Private Pilot License

Your Passport to the Aviation World

Priveleges of a PPL

The Private Pilot License enables you to fly during daytime VFR conditions, in any Canadian registered single-engine land-based airplane worldwide. With a PPL, you are able to attain further licensing (such as Commercial and Airline Transport pilot licenses) and ratings (such as night flying, instrument flying). With the license on its own, it is the least restrictive certification that a beginning aviator can attain. It also happens to be the most commonly issued and held license in Canada among all pilots.

Training Syllabus

In order to obtain your PPL, you must complete a total of 45 hours of flight time, including:

 

  • 17 hours of dual instruction, including
    • 3 hours of dual cross-country instruction;
    • 5 hours of dual instrument instruction;
  • 12 hours of solo flight time, including
    • 5 hours of solo cross country flight time, including
      • one 150 nautical mile flight with three seperate destinations

 

Bear in mind that figures are the legal minima as governed by Transport Canada, most students will require further training and / or practice in order to reach the necessary skill to be able to complete the flight test. Applicants for the PPL who have previously earned other flying qualifications, such as a glider pilot license, may have some flight time credited from previous experience.

 

All PPL students must complete 40 hours of the private pilot ground school program, including such subjects as

 

  • Canadian Aviation Regulations;
  • Aerodynamics and Theory of Flight;
  • Meteorology;
  • Airframes, Engines and Systems;
  • Flight Instruments;
  • Radio and Electronic Theory;
  • Navigation;
  • Flight Operations;
  • Licensing Requirements; and
  • Human Factors, including pilot decision-mading.

 

Knowledge of the outlined subjects will be tested by way of a written exam (PPAER), which must be successfully completed (60%) by the student.

 

Once a student has successfully completed the minimum amount of flight time AND successfully passed the flight test AND successfully passed the written examination, the private pilot license will be issued.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites required to begin your pilot training.