The Average to Private Pilot Certification
The Average to Private Pilot Certification
It strikes us that people have gradually normalized that it is acceptable to spend 65+ hours in flight training before meeting the standards to become a Private Pilot.
But what’s truly disturbing is seeing students spend close to 80 hours to meet these standards. That’s almost twice the time, money, and energy it would take if flight training were approached efficiently. While you can argue that weather, maintenance, airspace, and personal situations lengthen timeframes, you can’t ignore the fact that most trainees are leaving low standards of training unchecked. Is a 50%–100% deviation from the ideal timeframe normal? No, but it has been normalized. In aviation, where costs are high, this normalization is unacceptable. The concept of normalization of deviance was introduced to me in Flight Test in terms of flight safety culture, but we can see this affecting flight training culture as well. Normalization of deviance occurs when people within a group gradually accept increasingly lower standards of performance as the norm. This is happening in flight training because deviations from ideal expectations, goals, and training objectives go unchecked, with little immediate negative consequences. For instance, you may feel it’s human to accept a lesson that was not-quite or not-at-all what you expected. This acceptance is insidious because the negative consequences will become apparent down the road. Another example is how many instructors hold students back from making their solo flights, leading students to accept the not-yet response. While you may try to rationalize the reason for it, not-yet can easily double your flight time for certification. At best, this normalization of deviance demoralizes students. At worst, it leaves them in financial distress without achieving their goal.
So, how do you avoid deviance from the ideal standards? Ideally, you avoid it completely by learning from the right person—someone who guides you session by session to acquire the specific knowledge and skills required to reach your goal efficiently. But since learning is a two-way process, you need to take ownership too. Each session is an essential part of achieving your end goal. Together, all sessions become your journey. Bring your intensity to each session as if such was your last chance.
The Fly ORKA app offers tools to watch your flights, reflect on your progress, and share your journey with a supportive community. It invites you to take control of your training and feel safe holding your instructor accountable, by reinforcing the importance of striving to accomplish all goals efficiently and effectively—as a team. If you notice deviations from ideal expectations, goals, or training objectives, the app gives you the support to investigate what’s causing the deviations. With both way messaging between instructors and students—as well as among aviation peers, communication becomes seamless, supporting you to take action with clarity. Don’t get trapped in the normalization of deviance. Be part of a community striving for betterment, and reinforce that low standards are not acceptable the moment you notice them. Whether you’re a pilot in training, an instructor, or a flight school, the Fly ORKA app helps you stay on track while maintaining high standards.
Download the Fly ORKA app and accept no krap.