What is the Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL)
PPL stands for Private Pilot’s Licence, which is effectively equivalent to a driver’s licence. A PPL licence enables you to fly an aircraft privately with non-commercial passengers and is valid for life, but your Single Engine Piston Rating is only valid for two years. To keep this ‘current’ you must fly at least 12 hours in the last year before expiry, of which one hour must be with a flying instructor. If you fail to do this, you must then re-validate your rating with an approved CAA examiner.
The PPL course is an introduction to aviation. It is the foundation for pilot training, from here on you will be able to gain additional privileges such as a night rating, aerobatics rating, Instrument Meteorology Rating (IMC), which will allow you to fly with sole reference to instruments.
Requirements to start
Although not mandatory, it is advisable to obtain your UK CAA Class 2 medical prior to commencing your training. If you elect to delay your class 2 medical, it must be obtained and current prior to undergoing any solo flights.
Search for your local medical examiner here.
➡️ http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?appid=21
At least 14 years of age to commence training, 16 to do your solo and 17 years of age for licence issue.
Flight Training requirements: Minimum of 45 hours of flight in the aircraft, of which a minimum 25 hours must be dual (with instructor), minimum 10 hours of solo flight, 5 hours of solo cross country flying (navigation flying, which effectively means leaving the local airfield)
Examinations
In addition to the practical flying, you will need to pass 9 written examinations and 1 Radio telephony practical exam by obtaining a score of 75% or greater on each subject.
Below are the 9 subjects.
o Air Law (To be completed prior to first solo)
o Meteorology (To be completed prior to first solo navigation)
o Human Performance
o Aircraft General Knowledge
o Navigation (To be completed prior to first solo navigation)
o Operational Procedures
o Communications
o Flight Planning and Performance (To be completed prior to first solo navigation)
o Principles of Flight
o Radio Telephony practical test
Once you have met all the requirements you will need to undertake a flying skills test with an examiner who will assess your ability to safely operate the aircraft.
Although 45 hours of flight time is the minimum flight time required in order to meet the standard, it is very rare for the average person to have developed the skills in that time frame. The national average is around 60 hours of flight training.
The duration of the course will be influenced by many factors, such as weather and the time you are able to commit to your flying training. Expect anything between 3 and 18 months factoring in the above.
By Robbie Conington