Picking the Right Melbourne Flight School for your Pilot Career Goals

There are many different flight schools available, and if you are looking to start a career, you’ll want to ensure that you study with a school that leads you towards your career goals. There are many different fulfilling career paths available in the aviation industry. Knowing where you want your career to go will allow you to make a more informed decision on which aviation school you enrol in. There are also some key factors to ensuring that you are picking a well-established Melbourne flight school that should be considered when making your final choice. 

The first step will be to look at what training options are available and to learn what courses will allow you to reach your career goals most effectively: 

A Recreational Pilot Licence (RPL)

This is your first pilot licence regardless of your end goal. An RPL gives you the ability to fly a single-engine aircraft within 25 nautical miles of the takeoff point and also permits you to carry up to three passengers while flying. Recreational pilot training will take you through the fundamentals of how to fly and safely land an aircraft. The course consists of both practical and theoretical training, including eventually flying solo, and completing the RPL flight test.

• You can start RPL training at any time technically, however, to obtain a Recreational Pilot Licence, you need to:
• Be at least 16 years old (you must be at least 15 to fly solo)
• Have a current CASA-issued medical certificate
• Build 20 hours in flight training with a flight instructor and 5 hours solo flying
• Pass an aeronautical theory exam and a flight test in a CASA-approved aircraft in the presence of a CASA-approved flight instructor.

A Private Pilot Licence (PPL)

If you decide you want to continue your aviation journey after obtaining a Recreational Pilot Licence, then you can progress to PPL training. The syllabus adds advanced navigation training, allowing PPL holders to fly anywhere in Australia. While taking the PPL course, you will work to build on all the skills that you learned in your first course and combine them with your new navigation skills. You will learn how to plan and execute longer navigational flights, including the process of landing and refuelling at unfamiliar airports.

To commence PPL training, you will need to first hold an RPL. To obtain your PPL you must:

• Be at least 17 years old
• Have a current CASA-issued medical certificate
• Complete a minimum of 30 hours of flying training including:
• 22 hours of dual cross country
• 6 hours solo cross country
• 2 hours dual instrument flight

A Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) 

If you decide that you want to start a career in aviation, this is the licence that you need. Obtaining a CPL will allow you to take on paid flying work as a professional pilot, be it in passenger transport, agriculture, cargo transport, or any other role. During CPL training you will build on the knowledge of what you have already learned, and tackle more advanced flight techniques and procedures. 

To hold a Commercial Pilot Licence you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Meet English language requirements 
• Meet the minimum flight time of 150 hours total flight time including:
• At least 70 hours must be as pilot-in-command
• 20 hours of cross country as pilot-in-command
• 10 hours of instrument flight time

Once you have determined what kind of licences you will need for your flight goals and what kind of career you are interested in, it’s time to choose your Melbourne flight school. So here are some tips on how to find the right school for you.

Emphasis on Safety

At any good flight school, safety should always be their number one priority. You should expect transparency and a clearly defined safety culture from any high-quality flight school, and if this isn’t a cornerstone of their operation, you would be right to have some concerns. 

An important part of safety in the aviation field is the acknowledgement that flight training does involve risk. It is therefore vital that students and instructors alike are well educated about these risks and the processes involved in risk minimisation. Make sure to determine that your chosen flight school has dedicated safety managers to oversee all areas of their operation and that they are always there to ensure safety for both students and instructors.

Modern Aircraft Fleet and Flight Simulators

When learning how to fly, your flight school should be able to offer a range of options across their flight training courses including a variety of different aircraft to practise your skills in and decent simulator options as well, including full cockpit synthetic trainers.

Additional Training Courses

We have outlined the 3 pilot licence courses, but there are a wide range of ratings and endorsements that will expand the types of aircraft you can fly, and the conditions you can fly in. For example, manay aviation career paths will require that you are able to fly multi-engine aircraft, and fly under instrument flight conditions. Choose a flight school that can offer the additional courses you require.

So if you are looking to start your journey into an aviation career, be sure to do research into the most appropriate Melbourne flight school to start your flying lessons. Different schools will offer different training experiences, and finding the right environment will have a huge positive impact on your training progress.