FLYING OPPORTUNITIES

Here at Happy Goat Flying Club we have active members from all walks of life with a wide range of aviation experience. We have several members who are certified flight instructors who regularly instruct other club members.

Flying Opportunities

PRIVATE

Flight Training

A Certified flight instructor (CFI) will conduct your flight training, using a standard Private Pilot course syllabus. Your flight training will include both dual instruction (flying with your CFI) and solo flights.

Ground Instruction

Your ground instruction is accomplished primarily through a Computer-Based Instruction kit, and supplemented as necessary by your CFI. Computer-Based Instruction is an entertaining and easy to use online ground school that you can work at your own pace, in the comfort of your home or office. Each lesson includes full-motion video instruction, interactive quizzes, and an in-cockpit video preview of the corresponding flight in your course syllabus–helping to make your flight training as effective and cost-efficient as possible.

Training Time Required

The Federal Aviation Regulations require a minimum of 40 hours of flight time to earn your Private Pilot certificate. This time must include:

at least 20 hours of dual instruction, including
three hours of day cross-country instruction,
three hours of instrument instruction,
three hours of local and cross-country night instruction, and
three hours of instruction in preparation for the FAA practical test.
at least 10 hours of solo flight, including five hours of cross-country flight (two flights).

Despite these minimums, most new pilots require more experience to be safe and competent. The national average for Private Pilots is about 60 hours total flight time, including about 50 hours of dual instruction.

Prerequisites to Take the FAA Practical Test

Before you can take the FAA practical test to become a private pilot, your CFI must endorse your logbook to show that you have completed your ground and flight instruction. In addition, you must:

Be 17 years old (you need to be 16 years old to fly solo),
Be able to read, write and understand the English language,
Hold at least a Class III medical certificate
Pass the FAA knowledge test.

Private

INSTRUMENT

Take Your Flying To The Next Level

Expand your horizons with an Instrument Rating. Whether your goal is to fly more productively, achieve the next milestone in your aviation career, or simply to have another tool in your toolbag, the Instrument Rating will certainly add options. While it is not a Certificate itself, it is an added rating to a Private (or Commercial) Certificate.

FAR section §61.65 details the requirements to be eligible for the Instrument Rating:

Hold at least a current private pilot certificate, or be concurrently applying for one
Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language
Have logged a minimum of 50 PIC X-C flight hours
Have received a minimum of 40 hours in actual or simulated instrument conditions
Have received a minimum of 15 hours of instrument instruction
Instrument flight training on a 250 NM X-C
Pass the FAA Knowledge Test
Pass the FAA Practical Test

Instrument

COMMERCIAL

Prerequisites To take the FAA Commercial Pilot ASEL practical test, you must:

Be at least 18 years of age.
Be able to read, write and speak the English language.
Receive ground school in the knowledge areas listed in FAR 61.125.
Pass the FAA knowledge test before taking the practical test.
Hold at least a Private Pilot certificate.
Hold an appropriate medical certificate (at least Class III to take the test, but at least Class II to exercise Commercial Pilot privileges)

You must have at least 250 hours total flight time, including at least:

100 hours in powered aircraft, at least 50 of which is in airplanes
100 hours as pilot in command (at least 50 of which is in airplanes)
50 hours of PIC cross-country flight (at least 10 of which is in airplanes)

Training Time Required

To receive the Commercial Pilot certificate with an Airplane Single-Engine Land rating, the FAA requires:

At least 20 hours of flight training that includes:

10 hours of instrument training (at least 5 of which must be in a single-engine airplane).
10 hours of training in either a complex airplane (that is, with a constant speed propeller, flaps and retractable landing gear), a turbine powered airplane, a technically advanced airplane (TAA), or any combination thereof.
3 hours of dual instruction in preparation for the practical test.
One dual day VFR cross-country flight of at least 2 hours with a straight line distance of more than 100 nm from the departure point.
One dual night VFR cross-country flight of at least 2 hours with a straight line distance of more than 100 nm from the departure point.

At least 10 hours of solo flight that includes:

One cross-country of at least 300 nm total distance with landings at at least three points, one of which is at least 250 nm straight line distance from the departure point.
5 hours in night VFR conditions with at least 10 take-offs and landings at an airport with an operating control tower.

*Note that flying experience you have before beginning the Commercial Pilot course may count toward the required flight times. For example, if you hold an Instrument Airplane rating, you will already have met the Commercial Pilot requirement for instrument training.

Commercial