We get it. You’re excited about flight school and you can’t wait until the first day that you start the course and head up into that big blue yonder.
But before you romanticize about what flight school is going to be like, it’s important that you know how to best prepare yourself for what’s about to go down. There are a few different things that you can start doing today in order to ensure that you get the most out of flight school and perform extremely well.
To help you prepare, we’ve listed five things that you need to know before you start flight school.
1. Basic Aerodynamics
A solid understanding of the basics of aerodynamics will be abundantly useful to you during flight school. Flight school will teach you all about the how of flying a plane, but aerodynamics will teach you why it works. And when you know why it works, you’ll be able to more intuitively recognize how to control the aircraft.
Considering doing a one-off class in aerodynamics at a local community college if such an option is available. If not, take a look at the plethora of content available online. No matter which option you end up going with, learn about the Thorndike Law of Effect so you can maximize learning potential.
2. Pilot Certificate Requirements
Never forget the end goal of flight school: completing all of the requirements to get your pilot’s license.
There are different levels of experience and flight hours required for different types of licenses. A license to fly a single-engine aircraft privately, for instance, requires 40 hours of flight time. At least twenty of those have to be with an instructor and ten have to be solo. Learn more about the requirements here.
3. FAA Regulations
Nothing could be a bigger setback to your flight school career than running afoul of the many FAA regulations. To ensure that you don’t, read up on FAA regulations before you head to school.
4. The Phonetic Alphabet
As you probably already know, all air travel-related communication utilizes the phonetic alphabet when sounding out flight and plane numbers. Knowing the phonetic alphabet when you come into the program will get you ahead of the game. In addition, it will only take a few minutes to learn!
5. How to Keep a Flight Journal
Remember that each time you get to fly, it’s a costly experience. Logging flight hours costs significant money. So to ensure that you make the most out of each flight, keep a flight journal so that you as soon as you land you can make note of what you did wrong and how you can improve.
By reviewing the journal before you take the aircraft up the next time, you can ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes and progress much faster.
Prepare for Flight School the Right Way
By following this five-step preparation plan, you’ll be all ready to crush flight school. Best of luck!
For more career advice, be sure to check out the rest of the articles on the website!