Keep the Excitement Going!
August 2011
Congratulations! You've earned your pilot certificate! You've worked hard and probably for quite some time, to achieve your goal to be a pilot.
Up 'til now, you've had a specific goal in mind: to pass your checkride. Every flight has been a planned step on your way to that goal. Like most pilots, you're goal-oriented and success-driven, so you understood the value of a syllabus as an outline for success. Finally, you checked off the last of the boxes... the practical test. And now you're a pilot!
But now what? You've focused on the goal for so long that you haven't really considered what happens after you've passed your flight test. Yes, you want to take some friends for a ride. And yes, you enjoy the freedom of taking an airplane aloft under your own authority, not under the endorsement of your instructor. You might even begin taking some trips by private airplane (although at this stage of the game you need to be cautious, especially about the weather). But unless you have a long list of friends aching to ride with you or you have a legitimate need for frequent, long-distance travel with the scheduling flexibility to cancel at a moment's notice (outbound or homeward), then you may find yourself asking: "I've finally earned my pilot's license. Now, what do I do with it?"
To stay in the flying game and continue to focus on goals that give you the sense of achievement and excitement that pushed you toward your certificate in the first place, many seasoned instructors suggest follow-on training that will make you a safer, more accomplished pilot, and that will feed your need for advancement. Talk to your instructor for his or her ideas about creating a personalized program to explore one or more of these areas:
Night Flight. You flew a few hours at night if you earned your Private certificate. Most night flying for the Private certificate, however, is done in optimal conditions. If you want to gain night flying experience, there are some things you can do to prepare. Ask your instructor to review the night-flying principles and rules with you, help you assemble a proper night-flight kit (extra flashlights, fuses, batteries, etc.), learn about weather briefings for night flight and the inability to see clouds and fog in the night, and discuss lighted facilities and items like "pilot controlled lighting" and operations at airports with closed towers. Cover the hazards of nighttime visual illusions like the "black hole" airport (a lighted airfield surrounded by unlighted landscape).
Class C and B Operations. You might be very comfortable flying into and near Class C and B airspace. Or you might not. Unless most of your flying time has been out of a Class C or Class B primary airport, this is another area where you can gain experience and build your confidence. Ask your CFI to put together a short ground school syllabus for flying in Class C or B airspace, including flight in and out of the primary airport, flight into satellite airports, transitions through the airspace, and trips "under the rings" with special emphasis on pilotage (in case the GPS fails) and obstacle clearance. The training regimen opens these large blocks of airspace, can satisfy the upgrade endorsement requirements that permit Sport and Recreational pilots fly in this airspace, and reinforces radio communications procedures that will help you get inflight weather updates and, perhaps, help prepare you to earn your instrument rating.
Emergency Instrument Flight. Attempting visual flight into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) is one of the biggest killers in general aviation. The instrument time required to earn your Private certificate is merely an introduction to instrument flight. Schedule a review of instrument rules and regulations, scan techniques, normal and emergency operation of the flight instruments, including "partial panel," unusual attitude recoveries, and radio communications. Your goal at this point is not to work toward the instrument rating (although you can log this time as instrument dual toward a future instrument checkride), and certainly it's not intended to encourage you to fly in less-than-visual conditions before you become IFR rated. The purpose is to learn life-saving instrument flight as an emergency procedure, just like those we learn for other scenarios like engine failures and stalls.
Commercial Flight Maneuvers. You don't have to have 250 total hours or be working toward your Commercial certificate to enjoy flying chandelles and lazy eights, which can inject some fun into post checkride flying. And most instructors believe that mastering these maneuvers can help fine-tune stick and rudder skills, which will make you a better pilot. Ask your instructor to review the maneuvers with you and talk about how they teach coordination and judgment applicable to your everyday flying.
High-time instructors frequently recommend add-on training to make you a more proficient pilot. Their suggestions will help you stay excited about flying and learning new things, too. There are any number of creative ways to keep the excitement going once you've passed your first checkride but before you're ready to start serious work on your next certificate or rating. Each topic area is a much smaller achievement than your Sport, Recreational or Private Pilot certificate, but each allows you to meet a new challenge and learn some new skills to keep your interest level high.
The information provided may not be applicable in all situations, and readers should always seek specific advice from the FAA and/or appropriate experts (including the most current applicable guidelines) before taking any action with respect to any matters discussed herein.
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