PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE
Earn Your Wings
The Private Pilot certificate lets you fly yourself, your friends and your family almost anywhere in the country. It's the foundation for every rating that follows.
What you can do as a private pilot
Your certificate never expires. You'll just need a flight review with an instructor every 24 months.
CARRY PASSENGERS
Share.
Take friends and family flying and share the costs.
FLY ANYWHERE
Explore.
Day or night, all across the U.S. in visual weather conditions.
RENT OR BUY
Rent.
Rent from schools and FBOs nationwide, or buy your own plane.
START A CAREER
Launch.
Step one toward Instrument, Commercial, CFI and the airlines.
TOTAL FLIGHT TIME
40 hrs
The FAA minimum. Most students finish in 60 to 75 hours.
FAA flight time requirements
The minimums for a Private Pilot certificate, airplane single-engine land, under 14 CFR 61.109.
WITH YOUR CFI
20 hrs
Dual instruction, including night, cross-country and instrument training.
SOLO FLIGHT
10 hrs
Just you and the airplane, including 5 hours of solo cross-country.
MINIMUM AGE
Age 17
You can solo at 16. You'll also need an FAA medical certificate.
The full breakdown
20 hours with your CFI: 3 hours each of cross-country, night, instrument and checkride prep. Night includes a 100+ nm cross-country and 10 night landings.
10 hours solo, including 5 hours of cross-country with one 150 nm trip and three stops, plus 3 landings at a towered airport.
Then pass the FAA written test and your checkride.
Why train one-on-one?
Large academies are built for volume and speed. Many students do better with one instructor who knows exactly where they are.
ONE INSTRUCTOR
Same CFI.
You fly with the same instructor every lesson. No re-briefing someone new, no lost progress.
YOUR SCHEDULE
Your pace.
Lessons built around your job and family, not a fixed academy calendar or a full-time commitment.
PAY AS YOU FLY
No lock-in.
Pay after each lesson instead of financing an entire program up front.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Take the controls.
Start with a $199 discovery flight. Estimates are not quotes; your total depends mostly on how often you fly.