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What Do You Learn in Flight School?

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An aviation career is one of the most well-respected and important professions. Before earning a pilot license, however, there is a significant amount of training to complete.

What do you learn in flight school, exactly? This guide uncovers the basic principles and outlines that pilot schools teach. Get a greater idea of the learning process if you are considering earning your pilot license.

Aircraft Systems and Operation

Before beginning actual flight training, flight schools want to ensure you are familiar with your aircraft. You can’t complete ground school without knowing the basic functions and systems of the plane.

Ground training involves studying aircraft performance, electrical systems, the fuel system, and other external components. Understanding every part of your aircraft ultimately helps you file accurate flight logs and operate systems efficiently. This is the very first step toward earning your private pilot license or commercial pilot license.

Navigating Weather Patterns

Whether you’re spending a few minutes in the air or several hours, it’s imperative that aspiring pilots know how to fly in various types of weather. During ground training, you’ll study the effects of different weather phenomena and how it impacts each flight.

Understanding storm patterns, wind changes, and moving air masses plays a part in reducing the turbulence you experience onboard.

Federal Aviation Regulations

If you’re wondering, “What do you learn in flight school?” any American flight instructor will quickly answer with “FAA regulations.” The Federal Aviation Administration sets the standard that all pilots must adhere to. You will spend a part of ground school training learning these federal requirements.

FAA regulations cover a large scope of rules for every pilot taking flight. This includes various certification requirements, such as a certain number of training hours and passing flight tests.

The FAA also sets fitness and physical health requirements, though medical checks differ between commercial and private pilots. A private pilot will need an annual physical detailing their health, while a commercial pilot must undergo cardiovascular testing every six months.

Basic Flight Training

Once you finish ground school basics, you are ready to start flight training. This includes learning all the standard flight maneuvers, from pre-planning checks to take-off to landing. During these flight lessons, you will not only gain knowledge of flight operations but also the basics of air traffic control and airport traffic patterns.

Every student pilot needs to know how to fly straight, travel at different speeds, and maneuver crosswinds. These practical lessons are among the many crucial aspects of pilot training.

After your first flight lesson, instructors will work on building your skills and confidence to eventually fly solo. You can achieve a solo flight at the flight instructor’s discretion.

In order to earn your private pilot certification, you must show the ability to handle a cross-country flight covering more than 25 nautical miles. Commercial certification goes a step further than a private pilot license. This involves handling night flying and the post-flight procedures that your pilot school teaches.

Flight Planning

One of the most important pilot duties is planning your navigation ahead of time. You’ll learn a variety of visual flight rules to help effectively navigate the plane. This is a practical lesson that helps you prepare for any radar mishap and handle it with ease.

Advanced technology like magnetic compass readings, radio navigation, and aircraft computer signals are essential for flying under what’s known as Instrument Flight Rules. This principle refers to navigation practices when you can’t rely on visual cues.

The FAA takes flight planning seriously. Pilots must file their flight plans with the airport they depart from as well as their final destination.

Emergency Preparation

What do you learn in flight school to handle emergencies? Flight school training covers aeromedical emergency procedures in the event that someone onboard suffers from a change in the atmosphere’s pressure or other aerodynamic forces during high-altitude operations.

Passengers, the flight crew, or the pilot themself can have any sort of medical reaction mid-flight. Student pilots will learn to always brace for the unexpected. If there is any type of medical emergency onboard, students train actively train to handle these scenarios.

Flight Proficiency

Every competent pilot needs to undergo a significant amount of training to ensure they are ready to earn their private pilot license or commercial license. The FAA put in place a 1,500-hour rule that mandates aspiring commercial pilots log at least 1,500 hours of flight time with a certified flight instructor.

This extensive training ensures that the most qualified pilots are at the helm of commercial aircraft. A high proficiency level optimizes the safety of pilots, passengers, and flight crews.

Earn a Commercial or Private Pilot Certificate with Leopard Aviation

Now that we’ve answered the question, “What do you learn in flight school?” it’s time to get serious about pilot training. Contact Leopard Aviation to start working towards your pilot’s license in Scottsdale or Mesa, AZ. Call (480) 372-9815 to learn more about ground school training.

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