The Short Answer
The private pilot license requirements are set federally and they are the same in every state. You must be 17 to be issued the certificate, be able to read, speak, write and understand English, hold a third-class medical certificate, log at least 40 hours of flight time meeting the specific breakdown in 14 CFR 61.109, pass a written knowledge test, and pass a practical test — the checkride — with an FAA examiner.
That is the whole list. This page is the checklist version, keyed line by line to the regulation. For what it costs, see private pilot license cost; for how training runs day to day at Van Nuys, see private pilot license Los Angeles.
Eligibility: Who Can Hold One
14 CFR 61.103 sets the gate. Four things matter.
Age. You must be 17 years old to be issued a private pilot certificate for airplanes. You must be 16 to solo. Those are different dates and the gap is deliberate — a 15-year-old can start lessons today, solo at 16, and take the checkride the week they turn 17. Many do exactly that.
English proficiency. You must be able to read, speak, write and understand English. This is an operational safety requirement, not a formality — air traffic control in the United States is conducted in English and your certificate carries a limitation if proficiency cannot be demonstrated. International students should read our international student pilots page for the TSA and documentation steps that apply on top of this.
A medical certificate. At minimum a third-class medical, issued by an FAA Aviation Medical Examiner after you file through FAA MedXPress. A third-class medical is valid for 60 calendar months if you were under 40 at the time of the exam, or 24 calendar months if you were 40 or older. BasicMed is an alternative for exercising private pilot privileges, but it is not available to a first-time applicant — it requires that you have held an FAA medical certificate at some point after July 14, 2006. If you have never held one, you need the third-class medical first.
A student pilot certificate. Free, permanent, and required before you can solo. See what a student pilot certificate is and the IACRA application walkthrough.
Get the medical done first. It is the only requirement on this list that can disqualify you, and discovering a problem in month one costs a doctor's fee; discovering it in month eight costs a doctor's fee plus most of a training budget.
The Flight Hour Requirements — 14 CFR 61.109
This is the regulation people mean when they say "40 hours," and the total is the least interesting part of it. The specific sub-requirements are what actually structure your training, and they are what students discover they are missing at hour 38.
| Requirement | Minimum | Regulation | What It Means In Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total flight time | 40 hours | 61.109(a) | The headline number. A legal floor, not an average. |
| Flight training with an instructor | 20 hours | 61.109(a) | Dual instruction. The sub-items below all come out of this. |
| Solo flight training | 10 hours | 61.109(a) | You, alone, with a current endorsement. |
| Dual cross-country | 3 hours | 61.109(a)(1) | Cross-country training with your instructor before you go alone. |
| Dual night flight training | 3 hours | 61.109(a)(2) | Includes both night items below. |
| Night cross-country | One flight, over 100 NM total distance | 61.109(a)(2)(i) | Usually the flight students remember most vividly. |
| Night takeoffs and landings | 10 takeoffs, 10 full-stop landings | 61.109(a)(2)(ii) | Each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern, at an airport. |
| Flight solely by reference to instruments | 3 hours | 61.109(a)(3) | Under the hood. Survival training for an inadvertent cloud encounter, not an instrument rating. |
| Practical test preparation | 3 hours | 61.109(a)(4) | Must be flown within the 2 calendar months preceding the month of the test. |
| Solo cross-country time | 5 hours | 61.109(a)(5)(i) | Out of the 10 solo hours. |
| Long solo cross-country | 150 NM total distance | 61.109(a)(5)(ii) | Full-stop landings at three points, with one leg of more than 50 NM straight-line between takeoff and landing. |
| Solo towered-airport landings | 3 takeoffs, 3 full-stop landings | 61.109(a)(5)(iii) | At an airport with an operating control tower, each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern. |
Two local notes. The towered-airport requirement is free at Van Nuys — KVNY is a Class D field with an operating tower, so your everyday pattern work satisfies it rather than requiring a special trip. And the long solo cross-country is genuinely enjoyable here: Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Palm Springs and the Central Coast all sit at workable distances from the Valley.
Confirm the current text of 61.109 with your instructor before you plan around it. Regulations get amended, and your CFI is the one signing the endorsement that says you meet them.
Why 40 Hours Is A Floor, Not An Average
This deserves a straight answer because the gap between 40 and reality is the single most common source of budget shock in flight training.
Forty hours under Part 61, or 35 under an approved Part 141 program, is the minimum the FAA will accept. Meeting it exactly requires that every lesson lands cleanly, no weather cancels a scheduled cross-country, no solo endorsement lapses, no aircraft goes unexpectedly into maintenance, and the examiner has a slot the week you are ready. That sequence happens. It is not what happens to most people, and the national average sits meaningfully above the minimum.
Three things drive the drift:
- Landings. Nearly every extra hour in private training is a landing hour. Consistency in the flare is the last skill to arrive and it arrives on its own schedule.
- The specific 61.109 boxes. Night flights need darkness, cross-countries need weather at both ends, and instrument work needs an instructor. These have to be assembled, not just flown.
- Training frequency. The biggest one. A student flying once every three weeks relearns at the start of every lesson and needs more total hours to reach the same standard than a student flying twice a week. Our page on how long it takes to become a pilot works through the arithmetic.
This is why our private pilot packages are sized honestly rather than optimistically: Standard 40 hours at $10,400, Comprehensive 60 hours at $15,400, and Premium 80 hours at $22,000. If everyone finished at 40, we would only sell one.
The Knowledge Test
The private pilot airplane knowledge test is 60 multiple-choice questions in 2.5 hours, with 70% required to pass. You need an endorsement from an authorized instructor or a qualifying ground-school completion to sit it, and you take it at an FAA-approved testing center with photo ID.
Your passing result is valid for 24 calendar months, which is the practical reason to take it early rather than late. Students who leave the written until the end frequently stall out there with all their flying done — the worst possible place to lose momentum. Take it before the long cross-countries, not after. Our private pilot written exam page covers subject areas and preparation in detail.
Subject matter follows 61.105: regulations, airspace, weather theory and services, aircraft performance and weight and balance, navigation and cross-country planning, aeromedical factors, aeronautical decision-making, and radio procedures.
The Practical Test: What Checkride Day Looks Like
The practical test is conducted by an FAA inspector or, far more commonly, a Designated Pilot Examiner, against the Airman Certification Standards. It is one continuous event in two halves — a ground portion and a flight portion — and it typically runs most of a day.
| Phase | Typical Duration | What The Examiner Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Paperwork and eligibility | 15–30 min | IACRA application, logbook endorsements, knowledge test report, photo ID, medical certificate, aircraft airworthiness and maintenance records. |
| Oral examination | 1.5–3 hours | Regulations and privileges, aircraft systems, performance and limitations, weight and balance, weather products and decision-making, airspace, aeromedical factors, and the cross-country you were assigned to plan. Night operations are usually evaluated here. |
| Preflight and departure | 20–30 min | Preflight inspection, passenger briefing, engine start, taxi, run-up, radio work, normal or crosswind takeoff. |
| Cross-country and diversion | 20–30 min | The first legs of your planned route, pilotage and dead reckoning, then a diversion to an unplanned airport and a lost-procedures discussion. |
| Air work | 45–75 min | Steep turns, slow flight, power-on and power-off stalls, ground reference maneuvers, and control of the airplane solely by reference to instruments including unusual attitude recovery. |
| Emergency operations | Woven in | Simulated engine failure and emergency approach, emergency descent, systems and equipment malfunctions. |
| Landings | 20–40 min | Normal, short-field and soft-field takeoffs and landings, plus a go-around from a rejected landing. |
| Postflight and debrief | 20–30 min | Securing the aircraft, debrief, and issuance of a temporary airman certificate through IACRA on a pass. |
Examiner fees are paid directly to the DPE and are separate from training. Bring the aircraft's airworthiness and maintenance records with you — a missing logbook entry on the airplane can end a checkride before the airplane is even untied, and it is one of the most avoidable failures there is.
What To Bring On Checkride Day
- Government-issued photo ID and your student pilot certificate
- Your medical certificate
- Your logbook with every required endorsement, including the 3 hours of test prep flown within the preceding 2 calendar months
- Your knowledge test report
- The completed and signed IACRA application
- Aircraft airworthiness certificate, registration, POH, weight and balance data, and maintenance records
- Current charts, a completed cross-country plan for the route the examiner assigned, and your flight computer
- The examiner's fee, in whatever form they specified
Part 61 Or Part 141
Both produce identical certificates. Part 61 requires 40 hours and allows a flexible, student-shaped syllabus. Part 141 requires 35 hours under an FAA-approved, structured curriculum with stage checks. The five-hour difference matters far less than most people expect, because the average student finishes above both numbers anyway — what actually determines your total is how often you fly. Our blog post on Part 61 vs Part 141 flight school breaks the trade-off down properly.
After You Pass
The private pilot certificate does not expire. What you must maintain is currency: a flight review every 24 calendar months to act as pilot in command, plus separate recency requirements to carry passengers, and a valid medical or BasicMed qualification. The certificate lets you carry passengers, fly at night, share operating expenses within the rules, and fly essentially anywhere in the country — and it is the prerequisite for the instrument rating and everything professional beyond it.
If 40 hours and a third-class medical are more than you want to take on, the sport pilot license has a 20-hour FAA minimum and costs $8,400, with a narrower set of privileges. It is a real certificate and for some people it is the right one.
For the local picture — the fleet, the Class D pattern at Van Nuys Airport, the Redbird simulator at $120 per hour, and financing — start with a free consultation and bring your questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the flight hour requirements for a private pilot license?
Under 14 CFR 61.109 you need at least 40 hours of total flight time, including 20 hours of flight training with an instructor and 10 hours of solo flight. Within those, you need 3 hours cross-country, 3 hours night, 3 hours by reference to instruments, 3 hours of test preparation, and 5 hours of solo cross-country.
How old do you have to be to get a private pilot license?
You must be 17 years old to be issued a private pilot certificate for airplanes, and 16 to fly solo. There is no minimum age to begin taking flying lessons with an instructor, and no upper age limit at all.
What are the night requirements for a private pilot license?
You need 3 hours of night flight training with an instructor, which must include one cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance and 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop, with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern at an airport.
What is the long solo cross-country requirement?
One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations.
Do I need a medical certificate for a private pilot license?
Yes. You need at least a third-class medical certificate from an FAA Aviation Medical Examiner, valid for 60 calendar months if you were under 40 at the exam or 24 calendar months if you were 40 or older. BasicMed is an alternative for exercising private pilot privileges but is not available to a first-time applicant, because it requires having held an FAA medical certificate at some point after July 14, 2006.
Can you really get a private pilot license in 40 hours?
Forty hours is the legal minimum under Part 61, and 35 hours under an approved Part 141 program, but it is a floor rather than an average and the national average sits meaningfully higher. Landing consistency, assembling the specific night and cross-country requirements, and irregular training frequency all push the total up. Our packages are sized at 40, 60 and 80 hours for that reason.
How long does the private pilot checkride take?
Most of a day. The oral examination typically runs 1.5 to 3 hours and covers regulations, systems, performance, weather, airspace and your assigned cross-country plan. The flight portion runs roughly 1.5 to 2 hours and covers takeoffs and landings, air work, navigation and diversion, instrument reference, and emergency procedures.
Start With One Flight
The requirements list is long, but you do not need any of it to take the first flight — just a photo ID and an hour. Come fly, and if you decide to continue, we will map the 61.109 checklist against your calendar and budget.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318
No tax, no booking fee — $229 is the total. You Fly LA · 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · Open 9 AM – 9 PM, seven days a week.