Fly High - Gaining a Private or Commercial Flying License in Australia is Not as Hard as You Think

Gaining a Private Pilot License (PPL) and Commercial Pilot License (CPL) is an expensive and rigorous procedure but may not take as long or be as demanding as many people envisage. 

Here's a dummies guide to the essentials that will help anyone keen enough to take to the skies and be the proud owner of their first flight suit in Australia.

Firstly the PPL:  You’ll need to be 17 or over and have obtained a Class 2 medical certificate that is valid for four years. 

Ground school: you’ll need to complete ground training covering subjects such as regulations for aviation, navigation, meteorology, human factors as well as the vitally important aircraft technical knowledge.

Then there is the flight training itself: Surprisingly perhaps there is only a basic requirement to complete 40 hours of flight training. This must be made up of at least 20 hours of dual instruction and at least 10 hours of solo flight time which must include 5 hours of cross-country flight alone.

Then there are the exams that examine all the theory learned at ground school. When this has been accomplished you need to complete a flight test with a Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approved examiner.

You’re then good to go after submitting your application to CASA with the documentation and fees. 

The regulations for a CPL are obviously more stringent and the costs two to three times higher.

The minimum age requirement is 18 and a CASA approved medical certificate Class 1 that is only valid for one year.

When it comes to ground school you need to pass exams in advanced air law, navigation, meteorology, flight planning, human factors as well as aircraft technical knowledge. It’s tough but so long as you don’t have a fear of flying you’ll be good to go!

For the CPL you’ll need a minimum of 150 hours flight time of which 70 hours are dual flight training, 20 hours solo, 50 hours cross country as PIC (pilot in command) and ten hours of instrument flight time. 

This last one can be accomplished including time in simulators..

Multiple theory exams need to be passed covering the advanced subjects for commercial operations.

then follows the flight test with a CASA-approved examiner and the submission of the documents and fees.

Additional considerations later include endorsements for both licences enabling flight in specific aircraft types. Gaining more flight hours is obviously beneficial and staying updated with the regulations may require more training and will certainly involve more health checks. 

While it would be absurd to suggest that learning to fly and getting a licence is like learning to drive a car there are similarities albeit a great difference in cost.

And anyone thinking of taking the steps to PPL or CPL should first examine the latest up-to-date CASA regulations.