Back On Track!

Hey Everyone, I wanted to update you on what has been going on with my flight training. I recently flew my First Solo and will be uploading the video soon. I have been very busy with work and training that the blog was put on the backburner.

I have become great friends with a fellow pilot and knowing him has allowed me to expand my airport knowledge around California. We have flown to Santa Barbara, SLO, and San Diego which has been very exciting.

I will try to continue updating the blog and will always be flying.

Soon I will post some pictures of my recent flights and Fly Safe!

Videos

I have recently purchased a Brand New GoPro Hero 3+ Silver Camera and its safe to say I am having a blast shooting all over with it. I plan on recording most of my flight and putting together videos for everyone to see. I will be experimenting with different placement locations for the GoPro and if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Fly Safe

Flight Training Financing options

We all have to pay for flight school some day. Whether we have savings, loans, or are paying as you go. I wanted to make a list of different Financing options for everyone interested in flying. It can seem like a daunting task to pay for flight school but with the right resources it's easy. The following are some options that I have found scouring the internet for financing options. I am not affiliated with any schools or programs but, want to let everyone know my personal opinion.

Also if you have any other financing options that you know about please let me know and I will add them to the list!

1) Attend and Aviation College or University that Allows Financial Aid

There are many Colleges and Universities out there offer a degree in the Aviation field. Benefits of attending a College or University are:

• Many Airlines love to see that you have a degree in the aviation field

• Most Colleges and Universities allow students to apply for Federal financial aid which makes it easier to afford college and training up front.

• In addition to receiving your Pilots License you will be learning Classroom Skills that can benefit your future.

There are many Colleges and universities out there which allows many options to choose from. In addition to obtaining your degree you will be able to train and live with other students going through the same programs allowing for many resources to be available.

2) Attend an Accredited Flight Program that Allows Private Financing

In addition to Acreddited colleges and universities there are many "For-Profit" schools out there that allow students to acheive the same goals without going through the "School System". This type of program is popular for students who want to reach a specific goal in flight training and learn in a quick paced environment. Benefits include:

• Accelerated Training program that allow students to achieve the goals they want in a short amount of time.

• Private financing allows students to apply for loans so that they can afford training up front.

There are many programs out there that allow for students to acheive the same goals without obtaining a degree. This may be a great option if you already have a degree or want a fast pased learning environment.

3) Get a loan with Pilot Finance inc.

Pilot finance is a great option for student who are looking for a loan but are not in an accredeted program that allows financial aid. Pilot Finance inc. is a lending institution that allows student to apply for a loan to pay for some or all of their flight training. They do give loans based on you credit and the interest rate is based on credit also. Most part 61 and part 141 are supported by Pilot Finance inc. Check them out and see if that is something you are interested in. 

4) Get a private Loan with a Bank or Credit Union

Many banks and credit unions allow private loans for people who are approved. This option is similar to Pilot finance but is not flight training specific. Many banks or credit unions will give loans to people with good credit. Downside is if you do not have a co-signer or good credit you may have a higher interest rate or be unable to receive a loan.

5) Join the Military

Many people say that one of the best ways to become a pilot is to join the military. The military is a great option because it allows potential students to use their GI-Bill to pay for certain flight schools. The downside to the military is that you will have to serve a minimum term to receive this bill. Another option is to become a pilot in the Military. the only downside to being a military pilot is there is a long term commitment when becoming a pilot. If your goal is to become a commercial pilot then you may want to research other options before choosing the military. As of 2008 only 28% of pilots had a military background and that number is decreasing every year (sources: http://www.pilottrainingsandiego.com/).

6) Apply for a Scholarship or Grant to become a pilot

There are many Grants and Scholarships out there that allow students to recieve financing for their training. The nice thing about grants and Scholarships are that you can combine as many of them together as you want. There is a wide range of grants and scholarships available ranging from $50 to $10,000. Here are some links to get you started:

• Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Flight Training Scholarship Program
• Experimental Aircraft Association Scholarships
• National Air Transportation Foundation Scholarships
• National Business Aviation Association Scholarships
• The Ninety-Nines Section and Chapter Scholarships
• The Ninety-Nines Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarships & Awards
• AeroClub of New England's Scholarship Program
• Aircraft Electronics Association Scholarships
• Astronaut Scholarship Foundation
• The Douglas Youst Memorial Aerobatic Scholarship

7) Pay for Flight School as you go

This is the option that I have chosen. Unable to receive any financial aid or loans I have decided to work while in flight school. This can be a hard route but there are many ways to accomplish your goals while working a full time job or part time job. Many flight schools have financing options to either pay as you go or place an amount of money in an account. Many people think that flight school will cost thousands of dollars upfront but if you talk to your flight school and can cost as little as $200 each time you train. I plan on putting together a finance guide that will help if you plan on a pay as you go training program.

If you have any other options let me know!

As always Fly Safe

Chris E

Contact Me

I want everyone to be able to Contact me if they have questions or have any advice for my blog.

Email : myfirstflighttraining@gmail.com
Facebook : Chris Evans

Flight Training Cost vs Salary

Soon I am going to publish an article talking about how to go about financing your flight training. There are many different ways to finance from loans to paying cash. I wanted to post a cool overview that I found about the Cost of becoming a pilot to the annual Salary of a pilot.

This graphic compares 4 different fields of study and in my eyes shows us that if we can figure out a way to pay for our dream of becoming a pilot then it will pay off in the end. I found this graphic from brownaviationlease who is one of my top blogs I follow.

Enjoy and Fly Safe!

Chris E

Inspiration

Today I decided to send an Email to Swayne Martin author of From Private to Professional Pilot. the response I received made me want to write this post to let everyone know how inspirational Swayne is.

Starting flight training as a Sophomore in High school Swayne has accomplished much more than most Kids Ahem... Adults his age. Swayne started his blog in 2012 about his journey through flight training and has created a very inspirational blog.

Before I re-started my training I would read Swayne's blog daily and his blog has helped me gain the courage and knowledge to start training again. Swayne's blog has everything from how to prepare for the FAA exam to His flight to First Flight Airfield in NC. 

One inspirational quote from Swayne that I really enjoy is :

"For aspiring pilots: What I have gotten from so many pilots online and off, is this: It is ALL about attitude. Make the best of what you have and remember what you are doing and why you are doing it. Just like in anything, there is a certain amount of risk that corresponds with becoming a pilot. The industry is ever changing, and it can be hard to figure out which steps to take in order to become truly "successful." In the end, the career can and likely will pay off if you work hard, stay positive, and keep your enthusiasm. Just remember why you started in the first place. "

I want everyone to visit Swayne's blog because without it I probably wouldn't be flying let alone writing this blog.

Thanks Swayne!

Fly Safe

Chris E

Stalls

Stalls... Potentially one of the scariest parts of flying but also one of the most practiced maneuvers a pilot can perform. A stall is when a planes wings no longer produce lift and the plane begins falling towards the earth. This may seem like a bad situation, and it could be but it is also able to be prevented and recovered from. 

Today we practiced powered and no power stalls and it was a very enlightening experience. At first I was a little nervous but, after my instructor taught me how to recover from a stall I was ready to take it head on. I decided we would start with no power stalls first seeing that we already were practicing slow flight and had flaps extended. A no power stall recreates the motions of landing and during the decent pulling back on the yoke to much that the plane is not moving forward enough to continue flying. I slowly pulled back on the yoke and watched as my speed decreased rapidly. As we were nearing the stall mark a horn sounded which tells the pilot that we were about to stall. In real world situations this is where you would take the hint and lower the nose enough that you would continue flying but, I was trying to break that barrier and purposefully stall the plane. I continued to pull back and finally we felt a shutter of the plane which is called a "buffet" and the plane started dropping. To recover I gave it full power and lowered the nose to the horizon. As the plane started to gain altitude and speed I raised the flaps one by one until we were smooth sailing... or flying rather.

After practicing this maneuver multiple times I was able to recover the plane with only losing 70-80 feet of altitude which is great for the first practice. 

Next we were going to practice Power on stalls which simulate a stall on takeoff. Similar to power off stalls but in a power on stall you already have full power which means you only have to lower the nose to the horizon to prevent the stall. I once again with full power pulled back on the yoke and watched as my airspeed dropped until once again I heard the horn. My instructor made sure to tell me that " in real world situations the horn is your symbol to lower the nose and prevent the stall" but, I again kept holding back until we felt a buffet and the plane stalled. I lowered the nose to the horizon keeping full power until I was no longer in a stall and began to gain altitude "normally" again.

One thing that surprised me in both stalls was the fact that the plane did not want to stall even though I was forcing it. By the end of stall practice my arms were tired from fighting the plane which is always a good thing. If the plane continues to want to fly then that's better for all of us. 

I was able to practice both stalls multiple times and by the end I felt very comfortable recovering from stalls in the case of an emergency. After practicing stalls we began steep turn which is whole new ball game. I will go over steep turns in my next post because I could talk about them all day.

Fly Safe

Chris E

Second Flight Lesson

I was so excited about last weeks flight I decided to plan this weeks flight an hour earlier! I couldnt wait to start flying again and the faster I was able to the happier I am. Last lesson Trevor and I flew in a 2004 Cessna Skyhawk 172SP. 

I really liked flying this plane because it felt new and had all new gauges. After my previous lesson I realized that the 2004 Skyhawk would cost about $30 more per hour to fly and decided to fly an older plane that cost less. Today we flew in a 1983 Cessna Skyhawk 172P which, is a much older plane but still was able to maneuver the same way as a newer Skyhawk. Flying the older plane is great because I still get the same training but save money which means I can fly more!

Trevor still handled radio communications and I was able to taxi and help takeoff. Once we reached the practice area we went over Climbs, Descents, and slow flight. I really enjoyed practiving slow flight because when you are at low speeds I felt it was very easy to keep the plane stable. You use your power to regulate the altitude of the plane and your pitch to regulate the speed of the plane.

If I want to raise the altitude all you do is give it more power but continue to hold the same pitch and if you want to increase speed you just push the control wheel forward slightly. We continued practicing slow flight for a little and then Trevor had me practice a power off glide. What I didnt know is that a plane is able to continue to fly quite the distance without any power to the engine. We would adjust our pitch to fly at 68 KIAS and were still able to reach the nearest airport. This flight was about 1 hour and I wish we could have extended it. After landing Trevor and I went over the things we will work on next flight. I cant wait until we can get into the air again. 

As Always Fly Safe

Chris E

Choosing your Instructor

Some say the most important part of flight training is your instructor. There are plenty of instructors out there and all have a different way of teaching whether its a Part 141 Program or Part 61 Program. Make sure you ask instructors about their experiences flying. The best question I asked my instructor was "What is your goal in aviation". My instructor replied with "I plan on becoming a commercial pilot" which, is the same path I plan on taking. Having an instructor with the same goals is a great experience because, they are able to help guide you in the same direction that they have already learned.

Many students are paired with an instructor but, later down the road decide that they do not work well with that CFI. Try your best to feel out the instructor beforehand so that you do not have problems down the road. If you dont feel right then get a new instructor.

When I first started training my dad would tell me that I needed a new instructor based on his experiences with his instructor. My dads experiences and my experiences are completely different. I happen to love working with my instructor but for my dad it would not be a great fit. 

It is ok to tell a flight school manager you need another instructor their job is to make sure you are happy with the program. They will do their best to pair you with an instructor that can fit your needs throughout training.

Lastly, If an instructor has a pass rate of 100% that does not mean they are a good instructor. Also an instructor with 50% pass rate does not mean they are a bad instructor. There are many factors to consider when choosing an instructor and the best thing you can do is ask questions.

Thanks and Fly Safe

Chris E

First Real Lesson

2 Years since my first introductory flight I decided to take the leap and commit to flight school. I decided to fly out of my "home" airport that I grew up near KCMA ( Camarillo, CA ) and I have been meeting with Sarah the flight school manager at CIA over the past couple weeks.

Sarah and I have decided that I would be training under the part 141 training program. ( I will explain 141 vs 61 in another post). Sarah paired me with my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) Trevor and we planned to start at 10:30 am Monday.

I was excited and nervous the weekend before my first flight but, knew once I started it will be hard to stop. Since it has been a long time since the intro at Justice Aviation I needed to start fresh from the beginning. I met with Trevor Monday and we hit it off immediately. Trevor and I sat down to go over what we will be learning in the part 141 course. He explained to me what we will be practicing for the first couple lessons and we went out to the plane to start flying. Similar to my intro flight Trevor had me read the Pre-Flight checklist while he explained to me why we check each and every part of the plane before takeoff. After the Pre-Flight I once again was able to taxi to the runway and once cleared Trevor lifted the plane off the ground.

Trevor showed me how to fly strait and level and we practiced turns. We also practiced climbs, descents, and climbing/descending turns. I am very surprised how easy the Cessna Skyhawk flys. It seems to want to fly itself and at times I was able to set the plane for level flight and let go. We flew all over the area around Camarillo and before I knew it we were back on the ground going over what we had learned. I am very excited to have recieved my first entry into my logbook and cant wait till I can fly again!

Thanks and Fly Safe

Chris

Starting Ground School

Today is the day that I decided to start my Ground School. I went into Channel Islands Aviation to start my Flight Training and Sarah the Flight School Manager let me know I have to purchase ground school to go along with the flight training.

Ground School consists of a book or online lessons that teach you the specifics about how planes fly, how the engine works, how to perform in an emergency, etc. Ground school is the classroom training that you will be studying while preparing your flight lessons. After I purchased the Ground School I immediately drove home to open the box and get started.

I am currently enrolled in the Professional Pilot Program which comes with 2 Polo Shirts, a log in code for the webpage, a nifty compass for charts, Cessna 172 manuals, and an awesome leather binder. After setting up my online account with Cessnaflighttraining.com I started the ground school. 

The training is split into 2 Stages with 5 Lessons each and 1 Final Practical Test stage.  Each lesson takes from 2-4 hours depending how fast you learn. 

After I take the practice ground school tests for each section I will go over it with my instructor and put what I learn to the test. I am excited and ready to start flying and cannot wait to get into the air!

Any Questions? Feel free to message me and Fly Safe!

Chris E

Introductory Flight

     2 Years ago my sister purchased an introductory flight with Justice Aviation out of Van Nuys Airport in CA. This flight was what ultimately convinced me to become a pilot and to want to make flying a career. My Dad and I planned our flight for 10am on Monday Morning. I was nervous for two reasons 1) I have never flown in a small plane before and 2) What if he asked me to sit in the front seat?

We showed up to Justice Aviation at around 9:30 and met John our "instructor" for the day. He told us that our flight was going to be around 1 hour and we will fly out over the ocean and back two times once for me to sit in the Pilot seat and once for my dad at which my dad told him that I could fly the whole time which was awesome.


John gave me a headset and my dad decided to use his old headset for the flight and we headed toward the Cessna 172. My first thought was that we were going to sit back and enjoy the flight but John had me help him the whole time. He handed me a check list and our first priority was to perform a Pre-Flight Checklist which consists of making sure that the plane is good to fly. ( I will make a deatiled checklist for you all to read up on ). Once the Pre-Flight was done John had my dad sit in the back seat and I sit in the PIC (Pilot in Command) chair which made me nervous. We then performed a starting checklist which consists of priming the engine and making sure all gauges worked and were correct. At this point my nerves were gone and I was having the time of my life and we were not even in the air yet!

John handled all radio communications but as we taxi to the runway he showed me how to use my feet instead of hands to drive and I taxi all the way to the runway. At first I was all over the taxiway but after a minute or so I learned that small movements are the best way to control the plane. We received the go ahead to take off and John said " hold onto the Yoke and help me takeoff " I have never flown a plane let alone been in a small plane and he already was letting me help takeoff! It was an amazing feeling and I will never forget that first takeoff.

We were able to fly over Santa Monica and my work in Malibu which was awesome. The view from above the mountains or city is the most amazing view and you always notice something new. Over the ocean John let me control the plane and I flew for a while (with help). We practiced Ascents and Descents and Turns which were fun. As we turned to land the plane John said " I want you to hold onto the controls with me during landing because you have been doing a great job" which made me happy and really helped solidify wanting to fly.

After landing John explained to me the program they offered and I went home knowing that becoming a pilot is what I want to do.

An introductory lesson is a great way to get a feel for flying or a school. It only costs around $100 and for me helped me decide I wanted to fly. Call your local Flight school to see if they offer an introductory flight and make sure you take pictures!!!

Fly Safe

Chris E

Welcome!

My Name is Chris, I am 23 years old and currently training to receive my PPL (private pilots license).I currently live in Thousand Oaks, CA and fly 1 to 2 times a week out of KCMA (Camarillo) Airport.


My dad who is also Chris started flight school while I was young. Although he has some time under his belt training he has not taken his check-ride to receive a license. As time went on I still can see how much he loves to fly whether it is on a business trip or the rare occasion of a small aircraft. As I grew up I remember every Sunday after church my family and I would go to the Camarillo Airport's Waypoint Cafe and have Tri-Tip Sandwiches while listening to Air Traffic Control. This weekly routine I believe was the beginning of my wanting to become a pilot.


As I grew up we stopped going to the airport as much, I graduated High School, Started College, Moved to another country and started working for a company I love. I was at a point in my life where working to move out and have my own place was my goal. 2 years ago my sister purchased an introductory flight for my dad an I out of Van Nuys, CA with Justic Aviation and this flight is what finally convinced me that becoming a pilot is what I want to do. Easier said than done or so I thought.


I believed that If I wanted to become a pilot I needed to go to school for Aeronautical Science and try to receive student loans to pay for my school. I have applied for loans with no success and do not have any savings to pay for the lessons so I though that I was out of luck. Eventually after moving to another state and moving back I decided to get my training started and figure out finances after I talk to them. I went to Camarillo Airport's CIA and met with Sarah Oberman the Flight School Manager who told me about their training program and which would be best for me. Still thinking that training would be too expensive I put off training for another two weeks to "research" financial aid options. After the two week period I sat down with Sarah and told her "Im Ready to get started". looking back I am glad i bit the bullet and started training. It has been the most fun and I wish I could fly more every day.


My goal with this blog is to help and encorage everyone who wants to fly. It may seem impossible whether you dont have time, Money, or are afraid but the truth is there is always a way. This will be my journey in receiving a PPL and some day Commercial License. If you have any questions please send me a message and Fly Safe

Chris E


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