Aeroflot flight school training. Initial training of amateur pilots at the stork flight school

Training of amateur pilots (private pilots) wishing to receive PPL (Private Pilot License) has become a priority area of ​​the Aist aeroclub activity. The flight school conducts training on training aircraft Yak-18T, which gave a ticket to the sky for more than one thousand Russian and foreign pilots.

Theory and practice of flying

Flight Training Courses (FTC) take place in two main stages: theoretical and practical training.

1. The study of the theory of flying is conducted in Moscow, on the training base of our partners - the Wingspan Aviation Training Center. Previously, we taught theory ourselves, but we faced the fact that it is more convenient for our cadets to attend evening theoretical classes in Moscow during the week. The theoretical course of training in piloting includes the following subjects:

• air legislation;
• practical aerodynamics;
• aircraft structure (AC);
• air navigation and navigation in the sky;
• aircraft power plant design;
• design of aviation and radio equipment;
• aircraft technical and flight operation;
• rescue equipment, their use;
• aviation meteorology;
• maintenance and phraseology of radio communication;
• aviation security and many others. dr.

1. The initial flight training program at the pilot school is conducted at Beloumut airfield with an experienced instructor pilot. Cadets will acquire the following skills:

• ground pre-flight training for amateur pilots;
• primary piloting skills, the first independent flight;
• flight at critically low and high air speeds;
• elimination of the effect of a spin in flight;
• takeoffs and landings in normal conditions and with strong crosswinds;
• recognition of stalls (initial and developed) and exit from it;
• takeoffs / landings on confined areas;
• Instrument-only piloting training;
• flight along the developed route along visual landmarks, using dead reckoning methods and radio navigation aids;
• flight with imitation of an emergency: engine failure, on-board equipment, etc .;
• night flights and more. dr.

The order and duration of training:

1. The theoretical course lasts 172 hours (approximately four months). At the end of the training, students are tested and passed exams in all theoretical disciplines.
2. The estimated duration of flight training is 42 hours. For effective training, development and support of piloting skills, regular flight of at least two hours per week is required. Otherwise, there will be no progress, and training in flying an airplane and obtaining a certificate of an amateur pilot will drag on indefinitely. After completing the course, examinations are conducted in aircraft driving and piloting techniques.
3. You can start performing training flights in Moscow simultaneously with attending theoretical classes.
4. In case of a positive passing of exams in theoretical and flight training, the registration documents are transferred to the Working Group of the Higher Qualification Commission of the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation (RG VKK).
5. After passing the certification, the graduate will be awarded a PPL (Private Pilot License) amateur pilot certificate. With this document, you have the right to fly on private ships.

Cost of education

• Payment for the full course of study can be made in whole or in parts, in cash or by bank transfer.
• The cost of the theoretical course of the pilot school is 36,000 rubles. If you missed a lesson, then you can easily attend a similar lecture on another day in a different group.
• The average cost of a flight course is about 450,000 rubles. or 180 rubles / min. The final price depends on several factors, among which the individual psychophysiological characteristics of the accounting - the type of the nervous system, the properties of temperament - play a special role. However, practice shows that the main ones are still motivational features - an interest in flying, a desire to learn, as well as persistence in mastering educational material, regularity of flying. In a word, pilots are not born, but become. We will help you with this!

Civil aviation is a unified and standardized area of ​​human activity. National and international flights follow the same rules.

The training systems for civil aviation pilots are practically the same between countries. Anyone can learn to fly an airplane and become a certified amateur pilot if they have the desire and free funds.

Piloting training: types

Training programs and requirements for acquired skills differ depending on which aircraft and for what purpose the person is going to fly.

In total, there are 3 types of licenses for operating a civil aircraft (in Russia - certificates).

Table 1. Types of piloting licenses.

Amateur pilots have the option of obtaining a Private Pilot License (PPL).

Where are they taught to fly an airplane?

In Russia, aviation training centers are involved in training and issuing certificates. As a rule, there are such centers in every region, and in some, for example, in the Moscow region, there is not even one.

Training time - from 6 months. In principle, you can learn to fly faster. But flight schools have their own standards, which do not allow, for example, to fly more than 3 hours a day.

Flight practice is often limited to 1-1.5 hours. At the same time, they do not fly every day. Plus - theoretical lectures.

In flight schools in the USA and Europe, if you wish, you can study for 6 months. There are intensive courses in which the full training program can be mastered in 3-6 weeks. On the intensive course, they fly daily for 3-6 hours. It is believed that daily practice allows you to learn to fly faster and more efficiently.

How is the training in piloting an airplane going?

In order to learn to fly, you need to master two courses: theory and practice.

Specialized training centers offer thematic courses. Some information can be gleaned from textbooks. Features of the aircraft device, its flight characteristics are contained in the operating manual.

Theoretical Pilot Course

The pilot should learn the following theoretical aspects:

• aerodynamic elements;
• device and design features of the aircraft;
• operation of onboard equipment;
• aeronautical meteorology;
• aircraft navigation;
• training in pilot-dispatch slang.

What a person should know and what skills a person taking the course should learn:

• know the basics of aircraft control;
• know the characteristics and operational limitations of a particular type of aircraft;
• be able to calculate the center of gravity of an aircraft;
• be able to calculate the effect of loading on flight performance;
• have the skill of planning a route;
• have an understanding of the principles of control of probabilistic threats and human errors;
• have an idea of ​​the algorithm of actions in an emergency;
• understand and analyze weather reports;
• be able to use aeronautical charts;
• know aviation codes and abbreviations;
• have the skill of conducting a dialogue with dispatchers.

In reality, all of the above is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Despite the fact that the course is theoretical, the information given on it is purely practical.

All this knowledge and skills are tied to a specific aircraft. Those. the theory is given in a limited and dosed manner, without overloading students with unnecessary information.

The essence of theoretical studies is not that a person knows everything about aerodynamics at the level of an engineering university, but that he has basic information that will make the behavior of an aircraft understandable for him in certain conditions.

Practical Pilot Course

Practical lessons are held in parallel with the theoretical course. On the first sorties, the aircraft is controlled by an instructor, the trainee observes and acts as a co-pilot. With a certain raid, the instructor and the future pilot change places. At this stage, the student takes on the function of the aircraft commander, and the instructor prompts, corrects, insures him against wrong actions.

In addition to flying in the daytime, it is necessary to learn to fly at night, on instruments, in the absence of visual cues, to be able to overcome a long flight with several landings.

Table 2. Flight Requirements for Novice Amateur Pilots in Various Countries

As can be seen from the table above, the flight requirements for pilot training in the United States are more stringent: they imply a greater number of flights at night, including one long flight, 3 hours of flight in the absence of visual cues, and the passage of one route with 3 takeoffs / landings on different airfields.

It should be noted that the above flight requirements are minimal. Nothing prevents schools from increasing the duration of training, including flight practice, if there are reasons for this (for example, due to the fact that a person is slowly mastering technology).

In particular, some American flight schools offer intensive three-week pilot training courses with 60 flight hours. At the same time, there are 20 hours in the air every week, which is an average of 3 hours a day for daily flights.

At the end of the training, the pilots take a theoretical exam and take a test flight. If the results are satisfactory, the Aviation Training Center issues a Private Pilot Certificate to the applicant.

What is a Private Pilot License?

A person who has received a private pilot's license has the right to:

• Fly within the borders of the country that issued the certificate for a certain type of aircraft (the one on which the training took place).
• Quickly retrain for flights on other types of aircraft.
• By confirming the Certificate abroad (by passing exams without training), you can get a license to fly in any selected country.

All civil aviation licenses issued in the world are standardized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This means that they are international rights to fly private jets.

How much does it cost to learn to fly an airplane?

Tuition fees depend on the aviation school and the type of aircraft used. In Russia, you can learn to fly an airplane for $ 7000- $ 8000 thousand (500 thousand rubles).

There are cheaper schools in the USA and Europe. However, travel costs, living expenses, visa and the required language exam will bring the total cost of education closer to $ 8,000- $ 10,000, and possibly even exceed this value.

At the same time, American education is traditionally considered the best. At least from an organizational point of view.

What if I want to fly big planes?

You can learn commercial or linear piloting in Russia in specialized higher educational institutions, after completing a full 5-year course.

In Europe and in the USA, this is easier. For 8 months. you can get a commercial pilot license. For 12 months. - become a real pilot of a linear flight with the right to control large-sized passenger liners. The cost of such courses is from $ 50,000.

I am a light aircraft pilot.

Nikolay Batrakov

got a pilot's license

In less than a year, I went from being an aerophobe to being a private pilot in the United States. To achieve my goal, I moved to Florida for 2.5 months, studied at the aviation school every day and passed all the exams.

This is my way.

Why I decided to study to be a pilot

At the age of 30, I realized that I was aerophobic. Choking, a frantic heartbeat, sweaty palms gripping the arms of the chairs - this condition haunted me during every flight.

I started feeding my illness through the media and the internet. My favorite TV series wasn't Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, but Air Crash Investigations.

A side effect of this passion was a good knowledge of aviation. I understood the structure of the aircraft, aerodynamics and the effect of weather conditions. At the beginning of each episode of Investigation, my wife and I even began to place bets on the possible causes of the disaster.

5000 RUB

worth a half-hour flight on a simulator

The turning point was a gift from his wife - a flight on an airplane simulator. The flight cost 5000 RUR for half an hour. The simulator fully simulates the flight of a real plane, with takeoff and landing at any airport in the world, in any weather conditions.

Instructor Mikhail said that he has a CPL - a commercial pilot license for the United States. He studied to fly in Florida for six months, and it was the best time of his life.

A few days later, I decided to defeat aerophobia and become a pilot.

Preparation

There are two types of pilot licenses: a private PPL, a private pilot license, and a commercial CPL, a commercial private license. After training, I was not going to build a career in aviation, so I immediately decided that I wanted to get a private pilot's license. It is faster and several times cheaper.

According to my preliminary estimate, in 2015 the PPL was about $ 10,000 and the CPL was $ 40,000.

There are three options for training: in training centers in Russia, in schools in Europe or in the United States.

I did not consider training in Europe: firstly, there it costs 20-30% more to become a pilot than even in the USA. For example, a PPL course at Aerotours in Germany would cost 10,000 €. Secondly, I did not have a suitable European visa, but the American one was still valid.

How I chose where to study as a pilot

I was making this table in February 2015. I bought dollars even earlier, in 2014. Then 1 dollar cost 35 rubles

Price

About 500,000 RUR

About 350,000 RUR

Studying time

6-8 months

2-3 months

Moving

Accommodation

Live at home

Need to book

A car

You drive your

Need to book

Weather

Bad, you can only fly on rare sunny days.

Excellent, you can fly every day

Work

Normally

Remotely

Logistics

You need to travel to the suburbs

Airport within the city

Infrastructure

Bad, rare airfields with unpaved strips

The best in the world, thousands of paved airfields

English

A basic level of

At least Upper Intermediate

I managed to buy dollars just before the appreciation - in 2014, at 35 rubles per dollar. This means that studying in the United States will cost me 30% less than in Russia. Yes, you will need to spend every month on housing, car and food, but you can share these costs for two. And if we rent out a Moscow apartment, then we will be quite capable of living in this mode for several months.

It was February 2015. We discussed all the details with my wife and decided that it would be best to leave in the fall. This means that I have about six months to prepare and resolve all issues.

I drew up a table with a to-do list. It turned out about 25 points. Here are the main ones:

1. Agree with the manager to work remotely.
2. Find an aviation school.
3. Book your accommodation.
4. Find an apartment tenant who will agree to look after our cat.
5. Expand your knowledge in areas related to aviation.

My work is connected with Internet projects, and I can easily work remotely. The difference with the US East Coast is +7 hours. We decided to build my workflow like this: early in the morning I do all the urgent tasks and go to school, and after my return I solve the remaining issues.

School search

I have studied all Russian aviation forums and blogs of people who have gone through training in the United States. I asked instructor Mikhail and his friends where they studied. By chance I saw an article about the former media manager Andrei Borisevich, who bought the Skyeagle aviation school in the USA.

In the United States, Florida, California and Texas are considered the best states for pilot training. The weather is great there, you can fly 365 days a year. There are also many airfields and high competition between schools - therefore, the prices for education are low.

I chose Florida because I wanted to live by the warm Atlantic Ocean.

I made a list of schools and started sending out letters with pre-prepared questions:

1. What visa can be used to study?
2. How much does the PPL course cost and how long will it take?
3. How much does it cost to rent an airplane and instructor per hour?
4. Can they help rent a house and a car?
5. In what month is it better to start training?

In total, I wrote to five schools, received answers from only three of them. The prices did not differ much: a full course of study with 40 hours of flight time cost from 8 to 10 thousand dollars. An additional flight hour cost $ 150 for an aircraft rental and $ 50 for an instructor.

Renting an apartment in Florida cost from $ 1200 per month. From November to April, this is the most comfortable time for life and pilot training. Average temperature 20-25 ° C and little rainfall. You can fly every day.

Visa

While I corresponded with schools, I found out an interesting nuance. USCIS regulations say that an M1 student visa is required if the study process takes more than 18 hours per week. In this case, the student cannot change the chosen school during the learning process.

Tourist visa B1 / B2 allows you to study on a reduced program - less than 18 hours per week. Some schools claimed that their programs were built this way, and you can safely come to study on a tourist visa.

Preparation of documents

After several weeks of correspondence, I chose the Sky Eagle School. Its director Andrei showed the greatest patience and attention to my questions. The school is located in the resort town of Fort Lauderdale, 37 km from Miami. The cost of training for a private pilot is $ 8685.

A prospective pilot in the United States must pass the TSA, the Transportation Security Agency. TSA is committed to protecting airports and preventing aircraft hijacking. In order to prevent potential terrorists from driving the training plane, the agency checks all flight school students: collects fingerprints and asks to fill out a large questionnaire with personal information.

Andrey explained the further procedure:

1. Create a login and fill out a form on the TSA website - transport security agency.
2. Ask the school to confirm this request.
3. Paying $ 130 to TSA is a fee for processing the questionnaire.
4. Obtain prior authorization from TSA.
5. Come to the USA.
6. Immediately upon arrival, submit your fingerprints at one of the TSA offices.
7. Wait for the prints to be entered into the TSA database, and obtain a flight permit.
8. Pass a medical examination at one of the US clinics and receive a certificate of airworthiness.
9. You can fly!

Searching for housing in the USA and renting an apartment in Moscow

The school was unable to offer us suitable housing options, so we started searching on our own. The largest database of real estate in the United States is Craigslist.org, but everything is rented there only to residents and for a long time.

To begin with, we booked an apartment for a week through Airbnb.com - we paid about 30,000 rubles for them. The plan was as follows: we will arrive at the place, take a look around and find housing for the entire period.

Renting out an apartment in Moscow turned out to be more difficult. We were looking for someone who would not only agree to rent for only three months, but would also be able to take care of our cat. I decided to make a good discount and set a low price.

I posted the ad in real estate groups on social networks. By the evening of the same day, I received a dozen messages from cat lovers. We conducted a casting, chose the right one, drew up a lease agreement, where we prescribed all the conditions for caring for our cat, and shook hands.

Pre-training

The school did not impose any additional requirements for preliminary preparation. But I decided that it would not be superfluous to prepare for the classes on my own, because on the spot I will have only two months to study.

I have installed the Microsoft Flight Simulator on my computer. It has a virtual piloting course, almost the same as the real one. I bought a special joystick for 3000 R and practiced every evening. A month later I passed the virtual exam.

Then I decided that it was time to move from theory to practice and fly on a real plane. I went to the Moscow Region flying club at the Vatulino airfield. A flight on the lightest plane from their fleet costs 5000 RUR for half an hour.

There were two seats on the plane, I took a seat to the right of the pilot. After a short briefing and checking of the onboard systems, we received permission to take off and took off. It was May, and spring was a time of unstable atmosphere, when the earth heats up and air masses mix, creating turbulent currents. Due to turbulence, the plane was thrown in all directions. The pilot was completely calm, and I was uncomfortable.

Having gained altitude, the pilot handed over control to me. I did a few maneuvers - it eased the tension a bit. After half an hour of flying over fields, forests and a river, we landed.

Aviation English

I know English well, but it's one thing to talk to a teacher in class, and quite another to negotiate on the radio with strangers in a stressful state, when any misunderstanding can lead to unpleasant consequences.

English is the international language of communication in aviation. Pilots and controllers communicate with each other over the radio in a non-spoken language. Instead, they use a special phraseology called Aviation English.

There is a standard set of phrases for every situation - taxiing, takeoff, landing, weather forecast. Each aircraft is assigned a unique number. It is communicated to the other side on every radio contact, using the "aviation alphabet".

I studied aviation English from illustrations by the military navigator, Colonel P.V. Iskratov. On YouTube, you can find many videos with recordings of radio communications in different situations, from routine to disastrous. In aviation, like nowhere else, the principle operates: it is better to learn from the mistakes of others than from our own.

And there is also a service of broadcasting radio air of airports in real time - "Radioscanner". You can open the Flight Tracker app or the Flightradar24.com website, find the aircraft that is negotiating, and track its activity on the map. In my experience, this has proven to be very helpful for learning.

Moving to Florida

To estimate the cost of living in Florida, excluding school, we have compiled an approximate budget. It came out at $ 2100 per person per month. This amount could be reduced. For example, go to the United States alone, rent a room, not an apartment, travel by public transport, give up all entertainment and eat the cheapest food. But we decided to enjoy life and not save much.

Tickets to Miami with a stopover in Paris cost 54,000 rubles.

We flew to Florida at the end of October 2015. The first few days I spent on bureaucratic formalities: I passed my fingerprints to TSA, got a flight permit, passed a medical examination - it lasts 10 minutes and costs $ 100.

Estimated living expenses per month - $ 4200

Spending

Price

Life in eternal summer

Fort Lauderdale is not as busy as Miami, but with the same long quays and waterways throughout the city, from which it even earned the nickname of the American Venice.

Public transport is very poorly developed, so a car is vital. Fortunately, there are no problems with renting.

With housing, everything is more complicated. Florida is a rich state with a wonderful climate; both Americans themselves and tourists from all over the world come here to rest. Good lodging options are booked months in advance. So our initial plan to find an apartment quickly failed.

1600 $

we paid for housing per month

For the first week, we drove around the city and looked at the options that we found on AirBNB and Craigslist. The housing stock was very old, I didn't want to live in such conditions. Finally, we were lucky: an American couple rented out their small guest house for $ 1600 a month.

Our hosts turned out to be very friendly people, we talked a lot on various topics, including political ones. We were even invited to a Christmas party.

We tried to eat at home. Several times a week we bought at the local supermarket, cooked on the stove or grill. On average, we spent about $ 1,500 a month on food, as planned.

Fort Lauderdale is located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, so in the evenings after school and work, we came to half-empty beaches, walked and watched the sunsets.

Demonstration flight

I arrived at the school and on the very first day made a demonstration flight with Chief Instructor Scott Leach on a Cessna-172 plane. During the demo flight, the student does not take part in piloting, but only observes the actions of the pilot.

The teacher decided to show me everything that this old plane is capable of. He made deep turns, slides - and immediately threw the car in a dive so that I felt weightlessness for a few seconds. After landing, I was slightly alive - but it was too late to retreat.

Preparation for classes

According to the training plan, I had to take a theoretical course, fly the 40 hours necessary according to the rules of the regulator and pass the theoretical and practical exams.

The school has a large office with several classrooms, computers for checking the weather and exams, and an airplane simulator. Classes were taught by teachers with great experience and the necessary ratings for instructor pilots. Greg Feiss became my pilot-instructor.

Greg and I immediately went to the air store and purchased the necessary training materials:

1. A guide for private pilots.
2. FAR / AIM Collection of Federal Aviation Regulations.
3. US Airports Directory.
4. Florida aviation map.
5. Recommendations for passing exams.
6. Mechanical computer E6-B.
7. A ruler.
8. Flight book, where information about all performed flights is entered.

I paid $ 300 for all these materials.

Greg recommended that I install the ForeFlight navigation mobile app. It helps the pilot to plan a flight, shows the weather anywhere in the United States, contains detailed maps and guides the plane on the desired course - like a Yandex navigator, but instead of traffic jams, there is bad weather. A 3 month license costs $ 50.

We had a small group of students - only 3 people. In the mornings, there were joint theoretical classes for several hours, and in the afternoon - flights: each student with his own instructor.

The theory teaching is divided into five large sections:

1. The fundamental principles of flight are onboard systems and aircraft design, principles of aerodynamics.
2. Air operations - airports, maps, airspace, radio traffic, ground services.
3. Weather - meteorology, data interpretation.
4. Navigation and aircraft operation.
5. Putting skills into practice - psychology, decision making, flight planning.

The structure of education is very different from the Russian "academic school". Teachers usually provide only the most basic knowledge, leaving a wide front for self-study. The main focus in practice.

Payment is made according to any scheme convenient for the student. You can pay for the entire course right away and get a good discount from the school. I decided that it was more comfortable for me to be paid after the services rendered. On the first day, I deposited $ 2000 into the school account. When they came to an end, I paid for each flight separately with a bank card.

Training aerodrome

You can't just take it and take off. Any takeoffs and landings, even on small and private planes, are permitted only at airfields. They are "controlled" - with a control tower, and "uncontrolled" - only with runways and without a tower. On uncontrolled pilots, they report their intentions on a dedicated common frequency.

The Fort Lauderdale commercial airfield is ideal for training. It has two solid long lanes, a control tower operates 24 hours a day, and aviation traffic is not as dense as at the main airport where civilian liners arrive.

Aerodrome code - KFXE.

First flights

The first training flight with an instructor takes place almost immediately after the introductory lessons, during which they talk about the structure of the aircraft. This knowledge is required to conduct a pre-flight check.

The pilot checks the plane against the checklist. It describes in detail all the steps: first you need to check the external condition of the aircraft, the main components, fuel, oil. After that, the pilot gets into the cockpit, starts the engine and checks the onboard systems. Then he finds out the weather, contacts the dispatcher on the tower and informs him of his intentions: where he is going to fly.

The pilot obtains take-off clearance from the "tower", takes the plane to the taxiway and moves along it to the desired lane. In front of the runway, he stops, once again makes a check of the aircraft systems - and again contacts the dispatcher. If the lane is occupied, the pilot waits for the path to clear. Finally, the take-off clearance is obtained - acceleration along the runway begins.

The first flights take place along the so-called airfield circle. The student takes off, makes a circle around the airfield, sits down and immediately takes off again. Takeoff and landing are the most difficult and crucial stages of flight, so these elements are repeated many times during training.

At the same time, the student conducts radio communications, informs about his position and the next step, and the dispatcher confirms his intentions or asks to change them in connection with the actions of other aircraft.

A week after the start of classes and 10 hours of flying in this mode, Greg asked me to return to the hangar after landing. Suddenly he got off the plane and announced that it was time for my first "solo" - an independent flight.

Trying to calm my excitement, I contacted the dispatcher and said that I was planning to make my first flight, to which the dispatcher wished me luck. I made three regular takeoffs and landings and returned to the hangar. It was an amazing moment, I was overwhelmed with emotions.

A little later, I went through the rite of passage. Part of the shirt is cut out from the students who have done their first "solo". This tradition is associated with the times when there was no walkie-talkie on airplanes. Then the student and the instructor on the plane sat one after another, in tandem. To instruct the student where to direct the plane, the instructor pulled him by the side of the shirt. After a successful first flight, this part of the shirt is cut off - now the pilot can independently decide where to fly.

Training maneuvers

The next stage of training takes place already in the training area above the Everglades swamps. Students are taught to perform standard maneuvers - climb, descent, turns - and also monitor the environment and the position of the aircraft, and use navigation devices.

The most difficult thing is a training simulation of abnormal and emergency situations, for example, a stall, engine stop, fire on board. After several such lessons with an instructor, the student makes such emergency flights on his own.

Long distance flights

The last test for the student is long distance flights between several points. They are also called cross-country flights.

This is the pinnacle of piloting. They apply all the knowledge about the aircraft and its capabilities, the skills of piloting, navigation, radio communications, analysis of weather conditions.

You need to thoroughly prepare for a cross-country flight:

1. Plan your route yourself.
2. Find out the weather all along the route and think about what to do if the weather worsens.
3. Calculate the required amount of fuel and the weight of the aircraft.
4. Determine the speed at takeoff, landing and altitude, as well as the effect of wind on speed.

For my first cross-country flight, I took the scenic route towards Key West. The route of such a flight passes at a low altitude, first over the beaches of Miami, then over the winding road in the ocean. During this flight, I experienced tremendous joy and realized that this was not in vain.

After the first cross-country flight, the student makes several more similar flights, including at night.

Exam

After 40 hours of flight, the student is admitted to the exams. Usually training takes 2-2.5 months, because of the excellent weather and daily practice, I managed it in 42 days.

The first stage of the exam is a computer test. You need to answer 60 questions and score 80% of the correct answers. This stage costs $ 165.

The second stage is an oral examination and practical flight with a certified examiner. The examiner is a private person, so he must be paid separately. The second stage of the exam costs $ 500.

I passed the test and performed well on the oral exam, but failed to land on the flight. The examiner took over. This meant that I failed.

I had to take additional classes with an instructor. It cost me $ 600 for 3 hours. I had to pay for the second exam again, but the examiner agreed to cut my payment by half - to $ 250, since before that I had successfully passed the oral part.

A week later, a second practical exam took place. This time I made no mistakes. Having received congratulations from the examiner, the first thing I did was go to the store and for $ 20 bought the pilot's well-deserved patches.

On the same day, I received a temporary certificate that allowed me to fly on my own with passengers on board. I took my wife, rented a plane, and we flew over Miami, the Everglades swamps and the azure ocean.

Renting a plane for 2 hours cost me $ 300.

Looking back

It took a little over two months from the moment I first arrived at school until the exam. I exceeded my budget as I could not pass the exam the first time. Well, that's okay.

In total, I spent $ 10,730 on my studies

Two months after returning to Moscow, they sent me an envelope with my "rights" - a valid certificate of a US private pilot. Russian legislation does not recognize foreign certificates. But you can go through the validation procedure: submit to the Federal Air Transport Agency a package of documents on the training completed abroad and go through a difficult medical commission (VLEK).

Even with a Russian pilot's license, in Russia it is impossible to simply come to the airfield and rent a plane. To do this, you need to join one of the flying clubs and pay membership fees.

I set myself the goal of defeating aerophobia and achieved it. But I did not plan to plunge into the Russian bureaucracy. I decided that I would fly the next time I was in the USA.

The fastest, most comfortable and safest means of transport is undoubtedly an airplane. Moreover, sometimes it is by air transport that passengers can get to the most remote place on our planet, spending a long flight in a comfortable cabin.

However, if we take into account the statistics data, there is a serious shortage of specialists in the field of civil aviation. Indeed, in the Russian Federation, only a few educational institutions train professional pilots.

The fact that there is a shortage of personnel in the field of civil aviation was mentioned in the Ministry of Transport more than 10 years ago. It was to address this pressing problem that Aeroflot's flight school was opened 6 years ago. The main principle of the new project, according to V. Savelyev, who holds the post of general director of the world-famous aviation enterprise, is the training of professional aviation specialists, which the domestic civil aviation is in dire need of.

As for the practical implementation of the launched project, it should bring both national benefit and contribute to the development and prosperity of the airline. After all, having entered the Aeroflot aviation training center, cadets must sign an employment agreement, which states that after completing the preparatory course, specialists must find employment in the company that trains them. Such a contract is guaranteed to return the money spent on training professional personnel.

Pilot training in monetary terms is approximately 28 thousand dollars, and the return of the funds spent, according to the signed contract, will be carried out by potential specialists gradually over the course of 5 years. Since the average monthly salary is approximately $ 5.5 thousand, it will be necessary to transfer about $ 470 each month to pay.

Today, the educational institution is incredibly popular, because many understand that the prestige of aviation specialties is increasing almost every day.

Girls can also fly airplanes!

Persons who graduated from civilian flying institutions, military pilots, as well as those who have a diploma of completion of both higher aviation education and technical, can take a training course at Aeroflot's flying institution.

Immediately after the opening of the school, the preparatory program was divided into 2 stages:

1. Initial training lasted for 1.5 years, in the higher educational aviation school located in Ulyanovsk, in the profession "Flight operation of aircraft", completely free.
2. The next stage lasted for six months at a school owned by Aeroflot, exclusively under a contract.

A targeted loan that helps cadets pay for the training, as we have already noted, was provided to the cadets by an airline under a contract that obliges graduates to work for an airline in order to fully repay the loan.

However, the program under consideration was involved for a short time, since the state and the enterprise could not find a compress regarding the issue of state budget financing of the first stage. And this is despite the fact that the monthly average earnings of a pilot working in a well-known airline exceeds 240 thousand rubles. That is, to repay the loan, a specialist needs to allocate about 6-7% of the total salary.

After 2 years, the training center had to change the previously established training scheme, that is, to completely switch to a contract, which also consisted of two main stages:

1. Initial training was carried out at an accredited flight center operating in the United States of America, more precisely in the state of Florida. The preparation lasted for 5 months, the cost was about 56 thousand dollars, and this amount did not include the price of an air ticket, visa and food.

After completing the training, the graduates of the first stage had to pass exams, both in theory and in practical skills.

If the examinations are successfully passed, an American-style pilot's license is issued.

1. The second stage, lasting 7 months, took place at the flight school. The cost of training was approximately 32 thousand US dollars. The cadets received the skills of piloting in air transport of the A 320 model.

Pilot training simulator

Contact Information

It is quite easy to get an answer to any question of interest regarding the learning process by visiting the official website of the Aeroflot aviation school http://www.avb.ru.

Here you can also familiarize yourself with the rules of admission, the list of necessary documentation and find out the address of the institution. You can independently bring the necessary documentation and pass a simple interview at the address - Kronstadtsky Boulevard, house number 20, 5th floor, room number 505 (g), the office of the institution operates in a building belonging to the capital's technical state institution of civil aviation. You can call the administration by phone: +7 495-981-55-20.

Home page of the Aeroflot flight school website

Basic requirements for applicants

By visiting the official website of the Aeroflot aviation school, potential cadets will be able to find out exactly what the requirements are for applicants. It is worth noting that there are not so many of them, but everyone, without exception, needs to familiarize themselves with them:

1. Potential cadets must not be over 35 years old.
2. The institution accepts both representatives of the stronger sex and girls.
3. Those persons who have a diploma of graduation from a higher institution, as well as a technical or flight school, will be able to study at school.
4. Students who complete their last year at higher aviation institutions can also study at the training center, who can immediately after graduating from the institute, having entered the school, get a job as a co-pilot in an airline.
5. In the training center, everyone will be able to master the profession of a flight attendant, studying the profession for 2 months.

Regardless of what kind of aviation profession the future cadet wants to master, he needs to go through an interview and a special medical commission. If the initial stages are completed perfectly, then you should not forget that the student will have to pay for the first part of the training program on their own, and the targeted loan provided by the airline will help pay for the second.

While undergoing training in the profession of a flight attendant, you need to pay about 46 thousand rubles, a partial increase is possible if the cadet signs an employment contract with Aeroflot. The basic requirements for those wishing to master the profession in question remain unchanged, but one requirement is certainly added to the above - excellent knowledge of the English language.

Today, aviation professions are considered by young people not only as the most prestigious, but also as especially highly paid. And many are very attracted by the shape of the pilots, which gives masculinity and individuality to each image. But in order to fulfill your cherished dream and definitely become a student of a flight school, you definitely need to know about the conditions for admission and about the requirements of the institution, with which we will try to figure it out:

1. Flight training institutions are divided into two categories - military and civilian. The first trains specialists for work in the civilian sphere of activity, that is, pilots serving both civil and commercial flights. The latter graduate specialists who can later serve in the Russian air forces. The term for training specialists in the institutions under consideration can last either 3 years or 5 years, depending on the status of the institution. That is, the duration depends on whether the cadets will master the chosen profession in a secondary technical or higher institution.
2. Practically in every institution, both professional pilots and technical personnel are trained, as well as future specialists who can work in ground air units. Taking into account the choice of a specific specialty, the requirements for future students also change.
3. Persons who have a diploma of completion of secondary complete education can become a cadet, if their age does not exceed 35 years, and special honey. the commission will confirm their full suitability. To join the ranks of cadets, you will need to pass entrance examination tests in the following disciplines:

• Russian language;
• mathematics;
• English language.

For some faculties, applicants will have to take additional tests.

1. Before going through the obligatory interview, in order to obtain admission to the exams, it is necessary to collect a list of documents for submission to the selection committee:

• confirmation document of education - both complete secondary and professional higher;
• a certificate from a medical institution, drawn up in accordance with the form No. 086 / y. The certificate must display all the vaccinations that were previously made, and there must be confirmation that the graduate regularly attended physical education lessons;
• the applicant must independently describe his autobiography in free form;
• photographs in the size of 3x4 must be submitted in the amount of 6 pieces.

To the documentation you need to add a certificate issued in a dispensary, both narcological and neuropsychiatric.

1. For those wishing to master the profession of a pilot-pilot, in addition to the above medical certificates, it is necessary to obtain a conclusion, of course, positive, issued by members of (VLEK), a special medical commission working at the flight training center. Pilot training also requires a potential cadet to undergo additional selection, in which a specialist will assess both the professional and psychological characteristics of the applicant.

Whichever faculty an applicant enters, he must have excellent eyesight, so passing an ophthalmologist is mandatory for cadets.

It is equally important to independently understand that the profession of a pilot will actually be correlated with both capabilities and desire. That is, even those who successfully graduate from secondary school or higher educational institution, but do not have sufficient physical strength and certain psychological qualities, are unlikely to be able to work in their chosen profession in the future. After all, being a pilot means the following:

• daily expose your own body to excessive physical and psychological stress:
• be able to make serious decisions at any time, on which the life of both the team and passengers depends;
• in no case do not give in to panic and find a way out of very extreme situations.