How to Get your Student Pilot Certificate

Before you go too far in your flight training journey you should make sure that you are qualified to be a student pilot. Part Time Pilot recommends doing Ground School, getting your Student Pilot Certificate and even your Medical Certificate before you do flight training even though you could start flight training even before do any of these! We will discuss why we recommend this and exactly how to get your student pilot certificate below:

The FAA states that in order to be a student pilot you must meet the following criteria:

• You are at least 16 years old
• Unless you are planning to pilot a glide or balloon then this goes down to 14 years old
• You can read, speak and understand English
• The FAA Advisory Circular AC 60-28B describes this more in detail here. 
• Per the FAA "The holder of an FAA certificate or applicant for an FAA certificate or rating should be able to communicate in English in a discernible and understandable manner with air traffic control (ATC), pilots, and others involved in preparing an aircraft for flight and operating an aircraft in flight. This communication may or may not involve the use of the radio. An applicant for an FAA certificate issued per part 61, 63, 65, or 107 who cannot hear or speak due to a medical deficiency may be eligible for an FAA certificate with specific operational limitations."

Then, in order to receive a student pilot certificate you will need to submit an application for and receive a student pilot certificate:

• The easiest way to do this is through the IACRA website where there are instructions here
• You are required to fill out an application and then meet with a Recommending Instructor (RI) who fills out a checklist, confirms your identity and verifies your English language proficiency.
• Bring with you a valid photo ID for the RI to verify your identity. 
• An RI can be any certified instructor, a designated pilot examiner (DPE) or an authorized FAA employee at a local Flight Service District Office.
• To find a local flight instructor use this
• To find a local DPE use this
• To find a local FSDO use this
• Once the RI completes the application on their end you will digitally sign the application in IACRA with your IACRA username and password
• You will receive a temporary Student Pilot certificate within a week and your actual certificate will be mailed to your address in 1-3 months.

When do you need your Student Pilot Certificate? 

In order to solo an aircraft (fly it by yourself) you will need your Student Pilot Certificate and will also need a 3rd Class Medical Certificate (which we will talk more about here in a bit). This means you can start flying with your instructor without a student pilot or medical certificate but must get these before you fly solo. Since April 1, 2016 student pilot certificates no longer expire. If you received one before this, the expiration dates were the same as the medical certificate.

At Part Time Pilot we recommend first starting with ground school, getting your student pilot and medical certificate, passing the written exam and then starting flight training. When you start with ground school and get your student pilot and medical certificates first you have many benefits:

• Ground School is lowest financial barrier of entry into flight training (Can start with Part Time Pilot here)
• Ground School helps you decide if the topics actually interest you before you spend too much money
• Ground School prepares you mentally for flight lessons, which...
• Makes you a safer student pilot
• Makes flight lessons easier
• Less repeat lessons and less 1 on 1 ground instruction with your flight instructor means you save lots of money
• Getting your Student Pilot Certificate before flight training ensures you are qualified to become a pilot before spending too much money
• Getting your Medical Certificate before flight training ensures you are qualified to become a pilot medically before spending too much money

Once you are in the midst of ground school and starting to think about taking and passing the FAA Written exam this is when we recommend starting to prepare for flight training. This is when you can begin your student pilot application in IACRA and start talking to an aviation medical examiner (AME) about your medical certificate. Then, once you find the right flight school for you (something we will talk about soon) you can have your flight instructor finalize your student pilot certificate.

Now, you have your ground school complete, your FAA Written Exam passed, a flight school picked out, your Student Pilot Certificate on the way to you in the mail and you can get your medical certificate and have everything lined up for you to go as smoothly as possible.