• Contact your local flying schools and or clubs

• Visit their website

• Visit them and ask lots of questions, no question is unreasonable

• Do they offer full or part time training to accommodate you
• What type of planes do they have to fly
• How many planes do they have for training
• What class of instructors (1,2,3,4) are on staff. Experience levels and how many
• How busy are they can they accommodate your schedule for training
• Ground school, when and how often and who is the instructor
• What has been their success rate for passing transport Canada written tests
• How many flight hours has it typically taken for past students to achieve their goals
• Do they offer only PPL training or further training to obtain CPL, multi, IFR ratings
• Airport they train at; is it class C airspace, is there a local designated airspace for training near by
• What is their instructor turnover rate
• Request a discovery flight. Usually a inexpensive cost

• Good information source Transport Canada Web site: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/general-flttrain-selectftu-selection-2334.htm

• Flight training units search: http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/CAS-SAC/ftaefveal.aspx?

• Look at reviews online of schools. Always look at reviews as one source of info.

• Go to your local airport, find and talk to pilots or students training and ask them how their training went and where. Pilots love talking about themselves and love talking about flying, especially to a layman wanting to learn to fly. Maybe you will get a flight with them.

• Ask yourself the question? Is this the lifestyle you want. You are making a big investment in money and your time.

• Once you have started your training, try to stick to one instructor if you can. Remember most instructors come and go, as airlines and charter companies are in need of pilots. Expect them to move on. However, there are schools that have full-time dedicated instructors who choose to teach for a living because its their passion

• In the S.A.F.E. database we have a listing of over 130 schools and clubs from coast to coast. There are plenty to choose from; find the one that works for you

• Once you have selected your school and if you intend on using us for financing, apply online, get your required documents in to us and we will advance the funding to your school of choice

• If you're determined to get your license, fly, fly and fly. The more you fly the faster you will learn.

• If you're waiting for your next pay cheque to fly this process will take you forever and will cost you more hours in the air. If you fly only once a week, you will be spending the first 20 minutes learning what you forgot from the last lesson

• Especially at the start, before you do your first solo flight, book 4 flights a week. At least one will get cancelled due to weather or mechanical issue

• If it's a busy school, book flights weeks in advance. But make sure you give them proper notice if you cannot make a flight. They may charge you as a "no show". Read their policy on this matter

• Ground school is very important. You will be writing a multiple choice Canadian transportation test. The school will have practice tests for you

• Transport Canada minimum requirement for your PPL is 45 hours. The average pilot receives their PPL in 60 hours. Budget for 60 hours and if you do your due diligence and achieve it in less hours thats money saved for further training

• If you do not require the full $10K from us, let us know in your application and we can reduce your payments to accommodate your budget
• There are many grants and scholarships available; source them out

• At present, there is a pilot shortage and this will only get worse in coming years and new hire wages are expected to increase substantially

• At present, Airlines are taking pilots with as low as 250 hours to sit as first officer, you will unlikely ever get to Captain unless you have 1500 hours as pilot in command. Take a job offer for first officer and rent a trainer at your flight school to build your hours to achieve 1500 hours as pilot in command.

• There are many types of pilot jobs out there. Airline, domestic and international, corporate, bush pilots, instructors, ferry pilots, test pilots, astronauts. THE SKY AND BEYOND IS THE LIMIT.

MAKE THE BEST OF YOUR TRAINING