Flying can be expensive! Flight schools typically charge about $10,000 for instruction required to become a Private Pilot. The Sport Pilot certificate is less expensive, at about $6,000, but still not cheap. You can fly an Ultralight aircraft that doesn’t require a pilot certificate, but you still should get training, typically about $2,000, to be…
Sometimes nothing seems to go as planned. Even after you’ve spent time planning a flight, something like the weather or another factor can change your plans. That’s okay. In fact, that can be part of the fun of flying: learning how to quickly and accurately change your plans and still enjoy the flight. Because you…
Hopefully, you won’t have any unexpected costs. But you might. Like what? Typically, major maintenance or a repair that isn’t covered by insurance. One way of avoiding major maintenance and repair costs is shopping smart. Make sure that ongoing maintenance has been done on any used aircraft you’re considering. Unlike cars, airplanes must have maintenance…
It would be inconvenient; not to mention dangerous; to run a long, weighted string out the aircraft window to see how far you are above the ground. Fortunately, your plane has an instrument that measures the air pressure against a standard and tells you the difference in feet of altitude. It’s called the altimeter. An…
So you now have your sport-pilot certificate and you’re itching to go flying. Any old excuse will do. I’ll cover the most popular ones in the next two sections. Meantime, here is the most important one: honing your flying skills. Remember, all pilots are really student pilots—until they quit learning. Your sport-pilot instructor has given…
For most of the past century, the entry level for new pilots was the FAA private-pilot certificate. Then came the ill-fated recreational-pilot certificate, which hardly got off the ground for various design reasons. Today’s sport-pilot certificate is on its way to opening the door to flying for millions of potential pilots at relatively low cost….
If your plane is excessively worn or damaged making it no longer airworthy, chances are you’ll need to hire an A&P mechanic to do the required work. If you have mechanical skills, an A&P mechanic may allow you to do the work under his or her supervision. You probably aren’t going to try to do…
Class A airspace starts at 18,000 feet MSL and goes up to 60,000 feet MSL. Who flies here? Commercial and business jets with pressurized cabins or a supplemental oxygen source. The air is thinner. If you’ve flown cross-country in a commercial jet you’ve traveled in Class A airspace. The “B” in Class B can be…
The magnetic compass is about as simple as an instrument gets. A magnetized metal bar is balanced on a pivot point and points to north. Attached to the magnetic bar is a scale that allows you to read the heading of the airplane. A common aviation version of this places the scale in a container…
So what’s it going to take to earn your sport-pilot certificate? Just like earning anything worthwhile, it’s going to take some effort and some money. Fortunately, it’s not like going to college—or trying to pay for college. I’ll show you how to get your sport-pilot certificate in about a week or two for about $4,000….
The airplane’s rudder is a vertical control surface that’s part of the tail section. The trailing edge is movable from the cockpit. Turning the rudder to the left makes the plane’s nose yaw to the left, and turning it to the right yaws the nose to the right. The rudder is controlled using two floor…
Other flight guides on this site go deeper into navigation and communication radios, sometimes called nav-com. For now, be aware that sectional and other charts include radio aids to navigation and communication. Aircraft navigation can require following one or more radio signals from where you are to where you want to be, though not always…
What options do you have? One of the advantages of the new light-sport aircraft rulings is that it limits your options. If you eventually want more options you can step up to higher-performance aircraft and a private-pilot certificate. But in order to fly under your sport-pilot certificate you must fly a plane that qualifies for…
This website is presented in a very logical structure to make it easy to find things when you need them. Let’s take a closer look at each section. Sport Flying introduces you to the recent FAA rule changes that dramatically enhance private aviation. You’ll discover why planes fly and how to fly them. Flight Instruction…
Let’s get back down to earth for a moment. Before you get too far into spending money on flying, consider what you want to get out of flying. For many pilots, it’s the thrill of adding a third dimension to their visual prospective. It is being able to see their homes, workplaces, and even problems…
For obvious reasons, you need to know what the weather will be like when and where you fly your cross-country trip. Fortunately, the FAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) have you covered. There are flight service stations (FSS) throughout the country that you can call to get the latest weather information for anywhere in…
Look for common flying goals and interests. Make sure your finances approximate each other so that one partner isn’t carrying the burden if another partner has some financial difficulties. Develop a list of what you want from flying and from a partnership before you go looking for a partner. Unlike marriage, a flying partnership is…
You may be surprised to learn that currently more than 20,000 amateur-built or experimental aircraft are licensed in the United States. And thousands more are parked in garages and hangars waiting for additional work. One of the greatest benefits of building your own airplane within the experimental classification is that the FAA says, in essence,…
The FAA (and, prior, the Civil Aviation Authority [CAA]) has regulated aircraft manufacturing for more than 50 years, working hard toward making all aircraft as safe as they can be. In addition, the FAA requires periodic inspections, certified mechanics, and other rules that ensure public safety. To their credit, aircraft that are properly maintained and…
Due to recent rule changes and clarifications, some aircraft kits can be constructed using quick-build kits while still complying with the 51-percent rule. Make sure the quick-build kits you select comply with FAA regulations for experimental aircraft. Quick-build kits or subassemblies can dramatically cut the amount of time you spend in your garage working on…
