↩ TRAINING PROGRAMS / PRIVATE PILOT
Private Pilot
Certificate
The certificate that lets you fly. Carry passengers, plan cross-country trips, fly for personal use. Foundation for every certificate after. FAA Part 61 at both airports, Part 141 at Riverside.
The PPL is not the destination. It is the door. The hours, decision-making patterns, and airmanship you build here are what every later certificate is graded against.
A PPL lets you fly any single-engine piston you are rated and current in, day or night, in VFR conditions, with passengers, anywhere in U.S. airspace. It is the certificate the working-adult enthusiast finishes at and the career-track pilot uses as a launching pad.
Eligibility
- 17 years old at checkride (16 to solo)
- Able to read, speak, write, and understand English
- FAA Third-Class Medical or BasicMed
FAA Part 61 hour minimums
- 40 hours total flight time
- 20 hours dual instruction with a CFI
- 10 hours solo flight
- 3 hours cross-country dual + 5 hours solo cross-country
- 3 hours night training (including a 100 NM XC and 10 takeoffs/landings to a full stop at a tower-controlled airport)
- 3 hours simulated instrument · 3 hours test prep
FAA Part 141 hour minimums
- 35 hours total under the approved syllabus (KRAL only)
- Required stage checks with the Chief Instructor
Cessna 152 (two-seat trainer, lowest cost per hour), Cessna 172 (four-seat, most common training aircraft in the world), and the Piper Warrior PA-28 (low-wing, alternative ergonomics). All maintained by our team on the KRAL ramp.
Phase 1 · Pre-Solo
Maneuvers, takeoffs and landings, slow flight, stalls, emergency procedures, radio communications. Concludes with first solo at the home airport.
Phase 2 · Cross-Country
Dual and solo cross-country flights to towered and non-towered airports across Southern California. Flight planning, fuel management, ATC services, diversions.
Phase 3 · Checkride Prep
Maneuvers polished to ACS tolerances. Oral exam knowledge. Mock checkride with the Chief or Assistant Chief Instructor. Then the checkride with a DPE.
National average is closer to 60 hours before checkride. Final cost depends on hours flown and how consistently you book. Students who fly twice a week finish in 3 to 6 months. Students who fly once a week or less often take 12 to 18 months and pay more total.
The most expensive PPL is the one that takes 24 months because you can only get to the airport once a month. The hours are the training — but consistency compounds.
- Instrument Rating · fly in IMC, prerequisite for serious commercial work
- Commercial Pilot · get paid to fly
- Multi-Engine Rating · BE-76 Duchess
- High Altitude Endorsement · California mountain ops