So, why am I learning to fly? That’s not as easy of a question to answer as it may seem. As far back as I can remember, I was convinced I was going to be a pilot for the Navy… then I went to my first eye doctor appointment and that dream went right out the window.

My interest in flying, however, never went away. I never actually persued it seriously until recently when I caught the “flying bug” again. This time, I was determined to at least find out more about general aviation and see if I actually enjoyed being in a small single-engine aircraft.
I started looking around for airports in the Indianapolis area that had flight schools (just about all of them do) and picked a day to go to the Mount Comfort airport while they were having an open house. There I met a couple of the flight instructors and though they were busy, they weren’t too busy to take an hour out to take me on a discovery flight. The rest, as they say, is history (still in the making).

06/07/08 00:00

After making my discovery flight, I set out to learn about all the requirements for becoming a private pilot. I did some research and exchanged emails with Dave at Indy Aero (more about the guys and gals there later). I turns out that it doesn’t take too much…

U.S. Citizen – check
17 or older – check
Class III medical – hmmm, I will have to look into that
Lots of money – well, we’ll see how it goes

It looks like the requirements are fairly basic so I decide to go all out and give it a shot. I purchase the Cessna Ground School Kit from Indy Aero and set about to pass the Class III medical and secure some money.

06/08/08 00:00

O.K. Here we are ready to open the ground school kit and see what it will take to get through the book work involved with getting the license. Let’s get a look at the contents:

Nifty Cheap-o Nylon carrying bag
Pilot Log Book
500 page text book
Folder containing the 30 or so CD-ROMs that contain the lesson movies and quizzes I will need to watch and pass
An E6B flight computer (which is the manual kind – no electricity required)
The syllabus
A Pilot Operating Handbook for the Cessna 172SP NAVIII (an instruction manual for the plane I will be learning in)
A Coupon – It seems that if I purchase a brand new Cessna (around $300,000 plus tax) they will knock a few thousand dollars off my training expenses. How kind of them)

The whole package is put together by King Schools – one of the most well known names in flight instruction. Their programs are very popular and many have been the backbone of Part 141 schools (kind of a fast-track licensing program).

This seems logical enough… I guess it’s time to get through the first lesson…

06/10/08 00:00

Let’s start with a little info about the Medical before I go into the details. The medical exam is NOT required to start your flight training. You may fly with an instructor without one. It is, however, required before you do any solo flying. You might ask – Why are you getting one before you start? That’s a good question. The exam is pass-fail. You basically get one shot to pass. You can, of course, take the exam again, but it requires huge amounts of paperwork from you and your doctor proving to the FAA Flight Surgeon that you have successfully overcome whatever it was that caused you to fail the first time. If it is your eye sight and you get new glasses or contacts, it won’t be a huge deal, but if you have a medical condition that requires continued care or prescription medication, it gets more complicated. I chose to make sure I had that in my medical certificate / student license in my hand before spending a few thousand dollars on the first set of lessons – it just seemed logical to me.

If I might offer a couple more tidbits of advice. Learn everything you can about the requirements before you go for the exam. Be sure you will pass before you set the appointment. Talk to other pilots and get a recommendation on a good AME (Aviation Medical Examiner). If you have one in your area who is also a pilot, strongly consider seeing him or her as they have been in your shoes and know what this means to you.

O.K., it’s exam time. In the days leading up to the exam, I was regularly checking my blood pressure (my area of biggest concern) and eating foods that would keep my blood-sugar levels in the normal range. I also went to the eye doctor the week before just to make sure everything was on the up and up (conveniently, I also needed more contact lenses). When I arrived, I was given the FAA form to fill out. It’s a typical government form with way too much info illogically presented on one page (gotta save the tax payers that $0.07 by keeping it to one page). There is a section on medical history. Any question that I was unsure about, or thought I might need to answer yes to, I left blank to go over that with the doctor. He will be able to make the determination as to whether or not your answer is “Medically Relevant to Aerospace Safety” or not.

Here we go, here’s a run down of the actual exam process for me:
Pee in a cup
Eye test
Height
Weight
Blood Pressure
Pulse
Now the doctor comes in:
Eyes
Ears
Nose
Throat
Chest – Heart and Lungs
Abdomen
Check for Hernia
Boy parts check
Reflexes

That’s it, fill out the rest of the paperwork and I walk out with a Class III Medical / Student Certificate in my hand. Let’s go flying!!!

06/13/08 00:00

Student Pilot: “How much money does it take to learn to fly?”
Instructor: “All of it!”

While that might be a bit extreme, it does take a fair amount of money to learn to fly. For me, the best route was to get a career training loan. While I don’t plan on making a career change, I won’t tell the people at the loan company that. I chose this method because I could have all the money up front for the training, which would allow me to buy a “Package Deal” that would save me on the overall cost versus a Pay-As-You-Go plan.

With that taken care of, all the requirements have been met, so let’s go flying. (This should make my friends happy as I have something different to blabber about for awhile)…