A student pilot certificate, an FAA medical, a knowledge test, a logbook full of endorsements and a practical test: those are the five things standing between you and a pilot certificate, and this page explains all of them in the order you will meet them. It is written for people who have just booked a first lesson, or are about to, and who want to know what the paperwork actually involves before it lands on them. Everything here is a national, FAA-level explanation; if you want the Los Angeles version of the same journey, with schedules, airports and prices, read our guide to learning to fly in Los Angeles.
We train at Van Nuys Airport and we have walked several hundred students through this sequence. Nothing below is theory. Where a rule has a citation, we give it, so you can read the regulation yourself rather than take our word for it.
The Whole Journey, In The Order It Happens
Almost every student meets these steps in roughly this sequence. You can move some of them around, but a few are genuinely gated: you cannot solo without a student pilot certificate and a medical, and you cannot take the practical test without having passed the knowledge test.
| Step | What It Is | When It Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Discovery flight | An introductory lesson, logged as dual instruction | Before you commit to anything |
| 2. FAA medical certificate | An exam with an Aviation Medical Examiner | As early as possible, ideally week one |
| 3. Student pilot certificate | An application filed in IACRA, signed by your instructor | In the first few lessons |
| 4. Ground school and the written | Study, an instructor endorsement, then a 60-question test | Ideally before your first solo cross-country |
| 5. First solo | Your instructor endorses your logbook and gets out | Typically hours 12–20 |
| 6. Cross-country flying | Dual and then solo flights to other airports | Hours 25–45 |
| 7. Practical test | An oral exam and a flight with a designated examiner | When you meet the standards, not when you hit a number |
The FAA Paperwork: Your Student Pilot Certificate
The student pilot certificate is the first piece of federal paper with your name on it. It is what makes you legally a pilot in training, and you must hold it before you fly solo. Eligibility is short: under 14 CFR 61.83 you must be at least 16 (14 for gliders and balloons) and able to read, speak, write and understand English. There is no medical requirement built into 61.83 itself and no test to pass. That is the whole bar.
You apply through IACRA, the FAA's online Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application system, or on paper using FAA Form 8710-1. You fill in your half, your instructor (or a designated pilot examiner, an airman certification representative at a Part 141 school, or a Flight Standards District Office) verifies your identity and signs the application, and the FAA processes it. The FAA's own guidance says a temporary certificate becomes available in IACRA about seven days after you have been vetted by the TSA, and that the plastic certificate is mailed to the address on your application in roughly three weeks.
Two things surprise people. First, the certificate does not expire. It is surrendered and superseded when you earn a higher certificate. Second, the certificate is not your medical — those are two separate documents with two separate lifespans, and the medical is the one that runs out.
The step-by-step version, including the errors that get applications kicked back, is on our dedicated page: how to apply for your student pilot certificate in IACRA.
The Medical Certificate
For private pilot training you need at least a third-class medical certificate, issued by an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner. You must hold it before you fly solo, which is why we push students to book the appointment in their first week rather than at hour ten. The exam is not demanding — vision, hearing, blood pressure, a history — but the history is where delays come from. A condition that needs documentation can add weeks, and it is far better to discover that at hour zero than at hour twelve with an instructor waiting to sign a solo endorsement.
Duration is set by 14 CFR 61.23(d): for student, recreational and private pilot privileges, a third-class medical is valid through the 60th month after the month of the exam if you were under 40 at the time of examination, and through the 24th month if you were 40 or over.
Our fuller explanation, including how to find an AME and what to bring, is in the FAA medical certificate: your real first step. If a medical is likely to be a problem for you, read the sport pilot section below before you spend money.
The Written: The Private Pilot Knowledge Test
The knowledge test, universally called "the written", is a 60-question multiple-choice exam taken at a PSI testing centre. You get 2.0 hours and you need 70% to pass. The subject areas are set out in 14 CFR 61.105 and run from regulations and airspace through weather, weight and balance, aerodynamics, navigation and aeronautical decision-making.
You cannot simply book it. Under 14 CFR 61.35 you need an endorsement from an authorized instructor certifying that you have completed the ground training and are prepared, plus photo identification showing your signature, date of birth and residential address. You also need an FAA Tracking Number, which you get by creating an IACRA profile — which is one of several reasons to do the IACRA paperwork early.
A passing result is valid for 24 calendar months after the month you took it, so there is no advantage in leaving it late; the students who struggle are almost always the ones who put it off until they are otherwise ready for a checkride. The full breakdown — subject areas, scheduling, the figures supplement, what the deficiency codes on your report mean for your oral exam, and an honest study plan — is on our guide to the private pilot written exam.
The Practical Test: The Checkride
The practical test is one event in two halves, conducted by a Designated Pilot Examiner. First an oral exam, typically one and a half to three hours across a table, where the examiner works through the Airman Certification Standards and asks you to explain, plan and justify. Then a flight, usually one and a half to two hours, in which you fly a cross-country leg you planned, are diverted, and then demonstrate manoeuvres, stalls, ground reference work, emergency procedures and landings to the tolerances published in the ACS.
Three practical points. The examiner tests to a published standard, not to a personal preference, and that standard is a free download from the FAA — read it early and use it as your syllabus. Your instructor must endorse you as prepared, and must have given you at least three hours of test preparation within the two calendar months before the test (14 CFR 61.109(a)(4)). And a partial failure is not the end: the examiner issues a notice of disapproval listing only the tasks you did not meet, and you retest on those after further training and a new endorsement.
Your Logbook, Endorsements And Currency
Your logbook is the legal record of everything above. It proves aeronautical experience for a certificate, it carries the instructor endorsements that authorise you to solo and to test, and it is the document a Designated Pilot Examiner reviews before your checkride begins. Log every flight, keep the totals honest, and get every endorsement written in full rather than initialled in the margin. A checkride that stops because an endorsement is missing is an expensive lesson.
Once you hold a certificate, two currency rules govern you. Under 14 CFR 61.57(a) you may not carry passengers unless you have made three takeoffs and three landings in the preceding 90 days in the same category, class and type. Under 61.57(b), to carry passengers at night, those three takeoffs and landings must be to a full stop and flown between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise. Separately, 14 CFR 61.56 requires a flight review — at least one hour of ground training and one hour of flight training with an instructor — within the preceding 24 calendar months before you act as pilot in command at all. Currency and proficiency are not the same thing, and the second is the one that keeps you alive.
Sport Pilot: The Shorter Route
Not everyone needs a private pilot certificate. The sport pilot certificate requires 20 hours of flight time rather than 40 (14 CFR 61.313), and it allows you to fly on a valid US driver's licence instead of an FAA medical certificate, subject to important exceptions. In exchange you accept limits on the aircraft you may fly and the flying you may do. The FAA's MOSAIC rule, effective 24 July 2025, substantially widened those limits, which means most of what you will find online about sport pilot is now out of date.
It is the right answer for a specific kind of person and the wrong answer for others. We set out both cases honestly on our sport pilot license page, including the current rules and where our Cessna 162 fits.
Part 61 Or Part 141: Which Rules You Train Under
Part 61 regulates the pilot; Part 141 additionally regulates the school and its FAA-approved course. The certificate you earn is identical either way. What changes is the structure, the hour minimums on paper, whether previous training transfers, and whether certain funding programmes will pay. Our full comparison, with the specific minimums and the transfer problem, is in Part 61 vs Part 141 flight school.
Where Our Own Training Fits
Everything above is national. Here is the local part. We fly out of Van Nuys Airport at 7900 Balboa Blvd, seven days a week from 9 AM to 9 PM. Aircraft rental is $179 per hour, instruction is $110 per hour, ground instruction is $110 per hour, and simulator time is $120 per hour. A private pilot course starts at $10,400 for the Standard package. A sport pilot course is $8,400. The people who will actually teach you are on our flight instructors page — read it before you choose a school anywhere, because the instructor matters more than the airplane.
If you are not sure which certificate you want, start with an hour in the left seat. A discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes and is logged as dual instruction, so it is hour one of whatever you go on to do.
Related Resources
- IACRA: how to apply for your student pilot certificate — the full walkthrough of the FAA's online application.
- The private pilot written exam — what is on it, how to schedule it, and how to pass it first time.
- Sport pilot license: requirements, cost and limits — the 20-hour route and its trade-offs.
- Learn to fly in Los Angeles — the same journey, with local schedules, airports and prices.
- The FAA medical certificate — why it should be your first appointment, not your fifth.
- Part 61 vs Part 141 flight school — the regulatory difference, and which suits you.
- Meet your flight instructors — who teaches at Van Nuys.
Student Pilot Questions
What Do I Need Before My First Flight Lesson?
Nothing. You do not need a medical, a student pilot certificate or any paperwork to fly with an instructor. You need those before you fly solo. Bring photo identification and shoes you can walk on a ramp in.
How Old Do I Have To Be To Be A Student Pilot?
16 for airplanes, 14 for gliders and balloons, under 14 CFR 61.83. There is no minimum age to take lessons with an instructor, and we train teenagers regularly.
Does A Student Pilot Certificate Expire?
No. Student pilot certificates issued since April 2016 do not expire; the certificate is surrendered and superseded when you earn a higher certificate. Your medical certificate does expire, and that is the one to watch.
Do I Need A Medical Certificate To Start Flight Training?
Not to start. You need at least a third-class medical certificate before you fly solo. Book the appointment early, because a history that needs documentation can take weeks to clear.
When Should I Take The Written Exam?
Before your first solo cross-country, and ideally around your first solo. The result is valid for 24 calendar months, so there is no benefit in waiting, and students who leave it late stall out at the end of their training.
How Many Hours Does A Private Pilot Certificate Take?
The FAA minimum is 40 hours under 14 CFR 61.109. The realistic national average is 60 to 70. How often you fly is the single biggest factor; two lessons a week is the pace most working students settle into.
What Is An FTN?
An FAA Tracking Number: a permanent identifier the FAA assigns you when you create an IACRA profile. It follows you through every certificate and rating, and you need it before you sit a knowledge test.
Can I Fly If I Cannot Get An FAA Medical?
Possibly. A sport pilot certificate allows flying on a valid US driver's licence instead of a medical, but not if your most recent medical application was denied or your medical was suspended or revoked. Read our sport pilot page before assuming either way.
Start With One Hour In The Left Seat
Reading about the paperwork is useful; flying the airplane is what tells you whether you want to. A discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes over Los Angeles, you fly it from the left seat with an instructor beside you, and it is logged as dual instruction toward whichever certificate you choose. If you would rather map out the medical, the written and the calendar first, book a free consultation. We answer the phone every day from 9 AM to 9 PM at (818) 330-1318, 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406.