Learning to Fly

Call, text or email us to make a 45-minute appointment to discuss your pilot aspirations with our Head Of Operations (‘HOO’). He will be able to give you guidance and sound advice on every aspect of flight training in General Aviation in Australia, as well as his views on upcoming career opportunities. There is no charge for this initial consultation. If you are under 18 years of age, parents or a guardian will need to attend and are indeed most welcome.

If you are unsure if you will be suited to and / or enjoy flight training or, perhaps, you’ve never flown in a small aeroplane before, a sensible low cost approach is to book a Trial Flight (see below).

If you decide to proceed with flight training you’ll need to apply on-line for an Aviation Reference Number (‘ARN’) from the Federal Government’s regulator of civil aviation in Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (‘CASA’) (see below).

Once CASA issues your ARN you will then need to commence the on-line application for a CASA Medical Certificate including making a booking with a Designated Aviation Medical Examiner (‘DAME’) (see below).

Trial Flights

A Trial Flight is much like a normal flying lesson, only a little less formal. All of the normal safety protocols still apply. We offer these at a significantly reduced rate to attract new Student Pilots, as do other flying schools.

During the Trial Flight you will actually fly the training aeroplane from the ‘command seat’ – under the watchful eye of a fully-qualified Commercial Pilot/Flight Instructor. For 99% of people it is an eye-opening and wondrous experience. For the Instructor it is a brief opportunity to observe your responses and reactions to this very dynamic three-dimensional world and give honest feedback on your potential during the debrief.

Some people might find it a little intimidating but this is rarely the case. Others may have a tendency to become airsick but this usually disappears completely after the first two or three lessons.

Whilst not constituting a formal syllabus lesson you are still able to log the flight time (i.e., from taxiing for the purpose of flight until engine shutdown afterwards) towards your Licence requirements.

Equipment

You won’t need any aviation-specific equipment for your initial training, e.g., an audio headset, as we provide one up until First Circuit Solo. After that it is appropriate to purchase your own – after discussing the various options available. It is a very good idea to wear non-polarising sunglasses as the glare can be significant in aeroplane cockpits.

You will need to wear comfortable clothing which is not loose-fitting and reasonably rugged, e.g., jeans, collared cotton T-shirt and runners. Boots are generally a bad idea as they can sometimes snag underneath the instrument panel and affect the operation of the toe-brakes on top of the rudder pedals.

Training Options

You can learn to fly full-time or part-time, depending on your availability, learning capacity and financial constraints.

Obviously it also depends upon our capacity to fit you in with our Student training workload, so the more notice you can provide us of your training needs the better.

Most importantly, continuity is the key to successful flying training, so if you cannot attend for at least three full days per month, your training will suffer and you may need refresher training and, therefore, incur additional costs. Our preference is for you to pick a day of each week that you can commit to so that we can focus our efforts solely on you for that day.

Sadly, a lack of continuity often leads to a loss of motivation and eventually Students giving up, so if you are really time poor and don’t have one full day or two half days each and every week – or one or two week blocks such as school holidays – then it will probably ‘end in tears!’

Professional Pilot Training (‘PPT’) Course

Our unique PPT Course is designed for the few young, well-educated and highly-motivated who desire a fast-tracked pathway into a professional pilot career.

Ideally you will have Year 12 passes in English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and possibly other sciences, as a minimum. You will be able to meet the CASA Class 1 Medical standard and successfully complete our rigorous selection process prior to commencement.

The residential course is delivered over 18 months full time Monday to Friday. You will graduate as one of the best trained and qualified pilots, including those of the Defence Forces, with the skills, knowledge and behaviours you need to excel as one of our Company Flight Instructors for a few years before moving on to a career as a jet airline pilot.

Since the course is modular in design you will have the option of leaving and re-entering (at the beginning of your most recently vacated module) if a situation arises which forces you to suspend your training. This course has resulted from our HOO’s decades of training design and implementation experience in both civilian and military flying training organisations. It is the fastest and most cost-effective way of getting into a professional pilot career path with real long-term options.

Training Costs

Training for any pilots licence or further ratings is a significant financial impost for most people.

One way we contain costs and prevent budgetary blowouts is by having very detailed Syllabuses for each Licence, Rating, Design Feature Endorsement, Flight Activity Endorsement and Flight Instructor Training Endorsement. So if you are able to commit to our recommended minimum rate of effort, we can assure you that you will achieve the licence on time and on budget because it is in our best interests for that to happen!

Furthermore, we are so confident in the efficacy of our various training packages that we are able to offer package deals for all of our syllabuses which fixes the cost for you and puts the onus back on us to get you qualified on time and on budget. Ask us how! And we put it into a legal signed agreement so there are no potential issues down the track.

Note that we do not support VET Fee Loans or HECS funding as these add a substantial overhead to course fees as well as compounding interest on the loan – which the recipient has to pay back to the government in due course.

A Standard Lesson looks like

Given the intensity, complexity and costs involved in each flying lesson, it is imperative that you are thoroughly briefed before every flight so that you are fully aware of what is going to happen, the expectations upon you and the desired syllabus outcomes. Furthermore, it is imperative that every single flight is thoroughly debriefed to maximise the Student’s learning experience by reinforcing the lessons learned and objectives achieved.

So our standard booking, not including a Long Briefing, for a 1.2-hour local training flight is 2.5 hours. It’s realistic, it’s achievable and it’s the minimum necessary to get the full value from each lesson and, thereby, minimise the risk of flight time and cost blowouts.

A standard lesson consists of

1. Pre-Flight Brief (‘PFB’) before every flight, for about 30 minutes;
2. Dual or Solo Flight in the Circuit or local Training Area of 1.2 hours;
3. Debrief (‘DB’) and Post-Flight Administration after every flight, for about 30 minutes.