5 Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE My Private Pilots License 

This is a great video! It's nice to hear your perspective. I've been flying for 34 years, and have about 15,000 hours. I was a CFI with a 100% pass rate. I've flown professionally, full time, since 1991. I still pinch myself that I get to fly airplanes as my primary employment. It beats working for a living. I agree with *almost* everything you said, and have a few ideas to add as well. *** I'll start with a useful trick question... *** What are the two most important things in aviation? (Ruminate on that while you read the rest, the answer is at the end) *** Flying is 100% from the neck up *** There's nothing that physically differentiates me from any non-pilot passenger I fly. They have the same ability to hit a button, talk on the radio, extend the gear, etc. I guarantee that any person without training could be set up in the jet I fly, in the final landing configuration with the autopilot engaged, on a ten mile final, stabilized. Without further assistance, the outcome is a foregone conclusion once they disconnect the autopilot. The same person would survive with the proper training. This is why I say the following... *** You don't learn to fly in an airplane *** You learn to fly at a desk reading a book. Attempt to apply this knowledge in the plane. Go back and review what you just flew, and it will be much clearer. I had tons of students show up unprepared for lessons, and they wasted a lot of money. I told them so, but many persisted. They eventually got their licenses, but they could have saved a lot of money. *** Choose you instructor carefully *** Just reinforcing what you already said. Consider that you're paying roughly $300 per hour to sit with this person in a small plane. When you go to a doctor, you expect professionalism. You don't expect your doctor to string you along and recommend procedures and medicine you don't need just to improve his bottom line. Your instructor should be just as professional. Ask them how much "dual given" they have. If they say something like "coming up on a thousand", move on. 1 hour of dual given is "coming up on a thousand". You're looking for someone with at least 100 hours given. After 1,000 hours given, more isn't always better. If they're enthusiastic it's great. If they're waiting to get on with an airline, forget it. After they tell you the number of hours given they have, ask to see their logbook. If they can't produce it, move on. You will spend a lot of money with this person. If they won't show you their credentials there's something wrong. *** Don't fly more than twice a week *** You can if you want to, and maybe it's different for the younger crowd. I worked mostly with adults. The more time you spend flying, the less time you spend studying. Nobody likes to hear that, so that's why people resist. I had one student want to fly every day. I advised him against it. He insisted. He showed up for about ten lessons and quit out of frustration. It's the same kind of result when a criminal defendant ignores the advice of his attorney. *** I LOVVVEE your comment on chair flying *** Engine failure training in a single engine airplane is the best example I can think of. By the time you get to this, you already bring a number of skills to the table. Basically dealing with an engine failure is a four step process. 1) Configure the plane for best glide. 2) Find a field to land in. 3) Try to get the engine started while you make your way to the field. 4) Land. Steps 1, 2, and 4 you'll already know how to do. Step 3 is a simple procedure that must be committed to memory. I'd send students home with paper explaining Step 3, and have them read it and chair fly it. When it was committed to memory, I'd ask them to go over it while driving their car when it's safe to do so. I'd instruct them to do this at least twice a day, every day, before the next lesson. "Don't wait until the day before and cram. If you have any questions, call me." Of all the students I trained, two... TWO... took that advice. We spent a half a lesson on engine failures and moved on. We'd review it prior to their check ride, but there's really nothing to teach. Most took about 2.5 lessons to "get it", because they didn't study. One guy took more than four lessons. Two lessons is about 3 hours or $900. Chair flying is a critical learning aid as you progress in your career. Most new pilots with our company show up prepared for ground school. They have their memory items memorized and are ready to acquire new information. Some show up unprepared. So they're trying to ingrain memory items while the other students are learning new regulations. They're catching up on new regulations while the other students are learning aircraft systems. They're starting to understand aircraft systems while the others are learning procedures. Ground school for an airline is like drinking from a fire hose. Spend tons of money on your Private, Instrument, Commercial, CFI, CFII, ME, MEI. Go flight instruct for a few years. Show up UNprepared, wash out, try to find a job elsewhere with a training failure on your permanent pilot record. It boggles the mind why anyone would subject themselves to that. Training is as forgiving as the laws of physics and the bottom line of the company. By the time you show up for training in a full motion simulator, the company is planning to invest significant resources into you. No airline can stay in business if they coddle their applicants. A level D simulator costs about $10m USD. It sits in a secure building. They operate from 6am to 2am. They are down for maintenance from 2am to 6am. Sim techs (mechanics) are available on-site 24 hours a day. The instructor is paid at least $200/hr to teach you. A typical sim session is 4.2 hours. We have an emergency exit simulator. This is the actual aircraft door and emergency slide set up on a metal stand. You walk up to the top, open the door, and jump out on the slide. That device alone is $4m USD. You can't just make one yourself. You have to train in the actual equipment. The manufacturers know this, and there's no competition. Want to play? Pony up! *** What are the two most important things in aviation? *** The next two things! The next two things you need to do are the two most important things in aviation. If you keep this in mind during your training, you'll do much better. Aviation is dynamic, so the "next two things" always changes. "I need to get a landing clearance, and start getting my flaps out". Got that clearance? Okay "I need to get my flaps out, and turn base". The plane will not wait for you. If you don't have the next two things in mind, the plane starts flying you. As you progress to faster, more complex airplanes, and operate in more complex environments, the "next two things" starts happening very fast. It's super easy to get behind in a jet.

I took a ground school course at the local community college. It cost $30 for the whole course. The most expensive part was needing to buy a $60 Jeppesen book. The teacher was a former astronaut. It was a high quality and intensive course.

You, sir, are quite articulate! If you plan to further your training, consider becoming a CFI, because you get the point across logically and succinctly.

Thanks for all of the advice and tips. For the ground school, many flight schools have full courses for under $500 with an instructor and several people in the class. I loved this option as you can interact with instructors, and they provide the tests.

Very helpful! Thank you for posting this. Bonus points for the Nowitzki jersey!

Dude you are SPOT ON! Just started (3 flights in) and everything you are saying has been what I have experienced so far. Just discovered Gold Seal online Ground school. Also have had three lesson canceled due to weather (wind gusts).

Awesome video! Got a lot out of it. No frills no clickbait no bs! Thanks!

I did the King’s PPL ground school, and it was amazing. Lucky for me, that was the standard ground program at my flight school. My school also occasionally offered ground lesson topics taught by a CFI to a classroom, which were free to attend.

All excellent tips. Especially regarding finding the right instructor. During pursuit of my own Private (back in the 80's... I went on to Commercial and CFI), I didn't have a good CFI, and didn't fix it soon enough. The CFI is very much a stepping stone for most, and so finding a good one may take some exploration. I would add to explore using a simulator (MSFS, for ex) just to help reinforce/practice process/procedures in an environment that is costing you only your time.

Excellent, to the point advice. Thank you so much for not having a lot of fancy frills such as canned intro, background music, etc. You gave some helpful tips.

Very awesome video my man!! Thank you very much for the time that you took to put all of this together for us! Good to know information for sure.

I took an introductory flight lesson with a CFI in 1971 after getting out of the navy. Afterwards he almost accused me of lying about never having flown before. The only thing I regret about the whole thing was not pursuing going for a license. I had already committed to a computer school under the GI bill. I have done a little flying while in college but I just never thought to actually go for it because I didn't see it as a possible career. Good luck to you and persist in going as far as you want.

It is good to have lessons with a variety of CFIs even if you and your CFI get along. Seek out some old timer military instructors as well as an instructor for tailwheel endorsement. Even after you have your license, always take a couple of lessons a year. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to fly something different. Great video.

Great Information, Thankyou for taking the time to Post these Tips !

Just started taking PPL lessons this past week. I especially like the tip of practicing right after lessons and imagining yourself in the cockpit going through the motions…that’s key!

Great video and tips. I’m currently watching videos on ground school training. I also plan to buy the books for in-depth study. I want to pass it before I start my ppl lessons. I’ll take your tips to heart. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the video. I'm researching part 61's up here in Denton. These are great tips. Have my discover flight next week. Woohoo.

I am the very beginning stage of finding a flight school. Thank you for the advice!

Which is why I set myself up with the Cessna 172 near study level mod on FS2020, subscribed to Navigraph, use VATSIM and practice IFR and VOR procedures all the time to cement my learning. Great video. Thanks.

Fantastic advice. Going through my PPL as well and would agree on all of these points.

Congrats Scott. And great content 👍🏾

Everything you said rings true. Congrats on your new career.

Excellent tips and very helpful insight, thanks Scott!

These are some awesome tips! I'd never have thought of these

this video is so simple and straight to the point it feels like youtube 10 years ago or something but i like how straight forward it is! thank you for the tips :)

Thanks for the pointers, Scott. I start my 1st lesson in March. This definitely helps !!

Hey Scott! The Sport Cruiser is a great little aircraft, much more fun and actually harder to flight than a C-152. I personally learnt to fly on a Grumman American Cheetah, and that was a heck of a plane for a beginner. It took me exactly 1 hour flight time to then be checked out on a C-152! It was so bloody easy... and dull, to fly!

I got my license 15 years ago. This is spot on. Well done.

My ground school has a class every Saturday. It’s from 9-12pm. I found it to be well worth the $300. I can attend anytime and know the content ahead of time whether I need learning or a refresher at no additional cost. I prefer this over RU-vid. I do however agree 100% with a second set of eyes and making sure your CFI is focused on you and not logging their hours. YOU also have access to the regs and can know what is expected. Take ownership of your training. Be prepared and spend time before and AFTER each flight to make sure you are comfortable with what the check ride Examiner will ask on the ground and in the air. “Chair flying” should be done with the checklist AND radio calls as an excellent option for muscle memory and cost savings. Great video!

Thanks for sharing, really appreciate you doing this for us. Thank you!😎👍

Good job Scott... it is much appreciated. I hope a lot of future flight school students like myself (I think I am considering it because a good friend of mine is just damn good at encouraging me and others to learn how to fly. He's a licensed private pilot working on his commercial pilot license, in the Philippines). Those are great tips and the part about the student/instructor chemistry made a lot of sense because not everyone has people skills.

Good video. So many things I could add to this but not trying to hijack your subject. One thing that I learned that was a huge surprise to me was the difference between stable and unstable air. I just assumed when I looked at clear afternoon skies that it would be more comfortable flying. I was shocked to learn that it was so much more comfortable flying in overcast gloomy looking skies. It was uncanny that all flight instruction seemed to take place in the afternoon when the air was actually horrible. This led me to believe that a lot of my future flying would always be in uncomfortable bumpy air. If you are just starting out by all means learn to fly in these conditions but keep in mind in the future when you are flying solo you will always have the option of flying early morning or late evening in smooth comfortable air. This shouldn't be an issue for any pilot but for me I absolutely prefer to fly in smooth air. In fact, my favorite flying was always at night. Some pilots are not comfortable with this but I find it the best time to fly, if I'm actually trying to get somewhere and not just sightseeing.

thank you very much for your wisdom! it will definitely be useful in my near future!!!

Good stuff. Let me add join AOPA! They have a lot of very high quality training materials and it’s just a great organization. Definitely switch CFIs. Even if you’re getting along with yours. You will find that different CFIs teach things differently, and you’ll be better off. Also train in both high and low wing planes.

Super helpful advance man! Thanks for the heads up!

All very excellent advice! The "chair flying" (also known as "the Power of Visualization") is essential for saving time and money, and reducing stress. I just reenacted my first solo from 50 years prior, in the same airplane type, at the same airport. In that 50 years I have flown over 100 types and taken 25 FAA certificate and rating checkrides. "Chair Flying" was invaluable.

Good advice. Weather does happen.

Good insights. Thanks for sharing your experience.

thanks, Scott, very helpful recommendations.

Thanks for this video Scott.

This was really helpful.

Learn about target fixation. It’s the cause of a lot of unnecessary accidents even among experienced pilots. I wasn’t briefed on it in training and I think it’s critical to really understand the phenomenon, never forget.. and avoid. Go around or adjust touchdown point. Assuming the T-Book is still in use to study for the written, I found it extremely helpful to cut out and make flash cards of the questions for exam prep. It made it much easier for me. I took the exam in 1986 when the 152 rental was $30 or $35 an hour wet and the 172 about $10/hr additional.

Spot on bro! Everything you mentioned is accurate

Hi Peter, you could have saved a lot with going into a EAA local chapter flight school. It cost me $50 plus another $50 for my kid. We were provided with 9 sessions 2h 30 min each and the last one was a cross country planning using Chicago sectional chart. The end session was a prep exam, similar to what FAA will look like. Was very happy to take this opportunity and thanks for my local EAA chapter 838 for arranging this every year!

I am just about there to get my PPL, let me say there’s a lot of good tips in here. I totally agree with all of them. The only 1 I’m unclear of is the first one, but looking back, I realize I could’ve saved myself 600$, buy the books (800$) 😮, study, get my lessons from the CFI before flight. I wasted so much time and money doing everything you said not to do. Plus Peter Phelps comment was amazing. Pile all that together, makes a better informed decision on which school and who to fly with. Wish I knew all of this sooner too

Thank you so much for telling us 😂 it really helps to know what to avoid and what to go for! Love it, thanks again 😂

Good tips. I was lucky and managed to avoid these pitfalls during my flight training. I would’ve had these criticisms if I had followed your path.

I had almost the exact same experience as Scott in the video and would like to take it one step farther. I also learned in a SportCruiser with a great glass panel, then learned that 90% of the airplanes available for purchase (particularly in my price range had "steam" analog instrument panels. I know that glass panels are the future, but the used airplane market is mostly 1960's and 1970's model aircraft with the analog instruments. A glass panel airplane usually costs considerably more. I ended up purchasing a SportCruiser because it was the path of least resistance and within my price range. Very happy with my airplane, but would have appreciated more options that learning on analog would have provided.

Good video and all good points! I will add point #6: Don't forget to have fun - you don't have to make EVERY flight with your CFI a lesson, you can also just schedule flights for pure enjoyment (and somehow those also end up teaching you something) because whether you're aviating as a hobby or as a future profession, you should still enjoy it or why bother? Even though aviation is "serious business" it should still come with a sense of wonder and accomplishment because there are a lot of MUCH cheaper things to do if you're not really digging it. I enjoy flying Cessna 172s but I LOVE flying Citabrias and will never regret my decision to focus all of my training on flying tailwheel tandem seat airplanes. Visibility is awesome (no CFI's head to block your view to the right), the aircraft handles like a little sports car, and every take-off and landing is a perfect blend of hands and feet!

Yes indeed….even today, most GA planes have antiquated engines that still require manual adjustment of fuel/air mixture controls….ie, fuel air ratio. If you train in something modern like a Sport Cruiser, or any Rotax powered aircraft with automatic mixture controls, you are going to need some additional training when flying old manually contolled mixture systems common amongst Lycoming and Continental legacy engines of the 50’s. Countless engine shutdowns have been caused by pilots inadvertently pulling the mixture control to full lean position….perhaps many thousands worldwide. Additional training is definitely a necessity when flying behind these antiquated power plants.

Great tips! Perhaps instead of pretending to grasp a yoke, I found it invaluable many, many years ago, to use Windows Flight software and at first, a cheap yoke and pedal set. The teaching software by Rod Machado was absolutely invaluable and includes ground school. Scanning instruments became second nature, patterns, controls, taxi protocol and even communications became second nature. Naturally one doesn’t get the feel of yoke and pedals to plane movements, but it sure beat pretending to use the yoke. The modern day software and yoke packages are far advanced from my days of learning and is as realistic as it can get now! You get so much more bang for your buck, except flying times.

Great info and thanks for sharing!!

Great video. Keep a journal of your individual lessons. Never put yourself down in writing about your experience, write what you did well and why you did well. Your progress towards your certification will never be a straight line. Everyone learns at a different speed. Your visualization technique is one we taught in the airlines. For every hour of actual flight tine you should spend at a minimum, two hours visualizing your next flight. I’m not suggesting you spend a solid block of two hours visualizing but instead break that time into 10 to 15 minute chunks. In picking a flight instructor spend time at the FBO before your training begins to watch how the instructors interact with their students and everyone else at the FBO. Linemen are a good resource for all information about the FBO, think maintenance on aircraft. Take them to lunch. Have all your financing for training in place before you begin to avoid breaks in your training. I started flying in high school working as a lineman. Taught in a college flight program in Missouri. Did 6 years in the Navy as an aviator and 35 years working as a Captain and simulator instructor. Once again a well produced video, wish you all the best in your aviation career.

Appreciate the useful information!

Great video, useful advice!

Some great advice there.

Great tips Brother and extremely accurate.

Picking a CFI. student long ago. My advice is to pick a woman. I have had both male and female CFIs and the woman was way better. after digging, I found that studies show that as a rule, men are more focused and suffer from a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to getting the job done and women are much more aware of their surroundings (SO important in flying) and she can help you learn that. Also women are more sensitive to emotions and have a much better sense of what you are worrying over in the cockpit. She can sense what you need to get over your hurdle and move to the next level. As a student, I progressed much better under the tutelage of a woman. Reluctant to admit it but women are actually better pilots.

Thank you for posting this helpful video

Great insight! Thank you! 😁

Learning to fly has become more expensive than when I started. I got my PPL back in 1985. I remember my ground school was $75 for the whole course. Training in a Cessna 150 with an instructor only cost $47 an hour dual.I believe my check ride was only about $100. After I got my private license, I would go out and rent complex airplanes for $60 an hour. Today, with about 600 hours total time I still find it very challenging just to go out and get a Cessna 172 or a Warrior PA 28 for less than $195 an hour. It makes trying to go cross country nearly impossible because a five hour flight round-trip can cost over $1100. Not as fun anymore. If you’re young and going to progress through the ranks to fly professionally, I highly recommend it. For old timers like me that have a commercial single and multi engine instrument airplane but cannot obtain a professional flying career because of age, other than a CFI/CFII, then it just becomes a one and done hour a month just to stay current. But I can tell you I learned by myself through RU-vid and PC flight simulators, how to understand and fly with all the new glass cockpit configurations. It usually would require a checkout of 5 to 10 hours of dual to be cleared to rent a glass cockpit airplane if you’ve never flown one before. I remember NDB approaches flown manually to get my instrument rating. Most GA airplanes back then didn’t have any autopilot because of cost. If lucky you can find one with just a wing leveler.

Great points!

Thank you for the tips man! I’ve tried 2 different schools now, and the one in my current city is dragging out ground school forever and we’re still not in the air months later

Great suggestions, Thank you.

Makes a lot of sense -- very helpful! Thank you :)

Great Video! As a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), I definitely can relate and say that this is spot on. RU-vid can be a great source to finding information regarding ground school information. However, there are plenty of self-paced online courses such as King Schools that prepare students for check-rides and the written exam. Regarding choosing the correct instructor depends on their personality and professional goals as a pilot. For instance, do they want to go the airlines? If so, be aware that they want flight hours and may not spend as much time teaching ground school topics. A good/honest CFI would always give a debrief on what to work on and would give you honest feedback towards your progress. Also, they would go over ground information prior to your check-ride and give you an honest assessment if you are ready or not. Choosing the right airplane to fly in is super important. Sometimes, a CFI may fly with you in several different airplanes based on aircraft availability, personal preference, or maybe because they see the student is making progress and want to reward them with a different airplane. However, consistency is important. A CFI upfront should tell you what airplane is best to fly in, especially for the license/rating you are seeking. Meteorological conditions/weather is a huge factor in flight training depending on the region and airport you are flying out of. During bad weather days, a student can benefit from ground training or by simply utilizing a simulator. This can be a home-built simulator or even a flight school simulator. However, practicing flows and procedures is a big part of flying safe and standardization requirements. Great Video!

Good advice--especially about not paying for ground school. Take one of the many on-line courses, they are much less expensive and have an organized and (usually) polished presentation. Take one that provides the Ground School Endorsement so you can take the FAA exam once completing the course. Also, RU-vid is a superb place to find unlimited additional information (flyMA, Finer Points, Jason Schappert). I'd add that it is good to fly in a few different aircraft. I did most of my training in a Cessna 172 but I also did a couple of lessons in a 150 and a couple in a PA-28-150. Being introduced to these other aircraft types, I think, enhanced my training and made me more confident.

Thank you very much! Very important info! I was going to do ground school. You've saved me money. By the way, your video is a little cloudy. I think you may need to clean the lens of your camera. I shared to Twitter. Hopefully it will help get you Sub numbers up.

Very nicely done👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😊😊😊😊😊 straight and to the point! And very good recommendations 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊🇺🇸

Thank you for the tips 👍

Great tips!

Well said, thank you!

There are high quality computer based ground school options available for ground school as well. Sporty’s and King are the two best known. Complete your ground and pass the FAA written before you get to the cockpit with the cfi.

thank you, great advice.

Great advice!

I watched this video as I was contemplating starting flight school. I’m so glad I did, now that I started flight school I’m starting to notice so many things that are mentioned in this video. Unfortunately, I gotta suck up a few things here & there like ground school, but very helpful regardless! I’m recording my progress through a 141 if anyone is interested!

Great vid!!

Your video is sincere man, I like it. I'm almost done with my private course. And one thing that has saved me a lot of money besides studying a lot is buying a simulator you might spend 300-500 dollars extra, but it's better to practice and fix your mistakes in the simulator rather than paying over and over until you pass your lessons.

This a great Video! Train in the 150 or 172 first, then learn how to fly the others!

My ground school experience was a "touring instructional ground school' that was held at a hotel. I learned what they taught me and after the class - I TOOK THE TEST. I passed with an 82. This was in 1995, who knows what's around today. Good luck with the rest of your training.

Great advice

I got my license at age 20. Took me two years paying as I went and going to college and working early 80’s. I think plane with instructor cost $26. I studied the books on my own and skipped ground school. I think I made a 98 on the written and passed check ride first try. It was a great learning experience and lots about flying has applications in daily living. One of the best commitments and investments I ever made.

The only thing I'll add is that you should save what amounts to 75% of your final cost before you start. Start a weekly or monthly sinking fund. When you reach approximately 75% of your goal start flight training. Continue to pay into your sinking fund as you train. You should arrive at the end with a little left over in that account. Missing lessons because of lack of funds means that you will regress and need to repeat lessons. This is doubly impactful because it affects your psyche and your progress. As a CFI I not only recommend chair flying (and do it yourself ground school), but we also practice the flight on ramp / grass area with markers / chalk marks to simulate the flight before it happens by just walking thru the whole flight. Of course, you could just do that as a tabletop exercise .. both are more cost effective and beneficial to students early on. When you chair fly add a full-size poster on the wall in front of you if you can. Flying the paper tiger vs just chair flying is a huge upgrade in muscle memory / transferable skills.

That was really good!!

great points to share

I understand the need for saving money and doing the ground school online. I just like the advantage of being around other likemind people, and pilots teaching the class. You can make connections with those people and join flight clubs, rent airplanes, etc.

Really good tips

Thanks for posting. Cheers, SV Good Karma

Very helpful. Thank you.

There is an old instructor adage which says, “Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them.” You Intuitively did all 3. Great job.

Great video

I joined a flying club that allows me to use the C172 at $80 saved $$$ and I will use that same plane when I finish. These are all good points..plus have fun with it!!

Good video good information

Absolutey accurate, I wish I saw this before my lessons.

I second the CFI thing. My first flight instructor was very quiet and so it was hard to know minor details of what I was doing right or wrong. My current CFI and I are very talkative and he lets me know about the little things.

very helpful. Thanks

great vid & great tips

Great points overall. The main advantage of a classroom work vs self-study is the possibility to exchange experience and put the theory into practical context. You can always purchase self-study packs but letting the material to be explained by an actual pilot with reasonably good experience is invaluable that you just cannot get from the book. Sure you can pass the written exam on the books alone but being a pilot needs a bit more attitude and foresight that you should get from those ground lessons in the classroom. But again if all you did in the classroom was reading PowerPoint verbatim without any practical discussions, that was a bad teaching practice anyway.

Ground school requirements depend on what the flight school operates under. A Part 141 flight school does require ground school training according to the F.A.R. Also, even under Part 61, student pilots will do ground school training with their CFI for XC and check ride prep. Granted, knowledge exams can, and should, be done online.

You are awesome! I want to be like you. Thank you.