The path to the airlines can often times seem overwhelming or confusing at first glance so we try to simplify it for our students. In plain text, the airlines requires you to have your Commercial Pilot’s License and the required 1,500 flight hours. This means starting with your Private Pilot’s License, getting your Instrument Rating, then finally your Commercial Single or Multi-Engine License. Around this time, you’ll have 250+ hours of flight time under your belt and can start getting paid to fly! To get from 250+ hours to the required 1,500 hours needed to for the airlines, most students go on to become flight instructors so they can get paid to fly while building valuable flight time and keeping up their skills or continue to fly privately. 

Vector Aviation is able to provide all of the training and requirements to get you there!

This all depends on how often you choose to fly! Most students start by getting their Private Pilot’s License within 6 months building towards their Commercial Pilot’s License which can take a little longer. Most students can complete their Commercial License and start getting paid to fly in less than 24 months. 

We are proud to offer the following licenses and ratings:

• Private Pilot License
• Instrument Rating
• Multi-Engine
• Commercial Single-Engine Land
• Commercial Multi-Engine Land
• Certified Flight Instructor (CFI, CFII, MEI)

Throughout your training with us, you will also receive your complex endorsement from our multi-engine aircraft. 

There are little requirements to get started for most students! The FAA has a minimum age of 17 years old to get your Private Pilot’s License but you are able to start your training before then! You will also need at least a third class flight medical when it comes time for your first checkride. You can find a list of FAA certified Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) here.

Have a great attitude towards learning and a passion for flying! Your pilot’s license is a license to learn. We take our training very seriously and want you too as well! It is a big commitment and want you to get the most out of your flight training with us.

At Vector Aviation, you are able to fly as little or as much as you like! YOU are in control of your training. We understand the time, money, and commitment it takes to complete your flight training so all of our programs are self-paced around your schedule. We find that most students prefer to fly anywhere from 2-4 days a week. 

There are a ton of flying opportunities in today’s industry! Once you obtain your Commercial Pilot’s License, you are able to start flying commercially and get paid while building flight hours. Most students come out of training with 250+ flight hours. For those students wanting to get to the 1,500 hours required for the airlines, they often become flight instructors or continue to build hours on their own. There are, however, many other jobs you can do if flight instructing is not your thing. Low time pilot jobs can range anywhere from banner towing, skydive pilot, aerial surveys, crop dusting (yes this is still a thing), or flying smaller aircraft for private companies. A great example of this is Southern Airways flying Cessna Caravans. 

We offer a wide variety of aircraft for you to choose from while completing your flight training with us. For your private, instrument, and commercial single-engine licenses, students will fly in our Piper Archers, Cessna 172s, or our Piper Cherokee (this is a student favorite). These are greatly training airplanes that are very forgiving with new students. If you decide to get your Multi-Engine rating, students will learn to fly our Beechcraft Dutchess!

You are able to choose whichever aircraft you feel most comfortable with for your training!

We use a third party scheduling app to make it easy for students to schedule lessons around their busy schedules. With it you are able to schedule as many lessons as you want, when you want, and with the plane and instructor you want! 

The FAA’s minimum age to get your pilot’s license is 17 years old. However, you are able to start your training at any age, and solo at 17! We train many young pilots who plan on getting their license once they turn 17. On the other end, there is no maximum age requirement as long as you are able to obtain a medical license. It is never too early or too late to get your pilot’s license!

Ground school is the difference between a good pilot and a great pilot. Taught by our Chief Pilot and FAA certified Designated Pilot’s Examiner (DPE), you will learn invaluable knowledge about regulations, the physics behind flying an aircraft, aircraft systems, airport markings, reading charts, and much more. 

You do not need to attend ground school to complete your training, however, it is highly recommended! 

Vector Aviation offers in-person weekly ground school classes 3-4 times a year!

For those who are unfamiliar with the process of a checkride, it primarily consists of 3 main parts:

1. Written Exam: This is taken at a designated FAA testing center. Most of our students take theirs at Kent State University. This can be done up to 24 calendar months before the day of the actual checkride. We encourage our students to get this out of the way as soon as they feel comfortable enough. We can also provide you with the study resources necessary for taking this.
2. Oral Exam: This is done on the day of the checkride before the flight portion. You will sit down with a DPE and show off your ground knowledge! 
3. Flight Portion: After completing the oral portion, students will then move onto the flight portion of the exam. This is where you show off all of the skills and maneuvers you learned during your training with us.

A DPE or Designated Pilot’s Examiner is an FAA certified examiner who will sit in for steps 2 and 3 of this process. It may sound intimidating at first but it helps to know that they want nothing more than for you to succeed! They are simply there to test your knowledge of the material covered during your training and determine if you are safe to operate the aircraft by yourself for that particular license. 

We will prep you heavily for checkrides so you feel 100% confident before going in. We don’t send our students in unless we are confident in their skills and knowledge base. 

Another advantage of choosing Vector Aviation is that our Chief Pilot, Paul Mannion, is the area’s DPE! This takes the stress away from having to locate a DPE, fly to their airport, and have an unfamiliar face in the right seat. 

Here is a video with helpful tips for prep for your checkride.

We teach our pilots to be safe pilots first, and want them to have good pilot decision making skills when it comes to flying in adverse weather conditions. But throughout your training, especially during your instrument rating, you may fly in less than perfect weather conditions. One of the benefits of flying with Vector Aviation is the fact that we have two perpendicular runways. This allows us to simulate crosswind takeoffs and landings on any given day!