YOUR AVIATION PATH

Whether you wish to become a professional pilot or merely fly for fun, as with anything in life, you have to start at he beginning, and the aviation beginning is a student pilot license.

STEP 1 : Your student pilot license

The Student Pilot License is the key to a variety of lucrative career opportunities or the pleasure and fun of being a recreational pilot.

The first step is to obtain a class 2 medical exam and chest X-rays. You will also need to obtain a restricted radio license before you will be allowed to fly solo.

You can start your training even as young as 14 years old. To qualify for a student Pilot License however, you need to be 16 years old and have passed a class 2 medical examination.

Our detailed and continual progress monitoring enables you to see your development and success as you continue your journey to become a Private Pilot.

At AEROPRECISION we require 3 of the 7 exams to be passed prior to a first solo being flown. After satisfactorily completing these exams and the various training exercises, you can go 'solo' for the first time. Your first flight on your own is the beginning of a fantastic career as a pilot and a notable milestone therefore we issue you with your FIRST SOLO certificate.

From here you will continue with the Ground school and Flying lessons and after you have passed a further 3 exams as well as the necessary training exercises, you will then fly your first solo cross country. Again, a certificate of achievement is awarded to you for this milestone.

You then have only 1 exam left and a few more hours of practice flying before your take your Private Pilot Flight Test which can only be issued from age 17.

It is possible to complete the PPL within 45 hours, however it can take longer.

PPL SKILLS TEST - As soon as you have flown the required amount of hours, passed the relevant PPL exams and your instructor regards you to be ready for your final flight test, the Chief Flying Instructor or a person delegated by the CFI, will conduct your test. The PPL test should not be regarded with apprehension, as your training to this point would ensure that you are competent to pass the test, which may be done as two separate flights. The one is a test of your General Flying ability and the other is a Navigation test. As soon as this has been completed, you will be given the signed application form which, together with your Student Pilot Licence, radio licence and photographs can be presented to the SACAA for the issue of your Private Pilot's License.

STEP 2: Private Pilot License

Now you are a licensed private pilot and you can take family and friends to enjoy the experience of flying. You only have the right to fly the type of aircraft that you have trained on for recreational purposes. You may not fly for financial reward – for this, you need a commercial pilot’s license.

STEP 3: Night Rating

You continue with training exercises to obtain your night rating. Doing a night rating is an excellent way of enhancing your overall skill as a pilot and if you are progressing towards the Commercial Pilot's Licence, it is a requirement to achieve 5 hours of solo (Pilot In Command) hours at night.

STEP 4: Hour Building

Now it’s time to get some flying experience, flying to other airfields around South Africa, enjoying the beauty South Africa has to offer whilst working towards building flying hours for your Instrument rating and Commercial Pilot License which can only be issued when you turn 18 years old.

Assuming that you obtained your PPL and Night Rating within 60 hours, and making provision for IF/ multiengine training to be done, the building of hours is based on an average of 100 hours.

Our PA- 28 140’s are available for shorter navigation flights and over weekends for longer navigation flights. We also have a Piper Cherokee Arrow for longer trips. The PA28-200R is the ideal aircraft to upgrade your flying standard as it has a variable pitch propeller, fuel injected and a retractable undercarriage. This will stand you in good stead when you upgrade to a twin engine rating.

Your progress during this phase will be checked with at least one hour dual for every ten to fifteen hours of hire & fly.

STEP 5: Instrument Rating / Commercial Pilot License.

You can obtain your instrument without a commercial pilot license and vice versa, however after obtaining your instrument rating, you have obtained all the exams necessary for the commercial license, so having come so far it makes good sense to go a bit further and obtain the CPL as well.

Our South African weather makes it desirable, if not essential, to have this rating for both safety and job opportunities. Without an instrument rating, it is unlikely that you will be able gain any employment as a professional charter pilot over another applicant who does!
Besides which, if it is your intention to pursue a career in aviation, the more qualifications you have, the greater your chances are to go further in the industry.

A minimum of 100 hours of Solo time and 100 hours of Instruction time are the minimum required hours for the Commercial Pilot License.

200 hours total time is required for the Commercial Pilot's Licence which must comprise of the following;

• 100 hours as pilot-in-command:
• 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot-in-command
• 10 hours night flying, including a night cross country flight as pilot-in-command
• 40 hours of instrument flight time, of which 20 hours may be acquired on a SACAA-approved flight simulator.

Once you are a Commercial Pilot, a good career choice is to become a Flying Instructor. This is a natural progression to gain the hours of experience required by Charter Companies.

Should you choose to finish your Commercial Pilot License with a Multi-Engine Rating, we can also accommodate this. You will fly the last 15 hours of your training in a Multi-Engine Aircraft.

As a commercial pilot, you can now get employment as a professional pilot, but the reality is that you will find it extremely difficult to get a job with a brand new commercial pilot licence! The most logical step is to obtain an instructor rating. As in any profession, the more qualified you are, the better your chances of employment, therefore an instructors rating opens up additional job opportunities which would otherwise not be available to you.
This is also the best way for you to build the hours you need to satisfy the minimum requirements of the more sought after positions in aviation and add value to your CV. Simultaneously, you will vastly improve your own flying ability and experience by revising again and again fundamentals and basics of flying that would otherwise fade.

The instructor's rating consists of two basic elements:

1. Theory and examinations
2. Practical flying.

20 hours of lectures and ground preparation are required. You will prepare and present these lessons until they are of a satisfactory standard whereafter you will complete the SACAA exams.
You then complete 20 hours of flight training and take the flight test.
Upon successful completion of the above you will be a qualified grade III flight instructor.

STEP 6: Airline Transport License

Most aspiring aviators want to fly for an airline! To become an airline captain, you will need to obtain an Airline Transport Pilot's licence which requires a minimum of 1,500 hours total time as well as having passed all the ATP subjects. A position as an instructor of a charter pilot will assist in building your hours whilst simultaneously improving your flying procedures and abilities.