The PPL: what your first licence involves
Every airline pilot who trains on the modular route starts with the same licence as a weekend flyer: the Private Pilot Licence. It is where you learn to fly an aeroplane on your own, and the habits you form here follow you into every later stage.
The legal minimums
- Flying: at least 45 hours of flight instruction, of which up to 5 may be in a simulator. That includes at least 25 hours with an instructor and at least 10 hours of supervised solo flight.
- Solo cross-country: at least 5 of the solo hours, including one flight of at least 270 km (150 NM) with full-stop landings at two aerodromes other than the one you left from.
- Theory: nine subjects, examined by the aviation authority, covering air law, human performance, meteorology, communications, principles of flight, operational procedures, flight performance and planning, aircraft general knowledge and navigation.
- Skill test: a flight with an examiner at the end.
- Age: 16 to fly solo, 17 to hold the licence.
- Medical: at least a Class 2 certificate.
These are minimums. Many students need more than 45 hours to reach test standard, and the rate for extra hours should be in your contract before you start.
If you are aiming at an airline
- Get the Class 1 medical first, not the Class 2. It covers private flying too, and it tells you before you spend anything substantial whether a professional career is open to you.
- Train as if the examiner were an airline. Checklists, radio discipline, planning and briefing are easier to learn properly once than to correct later.
- Start the ATPL theory when the PPL is in hand. You must hold a PPL to begin the modular ATPL theory course, and the two fit well back to back.
- Keep your logbook and records clean. Every later course and every airline application will read them.
What comes next
With a PPL you can fly as pilot in command, and those hours count towards the commercial licence. The next stages are the ATPL theory and hour building. The courses page shows how the stages connect.
FlyInPoland.com plans and coaches your route. The training itself is delivered by the approved training organisation named in your written offer, and the figures here are the legal minimums, not a quotation.
