PPL
The Private Pilot Licence
Recognised widely, and the licence that lets you fly privately in your category, not only in the UK.
The privileges of a PPL let you fly privately. Not for pay, and not as a commercial operation. Flight instruction is available at any age, as long as you can comfortably reach the rudder pedals. You must be 16 to fly solo and 17 to be issued the licence. There is no upper age limit.
What’s involved
- 40 hours of flight training
- 25 hours of dual instruction
- 10 hours of supervised solo
- A solo cross-country of at least 150 nautical miles, landing at two airfields, then back to Southend
Nine ground exams sit alongside the flying: Air Law, Aeroplane General, Principles of Flight, Flight Performance and Planning, Navigation, Meteorology, Human Performance and Limitations, Operational Procedures, and Communications.
You finish with a skills test with a CAA authorised examiner. The licence then allows single-engine piston flying in daylight, under visual flight rules.
Medical
Before your first solo you need a Class 2 pilot medical, issued by an aeromedical examiner.