the SACAA gives each student Fourteen (14)
attempts at passing these SEVEN (7) examinations. The Pass
Mark is 75% and once you have passed the first exam you will
have Twelve (12) months in which to complete the remaining
examinations. Should a student be unable to complete the
examinations within the Fourteen (14) attempts, then they
must restart the Examination process. This means any exams
which were passed previously will have to be re-written.
It is important to know that once all the Examination have
been passed, that a student will then have only SIX (6)
months to complete their practical flight training. So,
the planning of when you must write your Theory Examinations
is not to be taken lightly. Too many students have left the
writing of their Theory Examination right to the end of their
training and thus get bogged down and end up becoming
un-current as far as their practical training goes.
Virginia Flight School is not going to dictate when a student
should write their Theory Examinations. This is YOUR licence
and only YOU can pass these Theory Examinations. So, plan
carefully. All we will do is constantly remind you.
Theoretical Training
Most students opt for a Self-Study approach in preparing
themselves for the SACAA PPL Examinations. However, as a
requirement for registering for the Examination we have
to indicate that you have been properly prepared for them.
As such, ALL students are required to have a Theoretical
Briefing with their Instructor to ensure that all subject
matter has been properly studied.
As a further precaution, we at Virginia Flight School
will INSIST that all students write a PPL Mock Exam in
which we expect them to achieve 90% before we will allow
them to register and book for an On-Line SACAA Examination.
Subject such as Principles of Flight, Aircraft Technical
and General, Meteorology, Flight Planning and Navigation
will get extensive coverage when you have your Theoretical
Lecture prior to your Air Exercise Briefing.
Subjects such as Air Law and Human Performance are not
covered in such detail during these lectures.
Students are required to put many HOMEWORK hours into
their Theory studies. We suggest that student work through
the various theory subjects and make notes on areas they
do not understand or require further explanation. A student
can then book a Theory Briefing with their Instructor to go
over these areas of concern before taking a Mock Test.
The Mock Tests are a wonderful tool used by the flight
school. You can write as many Mock Tests as you like.
There is NO CHARGE. We have found that students who on
average write 6 Mock Tests or more per subject pass the
SACAA Examination at the first attempt.
Should the need arise that many student are experiencing
difficulty with a certain subject then, we will arrange
a Full Day Ground School presented by an Instructor to
further assist students. This will unfortunately come
at an additional cost.
Practical Flight Test
Once you have completed the required training as per the
training syllabus your Instructor will then recommend you
to a Testing Officer for your final Practical Flight Skills
Test. A testing Officer is any Grade I or Grade II Flight
Instructor who has been approved by the Chief Flight
Instructor for this purpose.
The Practical Skills Test in made up of three elements
for which an Instructor must prepare you for.
Oral Examination;
Flight One: Navigation Skills Test;
Flight Two: General Flight Handling Skills Test;
We at Virginia Flight School prefer to conduct the Navigation
Skills Test first as weather is always an issue. It is
usually a lot easier to get the General Flight Handling
Skills Test done as this is not as dependent on weather as
the Navigation Skills Test. This is made even more important
when you consider that the Practical Skills Test must be
done within 30 days of your last Dual Flight and there cannot
be more than 14 days in-between the Navigation Skills Test
and General Handling Skills Test.
The Navigation Skills Test is to be a tri-angular Cross-Country
Flight not less than 150nm with TWO full stops landing at away
aerodromes. In Kwazulu-Natal we are rather restricted to which
aerodromes we can conduct our training. We at Virginia Flight
School prefer to conduct our training at established airports
that has ATNS and Emergency Service units available. Thus, for
our Navigation Skills Test flight we have a standard Test Route.
One the Practical Skills Tests have been conducted and the
Testing Officer is satisfied that you have reached the
standard set by Virginia Flight School, your Skills Test
Report will be completed and along with relevant documents
will be dispatched off to the SACAA for processing and the
issue of your Private Pilot Licence.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
One of the latest additions as a requirement for the
issue of any Pilot Licence accredited by ICAO is for
a pilot to meet minimum English Language Proficiency
standards.
South Africans who meet the minimum requirements by
having a Matric Certificate with English as a First
or Second Language as indicated in the regulations
will automatically be given an appropriate rating.
South Africans with a Tertiary qualification will
automatically be given a Level 6 rating which means
that they will never have to be assessed for English
Language Proficiency.
The minimum rating required for the issue of a Private
Pilot Licence is Level 4.
However, if English Language is not your First Language
then you will be required to have an assessment completed.
This Assessment cannot be prepared for by the candidate.
A Bio-Data Form needs to be completed prior to the
assessment taking place. This Bio-Data Form will assist
the assessment panel to prepare an appropriate unique
assessment for you. The assessment panel consists of two
individuals who will determine your Language Proficiency
Level.
At Virginia Flight School we are fortunate to have our
own in-house certified assessment team who completed an
exhaustive training course with ATNS in Johannesburg on
how this Language Assessment should be undertaken.
The assessment panel will then complete a SACAA Language
Proficiency Rating Report which needs to be submitted
together with your Private Pilot Licence application
documents.
Cost Of Training
The cost of training is dependent on various factors.
We can give you a rough estimated based on the minimum
requirements as stated in the regulations. But, as it
has been stated above, no one achieves their Private
Pilot Licence in the minimum time. Based on the Flight
Training Syllabus and assuming that an individual will
progress from one lesson to the next without any
problems then, one is looking at an estimate of 55 hours.
However, a more realistic figure is the current average
of between 65 to 75 hours. It is thus recommended that
additional funds are budgeted for over and above the
minimum estimate provided.
Please contact as for a copy of the latest estimates for
your training requirements.
|
