Today I’ll look at what I refer to as Step #4 in the process of becoming a pilot in Canada.
Let’s start with a quick review of the past few weeks:
Step #1 – The Medical Exam – You should find out if you’re healthy enough to be able to get your Category 3 Medical, which is required by Transport Canada in order to become a Private Pilot in Canada. Read more about it here.
Step #2 – The Radio Exam – My advice based on my experience was to start studying for this sooner rather than later. Understanding the radio communications while you take your flight lessons will help you become a pilot quicker with less confusion. Read more about it here.
Step #3 – The PSTAR Exam – My reason for putting this in at number 3 was so that you could get the idea of the kind of information you’ll need to learn and follow as a pilot. If you remember from that article, the PSTAR Exam is something you’ll need to pass prior to flying solo for the first time. If you had a chance to check out the Hangaaar PSTAR App, then you get the idea of the Air Regulations. If you’re going to become a pilot and learn how to fly, these are the rules, and more importantly, this is the kind of information that you’ll need to study in order to get your Private Pilot Licence.
Let’s move on to this week’s recommendation: Step #4 – Ground School and Flight Lessons.
Although this seems like 2 steps, I’ve put them together because, ideally, you should start both of these at approximately the same time. That’s not just my opinion, but it’s what was told to me from a Class 1 Flight Instructor and also a Transport Canada Pilot Examiner.
Getting Your Recommendations
Essentially there are 2 components to becoming a pilot in Canada:
- The Flight Lessons in the cockpit.
- The Ground School requirement.
Flight Lessons in the Cockpit
When it comes to your Flight Lessons, there will be a series of Air Exercises that you’ll learn from your Flight Instructor. As you display your proficiency in these, you’ll move along and at some point you’ll be able to receive a recommendation for taking your Flight Test in the airplane.
Your flight instructor will be following a syllabus put together by Transport Canada, it’s called the Flight Test Guide. You should read it. It will help you understand the Flight Lessons you’ll be taking.
There are several procedures and manoeuvres that you will be taught. When you become proficient at all of them, your flight instructor will recommend at some point that you begin to fly solo.
You never forget your first solo!
As most students learn the procedures and manoeuvres fairly quickly, the one that takes the longest is completing a smooth and consistent landing. When you first fly solo, it’s your instructor’s vote of confidence that you can now do fairly well landing the aircraft.
As you first start to fly solo, your task will be to “do circuits” over and over again. Some people refer to these as “touch-and-gos” as you touchdown on the runway and then takeoff again. Others refer to this process as doing “circuits.”
Once you’re more confident in your landings, you’ll move on to your dual cross-country and then a solo cross-country trip… this will mean that you’re getting really close to finally taking your Flight Test!
Ground School Requirement
When it comes to the Ground School component, Transport Canada provides a Study and Reference Guide detailing the kind of knowledge you’ll need to learn in order to prepare for the Transport Canada exam.
Getting your Letter of Recommendation for your Ground School
Transport Canada will not allow you to write the Private Pilot exam unless you have a letter of recommendation.
Since ground school is a requirement from Transport Canada, your letter will state, in short, that you have met the Transport Canada requirements as set in the Study and Reference Guide.
All ground schools in Canada follow the same syllabus that is provided by Transport Canada in their Study and Reference Guide. The only significant difference across Canada is how effectively the required knowledge is taught, and that comes down to each individual flight instructor.
In other words, what may make one ground school more effective than another is the type of instructor who is teaching the material. (ie: experience is a big factor here!)
There are 4 categories of information when it comes to ground school, and these 4 categories are the different sections that your Transport Canada exam will be divided into:
i) Air Law
ii) Navigation
iii) Meteorology
iv) Aeronautics – General Knowledge
Keep in mind that you ONLY require 60% in each of the 4 categories in order to pass your exam!
Yes, just 60%!
Also keep in mind that if you score 80% in the first 3 categories, but you only get 58% in the last category, it’s just the failed category that you’ll have to write again! In other words, you don’t have to write the full exam again if you already passed some of the categories! In this example, you’d just have to re-write that exam where you scored 58% while all the others would be considered completed.
The first 3 categories are pretty self explanatory. The last one, Aeronautics – General Knowledge, is the most challenging to study. It’s not difficult information, but there is a lot of information you need to know in order to do well on your Transport Canada written exam. It’s also the section of the exam that is most often failed, so that tells you something.
My advice?
Document What You Learn
I’m serious.
You’ll thank me. This might be the best tip as you begin your journey.
If you’re just starting out, you should know that learning to fly an airplane is not something that you can just cram and study at the last minute. This isn’t like a motorcycle exam where you can just show up and answer some “common sense” questions and then you pass!
There is a lot of information you need to know. If you aren’t documenting what you learn along the way, soon you’ll wake up with 50 hours of flight time logged in an airplane, and you won’t have a clue where to start as you try to prepare for your written exam and flight test.
The reason I know this? Many people who are reaching out to me are looking for an effective and efficient way to study and prepare for their written exam. Often there are gaps in their knowledge and they need a Refresher Course to help sort out the details.
Three Basic Types of Knowledge Pilots Need
- The first kind of knowledge you need is the day-to-day stuff. This is the stuff you’ll actually use quite a bit as a pilot, so you’re expected to know it really well.
- The next kind of knowledge is knowing where to find the information that you require in any given situation. For example, you’re not expected to memorize the Canada Flight Supplement, which documents all the details of every airport across Canada, but you are expected to know that the CFS is the Airport Directory. So if you require information about how long a particular runway is for your cross-country, you know the CFS is your resource.
- The last kind of knowledge is the kind of stuff my Flight Instructor would call 3 hour knowledge… it’s the somewhat useless information that you may be expected to know when writing the Private Pilot exam. The point? It’s best to make a list of this stuff, and just remember it for the 3 hour period when you write the exam. Essentially the point he’s trying to make was that you should make a list of study notes as you go through your ground school course… and if you do that from the beginning, trust me, you’ll thank me.
Information Overload
As you progress in your ground school and flight lessons, you’ll soon hit a spot where it feels like you have information overload. Don’t be alarmed, recognize that it is coming and prepare for it by keeping good study notes.
Taking Ground School in the Classroom or Taking Online Ground School
Across Canada, most local flying clubs or flight schools offer ground school on a fixed schedule. Perhaps Tuesdays/Thursdays from 6pm-9pm and because of this, it can take several weeks or even months to attend all these classes.
The challenge is if you miss a class, or if you want to review a class, it take take months before that topic is covered again.
This is the exact reason why I started Hangaaar and why we created our Online Ground School made specifically for pilots in Canada.
If you can take your ground school at your local flying club and the schedule and timing work for you, that’s great!
If your schedule is busy and you’re unable to take your ground school at your local flying club or flight school, you can check out our online ground school. If you complete the course, we even provide your letter of recommendation for you.
Until next week, happy flying!
Check out Step #5 – The Plan – Become a Pilot in Canada
