So you've signed up for flight lessons - now what? The first several lessons are spent learning various flight maneuvers in order to give you a better feel for how the airplane handles. Often times people relate learning to fly with learning to drive. One aspect is quite different, though, as most people spend the first 16 years of their life watching someone else drive, and learn by observation. Most people don't sit in the plane for 16 years observing before taking control, so the learning curve is a bit steeper.

The first maneuvers you will practice will seem very basic, turns, climbs, descents, and straight and level flight. These four maneuvers will comprise everything else you will ever do in an airplane. Many people are nervous on their first flight – there is no reason to be. If you have done your homework you have a very competent flight instructor sitting next to you. Trust them. Have fun in the plane and get a good feel for how it handles. Don’t look inside at the instruments too much. Even the most complex aircraft can easily be flown with out the instruments. Staring at the instruments will only hurt your flying skill – don’t believe us? Next time you’re driving in a car try staring at the speedometer and see what happens.

The next maneuvers get a bit more complex. Steep turns, slow flight, stalls, turns around a point and S turns. These maneuvers are a bit more challenging and are designed to hone your skills for the most difficult maneuver, landing. Steep turns are just that, normal turns but steeper. When the plane is moving through the air, it has a certain amount of energy. That energy is used to keep the plane in the air and moving forward. When you turn the plane some of that energy is used up and the plane will begin to slowly or quickly descend depending on how steep the turn is. Steep turns teach energy management. Slow flight does the same thing. The plane performs very differently when it is flown slowly, such as during landing. Practicing slow flight teaches you what to expect and how the airplane will change at slower speeds.

Stalls are a required part of training. Stalls have nothing to do with the engine stopping. They involve the wings losing the ability to produce lift. In order to produce lift the wing needs air flowing over it in a certain amount and in a certain direction. If there is not enough air moving over the wing or if the direction of the air moving over the wing is disrupted the wing will not produce lift and the airplane will not fly. Think of it in relation to a water skier. If the boat stops pulling the skier they will sink into the water. Or if the boat somehow starts pulling the skier sideways or backwards in a direction the skis are not designed to work the skier will also sink into the water. Stalls in an airplane are easy and safe as long as you have the altitude to recover.

Ground reference maneuvers such as turns around a point and S turns teach you to fly the airplane in relation to something on the ground. During each landing you are maneuvering the airplane in relation to the runway. Ground reference maneuvers hone your skills without worrying about the actual landing part.

After the basic flight maneuvers have been mastered, the lessons move on to reviewing landings - the most difficult part of the flight. Most people teach landings the wrong way – they try to teach you to land, that’s wrong. The airplane will land itself if you let it. Instead of trying to land the plane try flying it about a foot above the runway. If you can do this you can land by slowly reducing the engine power and the plane will land itself. Another pitfall to avoid is looking at the runway while trying to land. Instead look at the far end of the runway and out at the horizon. Next time you're driving or even walking, try looking about 2 or 3 feet in front of you instead of straight ahead, and you'll see your depth perception and sense of balance will be affected, not something you want to experience while trying to land a plane.

After your instructor feels very confident in all of your flying skills he or she will sign your logbook and you’re ready to fly solo. Don’t rush this moment, the consequences of flying an airplane on your own when you’re not yet ready can be disastrous. So take your time and trust your instructor. After the solo you’ll practice finding your way to and from new airports in the cross country phase of the training. This is a very rewarding part of the training but also very difficult. Finding your way to a new airport safely and while following all the FAA regulations can be a challenge. The training cumulates with the FAA checkride. The checkride involves a two part exam. The first portion is conducted on the ground and covers all the aviation regulations and procedures. The second part involves flying with a FAA examiner who will determine if your flying skills meet the requirements.

If you’re getting ready for your FAA checkride, visit CheckrideGuide.com for help with private pilot, commercial pilot and instrument flight tests.

The progression of training looks something like this:

Lessons 1-8: Basic flight maneuvers in the area surrounding the airport.

Lessons 9-14: Landing practice.

Lessons 15-20: Flight maneuvers, landing practice and solo flights.

Lesson 21 and up: Review of flight maneuvers and flights to distant airports, practice and review in preparation for the FAA check ride.

This is a basic outline of the steps to earning a private pilot certificate. Many people go on to earn their instrument rating which enables them to fly in most weather conditions. Beyond the private certificate and instrument rating are the commercial and airline transport certificates. In order to be paid as a pilot you need your commercial certificate, and that requires added flight experience and further FAA check rides. To fly multi-engine aircraft and to instruct others to fly requires even more flight training and experience. The higher and further you wish to go in aviation, the more training you have to go through. and the tougher it gets, but the rewards are also greater.

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