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My Experience Pursuing a Private Pilot License
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Hello, all current and future pilots! I just saw this bald eagle soar in the grey skies of Whitehorse. It’s -22ºC and the wind chill is -36ºC Why would the eagle fly at all today? Because he or she loves flying – dah! And yes, if getting your PPL is on your bucket list, DO IT! Ah, and while there is a lot to learn, it’s all practically relevant and not academic. Cheers, Stefan
Hello fellow Aviator Jayce, thanks so much for your story! I’m a former commercial bush pilot, having experienced some of the most rewarding flying in the Yukon and northern BC (come try it out, I will give you tips). My dream planes I never got to fly are a Cessna Caravan and the Pilatus PC 12 (your title pic of a single engine turboprop was mouth-watering). I was a bored corporate banker when I got my PPL in Germany. Then I became a sales manager at a global business aviation company. Then I got my IFR in Durango, Colorado. It was just a license to practice and I never flew Instruments again. And finally my wife and I started our own single engine charter company out of Atlin, BC. BTW: She had an engine failure on her first solo – I was watching on the ground how she managed to glide-land safely. Whenever we need strong nerves in our lives, she will be the one! My first solo was the most liberating achievement in my life. I loved flying because you can move in the third dimension, it’s a true challenge and you need to read nature. Our best flight was a Transcanada-Tour – 77 flying hours and 33 airports! Your fellow aviation enthusiast Stefan
Congrats on the accomplishments so far, and good luck on those still to come. Keep at it, you will never regret the money spent, the effort expended, or other minor details that will not matter when you look back. I started flying at age 12. Took me a long time to complete al the requirements for the license (growing up, getting financially able to do it), but you will never forget how to do it (like riding a bicycle). Now, some 50 years later, I own an old Cessna (ownership is a whole other adventure…) and enjoy every single flight. Keep at it. I’ve met a lot of pilots (and wished-they-were-pilots) in my days. Among the licensed pilots, one thing has stood out: every single one has said something roughly the same — when asked if they ever regretted learning to fly, without exception, every one said “I only wish I hadn’t waited so long to do it.” So true. Good luck, have fun…blue sky and tailwinds to you, brother.
I too got my PPL this past year in High river AB. They have DA-20’s so I chose to go there instead of spring bank considering spring bank is only a 15min drive compared to an hour but I don’t regret it. Don’t be discouraged about the flight test if you chief instructor says your good your good I also took a long time to take my written almost 6 months after my flight test. Which I regret as I could have enjoyed some night flights in the summer but now I have to do my walk arounds in the -20°C. Lol
I’m 36 and after many missed opportunities of getting my PPL and it’s the most accomplished thing I have done for my self personally don’t give up and continue
Keep on studying, Joyce. I, too, have picked it up as a “hobby” during the lockdown, since I’ve wanted to fly to space since I was a kid. It’s the most intense hobby I have ever considered, and by the end of the process in anticipation of the check ride, I could not sleep, I was a nervous wreck. It sure took a lot more than the minimum amount of hours, but hey, as a wise person once wrote, they don’t put the number of hours it took you to pass on your license, the just put “pilot”.
I’m happy for your journey. Just so you know, minimum experience requirements for PPL in Canada is 45 hours.
Very cool Jayce! I too have pursued my PPL.
Our flying club is out of YOW which is unique since its an international airport and your sharing the radio waves with AC, WS and the like.
Taxiing past the heavys while putting along in a C170 gets some funny looks from commercial paxs out their windows.
Requesting clearance for multiple touch and goes is fun, I did about 8 or 9 in a row on runway 32.
Im wondering how do you listen to ATC while onboard a commercial flight? Is there some app?
You had me until the Ground school syllabus. Truck load. I’m waiting for Uber drones to be a thing in order to get to a cottage. Waiting for the redemptions for that as well. Small mistypo need the “-” in 5060 or PPL would take another 240 days with no sleep. High times !
Advice for anyone tempted to do this: don’t wait until you’re 90, walking with a cane! Jayce wisely regrets waiting until now (30s?) rather than earlier, when someone else would have paid (and the task easier, no doubt). From my elevated perch (let’s say “over 50”), I congratulate you for not waiting ’til Too Late Jayce!
Death bed wisdom: “The only things I regret are the things I DIDN’T do!”