Published: April 16, 2009 07:28 pm      

Private Pilot Ground School offered at Dalton State

The Center for Continuing Education at Dalton State College is offering Private Pilot Ground School, a 30-hour class that prepares students for the written examination required for a private pilot’s license. The class begins May 7 at the James E. Brown Center and runs Thursday evenings, 6 to 9 p.m., through July 9.

Instructors for the 10-week class are Taylor Newman, director of operations for the Dalton airport and certified flight instructor, and Mark Hudson. Topics to be covered, according to Newman, are air space, aerodynamics, “rules of the road,” laws and regulations, weather, cross country planning and aircraft performance, operations and planning.

“The material covered in this class will provide the knowledge base necessary for the written examination — one of three components required to get the private pilots license,” Newman said. The three-hour written test consists of 60 questions and is administered in Rome and Athens, Tenn.

The other two components required for the private license are the oral and practical (in-plane) examinations which are administered in Chattanooga by an examiner who previously taught aviation at Chattanooga State. A minimum of 40 hours flight training is required before the practical exam is taken; 50-60 flight hours are preferred, Newman said. He and Hudson can provide flight instruction for those wishing to continue on with their training; flight training is not included in the Dalton State program.

“The private pilot’s license is good for most recreational flying day or night most anywhere in the continental United States in reasonably good weather,” Newman said. The minimum age to get the license is 17, which is also the age for Private Pilot Ground School. Newman and Hudson also teach flight training at the University of the South (Sewanee) and in Cleveland, Tenn.

Despite the sour economy, flight training has done well, Newman said, suggesting that some may be choosing to invest dollars into a lifelong dream rather than in stocks and bonds. “For many of our students, this is just something they’ve always wanted to do,” he said.

Cost of Private Pilot Ground School is $499 and includes books. Those wishing to know more or to register can visit www.daltonstate.edu/cce or call the Center for Continuing Education at (706) 272-4454.