Jon Kotwicki - FLY8MA Online Flight Training

Learn to Fly

9 Comments / Private Pilot / By Jon Kotwicki

How to Become a Pilot People pursue a pilot’s license for a wide range of motivating factors, from a desire to achieve personal growth to pursuing an airline career path. Some aspiring pilots are fortunate to have close friends or relatives with aviation experience, who can provide guidance, advice, and mentorship. However, for many people, learning about aviation is an unfamiliar new territory. Don’t be a Flight School Dropout Did you know 8 out of 10 people who start flight training don’t actually get their pilot’s license? While a small percentage of people stop flight training for medical reasons – most are smart, sharp, motivated, and have the potential to be excellent pilots. So why do they quit? Read on to discover why people quit flying before they get their certificate – and how you can make sure you don’t. The top three reasons student pilots stop flying are: 1) Becoming frustrated with flight training: Having an unprepared or unorganized instructor can make your lessons feel unproductive and wasteful. Having a mediocre ground school can mean you start flying without understanding basic aviation concepts. This can also make students feel like they don’t have the skills or abilities to successfully reach their goals. 2) Running out of funds: If you do not have the funds to pay for all of your flight training, consider applying for scholarships, getting financing, or other options so you don’t have to stop before you can really get started. 3) Feeling like flying isn’t enjoyable anymore: The “fun” of flying can be lost when you put too much pressure on yourself or compare your journey to others who learn faster. Learning to fly is about the journey, not just the destination. Becoming a pilot is a desirable goal and rewarding achievement, and you have many options to reach your goals. Although it may seem like a far-off dream, with dedication and consistent effort, most people who meet basic medical requirements are able to earn a private pilot certificate, and more. What You Can Do With a Pilot’s License When you begin your flight training, you start with your private pilot’s license. The private pilot license is the first step for all pilots. This is often referred to as a “license to learn.” For people pursuing a career as a pilot, each rating is an important step: Private pilot certificate: Once you have your private pilot certificate, you can fly with passengers and share flight expenses with them, as well as fly volunteer flights for non-profits. You can get paid for a limited number of jobs like towing gliders (with an endorsement) , or demoing aircraft for sale while working as an aircraft salesman. Instrument rating: Once you have your instrument rating, you can “fly by instruments” and operate an aircraft in limited visibility such as fog, clouds, and rain. You will also learn a lot about weather reports, forecasts, and considerations for planning cross-country flights. Commercial pilot certificate: You can get paid to fly and do jobs like aerial surveys, pipeline patrol, news traffic reporting, banner towing, and agricultural flying. This is also a necessary rating to being a flight instructor or airplane transport rating. Click here to learn which type of pilot license is right for you and what you can do with your license. How To Get A Private Pilot License A big part of getting your private pilot license involves spending time in a small airplane. Some of those hours will be solo, but the majority will be with a certified flight instructor (CFI). You can accomplish your flight time in several ways: Enrolling a Flight School A flight school is the most common route to learn to fly. If you go to a flight school at a local airport, the school may own or lease aircraft, and have instructors on staff available for you to take lessons with. You will have the option of selecting an instructor you relate well to. The school may be a “Part 141 flight school” or a “Part 61 flight school.” A Part 141 school has specific approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to teach a structured and organized program. A 141 program sticks to a rigid schedule and can be completed in the shortest amount of time. If your school is not a 141 flight school, they are a Part 61 flight school. This means they are governed by Part 61 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Part 61 vs Part 141 This is a complex topic of which school is right for you to choose. We go into a lot more detail about Part 141 and Part 61 Flight Training Schools here, but for now, let’s just take a quick overview. You will hear the salesman at the 141 school say, “We can make you a pilot faster for less money”. You will hear the salesman at the 61 school say, “We can make you a pilot on a flexible schedule, and for less money”. They are both right and wrong. The article linked above gives much greater detail, but to summarize: Part 61 Part 141 National Avg. Flight Hours to Complete Training 73.1 71.2 National Avg. Rental Aircraft Cost per hour $126 $156 National Avg. Instructor Cost per hour $60 $68 Flexible scheduling, lesson progression, and aircraft switching Yes Generally No National Avg. Cost for Private Pilot License $13,596 $15,948 Read this if you still have questions about Part 141 vs Part 61 Flight Training. Working with an Independent Certified Flight Instructor Many certified flight instructors own their own trainer airplanes. If you find an instructor you like, you may be able to train with them in their airplane. This can be extremely convenient if they have good schedule availability. The downside of learning to fly in one aircraft is that if the airplane is down for maintenance or repair, you will not be able to fly. Joining a Flying Club Flying clubs are member-run groups that allow members

FTN Number – Student Pilot Certificate

Leave a Comment / Private Pilot / By Jon Kotwicki

How to Get a FTN Number So you recently heard you need something called an “FTN Number” before you can register for your FAA written exam or get your Student Pilot License. The good news is getting this number is totally free and will only take you about 10 minutes or so to complete online following the steps outlined in the video above. If you’re not a video person, no problem, we’ll also explain in the text below how you can register on IACRA to get your FTN number (FAA Tracking Number). Registering to take your FAA Pilot Test So what lots of folks call the “pilot test” is really more correctly referred to as the Private Pilot Written Exam. This exam is 60 questions, lasts 2.5 hours, and you must both register online as well as receive an endorsement from an approved instructor or course prior to being able to take the exam. To register online, you will first go to https://iacra.faa.gov/IACRA/Default.aspx Then click “register” on the upper right part of the screen, directly below where you would enter your login credentials if you had already signed up. You will want to check the box for “applicant” (not any other boxes), and then follow the promts to complete the process. It is just like signing up for a new email account. Once you complete the process, you will be given a “FTN number” to go along with your username and very complicated password (yes the FAA makes you choose an obnoxiously long password). Write down all three, username, password, and FTN somewhere safe because I guarantee you will forget one or all of those. Reserving a time for the test Now that you have your FTN number, you can register to take your written exam at https://faa.psiexams.com/faa/login You’ll click on “Create an Account” and follow the prompts to create a new account with PSI (the testing company that administers the test for the FAA). There is an 800 number on that page that will link you with tech support if you need help, but don’t set your expectations too high for the level of service you will receive from them (PSI is now a monopoly on all FAA testing). Once you create an account you will select the test type you want to take (most likely Private Pilot Airplane designation – PAR ). You will also pay your fee online and select the testing center nearest you based on your zip code. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Before you book a time, call the testing center you are planning on using as the times and availability listed on the site are generally not correct for when the test proctor person will actually be available at your local testing center. You do not want to book a time, pay for it online, only to show up in person prepared and ready to go on that day and time to find you’ll have to come back tomorrow when the proctor is available. Getting a Student Pilot Certificate If you wish to also get a student pilot certificate, more good news, you’re already about halfway there (assuming you already have your account set up on IACRA). To apply for a student pilot certificate you will want to “Start a new application” when logged into your IACRA account. You will be applying as a “student pilot”, and the link here can also help guide you through the specifics of what to put on the form. You should keep in mind that once you submit your student pilot application you will have to schedule a time with a flight instructor to sit down in person, both log into your respective IACRA accounts from the same computer, provide verification of your US citizenship and identify to the instructor, and then they will help you complete the process via the IACRA website. There is not a way to fully complete and submit your application to the FAA without being face to face with an instructor or FAA representative. Questions? If you still have questions you can always reach out to us here: Ask A Question

Blue Angels Drone Near Miss

2 Comments / Airplane Accidents, UAS / By Jon Kotwicki

On May 12th, at approximately 11:47 AM, the Blue Angels were performing a formation flyover in Detroit to honor first responders and medical staff battling COVID-19. The flyover was appropriately titled the “Detroit America Strong Flyover”. In the total time of four minutes that the Blue Angels were operating over the city of Detroit, an individual in the area decided he wanted to grab some footage of the flyover with his DJI drone. Although all of the footage found in the originally released video could be considered reckless endangerment, there was one shot in particular that left both the pilot and drone community outraged. As the F/A-18 Hornet located on the far right of the image above crosses the frame, it misses the drone by mere feet. Not surprisingly, the original Instagram account which uploaded the footage was deleted shortly after the video went viral. This is not the first time a near-miss incident has occurred (that has found it’s way onto the internet) within recent years: There were at least three rules broken by the operator of the flight above. The first being that the drone operator likely exceed the 400’ AGL altitude limit; a guideline prior to 2018 but now a hard limit. Secondly, operating a drone in a careless or reckless manner, and third, not giving way to manned aircraft. We could write on explaining how reckless and dangerous the decisions made by this operator were, and how he put the lives of multiple parties (both the pilots in tight formation and any bystanders below) at risk. But we imagine that you as a reader of FLY8MA.com, a website for both manned and unmanned aviation education, most likely understand that the actions taken by this individual were reckless. Therefore, let’s focus on the more universal issue at hand; these events keep happening. In a press release by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) on May 21st of this year, researchers stated that their findings of a 30-day monitoring period near Daytona Beach International Airport in Florida, using a DJI AeroScope system capable of detecting and locating nearby DJI drones. “The vast majority of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) detected around Daytona Beach International Airport during a 30-day period in 2019 lacked approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and more than one-third of those drones were flying higher than the law allows”. Members of the public are, knowingly or unknowingly, operating small unmanned aerial systems outside of regulatory boundaries. While this certainly is concerning, the question remains: what’s the damage? In recent years, the FAA has had more than 100 documented cases of recreational drone operations in or around wildfires. There are temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) in place to allow fire suppression aircraft to operate safely. When drones are operating recreationally in or near a wildfire, fire suppression aircraft can’t. This jeopardizes both efforts to contain the fire and potentially puts ground crews at risk. Furthermore, within the US and Canada, we have had three confirmed drone strikes in recent years, spanning a wide category of aircraft. On September 21st, 2017, a U.S. Army Sikorsky Blackhawk was operating approximately 21 miles east of Staten Island, NY when the main rotor made contact with a DJI Phantom 4; creating a 1 and ½ inch dent on one of the blades, cracking the composite fairing and a portion of the window frame, and lodging several components of the drone into the helicopter. The drone operator was flying in an active TFR (temporary flight restriction zone). Only a month later, a Beech King Air A100 operated by SkyJet Aviation collided with a sUAS on approach to land at Jean Lesage Airport near Quebec, Canada. The drone was operating at 1,500 feet; over three times the altitude limit for recreational sUAS operations. On August 10th, 2018, an operator lost sight of a hot air balloon on his monitor and collided with the balloon. The drone operator had been flying the sUAS within five miles of an airport without notifying air traffic control. In all three incidents, regulations were broken; ultimately leading to the accident. Fortunately, no incidents led to loss of life. More incidents have been reported but are unconfirmed. The message is clear. While those operating drones professionally have the knowledge of how to safely operate in areas near manned aircraft, a majority of the general public does not. We therefore need to have a greater emphasis on educating the general public in regard to safe drone operation before a fatal collision occurs. Education will reduce the risk of a midair collision, and therefore reduce the implications that would be caused by such an accident if it were fatal; such as further limiting or restricting sUAS purchase access or flight areas. Let’s work together to increase flight safety in the national airspace system. If you or someone you know is interested in flying a drone, refer them to the Federal Aviation Administration’s “Know before you fly” website (http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/) and let them know that FLY8MA has a course if they are interested in obtaining their Part 107 sUAS certificate!