Get your pilot’s license in under a month by following these simple tips. There is a huge problem with flight training. Many CFIs are doing students a disservice by simply jumping in the plane and heading out to go learn to fly. Students training in this type of environment take significantly longer to get their pilot’s certificate and spend a lot more money in the process.
Pilot Training Tip #1 – Have a System in Place
If you want to succeed at getting your license, you absolutely need to have a system or syllabus and follow it closely. This is the biggest mistake many CFIs and New students make. I have heard so many times from CFIs “I know what we need to do.” Yet they go out wasting the students time and money to come back in and say “Oh we forgot to do that, we’ll have to get it on the next one”.
How crazy!
Having a training system to follow will help in so many ways!
Pilot Training Tip #2 – Know What Actually Needs Done
The FAA posts specific experience requirements that must be completed as well as areas of training that must be met before you can apply for certification. A good training system should have these items ingrained in a simple to reference fashion that allows you to easily track if they are completed or if you need more time working on a specific area.
After I created a system to help with my own training I was able to tell my instructor exactly what I needed to do in order to make progress on meeting the requirements to test.
Once I was able to do this my lessons became 10 times as productive as they were prior.
In our Elite Aviator Training System we created two checklists that track these items, and they are referenced before each lesson to ensure we are getting the most out of the lesson.
You can then keep your hours totalled up in your log book and once you meet the requirement you simply check the item off the list.
Pilot Training Tip #3 – Prepare Before Lessons
A good training system will have all of the lessons already laid out in an order that will continue building on previously developed skills. By having the lessons prearranged you will be able to preview what you will be covering in the next lesson so that you can study and visualize the lesson before coming in.
Having the knowledge ahead of time and simply applying it in the aircraft will help you retain the information better and make the lesson go smoother.
This is much more efficient than learning and applying at the same time in the plane which can be very overwhelming.
Pilot Training Tip #4 – Hold Your Instructor Accountable
Look, flight instructors are often underpaid and overworked. If you are flying at a busy school they may have 10 or more students they are trying to manage and lead through the process.
They may get lost and forget where you are in the process, so it’s important to be able to bring them back to speed on your training quickly. You can’t do this very well without having a system in place that tracks exactly what you have accomplished.
Believe me, it’s a much easier conversation when you can simply open up your syllabus and say, “We are on lesson 9 Pre-Solo Check, and according to my checklist I still need 2 hours of simulated instrument time”.
The instructor won’t question you and won’t be able to say “I don’t think we’ve done enough practice with stall recovery, so let’s go do that today” because it is checked off. So you simply go do what you need to in order to move closer to getting your license.
Now I am not saying you won’t come back to refresh on things that you have previously completed as you will certainly need to review those items again and make sure you maintain proficiency, however having the right system in place can make the focus of the lesson be where it should be to continue making progress.
Pilot Training Tip #5 – Clear Your Schedule
The last tip for this article is to clear your schedule. Now I know everyone is busy and your job may not allow you to simply clear your schedule for a month, but you absolutely need to be able to focus on your training as a priority from start to finish.
If you can dedicate a month to getting your license you will be much more successful than if you try to balance your training in between life and work.
However, you don’t need to take a full month off from work to accomplish our dream of becoming a pilot, but you should try to reflect on your typical year.
When are you the busiest with work?
When are you the busiest with family events?
Adding pilot training to those times is likely going to negatively impact those other items and typically ends up taking the back burner to be resumed later.
Nothing has as big of a negative impact on your training as pausing and resuming training later.
So try to find the best time of the year where you know you can make your training a priority and finish all the way through.
