Five Things to Do Before Starting Flight Training

Starting flight training can be daunting. There are so many things to learn during the training that it can get a little bit overwhelming sometimes. So here are five ways you can prepare for training before doing that first lesson.

Brush up on math and physics
Don’t worry, the math involved in private flight training is very basic and easy. However, it’s not instinctual until you practice for a while. Go to the bookshop or go online and find videos and practice questions for mental arithmetic, trigonometry, moments, and center of mass calculations.

Get A desktop flight Simulator
I recommend Microsoft Flight Simulator X for one simple reason: you can go through the flight school missions with Rod Machado’s voice in your ear as you practice the basics of PPL flying. It’s a lot of fun and you’ll learn a few things. Read and learn all the pre-flight lessons before though, as that’s where you’ll get a bunch of useful information. Alternatively, you can get Microsoft Flight Simulator X for Real World Pilots. It is a first-class book that I highly recommend to anyone wanting to practice using a home simulator. Make sure to get at least a joystick and rudder pedals.

Learn the Phonetic Alphabet
It’s actually very easy to learn. Not only will you need to memorize every letter, but you’ll also need say them instinctively. It must be second nature to say, “Bravo 4” instead of B4, or, “Hotel Echo Mike Oscar” instead of HEMO. Get a printout, memorize all 26 phonetic letters, and start reading everything that way. Why not start with this blog?

Get a Flight Journal
A flight journal should be considered to be as vital as a logbook. It should become part of your daily routine to write into your flight journal after every flight. Many studies have shown that actively recalling your performance after receiving feedback will improve future performance and steepen the learning curve. Writing a flight journal deserves a blog for itself. It really is an amazing tool.

Prepare your Schedule
Flight training is intensive and time consuming. Don’t waltz into the flight school expecting to do one or two flights a week and then receive a private pilot certificate with no further work on your part. It’s hard work and you’ll need to schedule some time every week to study and review your lessons. Don’t let this last point scare you. You’ll want to study. Trust me. It’s super exciting learning how to fly an aircraft!

If I were to give you a sixth piece of advice it would be to relax. The tips above are not mandatory, they’ll simply help you feel more comfortable when you do your flight training. Go to your flight school, watch the planes take-off, and allow yourself to smile, knowing that you’ll be in one of them soon.