Pilot Licensing
There are two main pilot licenses for light sport and recreational pilots in Australia: an RA-Aus Pilot Certificate and a CASA-issued Private Pilot’s License (PPL). There are plenty of other licenses and ratings – commercial licenses, instructor licenses etc – but this section focuses on the first two. Where you can fly and in what type of aircraft, depends on your license.
RA-Aus Pilot Certificate
For many people this is the starting point for sport and recreational flying, although you can go on from here and achieve other licenses.
The basic requirements are:
- to be aged at least 15 years to hold a basic pilot certificate
- to be aged at least 18 years to fly cross-country (ie more than 25 miles from base) or carry passengers
- to reach a medical standard at least equivalent to that required to drive a car
- complete a minimum of 20 hours dual and solo flying training
- pass a general flying test
- pass a number of written exams – flight radio, air legislation, aeronautical knowledge and human factors
Next steps are:
- complete a minimum of 10 hours in command dual and solo cross country flying training to enable flying further than 25 nautical miles from base
- pass written exams in navigation & meteorology
- pass a navigation flying test
- pass a passenger carrying flying test
- Advanced steps include extra endorsements for:
- tailwheel aircraft (or nose wheel aircraft – depends on the aircraft you trained on)
- high performance aircraft (capable of over 80 knots in level flight)
- low performance aircraft (not capable of 80 knots in level flight)
- in-flight variable pitch propellers
- retractable landing gear
- float plane flying
- formation flying
- low level flying
- Further training:
- instructor ratings
- becoming a Chief Flying Instructor (CFI)
RA-Aus Pilot Certificate – license limitations
- may not fly for reward or gain, unless as a qualified instructor giving lessons
- limited to flying RA-Aus registered aircraft (ie 2-seats, single engine)
- must fly only in clear, daylight conditions (ie good visibility and not at night)
- may only fly in un-controlled airspace (ie not near major controlled airports, military establishments and certain no-fly areas)
- may not fly over any city or town
- must remain below 10,000 feet altitude above sea level
- flight above 5,000 feet requires mandatory use of radio and designated radio calls
- minimum flying height of 500 feet unless landing or taking off, or flying over land with the permission of the owner
- while flying must remain at all times at least 100 metres horizontally from any person or public road
- bank angle in turns limited to 60º
- climb or descent angle limited to 30º
- no aerobatics or spinning
- flight over water more than 20 kilometres from land requires wearing a life-vest
Click here for the RA-Aus website section dealing with flying training.
Private Pilot’s License (PPL)
A PPL requires more time (and money) than an RA-Aus Pilot Certificate. Nevertheless, it is still a good starting point for sport and recreational flying, and it can be easier to go on from here, particularly if you want to become a commercial pilot, fly aerobatics, and/or fly in bad weather or at night.
The basic requirements for a PPL are:
- at least 16 years to complete first solo
- be at least 17 years old to be issued with a PPL
- pass a class 2 medical examination
- complete a minimum of 40 hours dual, solo and instrument flying training
- pass a general flying progress test (GFPT)
- pass a number of written exams – radio telephony, air legislation, aeronautical knowledge and human factors
Next steps are:
- navigation training, typically 20 hours flying & 10 hours theory
- pass written exams in navigation & meteorology
- pass a navigation flying test
- pass a PPL flight test for full license
Advanced steps include extra training for:
- in-flight variable pitch propellers
- tailwheel aircraft
- aerobatics
- night flying
- instrument flying
- twin engine aircraft
- retractable landing gear
- float plane flying
Further training:
- commercial pilot’s license
- instructor ratings
- agricultural pilot ratings
PPL – basic license limitations
- may not fly for reward or gain
- limited to flying GA/CASA registered single engine aircraft up to 5,700 kgs MTOW irrespective of number of seats
- must fly only in clear, daylight conditions (ie good visibility and not at night)
- may fly in controlled airspace if aircraft is equipped to do so
- must remain below 18,000 feet altitude above sea level
- minimum flying height of 500 feet unless landing or taking off, or flying over land with the permission of the owner
- no aerobatics
- flight over water more than 20 kilometres from land requires wearing a life-vest
Click here for the CASA website section dealing with flying training.
Bi-annual Flight Review (BFR)
Whether you have an RA-Aus Pilot Certificate or a CASA PPL, every two years you must complete a BFR with an instructor. This is purely for safety reasons to ensure your aviation knowledge is current, and that your flying skills have not developed any bad habits.
There is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ in a BFR. Your instructor should give you an honest and constructive appraisal with useful tips for improvement and learning.
Your license, and probably insurance, is invalid if you are not ‘current’ with your BFR.
Medicals
Technically, you do not require a formal medical to hold an RA-Aus Pilot Certificate. However, you are required to be reasonably fit and be able to satisfy the requirements for holding a normal driving license.
A PPL requires a regular medical examination (they get more and more frequent the older you get!) and the issue of a CASA medical certificate. There is a list in the CASA website of medical practitioners approved to issue CASA medical certificates.
Summary
Whether you opt to go RA-Aus or CASA depends a lot on exactly what kind of flying you want to do. For most sport and recreational flyers, the RA-Aus offers a straightforward, relatively inexpensive way to get a flying license and own your own aircraft.
Recreational aircraft were conceived originally as simple, inexpensive, good weather daylight flying machines with one or two seats.
As a result, the main advantages of RA-Aus are:
- your driver’s license is your medical
- it’s quicker and less expensive to get a license
- there is a big selection of new aircraft to choose from if you want to buy
- the aircraft are generally much cheaper to buy, run and maintain
- you can (if you wish) do your own aircraft maintenance
- these aircraft will typically take-off from and land in much smaller spaces than bigger aircraft, so you can reasonably expect to be able to fly out of a paddock
The main dis-advantages might be:
- you cannot fly in controlled airspace near towns, cities and major airports (but there’s plenty of other space to fly in Australia!)
- the aircraft are limited to two seats (but most people only ever fly with a single passenger)
- if you want to progress to a commercial license you will have to get a PPL license first (becoming much easier now more schools recognize RA-Aus training time)
- you cannot fly aerobatics, or at night, or on instruments in bad weather (you’ll need to get a PPL to start on those)
Conversely, the main advantages of a PPL are:
- you can fly in controlled airspace near cities and major airports
- you can get a night flying rating
- you can get an instrument (bad weather) flying rating
- you can get an aerobatics rating
- if needed, you can get endorsed to fly a 4 or even 6-seater aircraft and take plenty of friends with you
The main dis-advantages might be:
- buying a new PPL-type aircraft is very expensive
- although there are many used aircraft on the market most of them are quite old (meaning expensive maintenance bills) or, if they are newer, are very expensive (the average age of the Australian GA private aircraft is 40 years!)
- typical PPL aircraft burn a lot of fuel
- they must be maintained by a licensed engineer (can get expensive)
- they are not in the main ideally suited to paddock flying
Which of these is important to you, only you can decide.