THIS IS THE FREE PDF VERSION OF THE EBOOK ON AMAZON (http://amzn.

to/2qpQtol to
check-out the published copy)

I have created and given out this copy with the intention to help out those who were in my
position many years ago with no pilots in their inner circles to help guide them.

The dream is attainable, I promise.

L.G.
Copyright 2017 Lorne Gershman

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any
form whatsoever.

Cover Illustrations by Maja Todorovic

Formatting by Louisa Jordan

In this book you will find guidance on:

All Licence Requirements and Costs!

Receiving a Free Licence through Air Cadets!
Various routes: Private vs. College vs. University!
International Student Guidance!
Flying for the Royal Canadian Air Force!
Preface

This guide has been written as a response to the numerous requests for advice on starting a
pilot career that I have received as a flight instructor or seen in passing through various
internet forums and other mediums.
There are many requirements, factors and aspects to becoming a pilot in Canada which as
confusing and numerous as they are, can be made more so to fluster and overwhelm the
sky-seeker.
I could not have finished this piece without support from various pilots that I have come
across in my own adventure:
Thank you to Daniel Ryan for the many beautiful military aircraft photos that you have
taken. I hope to see you flying a CF-18 very shortly. (His website can be found
at www.djryanphotography.com and his blog can be read at www.fledglingflyer.com)
Thank you Louisa Jordan for the countless hours formatting the guide.
Thank you Maja Todorovic for the gorgeous cover, I love the small details.
Thank you Oliver Wery, Mark, David Martin with allowing me to interview you and using
that information to help others in the same position we found ourselves years ago.
Thank you Seenu for confirming bureaucratic processes for international students.
Good luck John and Mahalia on your pilot couple adventure with Thunder Airlines. Angus
and Jill, good luck on the Metroliner and B1900 respectively.
In response to my recent event that would allow me to continue this guide: I would also
like to thank the Royal Canadian Air Force for its very supportive culture and for fostering
amazing aviation habits and investing in a really damn good ejection seat. This also leads
me to thank Martin-Baker on their MK. 16s performance that day. Thank you Brian
Smythe for making sure the bang seat did its job. Thank you to STARS for picking me up as
well. Last but definitely not least, thank you to my instructor at the time who was just as
calm and collected during the event as in the briefing earlier that morning.
CONTENTS

An Introduction to Becoming a Professional Pilot in Canada

Licensing Requirements for PPL, CPL, Multi Instrument IFR, and Instructor Rating
Private Pilot Licence (PPL):
Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL):
Night Rating (CARS Section 421.42):
VFR OVER THE TOP (CARS Section 421.44):
Multi-Engine Rating (CARS Section 421.38):
Group 1 Instrument Rating Also Known as the Multi-Engine IFR (CARS Section 421.46):
Class 4 Flight Instructor Rating (CARS Section 421.69)
Total Cost Estimate Breakdown
Private Licence Costs
Commercial Licence Costs
Multi-Engine and Category 1 Instrument Rating
Class 4 Instructor Rating
Total Cost Estimate
Frequently Asked Questions by Pilot Aspirants!
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets and Receiving a Glider Pilot Licence and/or
Private Pilot Licence
What the cadet program requires, and entails
Requirements for the Glider Licence Course:
Requirements for the Private Pilot Licence Course:
The Air Cadet Target Market
Interview with David Martin, who received his Private Pilot Licence through the
Royal Canadian Air Cadets
Flight School, Instructors and Location
Location
Your Flight Instructor
Flight Schools
 Recommendations on Picking the Right School and Getting the Most for Your Money
Private Flight School List
Training Aircraft Selection
Picking Your Training Aircraft
Cockpit Instrument Configuration
Propeller Configuration
Retractable Gear
Landing Gear Configuration, Nose Gear vs. Conventional/tail-dragger
Materials for Study, Whats really required for Flight Training?
Private Pilot Licence Textbooks and Miscellaneous Materials
Ground School
Private Pilot Curriculum Details: Your First Taste of Being a Pilot
First Flight: Exercises 1-4
The Upper Air Work Flights: Exercises 5-15, 29 and 30
The Circuit Flights: Exercises 16-18, 20
First Solo: Exercise 19!
Specialty Circuits and Pre-Cross Country: Exercises 16, 18, 21-23
Cross Country: Exercise 23
Flying under Instruments and Hitting the Standard: Exercise 24
Flight Test Day!
Interview with Oliver Wery, a Young Canadian Bush Pilot
Deciding Between a College/University Aviation Program or a Private Flight
School
Should I Go To College/University for Flight Training?
Choose a flight school, and receive a study permit
Training Tips for Non-English Speaking International Students
Aviation and Flight School: The Culture Shock
Flight Tests
Poor Performance on Flights and/or Tests
Make or Break: Receiving that Coveted First Job
Flight Instructor
The New Flight Instructor Narrative flight
 Single-Engine Air Work
Interview with Mark, a Float Pilot Instructor
Joining the Royal Canadian Air Force
What is required to be an RCAF Pilot?
Military Pilot Career Progression
Progression and general timeline differences of the three routes
Additional Income
Military Flight Training vs. Civilian
Information on Airframes for each Stream

Conclusion
Bibliography
An Introduction to Becoming a Professional
Pilot in Canada

Congratulations on investing a small amount of finances into this guide. The first step in
becoming a professional pilot is to have an understanding of the many challenges and
requirements to becoming a pilot. Once you have that understanding, then you must create
a logical plan to reach or at least start working towards that commercial pilot licence
milestone.

I came from a family with no pilots. There was no one that could give me any concrete
advice to help me on my way. My greatest dream was to be a fighter pilot but that was
equivalent to being a rock star.

Conversations that began with What do you want to be? would end in well youre too
tall or what if that doesnt work out? or do you have perfect vision? I had to figure it
out myself. People are quick to give critique, especially when they are ignorant of the real
requirements. The process was arduous and inefficient in both time and finances because I
had no one to guide me. Self-doubts, misconceptions and much friction early in my
attempts at the career nearly halted my dreams.

I wrote this book for the next generation of dreamers, and aspirants. Canada is the greatest
land to receive flight training in. There are many reasons to come to the second largest
country in the world. It is relatively inexpensive compared to that of Europe and Asia. Upon
graduation, Canada offers thousands of pilot jobs for those who dare compete for them.
Canada offers different terrain and seasons to challenge and train its pilots. It has a very
strong governing body with a good reputation. Fundamentally, the real reason why Canada
is the greatest country to seek flight training derives from its rich history in flight training.
Canada was where the commonwealth sent their military pilots to train in World War II, far
from the perils of the front lines. This was essentially what led to the most refined flight
training and aviation culture on Earth.
There are many types of professional pilots. To become a professional pilot in Canada, you
must have the following Transport Canada (TC) licences and ratings: private pilot licence
(PPL), commercial pilot licence (CPL), night rating, multi-engine rating and instrument
rating (Multi-IFR). There are also a few other ratings that can be attained for specialty
positions that are outside the scope of this guide.

The most sought after and recognizable career is typically that of a major airline pilot for
airlines like Air Canada, West Jet, Sunwing, and etc. There is a plethora of other pilot jobs
that can become a career or a phase of your life that can be a stepping stone to that major
airline! Jobs like flight instructor, float pilot, regional airline pilot, cargo pilot, skydive pilot,
water bomber, bird dog, fire detection, agricultural spray pilot, charter pilot, medevac pilot,
aerobatic pilot, corporate pilot, and last but definitely not least Royal Canadian Air Force
military pilot (fighter pilot, heavy multi-engine pilot, helicopter pilot, and qualified flight
instructor). Amongst these listed paths are numerous aircraft, geographical locations and
adventures that you could immerse yourselves in! Its exciting, dangerous, romantic, and
every little boys dream.

Make no mistake, a life time of learning and hard work lies ahead. Not everyone can do it,
but if your heart compels you to take the plunge, you must be prepared for the ups and
downs of this career. You will feel nothing but euphoria during the great times, and
adrenaline, fear, loneliness in the bad times. No other career demands as much passion and
dedication.

The next section will give you a list and an idea of what Transport Canada, our licensing
and regulation body for civil aviation in Canada requires as minimums to receive each
individual licence and rating.
Licensing Requirements for PPL, CPL, Multi
Instrument IFR, and Instructor Rating

Canadas complete aviation licensing information can be found in the most up-to-date edition
of the Transport Canada Aviation Information Manual in the Licensing, Registration and
Airworthiness section and in the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARS)

Private Pilot Licence (PPL):

17 Years Old
Student Pilot Permit (SPP)
14 Years old
PSTAR Test Complete
Class 1 or 3 Medical
Radio Permit from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada
(previously and better known as Industry Canada)
A Flight Instructors Written Recommendation for Solo
PPL Written Test (PPAER) score of 60%
Requirements to Write the PPAER:
40 Hours of Ground School
10 Hours Flight Time
Flight Hour Minimums
45 Hours Total
17 Hours Dual
12 Hours Solo
PPL Flight Test
Recommendation from Flight Instructor
Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL):

Private Pilot Licence

18 Years Old
Class 1 Medical
CPL Written Test (CPAER) score of 60%
Requirements to Write The CPAER:
80 Hours of Ground School
Recommendation to Write from Authorized Flight School
150 Hours Flight Time
Flight Hour Minimums
200 Hours Total
100 Hours Pilot in Command (PIC)
65 Hours Commercial Training (35 Dual Hours / 30 Solo Hours)
CPL Flight Test
Recommendation from Flight Instructor

The following rating requirements can be found under the Canadian Aviation Regulations
sections:

Night Rating (CARS Section 421.42):

10 Flight Hours at Night

5 Hours Dual, 2 Hours of Which Cross Country
5 Hours Solo, including 10 Take-offs, Circuits and Landings
10 Hours of Instrument (Post PPL)
5 Hours Allowable in an Approved Flight Simulator
VFR OVER THE TOP (CARS Section 421.44):

15 Flight Hours Dual Instrument

5 Hours Allowable in an Approved Flight Simulator
Multi-Engine Rating (CARS Section 421.38):
Flight Test
Recommendation from Flight Instructor

Group 1 Instrument Rating Also Known as the Multi-Engine

IFR (CARS Section 421.46):

70% on Instrument Rating Written Test (INRAT)

Flight Hour Minimums:
50 Hours Cross-Country as PIC
40 Hours of Instrument Flight Time
20 Hours Dual Instrument
5 Hours in Multi-Engine aircraft
One IFR in Instrument Meteorological Standard or under hood for 100 NM and
approaches at two locations to minima
Group 1 Flight Test
Recommendation from Flight Instructor

Class 4 Flight Instructor Rating (CARS Section 421.69)

Class 1 Medical
70% on Flight Instructor Written Test (AIRAF)
Flight Hour Minimums:
 30 Hours Dual
5 Hours Allowable in an Approved Flight Simulator
25 Hours Ground Brief
Flight Instructor Flight Test
Total Cost Estimate Breakdown

There are many factors surrounding the cost to be a fully licensed commercial pilot:
Flight School and Location
Time Required to Complete Licences
English Proficiency At the Beginning of Training and Speed of Progression
Attitude and Work Ethic
Performance Under Various Pressures
Flight Test Results

For an approximate cost break down, we will assume a prospective student rents a Cessna
152 at a cost of $140 per hour rental and $75 per instructor taxes included. Written tests
are approximately $125 each, not including retests. Flight tests may vary in cost depending
on examiner but we will use a reasonable estimate of $550. Medical examinations are also
subject to variance depending on Canadian Aviation Medical Examiners (CAME) being able
to set their own price. We will use the previously listed minimums towards a starting total:

Private Licence Costs

Commercial Licence Costs

Remember to watch out for the extra time-building required to receive the commercial
licence. You will need a minimum of 100 Pilot-in-Command (PIC) time but only receive a
minimum of 12 during your private licence. Flight schools tend to omit this fact when
touting the price of the commercial licence, yet this is a very important factor in the
students budget!

Multi-Engine and Category 1 Instrument Rating

The most commonly used multi-engine aircraft for flight training is the Piper Seminole.
Other commonly used training aircraft are the Piper Twin-Comanche, Beechcraft Travel-
air, Beechcraft Baron, Piper Aztec, and Diamond DA-42. We will be using a rate of $370
after tax towards calculating a cost for both ratings. Only the Group 1 IFR rating has a
written test. Both ratings require a flight test and training usually occurs concurrently and
overlaps, thus we will use one chart for cost breakdown.
Class 4 Instructor Rating
We will discuss in more detail as to why the instructor rating cost should be included in
your total flight training costs. The rating can be done in any aircraft, and we will assume
the same Cessna 152 that we used in our private and commercial licence breakdowns.

Total Cost Estimate

Depending on which flight schools website you visit, you may come across different
quotes. Remember that these estimates are always based on the minimums required by
Transport Canada and that rarely does anyone finish by the minimum time. We
recommend being prepared to invest up to $80,000 on your flight training through a
private flight school. Understand that this is an expensive career to enter and that you must
not cut corners in your educational foundation for cracks might be disastrous later on.
Financial restraints are unfortunately a large determinant in who can become a civilian
pilot.

To offset costs I will discuss the a few routes that can potentially save you tens of
thousands of dollars. Those routes are the:
military route
college route
university route
air cadets for the private licence

You may also notice that living costs have also not been included in the above cost
breakdown. Later on in this book, we will discuss all the various factors in determining a
successful training foundation.
Frequently Asked Questions by Pilot
Aspirants!

Before we discuss the factors that come into place, every single pilot, from the young
dreamer in his early to mid-teens, to the Airbus A-380 Captain and to the Northern bush
pilots have had self-doubt and questions. There is much mysticism in what it takes to be a
pilot. Lets put some questions and doubts to rest:

Question: My eyes are bad, will this preclude me from pilot training?
Answer: Not in Canada as a civilian! Even our military allows certain types of laser eye
surgery now. Historically, pilot candidates were indeed precluded from training due to
poor vision (and this is where the current myth receives its roots), but glasses and laser eye
surgery have been allowed for some time now. Speak to a Canadian Aviation Medical
Examiner (CAME) about this and any other medical issues you are worried about.

Question: Must pilots be great in math and physics? I received a D/C/Poor Mark In grade XX
will this affect me?
Answer: No! Mental math is a requirement, but you will not be using calculus or
trigonometry in the aircraft. Like anything else, flying and practicing the various Speed x
Time = Distance modules in the aircraft will also become second nature. There are plenty
other calculations that must be made on the ground but fear not, they require common
sense and basic math and are taught to you during ground school.

Question: Do I need a degree to be a pilot?

Answer: Mostly no, partially yes. There are many types of pilots. The only company that
demands their pilots to have degrees is the Canadian Armed Forces. Large carriers highly
prefer their international pilots to have degrees but this is not a definite either.

Question: I am 65 or 50, am I too big or small to be a pilot?

Answer: No. You may have to modify your training and initial job prospects though. For
instance, someone too tall may be precluded from training and instructing on 2 seat
trainers such as the Cessna 152/150 but may be just fine in a 4 seater like the Cessna 172.
Inversely a 50 individual may need to bring a cushion to boost their perspective above the
dashboard and may have physical strength issues with aircraft that have mechanical
linkages to the rudders until they move onto hydraulically boosted or fly-by wire
technology on the larger aircraft. This is of course a very rare issue.

Question: I am colour blind, can I still be a pilot?

Answer: Yes, potentially even a commercial pilot with restrictions to day flying. Speak to a
CAME to know what your colour deficiency precludes you from.

Question: Im afraid of heights, can I still be a pilot?

Answer: Believe it or not, being in a closed cockpit while flying can cover up a persons fear
of heights.

Question: I have XXXXXX illness/disease, can I be a pilot?

Answer: Ask a Canadian Aviation Medical Examiner, (CAME) only they can tell you.

Question: Should I go to a private flight school, or a college/university program?

Answer: Generally, each stream has its benefits and its target market.
1- If you are younger, and wish to simultaneously finish a degree, and all of the pilot
licences then the University path is your best bet. (More information in the University
section of the Should I Go To College/University for Flight Training? chapter)
2- If you wish to have highly subsidized flight training and do not mind moving to Northern
Ontario, then either Sault Ste. Marie or Confederation College would be your best bet.
(More information in the College section of the Should I Go To College/University for
Flight Training? chapter)
3- If you are looking to finish your flight training on your own time, and/or very rapidly
while being restricted by location, work, family, then private flight schools are your best
bet.
Question: How much are pilots paid?
Answer: Early career, pilots are normally instructing for $20-25 per hour of instruction
which normally amounts to around $20,000-25,000 per year depending on how busy the
flight school is and how many students you are given. This amount generally slowly
increases but it is rare for a pilot to choose the instructional route for his entire career.
Mid-career, pilots are flying for the regionals and lower tier airlines. Expect about $40-
50,000 per year as a first officer, and between $70,000-110,000 as a Captain on aircraft like
the Kingair, Metroliner, MU-2, Dash-8, etc.
Late career, pilots have been hired onto their respective career carriers, whether that be
Air Canada, West Jet or with the federal government, or as a corporate pilot. Salaries can
gross between $120,000-220,000 for captains on these aircraft in Canada.
If a pilot is willing to move to the Middle East or China, that salary could be more than
double and untaxed!

Feel free to send in further questions via email (listed in the conclusion) to be potentially
included in future revisions.
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets and Receiving
a Glider Pilot Licence and/or Private Pilot
Licence

The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is an organization for individuals aged 12-18 who may wish
to join for various reasons. This section is specifically catered towards informing either the
individuals or their parents who know that they or their son/daughter will want to be a
pilot or in the aviation industry and want to prepare as early as possible by receiving a free
glider and/or pilot licence through cadets.

What the cadet program requires, and entails

Concise explanation of the general air cadet program: Air Cadets run once per week, and
attendance is mandatory. The program is split up into squadrons which are local
organizations under the air cadet umbrella. Each squadron has its own culture and is
slightly different from another squadron in different aspects. Some squadrons may
emphasize aviation more than others!

Once per week the cadets meet, perform drill, attend various classes and experience a
quasi-military culture. Once per month the squadron hosts a COs Parade where the
squadron Commanding Officer (an Air Cadet Instructor, also known as a Cadet Instructors
Cadre/CIC member which is a class C reserve officer) will inspect the uniforms of every
cadet. There is a large emphasis on uniforms being well ironed, boots polished to mirror-
like levels and drill being sharp in the Air Cadet organization.

Thus, most time spent with the Air Cadet organization is based on becoming a good Air
Cadet and not towards aviation. For this very reason, most cadets join not to primarily
pursue the glider and pilot licence but instead for the culture and company of other cadets
in an environment that instils discipline and provides promotion and unique life
experiences. This is also the largest reason why many future pilots do NOT pursue the
opportunity of free flight training through cadets. It takes up a large chunk of a
teenagers high school free time and provides only a chance at sponsored flying.

On weekends, squadrons host different optional events that are normally open to all
cadets: camping, sports, glider and power flying (as a passenger), shooting, drill team,
and much more depending on the individual squadron (budget and instructors
preferences).

Both courses run during summertime as camp courses and only a lucky portion of the
keenest cadets will receive free glider and/or private pilot licences.

Requirements for the Glider Licence Course:

16 years of age
no physical disability that would preclude a category 4 medical required for a glider
pilot licence
2 years as an air cadet
completed ground-school administered by squadron
completed a written test administered by the squadron with a threshold passing
mark
performed very competitively on the national written test
performed competitively in a board run interview
final selection based on test performance, and interview performance
other smaller factors include rank and time with the squadron and course slots given
to your local squadron

Requirements for the Private Pilot Licence Course:

 17 years of age
no physical disability that would preclude a category 3 medical required for a private
pilot licence
3 years as an air cadet
completed ground-school administered by squadron
completed a written test administered by the squadron with a threshold passing
mark
performed very competitively on the national written test
performed competitively in a board run interview
final selection based on test performance, and interview performance
other smaller factors include rank and time with the squadron and course slots given
to your local squadron

The Air Cadet Target Market

The program was designed for a particular individual. A cadet who wants to embrace the
culture. One who spends their weekends with the squadron and spends a lot of energy and
effort into their uniform, drill, leadership and extra-curricular exercises, will be successful
with achieving rank and opportunities to succeed within the organization.

Once deemed an excellent cadet by their peers and instructors, that cadet must begin to put
effort into their aviation studies and ground school courses. Many of the cadets accepted
into glider and power courses have attended 2 to 3 ground school courses, well beyond the
minimum 1 required. This means that while the cadet is still a young teenager, they are
already mature and disciplined.
Interview with David Martin, who received his
Private Pilot Licence through the Royal
Canadian Air Cadets

How old were you when you join the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and why did you
initially join?
I joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets in February of 2010, one month after I turned 12. I
joined the Air Cadets that year because I had recently started using Microsoft Flight
Simulator X, and the prospect of becoming a pilot sounded really good.

What sort of aviation exposure did you receive during the regular week to week Air
Cadet curriculum and did that have an impact on your career as a pilot?
In my first year, there would be at least one 30-minute lesson about basic aviation
knowledge each week. These lessons made learning the background about flying a fun
activity, which eventually gave me a passion for aviation.

If you could create an imaginary pie chart of the time you spent immersed in the
cadet program, what percentages would you dedicate to general aviation, aviation
specific to being a pilot, uniform, drill, leadership, or other (feel free to list some
major topics I missed)?
When I first started as a Cadet I would spend 3 hours each Tuesday at Parade Nights. The
schedule for a parade night usually consisted of three half hour classes, a break, an opening
parade, and a closing parade. The vast majority of these nights were in class. I would say
that class time was 25% aviation, 25% leadership, 10% citizenship, 20% drill and uniform,
10% fitness and 10% other topics. There were also additional activities on other nights like
band, exertion (sports), marksmanship, orienteering and ground school. I participated in
the marksmanship team and ground school for most of my time in Cadets.

How many hours per week did you dedicate to the program?
In the beginning, I would only spend three to six hours per week at cadet related activities.
Later on, in my last two years I was spending up to twenty hours a week.

Now, lets talk about the specific pilot courses provided by the Royal Canadian Air
Cadet League during summers. (Power is funded by the DND, only glider is run by the
league) You were one of the lucky (and deserving) few to receive a pilot licence
through the Air Cadets, but you also applied for Glider. Why did you not receive the
glider course ultimately? Was this a huge set-back?
The Glider course would have been great if I was accepted, however my goal was always
Power. The only big challenge that this brought was that Glider has always been an
unofficial prerequisite for Power, which meant I would have to do better on the test and
interview than the existing glider pilots in order to earn a spot. Another challenge created
by not having a glider licence was that when I started the Power course, I had to write the
Radio exam and the PSTAR exam in the first week, making the busiest week of the course
even harder for me.

How much time did you dedicate ultimately to the glider course even though you did
not receive it? How was the competition, approximately how many individuals in
your squadron and outside competed for a position?
Altogether, I dedicated about 3 hours a week from September to January over two separate
years toward the Glider course; however this time was a key factor in me being able to do
so well on the Power exam the following year.

The year I applied for glider, my unit chose not to recommend a candidate and as such,
nobody from my unit took the written test or interview that year. That year there were
about 300 spots for the glider course in Ontario, with other regions accepting additional
out-of-region candidates.

By the time you took the national written for the Power course, how many times had
you gone through ground school and how many tests had you written in
preparation?
The year I wrote the test for Power, It was my third year of formal ground school and as
such, I had written three local exams.

What sort of questions did they ask you during your interview? Tell us a bit about the
atmosphere and what you experienced during the interview and what you did to
prepare for that.
In the interview, I was asked many questions about The Air Cadet League, geography,
Government leaders, The structure of the Cadet Program, and aviation. All candidates are
given a handbook for this interview which gives sample questions and topics to study. The
interview is very formal, one must march into the room, salute the interview board and
wait to be offered a seat. The key things the board looks for is confidence and preparation.

Of course we know you were selected, but how many other individuals were selected
that year at your squadron and for comparability, approximately how many people
applied (in your squadron and nationally) and how large was your squadron that
year?
In 2015, there were 80 spots on the Power course at five different flight schools in Ontario.
Each unit can select a certain number of applicants for the interview and test based on its
size. The number of Power applicants allowed is only one unless the unit has an average
attendance of 100 or more, in which case two applicants are allowed. With about 8,000 Air
Cadets in Ontario, only a select few get to go to power.

Eventually you were sent to the course; tell us about that how that differed from
Kingston Flying Club and your current pilot courses at Algonquin College?
The Power course is probably the fastest and most difficult way to get a Private Licence.
Training was 6 days a week and we would be at the airport from 07:00 until 18:00. Once
we returned to our residence building we would have dinner followed by mandatory study
to 20:00. We would then have one hour personal time before lights-out at 21:00.

Sundays were personal days where we were free to do whatever we wanted. Visitors were
not permitted until the fourth week of the course when we wrote the Transport Canada
written exam. During our training days, our course was split into two groups and we would
alternate between ground school in the morning or in the afternoons. Each student would
fly one or two times each day. The speed of progression was incredibly fast compared to
training at The Kingston Flying Club or Algonquin College.

At Power, I got my licence after five weeks compared to the five months given in the
Algonquin College Program to achieve the same goal. The speed of learning makes Power a
very difficult course in comparison to traditional training where you set your own pace.

How many other cadets were in your summer course? What was the lowest rank to
be accepted onto the course?
I was on course with 22 cadets, 17 males and 5 females at the Durham Flight Centre in
Oshawa, Ontario. The lowest rank on my course was a Sergeant, however most Cadets on
the course were Warrant Officer Second Class.

Out of those who started the course with you, how many finished? Why did a few
cadets still fail despite ranking so high nationally on the written test? Were there
many second and third chances on course?
There were 22 Cadets that started the course at my training centre and only two dropped
out. However, it was early enough in the course that the two Cadets that left could be
replaced with two new candidates. Due to the expense of our training, the first week is
designed to be the hardest so if a Cadet cant meet standards, he or she can be replaced.

In the first three weeks, any failure could be grounds for RTU, or, in other words, being
sent home. For the Transport Canada written exams and flight test, a partial rewrite or
retest would be allowed if a student should partial pass the test. A partial pass would not be
taken lightly though, as it would be recorded in the course report and the individual cadet
would have to report their reasons for getting a partial pass to their local Commanding
Officer upon their return from the course. On my course, there was one written partial
pass, three partial pass flight tests, and one full fail flight test. A rare exception was granted
to the student who had a full failure to take the flight test again.
Out of your course and squadron, how many are continuing to become pilots?
From the 22 people on my Power Pilot Course in 2015, I am only aware of 7 that continued
to fly. Sadly, many who achieve the opportunity to be on Power are there for the prestige
Wings on their uniform, not for the love of flying. However, of those 7, three of the people I
was on course with are pursuing their commercial licences at schools like Seneca,
Conestoga College and Algonquin College.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about the Air Cadet
organization that we havent touched up on already in regards to joining to receive
experience and a head start in their pilot career?
The best way to get on Power is to work hard and try to get the best test scores. There are
many cadets across Canada trying to do the same thing, so it really becomes a test of time
management and goal setting skills. In my experience, the only way to get on Power is
dedication. Power is probably one of the best ways to jumpstart your pilot training, but
only if you continue to fly afterwards. Too many people go on Power then never fly again,
the only way to keep up the skills is to practice.

Thank you very much David for helping the reader understand Canadas Air Cadet
program! David Martin finished as a Warrant Officer 1st Class with 58 Squadron in
Kingston Ontario.
Flight School, Instructors and Location

Rental and instructor rates vary, sometimes even greatly depending on their city, province,
size, organization (private or non-profit), and competitiveness.

Geographical Location and Cost:

Understand that each province varies slightly on how much they charge:

GST/HST RATES TABLE

PROVINCE On or after October 1, 2016
Alberta 5%
British Columbia 5%
Manitoba 5%
New Brunswick 15%
Newfoundland and Labrador 15%
Northwest Territories 5%
Nova Scotia 15%
Nunavut 5%
Ontario 13%
Quebec 5%
Prince Edward Island 15%
Saskatchewan 5%
Yukon 5%

Location
Before you commit to a school, calculate the cost of:
1. Each Flight Hour after Tax Dual and Solo
 2. Cost of lodging rent. Some schools offer on-airport lodging but students often live in
town after a few months due to cabin fever.
3. In densely populated cities, some flight training units must fly for nearly half an
hour to their practice area! Thats a lot of straight and level that you must pay for!
4. Densely populated areas usually mean densely populated airports! How long does it
actually take for the run-up, taxi, and take-off?

Your Flight Instructor

While there is a Transport Canada standard to be met, flight instructors are not the same!
Due to the natural progression of the industry, flight instructor is normally seen as the
most common initial job and simply a stepping stone. This leaves the industry and flight
schools riddled with instructors who do not wish to teach, and will escape upon given any
opportunity!

What transpires is the reluctant instructor will attempt to accrue flight hours, and push
flying even when the student may not be ready! Its expensive to fly and you should only be
airborne when ready and feeling at your best. The reluctant instructors briefs and de-
briefs will be just that awkwardly very brief.

Find an instructor who loves what they do, and will treat you as more than a means to flight
hours. Feel free to shop around at the start until you discover that teaching style that you
cope best with. Make sure both your schedules match as well. Good instructors are usually
in demand; make sure to book in at least a month in advance before starting flight training
or you could hit scheduling conflicts very quickly in the warmer seasons (more about the
difference in seasons later).

Flight Schools
Flight schools can have vastly different cultures from one another. Some flight schools have
a bottom line/profit oriented culture. At these schools, you are a dollar sign and must fly
the second you are booked or face the wrath of late fees and short tempered staff. Similar
to the reluctant flight instructor, these schools have plenty of students and do not care if
they lose a student. These schools are common in large cities. Is the flight school located
on a busy controlled or quiet uncontrolled airport? Find out, this will give you a big hint
as to company culture, taxi times, and previously mentioned transit times to practice areas
where you get to practise manoeuvres.

Whats the flight school fleet like? Do they have 2 aircraft, or 20?
Do they aggressively demand huge sums of money upfront or do they trust that you will
return due to their good business practices? Never pay lump sums. When flight schools
have your money, they know they can put you on a lower priority. They know you cant
leave half way!

The flight training business is notorious for the following business practices, even at the
better schools:
Prolonging your training. Does the website mention the minimum time but the
average student finishes their private pilot licence at 80 hours?
Treating you like a bag of money. Are briefings and questions frowned upon? Are
you pressured into the cockpit? Do you constantly request a meeting with the CFI
only to be told hes busy?
Inexperienced Flight Instructors Teaching Ground School. Teaching ground
school is not glamorous, it doesnt pad the logbook, and it certainly isnt easy. Are
newly minted instructors with no real life experience teaching a subject that should
only be taught by seasoned pros?
Do Their Instructors Recommend The School? You would be surprised at how
many instructors would not recommend learning at their place of employment. Just
remember that many fast food workers will not eat where they work for that same
reason!
Do They Train Specialty Take-offs and Landings on Soft Surfaces? Part of your
private and commercial curriculum will involve making landings on soft and short
fields. Many large flight schools avoid these runways since it requires more
 experience, a slightly higher level of hand-eye coordination from instructors and a
familiarity with these surfaces or uncontrolled aerodromes. Most schools only pay
lip-service to short and soft field landings by simulating (a generous synonym for
imagining) a short or soft surface. That is a disservice to your training!
Types of Instruction. Do they claim to be the best yet seem excessively restrictive
with manoeuvres, weather, and aircraft types under the guise of safety?

Recommendations on Picking the Right School and Getting

the Most for Your Money

Find reviews on your potential schools. Forums like http://www.avcanada.ca/

should not be overlooked.
Talk to current students instructors that are visibly candid and open. See how they
feel about the school in question.
$120-130 Cessna152s and DA-20s can teach you just as much as the larger aircraft.
Look for schools that are not at large airports. You dont want to spend your time
taxiing, and flying straight-and-level
Pick a school with a diverse fleet. You will have a primary training aircraft, but you
will need to experience multiple airframes.
Dont get sucked into the expensive glass cockpits, find affordable aircraft and rent
those to keep spending at a reasonable amount.
Receive at least some aerobatic and tail-dragger training. We will discuss this later
on.
Avoid schools with silly uniforms that mimic airline and military rank structure.
Your focus is flying, not showing off.

Private Flight School List

Here is a non-exhaustive list of reputable private flight schools that will help you begin
your research into choosing the right school for you.
Flight School Location(s) Website Listed Cost
Before Tax
($CAD)
Brampton Caledon, https://www.bramptonflightcentre.com $62,000
Flight Centre Ontario
Calgary Flight Didsbury, http://calgaryflight.com/ $58,307
Training Alberta
Centre
Cornwall Cornwall, http://www.cornwallaviation.com/ $41,701
Ontario
Edmonton Spruce Grove, http://www.flyefc.ca/ $60,473
Flying Club Alberta
Harvs Air Steinbach http://harvsair.com/ $41,362
and/or
St. Andrews,
Manitoba
Langley Langley, British http://www.langleyflyingschool.com/ $42,576
Flying School Columbia
Moncton Moncton, http://www.mfc.nb.ca/ Unlisted
Flight College New Brunswick
Pacific Flying Delta, http://www.pacificflying.com/ $59,157
Club British
Columbia
Professional Delta, http://proifr.com/ $48,144
Flight Centre British
Columbia

Remember NOT to look at the listed cost as it is usually understated to Transport Canada
minimums. Make sure to find out the total rental and instructor rate per hour and use that
as a general guide for price comparison.
Do not forget that many flight schools also forget to list the time building cost that
occurs between the private licence and the commercial licence (as mentioned earlier, a
total of 100 hours pilot-in-command time is required for the commercial licence).
Training Aircraft Selection
Picking Your Training Aircraft

Aircraft pricing depends on model, flight schools and cockpit configuration. As mentioned
earlier, if you wish to keep your flight training budget to the lowest required amount, stick
to the Cessna 152/150 or DA20 or Citabrias as much as possible. The Citabria may be a bit
more expensive but the benefits of learning on a tail-dragger may be far greater than the
extra $10 spent per hour on the aircraft over a regular C152. We will discuss tail-draggers
and their benefits to your training later.

Cockpit Instrument Configuration

It is easy to fall in love with a fully digital cockpit layout!

Above left we see the Garmin 1000 glass panel inside of the Diamond DA-40 while on the
above right image we see steam gauges or analog gauges that make up your standard 6
pack, radio navigation aids, engine instruments, etc. While the cockpit on the left seems
vastly more futuristic and relatable to video games and airbuses, by sticking to analog
gauges you can save upwards of $60 per hour in flight time and start to build good habits
with your instrument cross-check.
Propeller Configuration
Fixed pitch or constant speed propeller?

In-case you are wondering, the constant speed propeller allows for better performance in
all phases of flight, it is vastly more efficient but not mandatory for flight. In climbs, the
propeller blades move into a fine position or have a lower profile for less drag. Once in
cruise, the propeller blades become course and push more air behind the plane. Imagine a
swimmer performing the breast stroke with his arms in either of two positions: hands
parallel to the water as they move behind his body and push the water back (in the fine
pitch position) or hands perpendicular to the floor (in the course pitch position), pushing
back more water for larger strides.
Financially, it will be best to stick to fixed pitch for the duration of your learning until at
least close to the multi-engine stage concurrent to, or after your commercial licence. The
multi-engine trainer will have constant speed, and will come intuitively for the most part,
but there is a lot of rich educational text on the system with just that one extra propeller
pitch control.

Retractable Gear
Similar to the constant speed propeller, having gear that retracts after take-off (and the
extra 5 knots or so of airspeed) is a luxury and can be learned in the multi-engine stage.
You may also come across the term complex aircraft. This is in regards to an airplane with
both retractable gear and a constant speed prop. Hold off on your excitement to master
these additional systems until at least your commercial pilot licence if your budget is tight.
Landing Gear Configuration, Nose Gear vs.
Conventional/tail-dragger
In the first half century of flight, the tail-dragger was the only option for landing gear
configuration. Near the end of World War 2, landing gear slowly evolved and started to
transition into the nose gear aircraft that we see today.

The nose-wheel, aka tricycle configuration has many benefits over tail-draggers:
Better visibility on take-off and landing
Forward centre-of gravity allows the tail to swing in back into the proper position for
take-off or landing. This adds tremendously to the ease in training pilots and lowering
incidents such as the ground loop.
Less reliance on the rudder during take-offs and landings
Application of breaks early on will not risk the propeller enduring a prop strike or
wheel barrow

This may seem like a great invention, and it is undoubtedly the preferred choice for
airliners. It does not help your training as an early pilot and often times the student pilots
will get away with not knowing how to properly use the rudder pedals! Tail-draggers also
require more precision on take-offs or landings, otherwise ground loops occur! This instils
a higher level of skill and understanding of energy management and rudder control on
landing. The closest analogy would be to learning how to drive on a manual car vs. the
automatic. Outside of take-off and landing, aircraft of both configurations act the same.

The benefits of tail-draggers to student pilots and private owners are:

Induce better hands and feet or stick and rudder in the student pilot on take-off
and landing
Better ground clearance for the propeller, allowing for operations on grass and gravel
Most aerobatic aircraft are also tail-draggers, giving the student the ability to train in
another dimension
 Tail-wheels are lighter and normally also made from tube and fabric allowing for
better performance for the same engine

Try your best to find a school with a tail dragger. In the ideal scenario you will finish your
private licence and commercial under the tail-dragger, but at the very least try to fly a
dozen hours on tail-wheels. You will be a much better and less complacent pilot for it!

Summary:
To maintain the lowest possible budget:
Fly with the old style steam gauges instead of the shiny digital cockpit through most
of your training.
Fixed-pitch propellers and fixed gear aircraft may not be as sexy, but they allow for
cheaper rental rates. You will come across constant speed propellers and retractable
gear in your multi-engine training. However, there is some merit to the argument that
you may save a bit of money by learning both systems on a single right before the
transition during your commercial pilot licence
Try to learn on a tail-dragger instead of a nose wheel as much as possible
Materials for Study, Whats really required for
Flight Training?

Every school provides a private pilot licence package for around $300-350. After
completing the ab-initio training and receiving the private licence, students tend to find a
lot of options towards studying for their commercial, multi-engine and instrument licences.
In general, textbooks are luckily not as expensive as those found at universities and are far
more standardized.

I will give you the general scoop on where you can save money, and what you will
inevitably need throughout your training. We will discuss the essential private pilot licence
items:

1. Textbooks
2. Pilot Training Record
3. Pilot Operating Handbook
4. Logbook
5. Aviation Rulers and Plotters
6. Flight Computers (new and old)
7. Maps and the Canada Flight Supplement
8. Kneeboard
9. Headset

A separate section will be granted to the topic of conventional in-class ground school and
the newer online ground schools.
Private Pilot Licence Textbooks and Miscellaneous
Materials
The private licence textbooks and materials will allow you to not only prepare for the final
private licence written test, but also build a strong foundation in your knowledge. As an
analogy, new flight instructors tend to reread their private licence material to better help
guide their students.

From The Ground Up - Sandy A.F. Macdonald

Millennium Edition
Latest Edition

Not much has changed from the older so either copy will be sufficient for study. This book
will be your main text for the written exam and the academic portions of your training.
A competitive price for a brand new copy would be around $60 before shipping or up to
$80 at a flight school.

Flight Training Manual (FTM) - Transport Canada

Flight Training Manual (FTM)

This is your main text for the private pilot licences flight manoeuvre portion, aka the
practical portion of your training. There are 26 exercises/topics in the private pilot
curriculum. This text will go into detail on each and the related exercise/topic should be
read and well understood prior to each flight.
The FTM should cost approximately $20.

Pilot Training Record (PTR)

Pilot Training Record
The pilot training record is not your logbook. This book, like your logbook will have a
complete log of your flight hours, instructors, exercises performed in flight, and instructor
comments. You will send this document into Transport Canada, and never see it again upon
completion of your licence.

Pro tip - make sure to constantly update both your logbook and your pilot
training record. Commonly, students defer inscribing their flights into
logbooks and leave many entries to the very last minute. What ensues is a
headache from being unable to have the pilot training record and logbook
matching one another, a must prior to your flight school signing off on the
PTR.

The PTR should cost less than $5.

Logbook
You will need your own logbook. It will be yours until the end of time.

There are a few factors when choosing a logbook:

1. Size - Small logbooks will typically have enough space for 200-300 entries. Just
enough for your training up to the commercial or instructor rating. Larger ones can
last well past your training and years into a professional pilot career.
2. Content - Smaller logbooks save room by leaving out sections that will be important
later on, such as multi-engine time, or IFR approaches.
3. Governing body - The North American TC and FAA logbooks have subtle
differences to the European EASA logbooks. For example, the Europeans log flight
time in minutes while North Americans use decimals.
4. Your logbook will be sent to Transport Canada upon completion of the commercial
licence for a few months for inspection.
My recommendation is to purchase a small logbook for training and an additional large
logbook upon completion of the commercial licence. Students tend to also make mistakes
on their first logbook, giving it a level of unprofessionalism therefore allowing you to
separate the initial sloppy entries from the later more refined entries that you will show
potential employers.

Small Logbooks can cost just under $20 while larger ones can cost between $30 and $80
depending on the quality. Remember that this will be your diary and may become the most
important book you own.

Pro-tip - Keep an Excel file or electronic copy of your entries in case your
logbook is lost. Moves, fires, water damage, and anything else possible may
destroy that all important book. Creating another may be an extraordinary
burden. There are even a few online logbook services which can be free plus
downloadable professional looking Microsoft Excel logbook templates.

Pilot Operating Handbook (POH)

It is most efficient to stick to mainly one aircraft type throughout your training. Each
aircraft model have their own owners manual that have a wide variety of information
about your training machine.

Examples of important information provided that must be memorized and

understood: weight restrictions, balance/centre of gravity restrictions, landing and take-
off performance, emergency procedures, fuel economy and range performance charts, and
much more. You must become intimate with your plane through its POH. Planes are vastly
more restrictive than cars.
Expect to pay around $20 for your aircrafts POH from the flight school.

Flight Computer: E6B or CX2

Transport Canada will use either flight computer during all written tests (you may also
bring a non-programmable calculator to supplement your E6B if you so wish).

The CX-2 can cost around $80 new but is much more user friendly. Plastic E6Bs can cost as
little as $10 while spending an extra $10 to $20 can get you a metal version. There are
different versions of the sliding calculator by different companies; they are just aesthetic
variations of the same calculator. The E6B coupled with a standard non-programmable
calculator will give the student just as many functions but will require more practise as it is
the older method of calculating altitudes, airspeeds, and mathematical conversions
between units in aviation such as fuel and speeds. With enough proficiency, an E6B can
even be used as a regular calculator, but this will require much practise and may give more
room for error during written tests when adrenaline is high and simple arithmetic mistakes
are common.

There is some merit in purchasing both styles of flight calculator, especially if you plan to
instruct upon completion of all your licences and ratings, otherwise purchasing the CX-2
alone will give you the easiest experience during the written test.

Aviation Ruler with Protractor and Plotter

These will become your friend during the navigation phase (about 2/3rds into the private
pilot licence). I recommend purchasing the best ruler, as it will only cost a few dollars more
than the basic aviation ruler. Plotters are mostly the same as well.
Both together should cost no more than $15-$20.
Square Protractor
Aviation Ruler with Round Protractor
Maps and the Canada Flight Supplement (CFS)
As a private pilot student, you will have to deal with only visual flying reference maps. The
two that you will eventually need are the VFR Navigational Chart (VNC) and VFR Terminal
Chart (VTA). The VNC is a 1:500000 map which is for general airport to airport navigation
within a large region while the VTA is a smaller 1:250000 map, normally for flying into
large city airspaces and airports such as Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, etc. The CFS gives a
list of all public airports and aerodromes in Canada along with all of their published specific
information.

Both the maps and the CFS are published regularly, with the old documents becoming
expired. The CFS is updated every 56 days. VNC and VTA charts are subject to expiry only
when a new one is published. You must use up-to-date maps and CFS on your flight test.
Therefore I recommend purchasing your required maps and CFS once you have
reached the navigational portion of your private licence.
Both maps and CFS can be found for approximately $20 each. It would be a shame to
purchase these documents, only to find out they are expired when you really need them.

Kneeboard
The kneeboard is a very subjective topic! Every pilot has his own preference to kneeboards,
and their configuration. It is not mandatory, and some private pilots do not bother to use
a kneeboard.

I recommend purchasing the inexpensive ASA kneeboard at the beginning for around $25-
$40 and getting a feel from the beginning. This will allow you to easily write down ATIS,
clearances/directions/vectors/commands by air traffic control. I also recommend placing
your airports chart into the see-through sleeve to help you quickly understand taxi
clearances. Later in your flying career, if you so wish, you can upgrade to a more expensive
kneeboard.

Headset
Before purchasing a headset, be absolutely sure about your aviation goals. I recommend
deferring this purchase until you are absolutely sure that you will a) complete your licence,
b) fly professionally and often, c) have researched and like the headset of your choosing.

All flight schools should provide cheap headsets to their students. Some flight schools
charge around $5 per flight hour for this service. Over just 40 hours the student has paid
$200 in headset fees alone at participating flight schools that charge their students! Even
when free, these headsets are not particularly comfortable and may hurt after an hour or so
of flying. Adding to the mix is the poor sound quality common amongst the low end in
headsets that may require the student pilot to *gasp* use the dreaded Please say again
phrase!

There are two types of aviation headsets: Active and Passive Noise cancelling. Passive
noise cancelling is a fancy way of saying these headsets drown outside noise through
physically blocking it, or clamping on your ears. Active noise cancelling headsets create
electrically create signals which interfere with outside noise, neutralizing it. Therefore
active noise cancelling (ANC) headsets, sometimes also called active noise reduction (ANR)
headsets are more expensive and comfortable than the original passive noise cancelling
headsets.

David Clark headsets are usually the most popular passive noise cancelling headset
brand. They are known for their ruggedness and longevity.
(http://www.davidclarkcompany.com)
There are many types of passive noise cancelling headsets and the price can range from
$90 to over $500. Within the last two decades the world famous Bose and a newer
company dedicated to creating amazing aviation headsets:LightSpeed Aviation
(http://www.lightspeedaviation.com) have competed for the top ANC aviation headset
market. Top ANC headsets can cost between $1100 and $1400.

There are also many used headsets on the market by students that never finished their
training so check http://amazon.ca , http://www.kijiji.ca or, http://www.AvCanada.ca
and your local flight schools.

Pro tip for purchasing new headsets Make sure you purchase from a Canadian pilot shop
or you may receive a massive tariff on the import of your headset. Ive seen someone
receive a $200 tariff on a $1200 headset during my civilian pilot student years.

Ground School
Most schools still offer the conventional in-class ground school program. These programs
are a little dated and sometimes have many inherent issues to them.
Teaching ground school does not award flight hours, thus it is generally given to
inexperienced and new flight instructors who simply do not have the experience to
give amazing lectures outside of following the standard PowerPoint handed to them
by your flight school. It takes that same new instructor around 4 to 8 hours of
preparation to brush up on his knowledge per three hour ground school session
which can add to the cost of your conventional ground school and lead to a high turn-
over rate
Conventional ground school has a schedule, and if you miss a class you must wait for
the current intake to finish and the next intake to reach the same point you missed,
which can take up to three months of delay!
There is no replay button on a finished class and notes taken are the closest
alternative!
 In class ground school usually costs a bit more as well around $300 to $350.
Commute time

I recommend finding a good online ground school curriculum for the following reasons:
Classes are on both video and slide format
You can replay a video or reread slides as much as you like
There may be more to choose from and more detail involved
Carry on at your pace from your own home
Generally about $100 cheaper
Include online practice tests which are timed and accurate!

Harvs Air www.pilottraining.ca is a well-known example which I have gone through myself
(I receive no funds for advertising the curriculum). You may even begin a subscription
prior to starting your flight training but keep in mind you will be unable to test and practise
the concepts, making it very difficult to learn and retain information. You are also eligible
to write the private pilot written test after 10 flight hours. Unlike the commercial,
instructor, and instrument rating written tests, this test can actually be written in any
authorized location, which means most flight schools.

A common issue with student pilots is their inability to both study and fly. Certain students
attend ground school yet never fly, while others only fly and hate to study. In order to be
successful you MUST do both. Do so concurrently.
Private Pilot Curriculum Details: Your First
Taste of Being a Pilot

The curriculum laid out by Transport Canada has 30 exercises. This chapter will give you
a general understanding of each exercise and the flow of your private licence training.
These exercises can be found in the Flight Training Manual mentioned in the last chapter.
Upon completion of a flight, your instructor will check off all exercises performed and
taught in your Pilot Training Record.

First Flight: Exercises 1-4

Exercises that you will experience on your first flight:
1. Exercise 1 Familiarization
2. Exercise 2 Aircraft Familiarization and Preparation for Flight
3. Exercise 3 Ancillary Controls
4. Exercise 4 Taxiing

Important points:
Flight Schools usually offer familiarization flight prices at around $99.00 per half-
hour of flying and half-hour of briefing. This will be the cheapest training flight that
you will ever get!
The first flight can be exhilarating, but it can also be overwhelming. Read exercises 1-
5 from the Flight Training Manual beforehand to give yourself the best chance at
comprehending as much as possible
This is likely your first flight in a small airplane so enjoy

Your first flight can either be extremely casual and almost solely handled by the instructor
or you can request to be briefed on the taxi and take-off as well as some flying. The only
manoeuvre that you can expect your instructor to do on his own, during this flight, is the
landing. Note: some instructors will not feel comfortable letting you take-off on your first
flight

Mission Flow: You will be briefed on the main exterior components of the aircraft, flight
controls, and flight instruments. Once outside, you will be shown a walk-around of the
airplane. This is a standard pre-flight ritual done by the pilot to ensure his machine is
visually airworthy. Canadian training aircraft must be on a rigorous 50 hour maintenance
schedule so there should be nothing wrong with your aircraft. The second purpose of the
walk-around is to check fuel and oil levels. As mentioned in a previous chapter, the most
common training aircraft found in Canada are the Cessna 172, Cessna 152, and the Piper
PA-28.

Once you have finished the walk-around and have your fuel and oil, you will return to the
flight school to fill out a Weight-and-Balance to ensure that your aircraft will be within
legal and operational weight and centre of gravity limits using the planes empty weight,
the weight of yourself and your pilot, plus the fuel weight that was checked on your walk-
around.

Finally, your instructor will help you strap-in to the left seat and guide you through all the
aircraft checks and ultimately start the aircrafts engine! You will perform a run-up to
ensure your engine is running well and then taxi into position and take-off!

Tips on taxi: The proper technique is to have your toes on the bottom of the pedals and
your heels on the floor. The pedals can activate both the rudder by pushing the left pedal
or the right pedal or the pedals can activate the differential brakes by consciously placing
your toes on the top of either (or both) pedals and depressing them. You will not need a lot
of power to taxi, only a slight nudge of the throttle to get the plane moving and then bring
the throttle back to idle and taxi with just the rudder. If you need to stop or tighten a turn
you may use your brakes. As a principle: do not use power above idle and braking at the
same time. Be smooth and slow.
Tips on take-off: Line yourself up on the middle of the runway as carefully as you can.
Make sure to have your toes at the bottom of the pedals to activate only the rudders. If the
take-off must be aborted, your instructor will be the one to use brakes and will take
control. Push the throttle to max over a gradual 3-4 second period of time. As the aircraft
begins to accelerate, apply enough right rudders to maintain centre line. With enough
speed very gently pull back on the yolk, expect only 2-3 inches of back pressure to be
enough for a rotation.

Enjoy the rest of the flight; your instructor will be giving you play-by-play advice on
absolutely everything. Try to see if you have a good dynamic with your instructor and his
teaching style works well with your learning style.

The Upper Air Work Flights: Exercises 5-15, 29 and 30

Your next 6 or so flights will mainly revolve around what is known as upper air work and
getting used to how airplanes perform in various power settings, attitudes and airspeeds.
The exercises that you will experience during your upper air work flights are:

1. Exercise 5 Attitudes and Movements

2. Exercise 6 Straight and Level
3. Exercise 7 Climbing
4. Exercise 8 Descending
5. Exercise 9 Turns
6. Exercise 10 Flight for Range and Endurance
7. Exercise 11 Slow Flight
8. Exercise 12 Stalls
9. Exercise 13 Spinning
10. Exercise 14 Spiral
11. Exercise 15 Slipping
12. Exercise 16 Take-offs
13. Exercise 29 Emergency Procedures
 14. Exercise 30 Radio Communications

Over the course of these flights, you will learn to change airspeeds, flight levels, headings,
and control the aircraft in both slow and fast airspeeds. Notice how exercises 5 to 10
require relatively faster airspeeds while exercise 11 drops the airspeed to about 5-10
knots above the aircrafts stall speed. Exercise 12 then continues to slow the aircraft down
all the way into the stall. Your upper air work will have that progression, from fast to slow
since aircraft manipulation is harder when the airplane has a slow indicated airspeed.
Slow flight will mimic your airplane in landing configuration with just one difference: the
height at which you perform slow flight is thousands of feet above the ground! Performing
stalls will give you an understanding of the symptoms leading to the stall, very similar to
slow flight but even more pronounced. You will learn to recover and this will instil
confidence in your flying ability.

Exercise 13, the Spin, is a very controversial exercise. Defined as a stall aggravated by
yaw or in laymans terms: a stall that corkscrews. Some students absolutely hate it due
to its dynamic nature and close resemblance to aerobatics while other students love it for
those very same reasons!

Your instructor will induce the spin and you will be taught to recover from it. Do not fear
this manoeuvre or become overly anxious. Your typical training aircraft does not spin well.
To add to the controversy of spin training, the Americans, for instance, do not practise the
spin. It is not mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), their aviation
governing body.

Exercise 14, Spiral, may sound similar to the spin but it is actually completely different! A
spiral is a steep descending turn in which airspeed, rate of descent and wing loading
increase rapidly. Imagine a pilot flying over a point on the ground that grabs his attention.
It may be a heard of buffalo, a passengers home, a landmark, or anything really. As he
stares at his point, his aircrafts nose starts dipping towards the ground. Before he realizes
what has happened, his aircraft has already accelerated towards the ground and he may
not have much altitude left to correct!

Exercise 15, Slipping, has two purposes: crosswind correction on landing (and take-off but
less noticeable to the inexperienced student) and descending quickly without increasing
airspeed excessively. This exercise is subtle yet very difficult, requiring finesse and much
practice. Perfecting the crosswind correction can take the student well past his private pilot
licence to master.

Each flight will allow you another chance to practise Exercise 16, Take-offs.

Exercise 29, Emergency procedures, will be introduced to you in this phase and must be
memorized and recollected before your first solo. It is highly recommended, even
mandatory to know these procedures by heart. They can be found in your POH. These
procedures will usually be given through table-top or hypothetical questions.

Exercise 30, Radio Communications, will generally be picked up over the course of
training and will depend on a few factors, like density of the city that your flight schools
airport is located in (related to the classes of airspace that you may experience upon
departure) and if it is a controlled or uncontrolled airport. There are various small radio
communication study guides that can help you learn the basics of the radio. Innovation,
Science and Economic Development Canada (otherwise known as Industry Canada)
provides the radio permit which you must acquire before you can solo, along with your
PSTAR, and Medical.

The Circuit Flights: Exercises 16-18, 20

This phase of training revolves almost entirely around what we call the circuit (also
known as the pattern).
Exercise 17 will teach you how to manoeuvre around the airport safely and in
standardized fashion. This concept is no different from the separation lines on roads that
allow cars to pass one another at speeds over 100 km/h. There are five legs in the
standard left-hand (left turns) pattern:

1. The Take-off/departure leg, also sometimes (erroneously) known as the upwind

leg
2. The Cross-wind leg
3. The Downwind leg
4. Base leg
5. Final leg

You will be taught specific circuit radio procedures, the ways of joining the circuit from the
air, emergencies in the pattern and of course how to approach and land!

Exercise 18, approach and landing can be the most satisfying part of flying (ironic isnt it?).
A pilot is usually judged only on his landing. That last saying has a lot of merit but in the
grand scheme of things, the landing is just a part of the private licence progression and is
not the end all be all of flying, far from it. In order to give yourself the best possible chance
of landing well, fly the best possible final approach possible with the least amount of
altitude and heading oscillations. A great analogy would be a batter stepping up to the plate
and hitting a relatively slow and predictable underhand thrown ball. A well maintained
final approach will set you up for success.

Exercise 20, illusions created by drift can be subtle or prominent depending on wind
conditions in flight and if the flight instructor wishes to make this a feature exercise during
a flight. The idea is that wind can ultimately affect a planes direction over the ground, and
without correction by the pilot the pattern and turns can ultimately be affected by being
tightened or widened, with certain legs of the pattern being sped up or slowed down
depending on the direction of wind in relation to the pattern.
First Solo: Exercise 19!
You only receive one first solo in your life, and you will always remember it. This is a great
stepping stone! Remember that it is only the halfway point of your licence, and not the end.

The requirements have been stated before, but just in case:

1. Medical with a Civil Aviation Medical Examiner
2. P-Star Test Complete (50 Multiple choice, 90% to pass)
3. Radio Permit from Industry Canada
4. PTR Signed off for solo recommend by your instructor (Student Pilot Permit)

Expect to make 1-3 runs through the pattern on this monumental flight. Dont become
overwhelmed. Your instructor would not let you solo if he didnt think you were ready, just
enjoy the thrill and try not to let the adrenaline overcome you. Once youve landed, expect
to receive the first solo congratulatory ritual: Either being dunked in a tub of cold water or
having a bucket of cold water dumped on you (regardless of season!).

Specialty Circuits and Pre-Cross Country: Exercises 16, 18, 21-23

This is a very challenging phase of flight training. At the end of this phase you will be ready
to write the Transport Canada private pilot licence written exam (PPAER) if you have been
concurrently studying with your flight training.

Typically, you will now be confident to regular take-offs and landings. You will now be
taught how to take-off and land at airports or aerodromes that have either short runways
or grass strips. This may be hypothetical at most and done at the same runway, but the
principle is still there. I highly recommend you request the instructor to take you to real
grass strips and short runways to demonstrate and perform short or soft take-offs and
landings.

You will then be taught exercise 21: precautionary landing and exercise 22: forced
landing.
The precautionary landing has two purposes:
1) To allow the pilot to investigate a potential landing strip, and its surroundings.
2) To give the pilot a procedure to properly and thoroughly inspect a field or strip of land
from the air in case they would need to land due to unforeseen circumstances such as a fuel
leak, engine deterioration, disorientation in poor weather , extremely ill passenger, etc.

The forced landing exercise gives the pilot a procedure to tackle the most chaotic
possibility in flight: catastrophic engine failure, uncommanded propeller feather, or other
factors leading to a massive loss of thrust.

Finally, you will be taught how to read maps and divert in exercise 23, pilot navigation.
Imagine flying a pre-planned route but mid-flight realizing that the weather has
unexpectedly deteriorated under the circumstances, and you do not have the instrument
rating or capability to fly through clouds as of yet to complete the planned mission. You
must now take your current position and divert to a suitable alternative airport where
weather is manageable.

Your instructor and ground school will also teach you how to fill out navigation log cards or
navlogs and how to write up and file flight plans. This takes a relatively considerable
amount of study and practice at the beginning so be prepared to spend about three hours
for your first few navlogs. This skill will help you throughout your flying career.

You will also be taught how to use navigational aids like the VHF-Omni Directional Range
(VOR), Automatic Direction Finder (ADF), and potentially some light use of the GPS.

Cross Country: Exercise 23

By this phase of flight, you will have four crucial flights along various predetermined routes
to foreign airports. Two of which will be solo, the bigger of the two will be 150 NM and
will have you stop at two foreign airports.
You will become proud of your ability to read meteorological reports. You could even
impress your friends by interpreting weather reports during the news before the
weatherman even begins to introduce himself (a not as well-known pilot ability)!

All your prior training in navigation, circuits, radio communications, airways, and
airmanship will lead to your success in this phase. Expect to spend many hours planning
each of these flights, but it will be worth it, I promise! This is the second last phase of
training as a private pilot student.

Flying under Instruments and Hitting the Standard:

Exercise 24
You are required to have 5 hours of instrument time (3 of which can be in a simulator).
The purpose of this instrument training is not to help you purposely enter and fly shrouded
by clouds but rather to have you feel the sensations of flying using just flight instruments.
Your head will be fooled by illusions, most commonly the leans. You may feel
overwhelmed at times, and each flight may seem very unnatural. This is arguably also your
introduction to the fundamentals of the instrument rating.

Once youve learned to fly on all your flight instruments, your instructor will simulate a
failure of your attitude indicator and heading indicator. You will now be flying totally blind
with a partial instrument panel and succeeding!

The very last treat given to you during instrument flying will be recovery from unusual
attitudes. Your instructor will either pitch the aircraft to an excessively nose up or down
attitude and using your airspeed indicator, you will analyze the situation and recover to a
level attitude. Expect to have a few review flights to patch up any weaknesses in your flying
and remove the rust.
Your final flight with your instructor will be called the pre-flight test which will be a mock
test where your instructor will act like an examiner. You are now ready for your flight test!
To conclude the training, your instructor will now sign a letter of recommendation for the
flight test!

Flight Test Day!

This is the day when all of your hard work will pay off. Being nervous is common, try to
subdue the emotions as best as possible. Easier said than done right?

Flight tests are normally performed by private flight examiners who are normally regular
flight instructors. Each examiner sets their own examination rate but expect to pay
between $300 to $400 to the examiner, and about 2.0 hours in flight time for the aircraft.
As you can see, flight tests are expensive and coupled with review flights post failed test
can result in up to $2,000 in extra cost for a licence.

The entire test curriculum is online and can be found at:

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/publications/tp13723-menu-2494.htm

You must read this guide before your test. The very first question of the test is whether
you have read the guide. If not, the test ends there.
Required preparation for the test:
A navlog of a predetermined route given to the student one night prior to the test
Calculations of landing and take-off distances for different scenarios
Studying for various fundamental questions that will appear

The test consists of an oral portion, and a flying portion.

Your oral portion/ground brief will consist of your navlog being presented, the weather of
the day being briefed to your examiner, and hypothetical scenarios being brought up to see
how you would react. The brief will move into fundamental questions and answers.
Here is a list of potential questions:
1. How long is the private pilot licence valid for?
2. How long is the medical valid for?
3. List your aircraft speeds by memory
4. What affects stall speeds?
5. What is manoeuvring speed (Va)?
6. How does weight affect (Va)?
7. What type of fuel can your plane use and where can we find that information?
8. What type of oil does your plane use and where can we find that information?
9. Explain weight and balance
10. How does balance affect the performance of the aircraft in flight? (including cruise
and recovery from unusual attitudes)
11. What is the difference between the normal and utility categories?
12. What are the documents required to be on board an aircraft?
13. Does the certificate of airworthiness expire?
14. Does the certificate of registration expire?
15. How long does the new owner have to notify transport Canada of their aircraft
purchase?
16. Does the ELT need to be on the aircraft?
17. How much does insurance cover? What are the components of the insurance?
18. What type of fuel can your plane use?
19. What RPM must you see on the initial static take-off power with full throttle?
20. What is the maintenance schedule like for a flight school? How about a private
aircraft owner?
21. How often does the journey log need to be updated?

A good text on the flight tests oral portion is Flight Test Notes and can be picked up for
around $30
Once you have passed the oral portion, you will be expected to show the examiner a weight
and balance, and a thorough walk-around with many questions about obscure components
of the aircraft! Such as, What does this pipe sticking out under the aircraft do?

There will be an interesting dynamic that you have likely never experienced before. The
examiner will act as both an examiner and a passenger who knows nothing. Expect to belt
your new passenger into the seat, and assume absolutely nothing.

The key to succeeding on this test is to:

Stay calm
Slow everything down
Do not rush procedures
Read your check lists thoroughly
Think before you perform
Make sure to stabilize the aircraft before any upper air work
Ask yourself, How can I stay ahead of the aircraft? during your free moments: Trim,
ATIS, navigational instruments, radio, engine instruments, maps.
The instructor will have a serious demeanour and will be writing notes at all times
when they are not acting as a passenger, this is standardized procedure and will not
be indicative of a bad test. This will be your first experience with the sterile cockpit
phenomenon.

General flow of the test from take-off:

Specialty take-off
Climb and head to the first set heading point on your navigation log
Upon hitting your heading point, give an updated ETA based on your calculated
ground speed to destination
Divert to a discernible town, landmark, or area given to you by your examiner
Execute a precautionary landing procedure
Return to practice area for slow flight, stalls, spin and spiral recovery
 Execute a forced landing
Return to base for two circuits worth of specialty landings and one more specialty
take-off
Taxi to the ramp for the de-brief and results

If you were unsuccessful on one or two items listed, the flight test will be deemed a
partial and you will be allowed to test just those items again after some review with an
instructor who must then give you another recommendation. The partial flight test must be
flown within 30 days of the original flight test.

Being unsuccessful on three or more items, receiving an overall score of below 50%, failing
the oral portion, or displaying objectively unsafe judgement in flight will result in a failure
and the need to redo the entire flight test.

On the successful completion of the private pilot flight test, you will receive a temporary
pilot licence. Expect your blue pilot licence to be printed and shipped to you within 3
months from Transport Canada.

This will be a monumental day, from aspirant to winged pilot. That will be only the
beginning for you. This is a ticket to learn. The responsibility given to you is great. You may
now take up to five passengers in daylight for joy rides. Be careful of those first few hours
with passengers as nerves and missed checklist items are common. Impressing friends and
family is serious business! Take this licence and its responsibilities very seriously because
there will no longer be an instructor giving you the yes or no to your decisions.

By this point, you will have an understanding of what training is required to become a
professional pilot and continue through the curriculum. While training, remember to make
sure to build strong bonds with other pilots who are serious about pursuing careers. If you
wish to continue with an instructor rating past commercial licence, then every hour at your
flight school is an interview. Remember to exercise sound judgement at all times, dress
well, come well prepared to each and every flight and show only the highest interest in
your flying.

I also recommend sitting as a passenger with other commercial licence students (yes you
are now able to!) who are soloing. Get a feel for their flying styles and more experience in
different aircraft.

The commercial pilot licence curriculum is similar to the private pilot licence but with 200
hours of flight time, higher standards, and just one new technique nicknamed the power of
180. Further requirements are listed at the beginning of this guide.

Further texts I recommend to help continue the learning process as a pilot:

Stick and Rudder - Wolfgang Langewiesche
The Killing Zone: How and Why Pilots Die - Paul A. Craig

Royal Canadian Air Force Weather Manual (known also as Weather Command)
Takeoffs and Landings: The Crucial Maneuvers & Everything in Between - Leighton Collins
Interview with Oliver Wery, a Young Canadian
Bush Pilot

Thanks for taking the time to help future pilots out! Please introduce yourself:
My name is Oliver. I was born in Canada. But I lived in Belgium from ages 1 to 18. I have
dual citizenship. Since I was a little kid I dreamed of becoming a pilot. I believe that my
passion for aviation started with the comic Buck Danny, about a United States military pilot.
I dreamt of becoming an F-16 pilot but under the Belgian Defense Force, that dream
vanished one rainy morning in December when I was taking the medical exam to become a
Belgian air cadet and an optometrist told me: Sorry Son, it's not going to happen.

I didn't really want to fly airliners and in Belgium it's about the only flying career you can
have if you don't fly for the military. By force of hand, when I turned 18, I dropped out of
high school and flew halfway around the globe to start my flight training in Southern
Manitoba.

What City and Country are you from? Why did you want to become a pilot and why
did you pick Canada for flight training?
I was born in Montreal Quebec. But my Belgian parents took me back to Belgium when I
was 1 year old. I grew up in a few different cities of Belgium. All French speaking, although I
was really close to the German border.

I chose to fly in Canada for a couple of reasons. The most notable factor was the price of
training. Flight training is a whole different world in Belgium. Usually you start by writing
the ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot Licence) written exams before you touch an airplane.
Then you do about 150 hours of actual flying on a single piston aircraft followed by some
work on a light twin engine. Then you do a bunch of sim, and get turbine rating. After that
you look for a job and it's very likely that if you get one you'll have to pay for your type
rating.
The cost of becoming a pilot is anywhere between 60,000 and 120,000. I only spent
about $45,000 CAD, which is about half the price I would have paid in the best case
scenario in Europe. Another reason is that I didnt want to be restricted to airline flying. I
love the sensations that I get from being in control of an airplane. I love banking, I love
pulling the yoke and feeling the load factor increasing. Canada is, in my opinion, one of the
best places for hand flying. The bush side of the aviation industry is huge in Canada. It
helped that I wanted to fly in the bush for at least a few years before trying to move on to
the airlines.

What was the most difficult part of training? What difficulties did you come across
that came unexpected?
Honestly I had it pretty easy in the flight training. I didn't have too many issues learning
how to fly. I think that being passionate about aviation really helped because I was already
at least remotely familiar with many of the things that are completely new to many
students. I also had some glider training before I started on powered aircraft.

What I got frustrated with were the meteorological limits of my school. They wouldn't let
me fly in less than perfect weather. Many schools are like that. In my mind it was unfair and
stressful. I felt the lack of difficult weather provided a disservice in preparing me for the
real world. I knew that in the commercial scene, if you have to do a medical evacuation for
example. You won't say, Oh no I'm not going because it's windier than my flight school
limit or, the visibility is lower than what I've been trained to fly in. Sure enough that
became very challenging once I got to fly commercially.

Do you still remember the self-doubts that you had before starting flight training?
My biggest doubt was that I was spending a fortune on my training. Yet I was terribly
unsure about what was going to happen after. I loved every single minute I spent in
airplanes. But I had some crippling anxiety about finding a job after flight training. So many
times I thought to myself, "Screw this, I'd be better off becoming a truck driver". In the end
I knew there was nothing else I could see myself doing. I wish I had been told I would find a
job, and that everything was going to work out. Looking at my friends from flight school,
everyone is now flying commercially, some are in bigger airplanes than others, but
everyone is in the air one way or another.

What do you wish you knew before starting flight training?

I wish I had known that there are jobs out there. I wish I had known that flight training is
useless in a way because real life flying is vastly different. I wish I had known that you have
to take risks in life to get results. I wish I had known that great things come at great costs,
by that I mean that to get where you want to be sometimes you'll have to go up North in the
middle of nowhere far from your loved ones for long times. You might not be able to have a
stable relationship because you might have to move to the other end of the country every 6
months. You might not have a nice apartment because you have to move all the time and
you can't afford to purchase furniture every single time that you move.

Lets start talking about career progression past flight school. What flying jobs have
you had so far? How did you apply and was it difficult to get that first job?
The first job was ironically remarkably easy to get. It was March 2015 and I had just passed
my Commercial written exam. I had about 100 hours under my belt. I started sending
resumes to every float operator I could find. After contacting about a dozen operators I saw
an advertisement on avcanada.ca; 'Looking for experienced beaver driver' I knew I didn't
have the requirements, so I contacted the poster and said I was looking for a dockhand
position that would lead to a flying position the following season. He ended off calling me
back. Just three days later we met at a Tim Hortons in Winnipeg and two days after that I
was signing a work contract!

Then came the real challenge: I had two months to get my Commercial Pilot Licence before
starting my new job. I managed to rush my CPL by May 4th and started my job on May 8th.
That was about the most challenging part of training. I remember getting an anxiety attack
around May 1st because I thought I wasn't going to receive the licence on time.

The job was absolutely horrible. I was going to be a dockhand for a fly-in fishing lodge in
northern Manitoba that had a Cessna 206. The deal was that I would work one season on
the dock and get 50 hours on the C206 as well as a float rating, and the following year I
would be the pilot for the lodge.

No road access, no cell phone coverage, or even FM radio. We had satellite internet but
barely enough to download emails. We did have running water and electricity, even toilets
that flushed, so I guess it could have been worse. I was working many hours, especially at
the beginning. Usually my work days would last anywhere from 8 to 14 hours with no days
off. I had some of the most horrible duties; I remember having to dig though a sceptic tank
to fix a water pump. All I had were latex gloves. I got shit and piss all over me, the bugs
were attacking my face and all I could do was take the bites because my hands were
covered in poop. You know what's worse than digging through a tank of poop and piss?
Repeating the process three times in two months, because the boss was cheap and
wouldn't replace broken equipment. Instead he would "fix" them and they would fail again
shortly thereafter.

I also had to move propane tanks and fuel drums (a propane tank is about 170lbs and a
drum about 450lbs but I usually would have help with the drums). I gained 20lbs of muscle
in just two months. The work itself wasn't always the problem. The problem was the pilot I
was working with. He was a total idiot. Couldn't fly, and scared me a few times. He kept
overtly humiliating me. What drove me over the edge was that he purposely logged the
hours in such a way that I wouldn't be able to count my time own time on the plane. I
almost punched him in front of the boss who offered me but one ultimatum: I could either
keep working but wouldn't be with the pilot and therefore wouldn't get my training, or I
could go home.

I decided to go home. I bitterly regretted my decision to join and wasted a whole season on
the outfit. I felt lost, I felt like I had failed a really important test in life. I couldn't think
straight because I was exhausted and frustrated with no job offer in sight. I left aviation for
a bit and went to work at a ski resort. I would have no choice but to try again the following
summer.
In December that year, I was working for a ski resort when I got a call from a friend. He
knew someone who knew someone who was looking for a float pilot. I sent my resume and
got a call on Boxing Day. On January 2nd I signed my work contract to start in the spring.
2016 was looking very promising. The job was starting on May 1st 2016.

I broke my wrist in March and thought I was done for. Another disappointment that would
further stall my career As luck would have it I healed right in time to start the float
season! So I began flying in Kenora, Ontario. I flew a modified Piper Tripacer on floats.
Thats where I hit another big obstacle: getting checked out on the new airplane. I hadnt
flown in almost a year. I was extremely rusty. I definitely didnt fly like a commercial pilot,
but my boss was amazing. Instead of firing me, he yelled at me with all of his lungs. He even
threatened to hit me in the face if I didnt start improving quickly. This was the
motivation that I needed and eventually I got back to a decent level, he sent me solo and
that was the end of my troubles until the end of the summer. I felt like I really owed my
boss for that, and I decided to work as hard as I could to pay him back for investing in me.

I was living the dream. My job consisted mostly of taking care of fishing tourist camps that
were only accessible by float plane. I had to clean the camps, cut the grass, and make sure
everything was in working order. I even painted three of the cabins. To go to those camps I
was usually alone, although there was the odd time when my boss would come with me. So
I basically had an airplane to myself no one to tell me what to do. I had so much fun flying it
I couldnt believe I was paid to do that.

In the middle of the summer, my workload decreased and I started getting days off. So
another floatplane company in Kenora offered to hire me to load and fuel the planes. You
can never get too much aviation related work experience so I took that job part-time as
well. The summer was coming to an end, and so was my contract. I was supposed to be laid
off on October 1st. Last minute in mid-September I was offered a one month contract in
Red Lake flying a Cessna 185 on floats for a native reserve. So I moved to Red Lake, which
is the Noorduyn Norseman Capital! The flying was a lot more old school than anything I had
ever done before. Navigation was by map only, as there were no GPS waypoints. My
passenger would usually point on the map where they wanted to go and I would go there.
Some of those lakes had rocks hidden underwater, some were very small and therefore
difficult to take off from, some didnt have docks and you were expecting to just dock on the
rocky/grassy shoreline, some had docks that would sink as soon as you would step on them
leaving you with wet feet. It was the good ol bush flying that hasnt changed in 60 years. It
was scary, challenging, but sure enough it taught me a lot about flying.

What do you love most about flying?

Well a lot of pilots I know say they like going new places inaccessible by car. That sure as
hell is an exciting aspect to flying! Although I think that what I love the most about flying is
that feeling I get when Im airborne, the sight of birds taking off below me, or flying
formation with another aircraft. Feeling the Gs when I take a sharp turn. Theres nothing
comparable to it, and theres nothing in life that I enjoy more than a good flight.

What do you hate about the industry?

The first thing I hate is people that dont seem to even remotely like what theyre doing. If
youre a young pilot I think that you have no right to complain. No one forced you to
become a pilot, you knew the rules of the game before you signed up for flight training, and
you should be grateful that you got a job. I also hate pilots who dont like airplanes. I
happened a couple times upon pilots who had no real passion for their job. It was quite the
drag to work with them. They would get annoyed at me for liking airplanes so much. Thats
like me calling myself an artist, going to an art gallery and telling artists that theyre too
focused on their art. Its just not right. I also cant help but think that those people are
stealing the jobs of people who truly deserve them.

What is your career goal?

Id like to keep exploring the remote areas, fly a bigger bush plane, and maybe save lives
through medical evacuations. I hope to someday fly for Kenn Borek Air on the DHC6 Twin
Otter or the DC3 Basler.

What sort of last advice would you give to people aspiring to enter the field?
Dont commit unless theres nothing else you can see yourself doing. Aviation is a cut-
throat industry. You need a lot of determination to succeed and thats true no matter what
path you take. Pilots dont have the glamorous lifestyle that they used to have back in the
days of Pan America and the golden age of Air France. Ask yourself if you wouldnt be
happier doing another job that would make you wealthy and fly your own plane on the
private side instead.

If you are truly passionate about flying and cant see yourself doing anything else, then go
for it. Dont look back, be ready to give up everything, be humble, and enjoy the ride.
Everyone I know that was truly passionate, and put in the hard work, is now paid to fly.
Deciding Between a College/University
Aviation Program or a Private Flight School

This section is mostly for readers with Canadian citizenship due to international students
needing to spend $20,000 per year tuition for Canadian College and University programs,
making the college/university route financially difficult and exceptionally risky.

Canadian citizens may follow the college or university routes for a number of factors:
Potentially achieving a degree while working towards a commercial licence and
multi-IFR ratings
Subsidized flight time
Access to national student loans towards flight training
Standardized curriculum
Potential for a relatively high paying entry level flight instructor work upon
graduation
Access to cadet programs with regional airlines

Should I Go To College/University for Flight Training?

First lets define the college/university route:

The college route belongs to a flight school under an accredited college in Canada.
The college route is typically faster than the university route, and flying begins in the first
year. Tuition is usually cheaper as well, which allows for individuals who already have
degrees to pick up flight hours, licences and ratings at sometimes greatly subsidized rates.
Flying also occurs early on in the college flight training curriculum.
This is the best route for individuals who either already have a degree or have decided the
degree is not for them or simply wish to finish their flight training quickly and perhaps go
to a university at a later time while instructing part-time.

Below you can see examples of colleges with solid reputations, program time-span, their
listed cost (cost of living and unlisted miscellaneous administrative fees not included) and
their geographic locations. Note that programs that partner with private flight schools will
not be listed.

COLLEGE LENGTH OF CURRICULUM TUITION COST LOCATION

Confederation 2.5 years (5 Semesters) $17,523 Thunder Bay, Ontario
Moncton Flight College 2 years (4 semesters) unlisted Moncton, New Brunswick
Sault College 3.5 years (7 semesters) $23,249 Sault Ste Marie, Ontario

Note that Confederation College tuition will cover up to a commercial licence and single
engine IFR. It does not include a multi rating or category 1 IFR rating.

Aviation colleges are nearly extinct with Confederation and Sault being the last true
subsidized colleges. It is highly recommended that you apply as early as possible due to the
huge demand and long wait-lists.

The University Route is now very prevalent but most universities piggyback from
private flight colleges with few exceptions. I only recommend taking the university route to
young students fresh out of high-school who have yet to achieve a degree and have decided
that they wish to receive one concurrently with their pilot licences.

These programs are typically 4 years long and typically cost approximately $80,000 to
complete. They also have typically higher standards and have relatively high wash-out
rates. Flight training typically starts after the completion of the first school year as well.
These schools also arguably have incentive to wash-out students by the first year in order
to lower the cost of training student pilots while maximizing both student tuition and
subsidy revenue from the government.

The last negative point, but not least important: a student who completes their degree in
aviation but does not continue a career in the field will have a degree that does not easily
translate into other careers any easier than a simple bachelor of arts, making it a poor
choice as a back-up.

If the university path is started at a young age, and completed without hiccup, the student
will have finished school and all of their licences at the tender age of 21 to 22 with a first
officer position lined up at a large regional airline as the cherry on top: a monumental feat
and amazing start to a very fulfilling career.

UNIVERSITY LENGTH OF TUITION COST* LOCATION

CURRICULUM
Mount Allison 4 years $82,765 Moncton, New Brunswick
Seneca 4 years $60,000 Peterborough, Ontario
Waterloo-Wellington 4 years $100,067.36 Waterloo, Ontario
Western University 4 years $137,211.50 Hamilton, Ontario

*University aviation programs are notorious for under representing their tuition costs and
therefore you must perform extra research when deciding on which program to commit 4
years to. Also understand that the cost of living has not been included and can be an
additional $10,000 per year.

Be 100% sure of your decision to enter the university flight school route, as it would be an
absolute nightmare to incur half of these listed costs or more and leave without the licences
and degree.
International Students

Flight training is expensive and scarce, but you are on the right track by deciding Canada is
your best bet for training. There are a few steps you must take to ensure your financial
investment will go a long way and result in your commercial licence, multi-IFR rating, and
possibly an instructor rating with instructor position.

What is required to apply to Canada for a student permit?

1. An acceptance letter from a flight school that is a Designated Learning Centre
2. Proof of income or net-worth resulting in enough funds for at least one year of flight
school and accommodations and food (living expenses) for the first year.
3. Police certificate stating no past criminal record
4. A medical examination for entry

Choose a flight school, and receive a study permit

Decide on a flight school that is also a Designated Learning Centre. The designation is
essential because you will require a study permit and potentially a visitor visa
(Depending on which country you are a citizen of).

The non-exhaustive list of the larger reputable private flight schools that are also
Designated Learning Centres are listed in the Flight Schools, Locations and Instructors
Chapter.

Further research is required based on the best option for you in particular. Remember that
life in a small town where the flight school is located will be vastly different from life in a
large city.
Never trust a listed price either, they are based on Transport Canada minimums and are
purposely under-represented to entice students. Instead, research aircraft and instructor
rental rates, and tack on a 20%-30% buffer to the minimum hour requirements.

Similar to listed prices, listed timelines promising very quick progression from scratch to
commercial pilot that is IFR rated should also be given some buffer, a short amount of time
is one year to a year and a half. Anything less than that is beyond optimistic and simply not
enough to train a capable pilot. This is especially the case through uncertain weather in
winter seasons, fleet maintenance mishaps, and instructor changes.

Finally, all flight schools will require a deposit amount and a fee for helping you receive
your permit. These amounts differ between flight schools and never leave an overly large
sum of money with your flight school. Your personality or learning style may not jive well
with your flight school or instructors and you may have to switch to a difficult school at a
later time but it will be much harder due to heavy restrictions from your study permit.

Upon deciding on a flight school, contact their administration. Upon sending them the
previously mentioned processing fee and possibly a deposit, they will send you an
acceptance to study letter along with the program cost and a timeline to show your
consulate towards the study permit.

Visit The Government of Canadas website to apply for a student permit:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/getting-started.asp

The study permit will take a minimum of 3 weeks to be accepted. You will be mailed an
introduction letter that you must bring with you to immigration upon entering Canada.
There you will be given your study permit and possibly a visitor visa if from a required
country. With the study permit, you will be allowed to work up to 20 hours per week.
Apply for a Social Security Number after attaining your student permit to take advantage
of this.
Training Tips for Non-English Speaking International
Students
Most international student pilots do not have issues with the flying itself, their issues are
usually language based. Invest in English classes during free time. Try to associate and
speak with English speakers as opposed to isolating yourself and speaking only to fellow
internationals in a foreign language.

Due to the excessive cost of flight training and the difficulty of not being able to perfectly
interpret English, I recommend becoming very proficient in English even before entering
Canada and beginning flight training. I cannot emphasize enough, the issues students from
non-English speaking countries have throughout their flight training when they first arrive.
Flying is a very dynamic environment and being able to understand your instructor, other
traffic, and air traffic controllers while flying the airplane in your early training stages can
be very demanding.

Enrol in English courses during your training. You may find free courses at the local
community centre or inexpensive local tutors.

At first, do not try to fly more than once a day, once you have finished a flight and been
debriefed by your instructor, try to chair-fly your mistakes and refine your radio
procedures. Flying has many aspects and the brain must digest them, and you do not give
your brain enough time to properly digest everything that happens in each flight if you get
in the cockpit too often early on.

Aviation and Flight School: The Culture Shock

Flight instructors are paid per flight hour, and hours giving specific mission briefings. They
are not paid for hours at the flight school like regular employees. Flight instructors are
typically (but not always) new pilots who wish to build flight hours and use their instructor
position as a way to move on to bigger aircraft quickly. A good instructor will invest time
into you, not be frustrated by a slower learning curve deriving from English not being your
second language, and not just see you as flight hours. Do not stay with an instructor who
says goodbye to you as soon as the airplanes engine shuts down and his/her flight hour
count halted. It is your money, and you must not be pressured into staying with the newest
instructors who are not there to teach, but to build flight time.

Initially, when you pick your flight school, there will be a honeymoon period where you
will love your school and be promised a fast finish date along with low cost. As time
progresses, students find themselves becoming very stressed out due to finances and
completion time of licences dragging on too long. This is natural and you must be ready to
handle this new type of stress in your life. If you allow this stress to overcome you, your
flying will become more fidgety and less relaxed due to the pressures of being perfect on
every moment of every flight. Sleep will be lost, and your overall lifestyle will suffer.

Create a proper schedule for yourself; this will follow you through your life as a career
pilot. Study hard, but save time for 8 hours of sleep every day, especially before flight tests.
Exercise at least three days a week. If you do not build this robust lifestyle early, your
health will deteriorate rapidly and you will be unhappy with your new life. These stressors
that you discover in flight training will not disappear after you finish your flight training;
therefore your real goal is to train a greater tolerance to stress during your training.
Flying will have periods of great stress, plain and simple.

Flight Tests
These flights will be fairly stressful for new pilots, but they offer something special: testing
your abilities under pressure with a silent authority figure watching over your
performance. Flight tests are done under what is called sterile cockpit, your examiner will
be absolutely silent except for coldly giving out commands.

Recommendations for being successful on flight tests:

Get a proper amount of sleep the night before and do not let stress ruin your sleep
 You will have adrenaline; do not let it overcome you. This flight will be one more
lesson in adrenaline management
Show confidence in yourself and do not become fidgety or meek during the ground
brief and/or flight.
Your examiner will write down notes, good or bad. If you feel you did poorly on
something, do not let it affect your next manoeuvre. Students often feel they have
failed an item on the test only to land and be congratulated on their performance.
Examiners may also purposely show some compassion or mercy in one way or
another if performance was weak on just one or two items or weather was relatively
difficult for the current stage of flight training.

Poor Performance on Flights and/or Tests

Every single pilot has bad flights. The goal is to shake off the psychological burden and
move forward with your flight training. A good pilot is vigilant and does not allow past
mistakes to affect current decisions. Remember that. You must not give up in the face of
adversity.

Make sure to chair-fly your mistakes, and improve your muscle memory. This is just an
opportunity to see where your weaknesses lie, and how to improve.
Make or Break: Receiving that Coveted First
Job

There are three main routes for the fresh CPL pilot:
Instruct on the same small aircraft that they learned on
Single engine air-work; skydiving pilot/glider towing/bush flying/pipeline
surveying/photography
Work the ramp for a regional airline in exchange for a first officer position after a
certain amount of time

Flight Instructor
The most common form of easing into the role of a professional pilot after the commercial
licence is to receive an instructor rating and work for a flight school, teaching their
students through private, commercial and possibly multi-IFR curriculum.

There are many perks to being an instructor:

Mastering the fundamentals/stick and rudder

Schedule versatility, can be done part-time
High pay per instructional hour for someone with only a few years in the industry
Steady progression and possibility of making a career out of the instructing
Does not require a multi or IFR
Receive discounts on multi-IFR time
Good foundation for future private aircraft owners

The dark side of instructing:

Requires a $10-12,000 rating

Flight schools prefer hiring candidates who received the instructor rating through
 them
Requires a patient individual who loves to teach
Seasonal industry means that flight hours and students may be scarce during winters
Income based on instructional time, not time at work, therefore days with poor
weather require time at work but offer no income.
Students receive most of the hands-on flying aside from demonstrations and also
provide a potential danger factor
Hours are not as lucrative on the resume as those on multi-engine turbine aircraft

The New Flight Instructor Narrative flight

After receiving the instructor rating, you can finally start building flight time without giving
away excessive amounts of money. Once your school has given you a few students you will
begin to create individualized training plans for all of them individually. Each student has
their own needs. Some have great hand-eye coordination but refuse to study, while others
may be the exact opposite. Naturally, the best students are the ones who work hard in all
aspects, learn quickly, and run through the Transport Canada private and commercial
curriculum... but those are few and far between. This is when the love for teaching others
how to fly comes in. If an instructor does not live his/her job, then they will become very
frustrated with the lack of progression in their rating.

To jump from a class 4 instructor rating to a class 3, they must recommend 3 students for
their first solo and 3 students for a pilot licence test that is completed successfully. At a
flying club for instance, where the atmosphere is more relaxed and students tend to fly
more casually, you can wait a year or two to upgrade to class 3 (but the class 4 rating must
be renewed with a flight test once per year).

The amount of work given to you is completely dependent on how busy your employers
school is at a given time. Busy flight schools are great for building flight time but
horrendous on overworking instructors and burning them out. Once an instructor receives
a thousand hours total time through instruction, there is little incentive to continue unless
they wish to make a career of it. Regional airlines and medevac minimums have been met
for first officer positions except for a few that require a certain amount of multi-engine
time, thus instructors tend to jump ship at this point making instructing an intermediary
job for the most part for new pilots.

Many instructors tend to lose motivation when they cannot find a job flying Navajos, King
Airs, Metroliners, Beech 1900s, etc. This process could take up to three years after starting
to instruct, making the extended position a purgatory.

To end the narrative on a bright note: this career transition from being a student is the
most steady, on average best maintained aircraft, stable, and has the highest employment
rate of the three routes.

Single-Engine Air Work

There are a few jobs that fresh 250 hour wonders can pick up straight out of flight school
with a bit of luck or social navigation. These jobs are usually seasonal, fickle, low pay, and
slightly harder to come by than instructional positions but do not require an extra rating
aside from the standard commercial licence.

Skydiving pilot
Skydiving is an amazing sport, art, and experience like no other. Its cult followers can
amass hundreds of skydives per year and spend weeks at the drop zone taking any lift they
can get. This sport depends on a few factors: positive meteorological conditions, a working
plane (normally a Cessna 182 or Cessna 206), and finally you, the pilot (endearingly
nicknamed meat-bomber).

The 182 and 206 are slightly more powerful and heavier than the Cessna 172 or PA28 that
instructors teach on, have slightly more engine indicators and can be turbocharged thus
giving the skydive pilot a more rich experience per hour vs. the instructor, especially in
regards to piston engine management in climbs and rapid descents.
The industry is notorious for paying pilots very little; this will never be a career job. Pilots
are paid per load which means every time the plane climbs to a certain altitude and drops
off its skydivers. Pay per load can be between 5 and 10 dollars. On a very good weekend
day, pilots can get up to 10 loads but these are few and far between. On a day with overcast
clouds and/or high winds, the pilot can of course receive 0 loads. Pilots normally live in a
trailer by the drop-zone and must be on base all day waiting on standby. Thats a 24/7
work week that can pay absolutely nothing on a poor weather week.

The job can become very routine after a while, once the pilot has become accustomed to the
aircraft and being able to pick drop-off points based on winds. Finally, skydiving schools
generally have older planes and more relaxed maintenance due to the ability (and
sometimes pressure) on pilots to minimize the air time they record in the aircraft log.

Being a skydive pilot does have its perks for certain seasoned pilots: they can fly a
turbocharged Cessna 206 on weekends if they are a local pilot looking for extra hours and
not desperate for time.

One last tip: NEVER pay for skydiving Cessna 182 or 206 ground school/minimum flight
hours being offered by certain schools. These are money grabs and the employer uses this
as an extra revenue stream from as many hungry low time pilots foolish enough to pay as
they can find. A prominent sky diving school around the Greater Toronto Area comes to
mind.

Glider Towing
Glider towing can be branched off into two streams: not-for-profit gliding clubs and Air
Cadets.

Not-for-profit gliding clubs offer their tow planes for club members who normally have a
private licence and over 100 hours and likely at least some experience with tail-draggers.
Requirements generally differ slightly, between clubs, but they are easily met by the
average CPL holder.

This job can be fun, laid back, and may give the pilot the ability to make many take-offs and
landings in a tail-dragger as well as immerse themselves in gliding. The downside is the
voluntary position. Young pilots may require assistance from their family or a part-time job
on the side to support them. Common aircraft used to tow: Citabria GCBC, Piper Pawnee,
Bellanca Scout, Cessna 182, Piper Super Cub, etc.

Air Cadets have 5 gliding facilities across Canada: Comox, BC; Gimli, MB; Mountain View,
ON; St, Jean-Sur-Richilieu QC, Debert, NS. Their tow fleet consists of Cessna 182, Bellanca
Scout, and L-19 Birddogs. While they will hire pilots with 100 hours and a private licence,
the Air Cadet gliding program prefers hiring CIC (Cadet Instructor Cadre) officers thus ex-
cadets who wish to give back and continue on in the program have the advantage in an
easier transition into CIC officer.

Finally, understand that in order to tow with the Air Cadet program, a towing qualification
course is required meaning a pilot is ineligible to tow, even if they have towed extensively
on the private side. Getting a slot on this tow course is very lucrative and hard. Preference
is always given to individuals who will be open to towing that exact summer, and course
dates are inflexible and once per year! The Air Cadet league does pay per day of flying, but
there may only be a few days per summer to acquire hours for the tow pilot.

Working the Ramp

Working the ramp has the highest risk/reward ratio of the three options. Regional
airlines typically make their 250 hour wonder pilots work for an undisclosed variable
amount of time in menial labour or office jobs prior to allowing them to fly as first officer.

90% of the ramp work is moving cargo, baggage, and towing aircraft. A few lucky
individuals will get to work in an office until their shot at the cockpit. The regionals dangle
the first officer position carrot at desperate pilots and are able to avoid paying labourers
the higher salaries fully knowing young pilots will work for a minimum wage and poor
conditions. This is the dark side of aviation.

Your flying skills, as small as they already are, will atrophy on the flight line. You will not
have time till cockpit disclosed to you because it varies depending on the seniority of the
ramp workers and the speed at which first officers become captains, relinquishing first
officer positions. Companies have known to extend the time on the ramp for up to 3 long
years! In the meantime, when desperate for qualified crew, nothing is stopping them from
hiring first officers from the outside who already have 1,000 hours from flight instruction!

There are two ultimate nightmares that can arise from working the ramp:
1) Being coincidentally let go or fired right before your chance at the cockpit after years of
working minimum wage on the ramp or
2) Failing your chance at the companys flight simulator test and thus relinquishing your
spot in seniority. Feel free to re-join the ramp they will quip.

The reward, on the other hand, could be becoming a first officer on something with two
turboprop engines making 800-1,000 hours lucrative flight time per year a whole one to
two years ahead of your friends who took the instructor route! If you join the ramp at the
right time, and are well liked, you could be on your way to first officer in 3-6 months!

Final tips for those who choose this route: research the company when they offer you a
ramp position. Ask current employees about the forecasted time to the cockpit (and take
that amount with a grain of salt). Do not forget to calculate the loss on living expenses from
having to move to a new town or city in order to work menial labour within the company
for purposely lowered wages. Try to start on the ramp during your private and/or
commercial licence in order to be close to completing your ramp time once eligible for a
first officer position. Some companies allow pilots to work in an office while waiting for
their first officer gig. The mentality once hired is to keep your head down, maintain current
on IFR procedures for the test, and do the best job that you can on the ramp in order to
impress your employer (they can indeed fire you regardless of the profit they have made
off your labour up to that point).

The Drive
In order to ensure finding work in the bush or on the ramp at a regional, you will need to
make a drive across Canada! This is no easy feat but must be done in early spring just
before the beginning of flying season.

Pilots will write out a list of potential employers, and map them out in order to efficiently
execute the drive. Your goal is to stop only at the airports that have relevant fleet on site
along with a hiring manager. Ensure to send your resume digitally prior to meeting the
manager, but have physical copies on hand.

Here is the online database with employers per province, their fleet and who the hiring
manager is: https://www.pilotcareercentre.com/Search-Air-Carrier-Region-By-Aircraft-
Type/1/Canada

Budget $5,000 for this trip to pay for hotels, gas, food, and potentially flat tires and other
small car issues.
Interview with Mark, a Float Pilot Instructor

Hey Mark, thanks for giving us a unique perspective on the float route.

What City are you from? Why did you want to become a pilot and why did you pick
Confederation College for flight training?
I grew up in Vancouver. I spent a lot of time watching planes as a kid and always wanted to
become a pilot. Went to Confed because it was cheap (yay subsidization) and the float
program was a huge draw.

I did my PPL on my own dime in BC. That ran about 10-12k. For 60h. 200H at Confederation
cost about the same.

What was the most difficult part of training? What difficulties did you come across
that came unexpected?
Class 4 instructors who didnt know what they are doing affects your training in Confed
more so than anywhere else because if you dont meet certain requirements, you get the
boot.

Do you still remember the self-doubts that you had before starting flight training?
I had more self-doubts DURING training. Goddamn hour-building newbie instructors. Trust
your own abilities within their limitations, take everything with numerous grains of salt,
and if a pilot with experience says something, its probably worth listening.

What do you wish you knew before starting flight training?

Most of flight training is what you put into it. Read lots and don't believe all you hear from
instructors.

How many of your Confederation aviation classmates continued with flying and how
many decided to get a normal career?
I think only 2-3 of them are not flying as a career.

You became a bush pilot and then an instructor after finishing your civilian training;
did you find that training at a flight school in Northern Ontario helped with the
process?
Not really. You actually learn the most in that first year on the job.

Why did you go the bush pilot route if you could have gone straight to instructing and
then continued to the airlines?
I have always wanted the bush pilot flying. It seemed like the last of a great adventure type
of flying. There's a lot of freedom in the way you can fly. You're pretty in touch with the
airplane. Often times you have to do work on the planes if you aren't flying. I've (with AME
oversight of course) replaced hoses on engines, riveted wing stiffeners, messed with
control cables, replaced instruments, etc. Also hand bombed a 450hp radial in the bush.

It makes you pretty in tune with the plane and it has saved me a few times. Though that that
type of flying makes you a better pilot and gives better stories vs. teaching Johnny how to
fly straight and level for 1500 hours.

What do you love most about flying?

There's constant improvement; always something to improve on and get better at. Even if
you are only flying a 152. Also, you get to see pretty things out the window!

What is your career goal?

Not sure. I want to own my own plane. And at some point in time the bush is going to get
old and Ill go airlines.

Its the journey not the destination with you, thats pretty cool. What sort of last
advice would you give to people aspiring to enter the field?
Figure out why you want to fly. That'll keep you going through the challenging times. Avoid
debt as much as possible. Perform a ton of research before committing yourself. Talk to
people. Do what makes sense to you after you acquire a lot of information.
Joining the Royal Canadian Air Force

Becoming a military pilot in Canada is a dream for almost every child, but only a few grow
up to seriously try to attain that dream, and even fewer succeed.

Military flight training is vastly more demanding than civilian flight training. It is the NHL
of flying. Royal Canadian Air Force pilots have millions of dollars invested in their training.
They experience courses that civilians do not have access to, and train on machines that
could never be rented.

I recommend every student pilot to give the Royal Canadian Air Force a serious thought.
Getting their military wings WILL secure a successful flying career and give them
adventures that their civilian counterparts only dream of having. Having military wings
also opens up niche pilot markets that only ex-military pilots can enter.

What is required to be an RCAF Pilot?

Note, the following is a general and unofficial requirement guide to becoming a pilot with
the RCAF. Speaking to a recruiter will validate and give further specifics to each
requirement.

1. Canadian Citizenship
2. Either a Degree to join the Direct Entry Officer (DEO) route, or the high-school
grades and willingness to receive a degree through a new joint program with Seneca
(CEOTP) or the Royal Canadian Military College (ROTP)
3. Vision at 20/30 or greater and correctable to 20/20 or 20/20 vision with
PRK/LASIK eye surgery corrected
4. Pass the Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (CFAT)
 5. Pass the Interview
6. Pass the Canadian Forces Air Crew Selection Centre (CFASC) testing and the
thorough medical test that follows in Toronto

The air crew selection test and the following medical are arguably the end-all, be all of the
application process. The test itself allows the Canadian Armed Forces to determine if you
are suitable for three officer positions: Pilot, Aerospace Controller (AEC), Air Combat
Systems Officer (ACSO). Each position has a starting salary of just under $50,000 and you
are compensated for attempting the test!

Military Pilot Career Progression

Basic Military Officer Qualification

Upon swearing in with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), all officers (pilots included) are
sent to St-Jean Sur Richelieu in Quebec to complete their Basic Military Officer Qualification
(BMOQ), sometimes known as boot camp or just basic training. This 14 week course will
teach officers the military life and will have them waking up each morning at 5 AM
(unofficially 4:30 or 4:45 AM) and spend their day doing physical training, general military
education via death by PowerPoint, drill, team work, fieldwork, rifle work, and much more.

There are a few videos on YouTube regarding basic training. This is a psychologically tough
course but it serves its purpose well and you will be very proud upon graduation. Passing
basic is beyond the scope of this guide so I will leave it there!

On the Job Training (OJT)

After graduation, you will be sent to a unit of your choosing (one of the few times the forces
will take your preferences to heart, but they have the final say). Here you will see the
military culture outside of basic. You will be given various tasks determined by your unit
and direct supervisor at that unit. In the meantime you will be sent on courses in various
parts of the country to learn amazing and highly related skills that cannot be purchased
civie-side.

Aeromedical Training (AMT)

You will be taken to Winnipeg. The course focuses mainly on the hypobaric chamber (also
known as the decompression chamber) where a team of skilled air force non-
commissioned members will teach you about hypoxia through slow and rapid
decompression. You will then get to experience the various symptoms.

Other training given: pilot illusions, night vision, and night vision goggles! As of 2017 there
are no hypobaric chambers that a civilian can rent to experience and prepare for hypoxia
and its specific symptoms that differ from person to person.

Sea Survival
This adventure will bring you to the beautiful and peaceful Comox, British Columbia. The
course has a mix of pilots and general aircrew. The first few days are spent teaching multi-
crew egress training. You will learn to protect your crew after ditching into bodies of water
with just a ten man life raft. Upon completion of the multi-crew egress, the pilots will be
taught single crew egress and surviving in single-man life rafts. All of the practical training
is done in the Salish Sea, BC, under the guidance of veteran search and rescue techs, one of
the forces most elite trades.

Land Survival
You will be taught to survive on your own by starting fires, trapping, and signalling for help.

Phase 1 Grob G120A in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba

Note: With a recent commercial licence and/or recent civilian commercial flying
experience, this course can be bypassed. Conducted at South Port Airport, in Portage La
Prairie, this is unofficially a selection course. Pilots are given approximately 18 hours in the
Grob and will have their first taste of military-esque flying. This course typically takes 2-4
months.

Phase 2 CT-156 Harvard II in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Conducted at the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC), this course begins with three
months of intensive high-grade ground school taught by career military pilots. You will be
taught the theory of navigation, instrument flying procedures, aerodynamics, Harvard 2
specifics, and much more. You will then enter the simulators and finally after, the
impressive Harvard 2, the Canadian equivalent of the Texan II trainer. This machine has
1,100 Shaft Horse Power at the propeller attached to its immense PT-6A power plant, it is
fully aerobatic capable and has a max speed of just over 300 knots (555 KM per hour).
Phase 2, and the Harvard will both demand the utmost dedication to your studies for a
good 6 to 8 months depending on weather, aircraft availability, and a few other variables.
Upon completion of this course, you will be selected to fly fast jets, multi-engine, or
helicopters.

Phase 3 and Further on- Jets

If selected for Fast Jets, or just Jets you will continue on with the Harvard 2 in phase 3.
The lessons will be slightly more advanced. After another 3-4 months on the Harvard
where you will earn your wings. You will then continue onto the CT-155 Hawk for phase 4.
You will then be further selected to either become a qualified flight instructor (QFI) or
continue to Cold Lake, AB to fly the Hawk once more, and then ultimately move onto the
CF-18 Hornet.

Phase 3 and Further on Multi-Engine

If selected for Multi-Engine, you will eventually be sent back to Portage La Prairie once
more for a course on the King Air C90B to earn your wings. After this, you will be selected
to fly one of the RCAFs many multi-platforms!
Phase 3 and Further on- Helicopters

If selected for helicopters, you will also return to Portage La Prairie to train on the Bell-206
Jet Ranger, and the Bell-412 Outlaw. Upon completion of your wings, you will be sent to
fly one of Canadas many helicopter airframes.

Progression and general timeline differences of the three

routes

Salary is based on the Canadian Forces Pay Scale Table found at

http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/caf-community-pay/reg-force-class-c-officer-rates.page

The following is an unofficial timeline to give you an idea of the early career to expect with
the forces as a pilot.

Entering the forces without a degree will give you two routes:
1. Regular Officer Training Program (ROTP): University at a civilian school or Royal
Military College in Kingston. During university your rank will be Officer Cadet and your
take-home salary will be negligible but your university tuition will be paid for by the
military. Upon completion of your degree, you will become a Second Lieutenant and
enter the flight line (Royal Military College students may be offered Phase 1 in the last
summer before graduation).
ROTP Salary Timeline: ROTP will have Officer Cadet A salary for the duration of their
university education, and Basic Military Officer Qualification. Their tuition will be
covered and all time is pensionable! Upon entering the flight line, pilots from the ROTP
route will enter Second Lieutenant A until wings standard post phase 3 when they will
be given a Captain (pilot) rank and salary.
Or
2. Continuing Education Officer Training Program (CEOTP for Pilot): Second Lieutenant
out of Basic Officer Military Qualification with regular salary and sent to Phase 1 of flight
 training. You will be sent to Seneca College for three years, and in between each year of
study there will be a phase of flight training.

Year 1: BMOQ then Phase 1

Year 2: Finish semesters 1 and 2 at Seneca College then Phase 2
Year 3: Finish semesters 3 and 4 at Seneca College
Year 4: Phase 3, receive wings then Finish semester 5 at Seneca
Year 5: Finish semester 6 and receive degree

I highly recommend the newer CEOTP over ROTP if given the choice due to 2Lt. rank and
salary upon completion of basic training, a shorter degree, and a streamlined flight
training timeline that will not be altered or deferred unlike ROTP or Direct Entry Officer
(DEO) routes.
CEOTP Salary Timeline: CEOTP will have Officer Cadet A for the initial 14 weeks in
BMOQ and then for the duration of Seneca college and flight training at Second
Lieutenant B until the middle of fourth year when CEOTP pilots will be given Captain
rank and salary.

Entering the forces with a degree must be done through the DEO route:
Direct Entry Officer (DEO): Second Lieutenant salary upon swearing in, even as an officer
cadet at basic training. Promotion to Second Lieutenant upon graduation from basic. You
will then enter on the job training (OJT) and be loaded onto various courses, and ultimately
phase 1, 2 and 3 of flight training.
DEO Salary Timeline: DEO will start with Second Lieutenant C upon swearing-in. While
their rank at BMOQ will be Officer Cadet, they will maintain the same salary until wings
standard, and Captain rank which will occur after three years of service. From then on,
salary continues on the Captain scale up until Captain year 10. Not a bad take-home salary!
Additional Income
There are a few other financial perks given to pilots. Every day spent in the air is rewarded
with flight pay, officially known as aircrew allowance. Depending on how much a pilot
flies, they may receive between $300 a month upwards to just under $600. Then depending
on what type of airframe you choose to fly on, you will be granted other specialty
allowances specific to your niche.

For instance, pilots who decide (or are decided for it is the military) to go tactical
helicopter (Griffon, Chinook) will receive Land-Duty Allowance for time spent in the field
on top of salary and aircrew allowance. Pilots flying either the Sea King helicopter or
Cyclone are eligible for Sea Duty Allowance. Many multi-engine airframes are constantly
flying outside of Canada to international locations and can receive allowances for this as
well.

Military Flight Training vs. Civilian

Military flight training differs greatly from civilian training. The mentality of training is also
different. You are already a professional with a salary, your job is to progress at a fast
standard. While civilians simply purchase their flight time and can continue to practise as
much as their finances allow, military pilots have a restricted timeline. There is a saying:
you are always only three or four flights from failing out of pilot training.

This builds great stress tolerance, but also weeds out those who are unable to manage the
stress and while the standard is high, many that cannot pass pilot training simply are
unable to manage the stress and allow it to adversely affect their flying. Similarly, flight
tests are much more prevalent in military flight training.

The flying itself is more aggressive, and the average Gs that can be pulled on a regular
visual reference flight could be just as much as a regular aerobatic training flight on the
civilian side. To a regular pilot, loops, rolls, clover leafs, Cuban 8s, barrel rolls are all exotic
manoeuvres that can only be carried out by a special type of training aircraft like a Pitts,
Citabria, Decathlon or some other aerobatic intended aircraft. These manoeuvres can
offer a quick break or relief from other visual flying exercises completely unrelated to
aerobatics to the military pilot. A treat, if you will.

The circuit/pattern is also far more aggressive, with 60 degree bank turns being the norm
(the civilian pattern has a maximum bank angle of 30 degrees and 60 degree bank turns
being held level by 2Gs of acceleration would be seen as cowboy-ish and downright
dangerous). In reality these are regular circuits and quite safe.

Information on Airframes for each Stream

Remember that selection for airframes occur in phase two. The pilot will likely be stuck
progressing in the initially selected path for at least their initial 9-year contract.
Conclusion

2017 has shown to be a very favourable year to pilots in Canada. The top carriers have
begun to pull pilots and this has resulted in a deficit of flight instructors and regional pilots.
Minimum hourly requirements at the regionals have come down, and salaries have gone
up! The long touted pilot shortage has finally translated into great opportunities for pilots
after decades of economic slump in the aviation industry.

In the United States, for instance, pilots have become such a sought after commodity that
salaries have doubled and yet regional airlines have still had to ground aircraft, cut routes,
and decline business growth due to a lack of aircrew.

Throwing more money at the pilot shortage will not solve the problem overnight or even
within a few years. Being a Pilot is a very skilled trade; they take years to properly train.
Even decades into the profession, pilots are constantly learning. Different procedures,
aircraft, technologies, and roles to name a few elements that provide rich learning
experience.

The best time to take the leap was yesterday, the second best is today. You have now
acquired a considerable understanding of the training programs offered in Canada. You are
now knowledgeable of the career paths and various routes that are open to you.

Reflect upon why you want to be a pilot and if you wish to fly for fun or cannot see yourself
working in any other profession. There is nothing wrong with owning your own plane and
flying on weekends or fair weather days to local airports.

Once you have decided to take the plunge, commit to the career with your full resolve and
be ready to work hard and make sacrifices early on for the greatest career in the end.
Finally, I have started a mailing list at http://eepurl.com/cMwXcL, and if you wish to
receive infrequent messages about updated guides in the industry or other requested
material feel free to leave your first name and email address.
Bibliography
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