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The Basic Prerequisites
i. You must complete your Class XII under the 10+2 system or its equivalent with a minimum of 50 per cent marks in Mathematics and Physics.
ii. You must be minimum 16 years of age to be eligible for a Private Pilot License and 17 for a Commercial Pilot License.
iii. Your vision in one eye must be perfect. In general medical terminology, it is called 6/6 eyesight. In the other eye, you could have an imperfection of 6/9, which must be correctable to 6/6.
iv. General physical fitness is mandatory. You must be free of any disease that can hamper normal function.
Student Pilot License
i. You must appear for a written theory examination in Air Regulations, Aviation Meteorology and Air Navigation and Air Technical.
ii. You must obtain a medical certificate of fitness from doctors designated by the Director General of Civil Aviation. Only two bodies in India - Air Force Central Medical Establishment in New Delhi and the Institute of Aviation Medicine, Bangalore - are to give you a medical fitness certificate.
iii. You have to get a security clearance.
iv. You will need to appear for an oral examination and an aptitude test.
v. If the medical clearance comes through and you clear the exams, you will be granted the SPL.
Damages: You must furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 10,000.
Private Pilot Licence :
i. Post attaining the SPL, you will be assigned an instructor to start flying lessons. You will be taught the basics of flying and your instructor will accompany you on flights.
ii. After about 15 hours of flying with an instructor, ie dual flying, you can fly solo and go cross-country as well.
iii. To obtain a Private Pilot License, you have to fly a minimum of 60 hours. Of this, at least 20 hours should be solo flying and 5 hours should be cross-country flights.
iv. You will also need to appear for the written theory examinations in subjects like Air Regulations, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Aircraft Engines and Seamanship.
v. You will need to obtain the medical fitness certificate from the AFCME or IAM.
vi. You must be at least 17 years old.
viii. You must have passed Class XII or equivalent exam with Physics, Maths and Chemistry as your subjects.
Damages: The per hour cost of flying is quite steep: about Rs 3,500.
To get a PPL, you need at least 60 hours of flying. Thus the total cost of obtaining a PPL will be a cool Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000)!