By Kyle Garrett

Reach your aviation goals faster

Whether you’re launching a new career or just want to learn to fly for fun, you probably want to get your pilot certificates and ratings as fast as possible. On the career side of things, the faster you earn your ticket, the sooner you’re eligible to enter the workforce and start your pilot career, and possibly get a better seniority number to boot. If you’re flying for fun, I’ll bet your busy schedule makes it hard to get to the airport for more than a lesson a week, and at that rate it will take 6-8 months to get your private pilot license.

I can tell you from personal experience that accelerated pilot training is the way to go for all of the reasons listed above, and plenty more. In my case, I earned my private pilot certificate the old fashioned way, fitting training in to my daily work and family life, and it took about 6 months to finally take my check ride (I passed!). When the time came for me to earn my instrument rating, I knew there was no way I was going to get it finished in less than six months without going through some type of accelerated pilot school. After completing a DVD ground school and passing the written exam on my own, I chose to contact one of the 10-day IFR rating schools and scheduled a week and a half off. At the agreed upon time, my CFII showed up in my home town and we began an intense, nine-day training schedule that included at least eight hours a day of training both in the plane and on the ground (using books and an IFR simulator), and, believe it or not, homework. When the tenth day rolled around, I was ready for my check ride and passed! I had done in ten days what normally would take six months.

Last summer, I made a mistake. I started training for my Commercial pilot certificate, and actually was very close to being ready. My mistake was not forcing the training to be accelerated. You can all guess what happened… life got in the way, winter rolled around, and here I am this summer without a commercial ticket. I now know that all of my future training will be accelerated because this really is the best way to reach your aviation goals, professional or recreational.

Since I’m such a firm believer in accelerated training, I asked one of our guest writers, Matthew Everett, to write an article on the three types of accelerated pilot schools that cater to the professional-minded pilot. The article makes a great case for fast-tracking your pilot training and is a quick read. Take a look and let us know what you think. Also, give us your feedback on your training experiences.