Learn to fly.
Never touched the controls? That is exactly who this is for. Here is how it works, start to finish.
A private pilot certificate lets you fly a small airplane, day or night, with passengers along. No aviation background, no perfect eyesight, no math degree. Just a medical, some time you protect, and one instructor the whole way.
The path, in plain order.
Three stages, each building on the last. Ground study runs the whole way through, from your first lesson to your checkride, not in one block.
Take a discovery flight.
About an hour in the airplane with me, hands on the controls from the start, billed at my normal hourly rate plus the airplane. No commitment. There is more detail on the discovery flight page.
Take the written test early.
Once I sign you off, you sit the FAA private pilot knowledge test at a testing center. Multiple choice, 70 percent to pass, and a pass is good for 24 months.
Stage one: learn to fly the airplane.
How the airplane flies and what the controls do, then basic maneuvers, takeoffs and landings until they are second nature. Stage one ends the day I sign your logbook, step out, and you fly the pattern alone.
Stage two: cross-country, night, and the airspace.
Short and soft field work, night flying, and the instruments as a backup. Then planning and flying to other airports, and operating safely in the same airspace as the airlines.
Stage three: solo cross-countries and checkride prep.
You plan and fly your longer solo cross-countries, then we polish every maneuver until it meets the FAA standard.
Pass your checkride.
An oral exam and a flight with an FAA examiner. Pass it and you are a private pilot, and the country gets a lot smaller.
A few things, lined up early.
Proof of US citizenship before we fly, which TSA requires of every flight training provider: a US passport, or a birth certificate plus a photo ID. Then a student pilot certificate, the free FAA paperwork that eventually lets you solo, and a third-class medical from an FAA medical examiner. The exam is close to a normal physical, and doing it early means you know you qualify before you spend real money.
Ground study runs alongside every stage.
Common questions.
The things people ask before their first call. If yours is not here, ask me directly.
How long does it take?
The FAA minimum is 40 hours, but most people in the Dallas Fort Worth area need 55 to 75. How fast you get there is mostly about how often you fly. Twice a week, most people finish in five to seven months. Once every couple of weeks can stretch past a year, because you spend part of each lesson catching back up. I train under Part 61, which has no stage checks and no fixed syllabus, so your training is shaped around what you actually need.
What does it cost?
My instruction is 75 dollars an hour in the air and 50 on the ground. The airplane is 165 dollars an hour wet, with fuel included, in any of the RV-12 trainers, so an hour of dual comes to 240 dollars. Beyond that you pay the testing center for the knowledge test, an FAA designated examiner for the checkride, an aviation medical examiner for your medical, and something for a headset and books. Flying regularly is the biggest thing that keeps the total down, because you learn things once instead of relearning them after a gap. Most people need 55 to 75 hours in total rather than the 40 hour FAA minimum, and flying about twice a week, most finish in five to seven months. There are no packages, no deposits and no minimums, so you pay for the hours you fly as you fly them. Call me and I will walk through the full numbers for your schedule.
Do I need a medical first?
You can start lessons without one, but you need at least a third-class FAA medical, or BasicMed, before you can fly solo. A third-class medical from an Aviation Medical Examiner is the standard path and is similar to a basic physical. Get it early, before you put a lot of hours in, so you know you qualify. If you have any history you are unsure about, talk to an examiner first.
Which airport do we fly out of?
Most training happens at my two home fields north of Fort Worth: Hicks Airfield (T67) and Northwest Regional (52F) in Roanoke. A Van's RV-12 is based at each, the same airplane with the same panel, so you can fly out of whichever one is the shorter drive from your home or office and switch between them without relearning anything. Other fields around the metroplex are possible by arrangement, and every airplane in the fleet is listed with its panel and rate on the fleet page. Flying out of more than one field is actually good for you. It exposes you to different airspace, tower communications, and traffic patterns, which makes you a more capable pilot than someone who only ever flew at one home field. The airports page has every field on a map.