Upon arrival at the school
Most schools have a service where you're going to be picked up from the airport. Sometimes that's treated as an exercise for a fellow student pilot (with an instructor on board, obviously) but mostly it'll be by car. You'll then get the tour of the facilities, get to shake hands with a lot of people, will need to go over paperwork, schedules and so, and will be shown your apartment. Here are a few things that are important:
Get fingerprinted
If you did not get fingerprinted for your TSA clearance yet, make sure this is done ASAP. See above. Bring the e-mail with you that the TSA sent you with instructions, and bring your passport.
Meet people
You will be introduced to a lot of people. Here are the ones that are going to be most
important to you:
- The Chief Flight Instructor (CFI) is the person to go to in case of problems. If you can't get on with your instructor, or something else is wrong, talk to him/her ASAP. Don't delay. You've only got 21 days and every day counts. A good CFI will check in with you regularly.
- Your instructor is obviously going to do your flight training. Most likely he or she is not well paid and a lot of instructors are instructing as hour building before they can get an airline job. You are one of the several dozen students they train each year. Make sure you are special to them. For instance, promise them a real nice dinner if you indeed manage the PPL in 21 days.
Spend some time with the instructor going over the schedule, and put in a few checkpoints for yourself. If you don't make these checkpoints, it's time for a chat with the CFI. One example schedule would be 15 hours max to first solo, 30 hours max to first cross-country solo.
If you somehow can't get along with your instructor, say so. If it's a personality thing, switch instructors. If it's a teaching style thing, ask him/her to change it. You're going to be spending at least 25 hours with this person in a tiny cockpit, plus pre- and debriefings, so it helps if you get along.
- You will be flying with other instructors every now and then too, to get an independent review of your progress.
- The dispatcher is the person which really runs the place. This person schedules all the aircraft, instructors and so forth, and decides on priority if there's a conflict (an aircraft going tech, for instance). It's not a nice job to do, the rewards are low, but the responsibility is high. Be nice to him/her.
- Behind the scenes there's other people working for you: line technicians (who do the refuelling), aircraft engineers (who do the maintenance and checks on the aircraft) and various admin people, managers and so forth. You might be introduced to them, but most likely not.
Review and sign the contract with the school
You're going to have to sign a contract, and most likely the school is going to ask you to pay a deposit into your account, equal to the expected cost of your training. In other words, you've got to pay upfront. If you're a good negotiator you can try to avoid this, but I don't know how successful this is. In any case, you will be required to maintain a positive balance in your account throughout your training.
Arrange your FAA medical
Make sure to get a confirmed appointment with an FAA aviation medical examiner (AME) for somewhere in your first week. You need an FAA class 3 medical, which doubles as your student pilot certificate, to fly solo in US airspace (and that's something that you can expect to do in about a weeks time).
The fact that you already hold a JAA class 2 medical is no help at all, even though the JAA class 2 medical is far more thorough than an FAA class 3. So pee in the pot, read the eyechart, donate a few drops of blood, and kick the AME when he hits your knee with that little hammer. Then pay the fee and you're good to go.
Don't forget to bring your passport to the AME though. If you're on medication or something, bring prescriptions and other paperwork.
Select an aircraft type
Most flight school offer a cheap package deal based on 45 flight hours in a Cessna 152. Check these aircraft out and make sure that's what you really want. Production of the Cessna 152 stopped in 1985, so the aircraft you'll be flying will be over twenty years old at least. Obviously the engine will have been overhauled or replaced a number of times and the airframe is checked every 50 hours for safety. But it still remains a very cramped cockpit based on the size of a 1960s American citizen, and the flight performance will be adequate, but not great. Getting an upgrade to a newer, more powerful aircraft like a C-172 Skyhawk or PA-28 Cadet/Warrior might well be worth it.
A four-seater also gives you the ability to take another student in the back when you're flying with an instructor, and this generosity will generally be rewarded in kind. You can learn a lot from observing others.
If you're not sure what type of aircraft you want to fly, tell your instructor. They should be checked out on all aircraft types and can simply set your schedule so that your first few flights are in different aircraft, to allow you to make up your mind. The first few exercises are fairly identical in all aircraft anyway. But changing aircraft later in your training might not be a good idea since you need to get used to new procedures, new location of knobs and dials, and a different "picture" outside the cockpit (which is important for landing).
If the flight school is really busy, aircraft availability might also be a factor in selecting an aircraft type.
Go shopping
If you do not have a headset, kneeboard and fuel tester, get it now. (Did you know that there are over 200 diseases that can be carried over via a shared headset? Get your own!)
Also, you need a current map of your local area and a pencil to mark it up, the Airport Facility Directory (little green book, issued by the FAA with info on all the airfields in your area), a protractor, a flight computer, a checklist and copy of the POH for the aircraft you're going to fly.
During Flying Training
Be assertive, but remain polite
You are the customer, but you are not the only customer. If you generally behave as a nice person, acting as a team member with the objective of getting you and your fellow students their PPL as soon as possible, you'll get a lot more done than if you consider yourself a deity and everybody else your servants. So fetch a cup of coffee for the dispatcher if he/she is too busy to do it him/herself. Help a fellow student park the aircraft after a long cross-country solo. Clean up your aircraft after your flight, even if it means removing the trash of others. Bring cake or something else to celebrate your first solo. Have a bucket of water standing by to celebrate someone elses first solo (traditions vary with the school). Bring chocolade chip cookies for the tower people if you're allowed to visit them. If your flight is over and you're getting something to drink in anticipation of the debrief, get something to drink for your instructor too. If the frequency is not too busy, it's common practice to use "good morning", "thanks", "bye bye" and so forth in your transmissions. Don't leave personal items in the common room of the apartments. Clean the sink, shower, bathroom, toilet and the dishes after use.
If you have a problem or complaint, don't talk about it loudly in the lounge, but talk about it in private with the CFI first. Be open to compromises and be creative in suggesting alternatives. Don't threaten to leave (or sue) unless you really mean it.
All this should be obvious but I have found that it isn't, particulary not for younger students, straight out of highschool, first time on their own, on the professional track. Some of these are simply too impressed with themselves to have any consideration for others, and others are too impressed with others to stand up for themselves. Find a balance! (Funnily enough, when I was doing my training, a UK sergeant on leave from Iraq showed up to do flight training. Within a day or so he had both the arrogant and the timid types completely straightened out. Some people can do that...)
Keep track of the weather
Not just the short term weather (for the next flight) but also the longer term weather, so that you can plan your flying activities accordingly. When I was in Florida, I found that the weather in the mornings was acceptable, the afternoon was horrible (moist air and intense sunshine is not a nice combination for flying) but the weather after sunset was great. So I moved a few of my lessons to very-early-morning (6 am early) and a few to late evenings. Some of these hours have counted towards my Night Qualification as well as the basic PPL, even.
Another example. I was already doing solo cross-countries when we had an afternoon with winds above solo limits. Instead of just sulking in a corner, I scheduled a session with an instructor specifically to do crosswind landings. Only half an hour, but very useful.
Keep track of your progress
Check regularly with your instructor whether you're on schedule. At specific points in time, schedule a flight with a different instructor to get an independent assessment.
Keep track of your account
Mistakes are only human but if you don't spot them in time, you might not be able to get them reversed. Every few days, ask for a printout of your account balance and the charges made to your account. Check them against your logbook.
Prepare each flight thoroughly
Make sure you've talked to your instructor and you know what you're going to be doing on the flight. Re-read the relevant chapters, ask any questions you might have beforehand (not while the engine is running).
Debrief each flight thoroughly
Insist on a debrief, even if the instructor is running late and has another student waiting. Make notes, ask when things are unclear, and ask what the plan is for the next flight (see above). Re-read your notes regularly. If necessary, do some "armchair flying" or go out to a parked (school) aircraft and do a mock of what you're supposed to do, in that aircraft, on the ground. Very useful for learning procedures and motor skills. You can also put the radio on (on speaker) to get used to R/T a little more. Just make sure you don't run the battery down, and verify that the hobbs meter is not solely wired to the master switch.
Learn from the mistakes of others. You don't have time to make them all yourselves.
You can learn a lot from listening to the stories of your fellow students, but also from the stories of your instructors. And if you did something wrong, share it. Others can help you analyse what went wrong and why, and everybody learns from this. And this doesn't just happen within flight schools. The whole flying community is very safety conscious, and this is perhaps one of the reasons that flying is very safe.
Do the FAA pre-solo exam
Somewhere during your first week, make sure you do the FAA pre-solo exam. This is a fairly simple exam, mandated by the FAA, for all students that fly solo in US airspace. If you don't know the answer to a question, don't despair. You can ask your instructor what the answer is, and the instructor then signs the piece of paper saying that he/she adequately explained it to you. That's good enough for the FAA.
Read the Flying Order Book
The school where I was also had you read the Flying Order Book and sign a document to that effect. This book contained local procedures which the school wanted the students to live by. For instance what to do in case of damage to an aircraft, in case of having to refuel off-site, off-airport landings, insurance issues, cross- and headwind limitations, that sort of thing. This had to be done before first solo, and that means in the first week. Without your signature, you were not allowed to go solo.
Plan your R/T Practical Exam
Make sure you get a confirmed time and date for your R/T practical exam for somewhere in the second, or early third week. The seven theory exams are very easy to schedule, as virtually every instructor is authorized to set you up for these exams when and where you like. But the R/T practical exam requires a certified examiner and requires a unique computer setup (of which the school most likely only has one available). So make sure this is scheduled properly.
Plan your final Skills Test
Make sure you get a confirmed time and date for your final skills test, preferably aiming for the middle of the third week. This gives you time if the weather holds you up a bit, and gives you time to re-do the parts that you might fail during your first test.
As soon as you know the name of the examiner, ask for his weight. An examiner expects you to do a weight and balance calculation based on actual data, not FAA/JAA averages. So this otherwise fairly indecent question is very normal.
Don't indulge in the pleasures of having a temporary bachelors status
Flying training is hard work if you're well rested. Flying training with a hangover is a waste of time and money.
The Skills Test
Your examiner should tell you beforehand which route you need to prepare. This is generally a route consisting of three legs. You are expected to be the Pilot in Command while the instructor plays a complete novice to aviation - you cannot rely on him/her for anything. In fact, some examiners insist that you give them a proper passenger briefing before taking off.
The first leg should be flown by visual reference only (no radio nav or GPS allowed) and you are supposed to give the examiner an ETA as soon as you have one. You can revise the ETA during the flight, but eventually it needs to be accurate to within a few minutes.
After the first leg, turn on the heading for the second leg and once the aircraft is settled in the cruise, the instructor will interrupt you and find a place to test your motor skills: stalls, steep turns and the like. He or she will also briefly take control so that you can put up the hood or other view limiting device (which you need to bring!), so that you can demonstrate the 180 degree turn on instruments.
After this, the examiner will typically ask you to "divert" to your point of departure. At this point in time you are allowed to use radio navigation (but no RNAV or GPS) so if your airfield has an NDB or VOR/DME, you're virtually home free. You do have to supply an ETA though, so you need to know where you are first (hint: VOR triangulation...)
Upon arrival at your home field, you'll be asked to demo a few types of landing (regular, flapless, short field) before taxying in.
Before or after the flight test, the instructor is also supposed to give you an oral exam, on the ground. This oral exam may cover all the subjects that you've already been examined in in the theory exams, and more. You are also supposed to be familiar with specific aspects of the airspace and aircraft you're flying in at this time. ("How many vacuum pumps do you think your aircraft has, and why?")
In order to be issued your PPL, you have to have 45 hours of flight experience, and have passed the skills test, but not necessarily in that order. As the exam takes at least two hours in the air, you can already start it with only 43 hours of flight experience.
If you do not pass your exam (in time)
If the unfortunate happens and you fail the exam, then you typically only fail it partially. That means that on your next exam you only have to demonstrate the parts that you failed earlier. Talk to your instructor about this and train for that specifically.
If you don't pass your full exam in time but need to go home, then there are two distinct situations:
If "home" is somewhere in the UK, then you can take all the paperwork from the school with you and continue training at your local school. All your exams and flight experience are done in the US under the CAA syllabus, and your local flight school also works to that same syllabus. So as long as you've got all the paperwork in order, you should not have any problem continuing your flying training back home.
If "home" is somewhere outside the UK, you've got a bigger problem. Most likely the flight experience you have will count towards the flight experience requirements of your local aviation organization, but you will have to re-sit all your theory and practical exams from scratch. And if you happen to live in a country which mandates classroom hours before you can do an exam, well, you're going to be spending a lot of hours in a classroom learning stuff you already know and have already been examined in. Unless, of course, you book a few days with a flight school in the UK and finish your training and exams there.
After your have passed your exam
If at all possible, do not leave the school before all the paperwork is in order, ready to be sent to the CAA. I left the school over the weekend when the admin people and the CFI were not there. Settling my account and getting all the final paperwork sorted, from home, via e-mail, took no less than four weeks. It could have been done in an hour if I would have been able to do it right after my test.
Once you've got all your paperwork sorted, and are back home, send your application to the CAA at Gatwick. Even if you don't live in the UK. After all, you're applying for a CAA-issued, JAA-conforming license. Once you've got the CAA-issued license in hand, you may, if you want to, go to your national aviation authority and trade in your CAA-issued, JAA-conforming license for a national, JAA-conforming license. This should only cost an admin fee. Whether you want that is up to you. It's not a requirement.
If you've finally got your license in hand, book a two-hour block (at least) one-on-one groundschool with an instructor. There are guaranteed to be several differences between flying in the US and flying back home. Your best preparation for this is to prepare and fly a mock flight (on the ground) with a local instructor. He/she can show you how to obtain weather, notams, how to submit, open and close a flightplan, where to obtain charts, how to book aircraft, differences in R/T, differences in airspace structure, you name it. And he or she can also recommend destinations for you to fly to, to build experience.
After this mock flight, plan at least two flights with that same instructor. The first one is probably going to be aircraft familiarization and local area familiarization, with a bunch of touch & gos thrown in, and the second one will be a longer cross-country with a few twists in them. Controlled airspace transition, for instance. Flying at flight levels instead of altitudes. Landing on grass runways instead of concrete. Obtaining PPR, booking in and booking out. Obtaining various ATC services. Then, do a few more solo flights before you take passengers.
If you're a member of an active flying club, try to take part in club events. This is a good way to make new friends, fly together with other pilots, where the PIC role changes each leg, get recommendations for new things to do and new destinations to fly to.
Good luck and safe flying!
