Becoming a PPL(A) private pilot
The private pilot licence puts you in command, in France and across Europe. Issued under EASA rules (Part-FCL), it lets you fly as pilot in command and carry passengers, on a non-commercial basis.
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Flying hours minimum (25 dual + 10 solo)
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Minimum age for the licence
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Minimum age for first solo
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Minimum solo cross-country (270 km)
What you need to start
From 14 you can start the ground school and fly your first lessons with an instructor beside you.
Your instructor stays on the ground and the aircraft is yours alone: the first solo is allowed from 16.
You may finish the training earlier, but the licence itself is only issued from 17.
Issued by an aeromedical examiner before your first solo — worth arranging early in the training.
Never touched a control column? Neither had most of our students on day one. No qualification or prior aviation knowledge is required.
The shape of the training
Five clear stages, at your own pace.
Joining the club
You become a member of the BYAC, a declared training organisation (DTO) overseen by the French civil aviation authority. Most of our students start with a discovery flight: that first go at the controls is usually what settles it.
Ground school
Nine subjects make up the European syllabus — air law, aircraft general knowledge, flight planning, human performance, meteorology, navigation, operational procedures, principles of flight and communications. Our instructors work through them with you, in small groups or one to one, around your availability.
Flight training — 45 hours minimum
25 hours dual with your instructor, then 10 hours of supervised solo, including 5 hours of cross-country. The stage ends with a solo flight of at least 150 NM, with full-stop landings at two other aerodromes.
The skill test
About two hours with an examiner authorised by the authority: navigation, handling, emergency procedures. One condition applies — the written exams must have been passed within the previous 24 months.
Licence in hand
The authority issues your PPL(A) with the SEP class rating for single-engine piston aircraft. From then on the decisions are yours: you are pilot in command.
Your PPL is only the beginning
Simply flying
Your licence is recognised throughout Europe: trips away, flights with friends, club outings — your choice. To carry passengers you need three take-offs and landings in the previous 90 days.
Keeping it current
The SEP rating is revalidated every 24 months, usually through experience: 12 flying hours in the last 12 months, 6 of them as pilot in command, 12 take-offs and landings, and one hour with an instructor.
Widening your privileges
Night flying, mountain rating, aerobatics, glider towing, retractable gear and variable-pitch propellers: plenty opens up once the PPL is done.
Going further
Multi-engine rating (MEP), instrument flying (BIR, IR), commercial pilot licence (CPL), instructor rating (FI) to pass it on in turn: the PPL is the first step, not the last.
Your PPL starts with a first flight
Contact the office to meet an instructor. The next ground school course is waiting for you.
This page is based on European EASA rules (the Aircrew Regulation — Part-FCL) and on the examination arrangements published by the French civil aviation authority. These texts change: the conditions in force at EASA (easa.europa.eu) and the DGAC (ecologie.gouv.fr) are the ones that count.