Obtaining a Private Pilot certificate
It is best to think of learning to fly as three parts: Knowledge, Skill, and Exam.
Knowledge
Knowledge is about learning the fundamental science and rules of flight - Newton, Bernoulli, et al. - as well as the basic rules of the air. The traditional way to gain the Knowledge is through ground school -- about 40 hours of classroom time. But there are also online options where you can watch videos and read at your convenience, or you can have a flight instructor give you the ground lessons one on one.Skill
Skill is about developing the motor-skills and and judgement to safely manipulate the controls. The skill part is developed by taking flight lessons. Going out with an instructor and flying the airplane. Watching, doing, practicing... The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours, and in those hours there are other specific amounts of time that must be spent in focused training.
Most people take closer to 70 hours. But that includes folks that start, stop, take a couple years off, and start up again.
Knowledge and Skill are best done in parallel, working on both at the same time. Doing ground school and flying gives you a way to immediately tie the knowledge and skill together in a concrete application.
An oral exam. You sit down with a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) and he or she asks you about flying scenarios to evaluate your knowledge and application of regulations and judgement.
And finally a flight test, (usually immediately after successful completion of the oral) where you go out and fly your first passenger, the DPE.
Knowledge and Skill are best done in parallel, working on both at the same time. Doing ground school and flying gives you a way to immediately tie the knowledge and skill together in a concrete application.
Exam
The exam is the third part, and you should think of the exam as being its own three part process. A Knowledge test (often called the "written"). A computer based multiple choice test. There are several hundred questions, and the computer randomly chooses a subset of them for you to answer.An oral exam. You sit down with a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) and he or she asks you about flying scenarios to evaluate your knowledge and application of regulations and judgement.
And finally a flight test, (usually immediately after successful completion of the oral) where you go out and fly your first passenger, the DPE.
