Well, if you are considering starting to fly, look no further! We have lots of information available on our site to assist you in making this huge decision. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
Choosing a Flying School:
Find out where the school is based. Is it within a reasonable distance from your home?
Take the opportunity to visit the various school's in person.
Check the costs of training at different school's.
Check whether ground school costs are included within the price quoted.
Ask what type of fleet the school has and are the aircraft well maintained.
Ask what the aircraft availability is like.
Ask the school whether you will have a personal instructor or different instructors throughout your training.
When visiting the school make sure you feel comfortable within that particular environment.
Try and speak to other students that have used or are using the school and get their opinion.
If you would like to find out more about the WITS Flying School and how we can assist in making your dream to fly a reality, read more about us by clicking here!
Selecting Your Instructor
Your instructor is one essential leg to the flight-training program. An interview and perhaps demonstration flight can be very deceptive. Flying with the first person to say 'hello' has a relatively high element of chance. First select the airport from which to fly. You are more likely to fly more often if the field is convenient. What kind of airport and how busy is not a major consideration. Perhaps the field selection may be a choice between several airports. If a simulator is involved, it will be only as good as the instructor.
You might want to interview your instructor selections in a non-flying situation over coffee. Find out where they trained and from whom. Ask what are they planning with their flying career and just how their teaching you fits into the picture. If the instructor is building hours for another occupation you might look elsewhere. All instructors are different and changing instructors is always an option you should hold open. Better to make the changes, once considered, sooner than later. Ask why is the instructor an instructor. Is the instructor working for you or for himself or is another skimming some of his pay? Is the planned program designed to give you economy and achievement? If the instructor charges for telling 'war stories', the talking can become expensive.
What you are looking for is communication skills, experience, dedication and professionalism. You want an instructor who is willing to fly you into weather. You are looking beyond theory for practical knowledge and applications not always available in textbooks. Basically, you are looking for a communicator with knowledge, creativity, discipline, patience with the ability to determine weaknesses and strengths.
The last major consideration is time. An instructor who is not available is like not having one at all. As a student, you must not begin flying unless you have both the money and time required for learning efficiently. You should demand that the instructor have both time and available aircraft. Reliability is essential. Be on time and give the instructor only two shots at being late. Let him know this during the interview. Waiting is what makes old age.
50% of students who get medical certificates do not get their licenses Why are we using the least experienced of our instructional prospects as the majority of our teachers? Teachers, regardless of what they teach are on the lowest rung of the career ladder. A teacher is good who has enthusiasm for his material and is eager to share it. Look for such a teacher.
Factors in Successful Learning
Time of year
Summer flying gives longer days but does not provide the most desirable range of experience. Aircraft are more available in the late autumn and winter. Darkness in early morning and early evening is a problem. Learning to fly during the worst weather periods is the best way to maintain your attention to the vagaries that affect flying. Learn in the fall or winter; enjoy in the summer.
Finances
It is a good idea not to begin flying until money is set aside just for flying. The first twenty hours of learning to fly will be the most concentrated cash-outflow you will face unless you buy an airplane.
Weight
If our weight requires the use of a larger aircraft such as a Piper Pa28 or Cessna C172 the cost per flight hour will be more. The increased cost is somewhat offset by the time saved meeting cross-country requirements and en-route time to local airports.
Ground School
There is no reason that a person should not be able to self-study ground school with about 3-5 hours of tutoring.
Preparation
Don't fly if you are not prepared for a lesson. You will get the most bang for your bucks by being prepared. Even the best instruction cannot fully compensate for lack of preparation.
Commitment to Flying
You must be able to give priority to the time and energy required for learning to fly. If you can't or won't establish the priority, don't start. You must keep ahead of the flight program with your reading and preparation. You must not allow money to become a detriment to your commitment. Flying is not cheap and will not become any less expensive as you continue.
Your life ambition must be to become an old pilot.
Being a pilot is a state of mind; a personality. A pilot's attitude, not just experience makes for excellence. Excellence is a quality standard in flying sought but not often achieved. Desire must be there but unless it is accompanied by application there will be no progress.
The good pilot is able resist the temptation to do something unsafe, illegal, or stupid. The temptations will always exist.
A good pilot will not fly in aircraft or conditions beyond his capability or certification.
A good pilot is always a student, striving to make every manoeuvre a bit more precise than the one before.
A good pilot knows his equipment, its limitations and how to handle its malfunctions.
ATC can determine much about a pilot by how well he utilizes the system and the required communications. Always admit when you have a problem.
A requirement of being a pilot is in knowing the rules that apply to your rating, your responsibilities, and the flight involved.
An instructor can only show you the way to the required learning. It is your responsibility to know what you need to know and to confirm that you get it. This is the most difficult area of student responsibility. Flying the plane is a relatively minor part of what you need to know.
The best time to get involved in an activity is before interest in it peaks.
Being a pilot is a state of mind; a personality. A pilot's attitude, makes for excellence. Excellence is a quality standard in flying sought but not often achieved. Desire must be there but unless it is accompanied by application there will be no progress.
