The first step in training for a PPL licence should be a medical assessment. At this point, you ought to think about the purpose of the training. When the PPL is to be just a hobby, Class II Medical Certificate is enough to fly. However, for further professional training / IR, CPL /, Class I Medical Certificate is required. In order to avoid unnecessary cost, undertaking Class I medical assessment is worth considering. Thanks to it, you can be sure that your health allows you to pursue your professional career, and you can save the cost of Class II assessment, which is unnecessary in that case.

The next step is theoretical training. It covers 100 hours of study. In the current pandemic situation, it is very difficult to find in-house training. You have an e-learning training at your disposal. It ensures comfortable and safe conditions of your work. You learn without leaving your home, and as you use a training platform online but not on-line classes, you can freely decide how much time to spend studying which depends on your capabilities and preferences.

After completing the theoretical training and passing internal exams successfully, you receive a certificate of completion of theoretical training for the PPL (A) licence. This certificate lets you pass theoretical exams at the Civil Aviation Authority. The next step is to download and fill in the application form and pay a fee. Then you have to wait for a response from the Civil Aviation Authority in which you receive the login and password for your new account. After you log in you may sign up for the theoretical exams for the PPL (A) licence. You can start practical training without passing the theoretical exams at the Civil Aviation Authority.

Theoretical exams have to be passed within 18 months (no session limit). During this period, each candidate has a maximum of 4 attempts at one session. There can be only one attempt to the particular subject in one session. After passing the exams, you receive the Certificate of Passing PPL (A) Theoretical Exams.

With the Medical Certificate and the Certificate of Passing PPL (A) Theoretical Exams, you can start practical training. Looking for a ATO you should be sure what you really expect. The training will be cheaper in Aero Clubs that do not conduct commercial activities. However, they do not have enough planes or instructors available. Therefore, the training lasts a lot longer than at commercial training organizations. Another aspect you should always take into account is distance between training school and your place as well as accommodation possibilities. Another important aspect is the season of the year when you want to conduct your practical training. In autumn and winter the grassy airfields might be inaccessible. That is the reason why a part of the Flight training centres have a break in their training work in autumn and winter. On the other hand, in summer you may have to wait long for an instructor or a plane. Basing on our experience we can say that it is a rare situation when a pilot trained at ATO Adriana Aviation continues her/his training in a different school. All of our trainees who wanted to obtain another licence decided to continue training at our ATO.

According to the applicable regulations, practical training for PPL (A) includes 45 hours of training. 5 hours may be spent in a flight simulator. In our ATO, the training begins with 5 hours of theoretical training which aims to standardize knowledge after the theoretical course, familiarize with the specificity of the airfield, flight area and the aircraft on which the training will be carried out. Then we implement practical training in the air. In the initial stage of the training, the daily time is limited to 2 hours 30 minutes. It is meant to get the trainee accustomed to a new environment such as airspace. The first flights are to teach level flight, turns combined with learning take-offs and landings. The next stage is a circle flight. This element is usually the greatest challenge for students due to the short time during which all critical phases of the flight are carried out. Before the first solo flight, the trainee has to pass the internal examination allowing for solo circling. The next stage of the training are flights to the piloting zone, followed by exercises in an obscured cabin, which are an introduction to piloting the plane without the visibility of the ground. One of the conditions for getting a PPL (A) licence is to obtain a flight time of 5 hours in sham IMC conditions. The last element of the training are en-route flights. This element is the most interesting part of the training. After school flights, the candidate who passed the internal exam performs independent route flights. The training ends with a navigation flight of at least 270 km (150 nautical miles), during which full stop landings must be made at two airports other than the departure airport. After 45 hours of flight time the training is completed. It has to include 25 hours of flight training with an instructor, and 10 hours of independent flight time under supervision, including at least 5 hours of independent flight time in navigation flights.

The last step is the PPL (A) Licensing Skills Test. This is taken to demonstrate the checks, manoeuvres and navigational skills that have been taught. The trainee has to successfully demonstrate flying skills to an examiner during a flight test (including an oral exam). We have our own in-house examiners. It is popular among applicants that they take the exam at the ATO where they completed training. Thanks to that the stress level is significantly reduced. Before taking the test it is necessary to make payment for it to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Other required documents are: a Certificate of Passing PPL (A) Theoretical Exams at the Civil Aviation Authority, a Medical Certificate and a Certificate of practical training signed by ATO where the training was done. The duration of the exam is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes.

After passing the PPL (A) Licensing Skills Test a trainee gets a report from the examiner as well as a certificate that confirms completing a practical training and passing the test.

After completing the training and passing the exam, all that has to be done is filling in the application form for the PPL (A) licence. The form contains the list of documents to be attached. Among other things, there are licensing fees. The fees sometimes change, and they can be found in the Table of Fees. I suggest you should check the fee before paying, as too little payment will block the issuance of the licence. It is a sensible idea to make copies of the documents sent to CAA. It is also important to get the Flight Log and get the first entries from the ATO where we did the training. We will avoid misunderstandings and mistakes, and start aviation successfully with a Logbook.

After all the administrative activities are completed by the Civil Aviation Authority and the licence is received, the candidate becomes a pilot. The licence will include the first SEP (L) (Single Engine Piston (Land)) entitlement. It is valid for 24 months. Information about the expiry date is included in the licence. The PPL (A) licence lets you fly single engine aeroplane with a MTOW not exceeding 5700 kg in non-commercial operations. With such a licence, only VFR / Visual Flight Rules / flights can be performed. The holder of a PPL (A) is entitled to act as PIC or co-pilot of aeroplane or TMGs in non-commercial operations.

When choosing a place where you want to start aviation education, you should not focus on the lowest price. This should be the last criterion to be considered while choosing the best training centre. The most important criterion should be the quality of the training followed by the availability of aircraft and instructors.

ATO Adriana Aviation has been training candidates for the PPL (A) licence since 1992. We are not able to count how many pilots we have already trained. We currently have a fleet of 8 SEP (L) aircrafts for basic training and qualified instructors with an extensive experience. We also have our own comfortable hotel located at our Flight Centre. It is available to our trainees at affordable prices. Our newly renovated Aviator Club is a meeting place for the next generations of pilots. We invite you to visit us before making a decision about the training, to make sure that ATO Adriana Aviation is definitely the best choice.

I hope that the text will be helpful while making a decision about aviation training at ATO Adriana Aviation.

Jarosław Jastrzębski

HT Adriana Aviation

ATO Adriana Aviation invites our foreign students to start training already today! We offer training on aircrafts: Cessna 150 or Tecnam 2002.

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