THE BASICS

You must be at least 15 years of age to be able to hold a Student Pilot Certificate and hence membership of the RA-Aus. ($132-00)

You will be required to sign a statutory declaration that states your health is sufficiently good to hold an Australian Motor Vehicle Drivers Licence and you are not aware of any health issues that would reasonably prevent you from participating in the activity.

Flying Schools are required to use aircraft that have been manufactured and certified to very high standards as laid down in CAO 95.25 and 95.55. You will see from the registration number on the training aircraft begin with either 25 or 55, to denote the relevant CAO under which the design was built.

Flying Instructors are trained to very high standards,. They are required to have a GA medical assessment every 2 years and are also flight tested regularly to meet stringent standards of proficiency.

For a student pilot to achieve a "Pilots Certificate" they must reach a given level of proficiency, but not less than 20 hours flight tuition, including 5 hours Pilot in Command time or "solo flying". In reality, most students will need a few "extra" hours to get it "just right".