Accelerated Flight Course : A Great Way to Learn to Fly
An accelerated flight course is a very common method to fulfill the FAA required pilot training and gain the skills and knowledge necessary to get your pilot certificate or pilot rating. The title of “accelerated” on a flight course curriculum is misleading and can lead to an unhappy student pilot because of additional time and money. Keep reading to learn the most efficient and cost effective manner to choosing the best flight course.
Accelerated Flight Course Training Myth:
Just because a flight school offers an “accelerated” flight training course doesn’t mean it’ll be completed faster. In fact, the FAA has minimum pilot training, flight experience, and ground theory training requirements before becoming eligible to take the final testing for a pilot certificate or pilot rating. For example, the FAA has a requirement of 40 hours of total training and flight experience before the final test. However, the average student takes almost 70 hours to get their private pilot certificate. Let’s look at the reasons…
· There is too long between training flights and ground school. Your knowledge and ability naturally decrease with time. You should plan on flight training at least 3 days a week to minimize memory loss between lessons.
· Bad weather can make training impossible for days or possibly even weeks at a time.
· A poor flight course curriculum can also cause you to need additional time. This could be from a flight school that is only interested in making money or from a teacher that is only interested in accumulating flight time for his career goals.
· Limited study before training begins can also impact your class time. This is especially true for accelerated courses because the more you can learn before class lets you spend more time in the cockpit. Any accelerated flying course should be started with basic medical tests and the written tests out of the way to maximize your time and money.
Students should pre-study the pilot training syllabus sequence of events and read through all study materials before the first day of class. Using a flight simulator is also a good method of preparing before pilot training begins. Self preparation can be the biggest saver by far!
Benefits of a Good Accelerated Pilot Flight Course:
· Accelerated flight training can help you reach your goals faster. The average training time an accelerated student is around 50 hours, and that 20 hours of savings really helps. Many schools are looking for some easy cash and don’t know how to properly administer a flight course properly, so be sure to find out the average student training time.
· Flight knowledge can be greatly enhanced with accelerated flight courses. Some disagree, but with competent instruction it logically makes senes that focused and intense training results in better retention than a traditional 2-3 day per week course. Long term retention depends on the pilot to keep skills sharp regardless of their method of flight training.
· Accelerated flight training forces the student to focus only on flying. It is critical to concentrate while training or learning capacity degrades. As long as you can schedule a time to dedicate while you train, the learning skyrockets and lets you join the piloting ranks.