Yasser’s Flying Blog

I got my letter from the FAA today confirming that they have verified my Australian Private Pilot License and to go ahead and make an appointment with the ‘Flight Standards and District Office’ and apply for my US Private Pilot Certificate!

My appointment is next Monday, so wish me luck!

In the United States, Flying at night (VFR) is not a separate rating but is given standard as part of a US Private Pilot Certificate. The requirements for night flight under a US Private Pilot Certificate are 3 hours night flying which includes at least one 50nm navigational flight and 10 takeoffs and landings. 

Since I had to undergo these check flights in order to get my US biennial review sticker in my logbook, my instructor figured I could hit two birds with one stone and do all my remaining check flights at night and then after I receive my US Private Pilot Certificate, I would also be cleared to fly night VFR in the US. Ofcourse over LA, this is absolutely amazing!

We did a short flight from Santa Monica to Camarillo and in that time I learned all about the differences in night flying and what to look out for when flying at night.

I nailed my very first night landing which I really didn’t think was much different at all to landing during the day as long you focus on the perspective of the runway lights on approach. It also really helps a lot with a PAPI (Precision approach path indicator) which are red/white lights to the left of the runway as you approach that automatically indicate whether you are too high or too low.

I know this picture is crap, but as you can imagine I wasn’t focusing too much on my camera exposure and shutter settings so much as I was trying to land the plane!

I did a total of 5 takeoffs and landings! That’s half my night syllabus done already!

One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen is Santa Monica’s ‘pilot operated’ runway lighting system. By clicking the radio 7 times in the cockpit, you can actually control the intensity of the runway lights! Incredibly nifty!

After visiting Santa Monica airport and talking to a few Pilot Schools there. I met with an instructor, Nick at Proteus Air Services who happened to have gone through a Swiss to US Pilot Licence conversion himself. He was helpfull in giving me the information I need to get started converting my Australian Private Pilot License to a US Private Pilot Certificate.

Once my current license is verified with the FAA, I should automatically receive a restricted US Private Pilot Certificate (Restricted in the sense that I must fly by my Australian license rules)…..which basically means I’m not allowed to fly at night.

Nick told me that I have to learn the Air Law here and also be able to read US terminal maps. They’re a bit different to the Australian ones.

After taking a Piper Cherokee up for a single circuit (pattern in the US), I was told I would need about 3-4 navigational check flights, and I should be good to go. I can then get my US biennial review and be cleared in my log book.

My first US Check Flight was from Santa Monica to the island of Catalina off the coast of LA. This was a bit daunting as it pretty much involves everything I would ever need to know about flying in the US in one single flight. There are many clearances required on the way including flying ‘directly’ over LAX. There was also flying over 26 miles of water and landing at one of the most insane air strips in the world.

We took off from Santa Monica (KSMO) and asked Santa Monica tower for a clearance to do a 270 degree right turn in their class D airspace. We then switched over to LA ATC and asked for clearance to travel via the LA ‘mini route’ which is a flight path directly over LAX.

Once off the ‘mini route’, we then switched over to Hawthorne’s ATC and notified them that we were coming through. As we approached Long Beach, we then switched over to Southern California ATC and asked them to keep a radar on us as we cross over water and head towards Catalina…..All that radio! …SHEESH!

When we finally got to Catalina (KAVX), I was faced by this crazy airstrip.

My first landing was a little rough as I misjudged how high I was. The runway slopes upwards on the top of a mountain, so I thought I was lower than I should be and decided to stay high. It was only as I was on final that I realised that I was way to high and I pulled back all my power and let the airspeed all drop at once, almost stalling just over the runway. I also had issues taking off. Since the runway slopes upwards, the illusion caused a tenancy for me to over pitch on takeoff and having too low an airspeed to roll out from. Again there was a danger of a takeoff stall. After about 4 takeoffs and landings, I finally got the hang of landing and taking off there.

We mucked around for a bit around Catalina and did some circling of the island. There are no minimum height requirements to fly in the US over non-built up land/water.

I get this question a lot…..Everyone wants to know how long it takes and how much it costs…

CASA’s requirements for issue of a Private Pilot License are:

1. be at least 17 years of age
2. be able to speak, read and understand the English Language
3. hold or be eligible to hold a flight radiotelephone operator licence
4. have passed a written examination and flight test
5. have a total of 40 hours flight time including at least

• 5 hours of general flight time as pilot in command
• 5 hours of cross country flight time as pilot in command
• 2 hours of instrument flight time

What will the flight schools tell you?

• 20 hours dual general handling
• 8 hours solo
• 15 hours dual navigation
• 5 hours solo navigation
• Pre-licence and Flight Test: 5 hours

They will say it takes about 10-15 hours of flying before you are ready for your first solo.

Total Time: 53 hours (Quotes are often 50-60 hours)

What will I tell you?….This the breakdown taken from my actual pilot’s logbook.

• 34 hours Dual General Handling (Controls, Straight and Level, Turns, Climbing/Descending, Circuits, Forced Landings, Stalls, Plane Type Endorsements)
• 8 hours solo General Handling
• 19 hours Dual Navigation
• 6 hours solo Navigation
• Pre-license and Flight Test: 5 hours

It took me 18 hours to qualify for my first solo flight.

Total Time: 72 hours

Total Cost (according to my receipts and including admin costs and exams etc.): $12,342.55 AU

In all honesty however, 50-60 hours is pretty damn fast.
If you’re a fast learner, really focused, go flying frequently (every day), absolutely love it, have some good luck with the weather, and have a good pre-understanding of aviation. Then this seems reasonable.

Some pilots I have spoken to at school were taking an average of 80+ hours, some even took over 100.

So if money is something that really concerns you, then this isn’t the best hobby to take up. Learn to surf instead, it costs nothing.
If however this is something that you are sure you want to do, then from my experience, I highly recommend you save up about $20kAU (should be plenty if in Australia), take 3 months off (spring/summer where you’re most likely to get consistent good weather), and do this full time (fly every day).

You will probably learn to fly 2 planes. Commonly the Cessna 152, a 2 seater tiny thing, mostly used for teaching General Handling, and the Piper Warrior, a 4 seater slightly bigger thing that is mostly used for navigational training.

What about theory? Do I need to do courses/tuition?:

Na, I wouldn’t waste my money. Buy the Bob Tait BAK and Private Pilot Licence books. Read through every word and do the practice exam questions at the back.
This is the best book in my opnion. The practice exam questions are in a very similar style to the actual ones.
I studied my entire Private Pilot Theory in a week and I got 88%. The pass mark for PPL theory is 70%.

What is the theory? There are a few tests….

First Solo Test
First Area Solo Test
Basic Aeronautical Knowledge Test
Private Pilot Theory Test
Radio Operator Licence Test
English Proficiency Test

Also for every plane you want to fly, there are endorsment questionaires you need to do.
This isn’t a test though, it’s an open book questionaire where you read through the Plane’s Manual, and answer some questions. e.g. What’s Max Takeoff Weight? etc.
You will probably do 2 of these, one for the Cessna 152, and one for the Piper Warrior.