If you are just beginning, or you would like to sample the experience of flying, then take an introductory flight.  You'll be hooked! Then, when you decide that you are ready to learn to fly, Columbus Flight Instruction will provide you with the personalized training you need to become a Private Pilot, to earn your Instrument Rating, or to complete FAA requirements to keep your certificate current.

Introductory Flight New or prospective students can take an introductory flight for a half-hour or an hour to see what flying feels like. You'll be talked through the taxi, the takeoff, the flight itself, and the landing. You can handle the airplane the entire time, or for whatever portions you choose. You'll use the same aircraft that you would use for your lessons; you will fly out of the same airport - Port Columbus International Airport; and you will have the same instructor - Kathy Samuelson. The only difference between the introductory flight and a regular lesson is that the introductory flight is a talk-through. In a regular lesson you will learn in more detail, including cause and effect, and in a regular lesson you are integrating the lesson with the reading you are doing in ground school. In either case, the flying time is good toward the minimum it takes to become a Private Pilot. Special Offer

Private Pilot This is where it all starts, and for many, this will be all you'll need. You will be training to earn your FAA Private Pilot Certificate - Single Engine Land. This means that once you get your certificate, you will be able to fly small, single engine, gasoline-powered (not jet) aircraft, with fixed landing gear, that land on the land (not on water). You will be able to fly anywhere in the United States, during good weather, and you'll be able to take passengers (not for pay, but you can split costs). The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours in the aircraft, plus the ground studies, though most students in the U.S. average 70-80 hours before they are ready to earn their Private Pilot Certificate. Most of the students at Columbus Flight Instruction will take their primary training in a Cessna 152, though a Cessna 172 is available for those who may be too tall to fit into the 152 (over about 6'4"). The Cessna 152 has a nice, light touch and is a great plane to start to learn to fly. It is also less expensive to rent than a Cessna 172. Ground study, legally, can be obtained in many ways, and Columbus Flight Instruction recommends a home study program, using a textbook by Jeppesen. This textbook is used throughout the U.S. You may also use a DVD-based or an online ground school program if you like, though the textbook is complete by itself. Your instructor will monitor your progress. As part of your ground studies, Columbus Flight Instruction provides practice tests to prepare you for the FAA written exam. You will be able to take that test after achieving a score in the 90s or better, with no weak areas, on the practice tests. Your ground studies are paced to prepare you for each segment of your flight training, and once the written test is finished, one on one discussion on each ground school topic will prepare you to do well on the oral portion of the flight test. Your flight training will be a mixture of dual training (with the instructor) and solo training (where you are flying the airplane alone, but being monitored by the instructor), and it will be done concurrently with your ground studies. Much of your training will be in the daytime, though there is some nightime flying. You will working out of Port Columbus International Airport, and you will go to smaller towered airports such as Bolton Field and non-towered airports, such as Lancaster or Delaware. This mixture of airports allows you to become well-rounded and competent to go anywhere! A thorough review of flight maneuvers at the end of your training, before the flight test, will allow you to be comfortable taking the test, and most important, you'll be comfortable with your new Private Pilot Certificate.

Instrument Rating This course of study and subsequent written and flight tests (FAA given) allows the pilot to fly without the visible horizon (such as in clouds or rain). We try to get students into as much actual weather as possible, along with simulating instrument conditions when necessary. As with the private license, the FAA gives a written test, oral and flight test. The student will want to be competent, so normally training is a bit over the bare-minimum FAA requirements (40 hours of instrument flight, of which 3 hours were already needed to get the private license). We use a Cessna 172 for instrument training, since that aircraft has more navigation and communication radios than that of the C152 (the extra ones are not required for visual or instrument flight, but are more traditional for instrument flight).

Recurrency Training Licensed pilots need an FAA-required Flight Review (often referred to as a Biennial Flight Review) every two years. We offer flight reviews (minimum FAA requirement is one hour ground time and one hour flight time but more could be needed for those pilots who haven't flown regularly) and also work with the Pilot Proficiency Award Program (WINGS) that the FAA offers as a substitute for a traditional flight review.