GROUND INSTRUCTION

Ground instruction is an essential part of obtaining your FAA Private Pilot license. A student pilot must log a minimum of 20 ground school hours as one of the requirements to be eligible to take their Private Pilot flight check for a FAA Private Pilot License.

Ground School helps a student pilot learn the concepts and regulations behind the maneuvers they practice with their instructor (or solo) in the air!

• Prep for FAA KNOWLEDGE EXAM
• Prep for PRIVATE PILOT ORAL EXAM.

Private Pilot Syllabus: 

Training to become a private pilot involves learning the following, in a series of steps: 

Pre-flight Level:
How to inspect the airplane prior to each flight
Flight - Level 1:
Taxi
Take-off
Straight and level flight
Turns
Climbs
Descent
Landing
Post-flight procedures
Flight - Level 2:
Communications
Brief introduction to flight-by-instrument references
Flight - Level 3:
Slow flight
Stall recognition and recovery
Spin awareness
Steep turns
Flight - Level 4:
Ground reference maneuvers
Emergency procedures
Flight - Level 5:
Preparation for practicing take-offs and landings
Flight - Level 6:
Touch and Go landings
Flight - Level 7:
Soft field take-offs and landings
Short field take-offs and landings
No-flap take-offs and landings
Forward slips to landings
Crosswind landings
Flight - Level 8:
Flight planning techniques used for cross-country flight
How to obtain weather information.
Flight - Level 9:
Making cross country flight using dead reckoning and pilotage
Open and close flight plans
Request flight following
No-tower communications
Flight - Level 10:
Fly cross-country using radio navigation techniques
Homing and tracking using a VOR
Flight - Level 11:
Night flying techniques
Flight - Level 12:
How to initiate a diversion
What to do if you are lost
Flight- Level 13
Preparation for your practical test
Introduction to the skills needed to recover from unusual flight attitudes

• The above sequence is adjustable to suit your particular circumstances and your certified flight instructor’s (CFI’s) assessment of your needs and weather and other conditions. 
• These flights will be supplemented with home study and ground instruction, as directed by the CFI. 
• Each of the above “flight levels” will consist of multiple flights, the number of which will depend on your actual rate of progress. In addition, as you develop your skills, you will intersperse solo flights along with the above.

Remember! Private Pilots (& higher) must complete a Biannual Flight Review (BFR) to remain current which consists of 1 hour of ground school & 1 hour flight. Unless you are a CFI yourself and ground school is n/a.