So, you want to learn to fly .... what do you do next?

You may have flown with a friend or had a trial flight and got the bug, if not then a good place to start is a one hour trial flight with one of our instructors. It will be a wonderful experience and you will get to take the controls and enjoy the thrill of flying an aircraft.

The next thing most people want to know is what do I need to do to obtain a licence and how much will is cost? It is important to remember, learning to fly is fun! You will learn new skills, travel to new places, meet interesting people and open up a whole new world.

How do I obtain a licence?

Mainair Flying School will take you through a comprehensive and detailed course based around your availability. You are required to do a minimum of 25 hours flying of which 10 hours must be solo which will include 2 solo cross country flights and a General Skills Test (GST). However, it may take longer, depending on your own pace of learning and the frequency that you fly.

We will give you detailed briefings and expert tuition to make sure that you have understood the lesson and have a firm understanding of the exercise in the aircraft.

We will help & guide you through the 5 exams , you can home study or  have one to one tuition or classroom groundschool class where our Instructors will guide you through the various subjects.

There are four stages to your flying tuition;

• 
  Dual flying - one of our friendly CAA qualified instructors will teach you how to fly a dual controlled aircraft. Soon you'll be able to control the aircraft in straight and level flight. Then we will teach you to change the level, speed and direction of the aeroplane. Once you are familiar with the controls you will learn about the 'circuit' where all the previous lessons come together and you will then be able to take-off, fly a circuit and, most importantly, land! When you are ready, you will reach the first major milestone, something you will always remember .... your first solo flight.
  
  
• Supervised solo flying - under the watchful eye of your instructor you will practice your circuit work and short local flights. Finally a chance to be on your own, a fantastic feeling.
  
  
• Cross-country flying - now you get to fly the aeroplane to new places, using all the skills you have learnt to date and applying the knowledge you have gained from your ground school. Using all your skills to travel to a new airfield is a great feeling of achievement and will only fuel your desire to travel even further afield. 2 flights will be to different airfeilds with your instructor followed by 2 further flights to the same airfields but this time you will fly solo.
  
  
• General Skills Test (GST) When you are ready you will take your General Skills Test with one of our CAA Examiners, you've done it - you are now a pilot! Crack out the Ray-Bans and apply for Top Gun school.

We will provide all the material you need to learn and it is written in a common sense manner. It will cover; aviation law, principles of flight, navigation, meteorology and human performance and limitations. You will also need to learn the 'chatter' so that you can operate the radio in the aeroplane.

All the exam papers are multiple choice answers and are taken at the flying school.