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How to Learn to Fly a Plane in Georgia

In the countryside well away from the major airports in Savannah and Atlanta, more than three dozen regional airstrips in Georgia offer opportunities where aspiring pilots can learn to fly. In the Peach State, student pilots can get experience flying over the Atlantic Ocean or the mountain ranges sprouting at the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. Some of Georgia's flight schools even help students find aviation jobs when the training is complete.

Instructions

- 1
  Do your homework. Surf the web links at the Georgia flight schools directory on Just Flight Schools or Pilot Journey. Check for flying clubs in the municipal airport list at the Pilot Outlook website. When you call for lessons, ask how far away the airport is. Will you need to book a hotel? What does it cost? Coastal Empire Flight training in Savannah was advertising hourly instruction rates on light sport aircraft from $45 to $100, plus rental costs for equipment, in January 2011. The company also had a private pilot's license course for $4,061. SutAir, based in Jesup, was advertising private pilot license instruction for $7,500 to $8,000.
- 2
  Determine where you will be most comfortable learning. If you want the thrill of hearing the hum of a propeller 2,000 feet above the choppy Atlantic, look up flight instructors at the municipal airports in Brunswick or Jesup. For mountainous ventures, query in the north at municipal airports like the ones in Dalton or Athens.
- 3
  Pick a flight school for the kind of flying you'd like to do. If your dream is to timeshare a single-engine Cessna to make "hundred-dollar-hamburger" flights for lunch between places like Valdosta and Fitzgerald, talk to an instructor about getting a private pilot's license. If you aspire to pull passenger-filled 767s into the air from Hartsfield International in Atlanta, you will have to eventually enroll in a flight academy like ATP in Atlanta.
- 4
  Read up. Study the Federal Aviation Administration's Airmen Knowledge questions, which are part of a written test for pilot's licenses. The FAA was offering the examination at testing centers in Statesboro, Atlanta, Valdosta, Rome and a handful of other Georgia cities as of November 2010.
- 5
  Practice. Train with certified professionals until you're ready to fly solo. Although the FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours of flight time for a private pilot's license, instructors have the discretion to keep you coming back for more until you are totally confident behind the controls.

Aviation