Diamond Flight Centre London Inc.

HOW LONG WILL THE FLIGHT TRAINING TAKE?

On average, estimated training time would be:

• Approximately 4 Months if flying 5 days per week
• Approximately 12 Months if flying 1 day per week

WHAT ARE THE AGE REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAINING?

• You must be a minimum of 17 years of age to be issued a Private Pilot Licence (PPL), but you can begin flight training at a younger age (we recommend a minimum of 16 years of age).

HOW MUCH FLYING TIME IS REQUIRED?

A minimum of 45 hours total flight training time including:

• Minimum 17 hours dual including a minimum of 3 hours dual cross country time and a minimum of 5 hours dual instrument training (a maximum of 3 hours can be completed in an approved flight simulator)

• Minimum 12 hours Solo flight training including a minimum 5 hours of solo cross country time (with a minimum 150nm cross country with a minimum of 2 enroute full stop landings)

Note: The average time to get the PPL in Canada is currently 71.3 hours (based on December 2018 data) and completion time varies from student to student. If you do your training on a part time basis (i.e. once per week) you can expect to finish within one year and approximately 71 hours. If you do your training on a full-time basis (a minimum of three flights per week), you can expect to complete your training in 4 months or less and take less total time overall. You can help the process along by doing the assigned flight training readings as well as completing the assigned ground school quizzes when assigned.

WHAT ARE THE AVIATION MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS?

• Prior to beginning your flight training for your Private Pilot Licence, you will need to get a Category 1 or 3 aviation medical certificate from a Transport Canada-approved Civil Aviation Medical Examiner (CAME). If you are not planning to fly professionally as a Commercial pilot, a Category 3 medical is all that you need.

Below is a list of approved list of medical examiners in the London, Ontario area:

Dr. Bates

• Office: 519-438-5101
• Address: #208-190 Wortley Road

Dr. Chapeskie

• Office: 519-461-0776
• Address: Box 130, 21816 Fairview Road (Thorndale)

Dr. Marshall

• Office: 519-245-3590
• Address: 31 Caradoc Street North

Dr. Siu

• Office: 519-858-4694
• Address: 827 Richmond Street

If you are from outside the London area, a list of Civil Aviation Medical Examiners can be found here on the Transport Canada website

DO I NEED TO WRITE AN EXAM?

• Yes, you will be required to score a minimum of 60% in each of the following four mandatory areas on the Transport Canada PPL (PPAER) exam:

  • Air Law: Regulations, rules and orders, air traffic services, practices and procedures, and licensing requirements relevant to the permit

  • Navigation: Navigation, radio aids and electronic theory

  • Meteorology

  • Aeronautics - General Knowledge: Airframes, engines and systems, theory of flight, flight instruments, flight operations and human factors

The ground school training can be completed before, during or after the flight training portion. We recommend that ground school be taken at the same time as flight training so that you can apply the knowledge learned in class to your flying lessons. What you learn in theory in ground school you can put to practical use in the airplane and the lesson will be better remembered.

• You must have a minimum of 40 hours of private pilot ground school instruction including at least the following subjects:
  • Canadian Aviation Regulations
  • Aerodynamics and theory of flight
  • Meteorology
  • Airframes, engines and systems
  • Flight instruments
  • Radio and electronic theory
  • Navigation
  • Flight operations
  • Licensing requirements
  • Human factors including pilot decision making

IS A FLIGHT TEST REQUIRED?

• Yes, you will be required to successfully complete a PPL flight test with a Transport Canada-approved pilot examiner

WHAT PRIVILEGES WILL I HAVE AFTER COMPLETION OF THE TRAINING?

• A Private Pilot Licence allows you to fly single-engine, single pilot non-high-performance aircraft during daytime hours (unless a night rating is added), under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) weather conditions. You may not fly for hire or reward (Commercial Pilot Licence required).

ARE THERE ANY PREREQUISITES TO TRAINING?

• Candidate must hold a Category 1 or 3 Aviation Medical
• Minimum 17 years of age at the completion of training