FIXED WING TRAINING PROGRAMS

Private Pilots License

This is where you are introduced to the world of aviation and learn the basics of flight. You are initiated into the full range of aircraft maneuvers and navigation during air training exercises, as well as learning flight theory, weather and other subjects in ground school. The Canadian Private Pilot Licence will allow you to carry passengers in light single-engine airplanes during daylight hours in good (VFR) weather conditions.

Admission Requirements

Transport Canada requires the candidate:

  • to be a minimum of 17 years of age (16 years for Student Permit)
  • to hold a Category 3 medical (If continuing to a Commercial Licence, a Category 1 medical should be obtained)
  • to be a Canadian citizen, landed immigrant, or person lawfully admitted to Canada for flight training
  • to have acquired a minimum of 40 hours of ground training, and 45 hours of flight training broken down as follows:
    1. minimum 17 hours dual instruction
    2. minimum 12 hours solo practice
    3. combination of dual and solo to attain flight test standards

Ground Training

Centennial has developed a continuous ground school system to allow students to start at any time for the Private License. The classes run every Tuesday and Thursday from 19:00 to 21:30. Though Transport Canada requires 40 hours, the ground school consists of 55 hours of formal instruction in the following subjects:

  • Aerodynamics and Theory of Flight
  • Flight Operations
  • Canadian Aviation Regulations
  • Meteorology
  • Navigation
  • Radio and Electronic Theory
  • Airframes, Engines and Systems
  • Flight Instruments
  • Licensing Requirements
  • Human Factors and Pilot Decision Making

Flight Training

Flight training consists of 5 phases:

  1. Essential training to the first solo level. This is all dual (flying with your instructor) and is followed by three hours of solo practice.
  2. Advanced flight training involves advanced techniques for forced approaches and specialty take-offs and landings (e.g. operating from soft or short fields).
  3. Navigation involving dual and solo cross-country flights with no less than 3 hours dual and 5 hours solo.
  4. An introduction to instrument flying.
  5. Preparation for the flight test: dual and solo as required by the student to reach a level of proficiency necessary to pass the flight test.

COMMERCIAL PILOTS LICENSE

The exercises that you learned and practiced for your Private Pilot License are now perfected and polished, along with advanced instrument flying. Also included in the Commercial License is your Night Rating. The course itself is 65 hours long. The Commercial License requires a minimum of 200 hours total time, including hours flown while training for the Private License. The required build-up time will be accumulated throughout your training.

Admission Requirements

  • It is recommended that you are educated to a Canadian High School Graduate standard or equivalent. Potential students not meeting this standard will be assessed on an individual basis.
  • Candidates must have a working knowledge of the English language. All interviews and lessons will be conducted in English, the recognized international language of aviation.
  • You must meet the standard of a Transport Canada Category 1 medical examination.
  • You must be a Canadian citizen, landed immigrant or person lawfully admitted into Canada for flight training.
  • You must be a minimum of 18 years of age to be licensed, but you can begin your training before your 18th birthday.
  • Candidates must possess a Private Pilot License.

The lessons will be structured somewhat differently than the Private Pilot License course in that for every hour of dual flying, you will perform two to three hours of solo practice. The instrument training focuses on control of the aircraft with sole reference to the aircraft flight instruments. This training will form a solid basis for your instrument rating.

Ground School

Transport Canada requires a minimum of 80 hours of ground school. Centennial has developed a 110-hour program to ensure that you attain the level of knowledge that is expected by the industry today.

It includes the following material:

  • Canadian Aviation Regulations
  • Aerodynamics and Theory of Flight
  • Meteorology
  • Air Frames, Engines and Systems
  • Flight Instruments
  • Radio and Electronics Theory
  • Navigation
  • Licensing Requirements
  • Flight Operations
  • Human Factors and Pilot Decision Making
  • *BONUS* Mountain Flying

Licensing Requirements

    • Upon completion, the candidate must have a minimum of 200 hours total time, of which 100 hours must be pilot-in-command. (Includes hours from the Private Pilot course).
    • A minimum of 30 hours solo and 35 hours dual is required on the course. The breakdown requirements are as follows:

Dual (35 hours)

  1. 20 hours instrument
  2. 5 hours night
  3. 10 hours advanced flying techniques

Solo (30 hours)

  1. includes a 300 nautical mile cross-country and 5 hours of night flying
  • A minimum of 80 hours of ground school is required while on the course.
  • Must pass Transport Canada written and flight exams.

NIGHT RATING

Make the most of that hard-earned license…do it in the dark!!! Now is the time to free yourself of those restricting daylight hours.

The night rating provides a new dimension to your flying by introducing some of the basic techniques involved in instrument flying.

This advancement of your flying skills will enable you to extend your flights and fly in a beautiful and relaxing atmosphere.

Prerequisite

  • Canadian Private Pilots License

Course Outline

Minimum 20 hours flight time:

  • 10 hours of night flight time including a minimum of:
    1. 5 hours dual flight time, including 2 hours cross-country
    2. 5 hours solo flight time including 10 take-offs, circuits and landings and;
  • 10 hours of dual instrument time which may include the 5 hours instrument obtained during the Private Pilot Course.

Multi-Engine Rating

Learning to fly a multi-engine aeroplane is one of the most challenging and rewarding courses in the Professional Pilot Program. The multi-engine endorsement is a prerequisite for Air Carriers and is normally incorporated in the Multi-IFR course.

The course focuses on aircraft systems, emergency procedures and advanced performance calculations.

Prerequisite

  • Canadian Private Pilot License

Course Outline

  • 3 hours dual instruction Redbird FMX motion twin-engine simulator.
  • 8 hours dual twin-engine aircraft (Piper Seneca).
  • 3 hours ground instruction on aircraft performance and systems.

Textbooks

  • Aircraft manual

Additional

  • The candidate will be required to pass a Transport Canada flight test.

IFR

Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) is flying the aircraft by referring primarily to instruments in the aircraft cockpit without visual reference to the ground (this means you are flying in, or above the clouds where you cannot see the ground). The aircraft must contain appropriate IFR equipment, and the pilot must be specially trained and licensed. And Centennial provides some of the best IFR training in Canada.

Flying in IFR conditions is the most precise and challenging flying a professional pilot will encounter. The course itself combines the actual flying of an aircraft with the rules, procedures and instrument navigation skills, enabling you to take off and land in conditions where you may only be able to see a mere half-mile in front of the aircraft.

Centennial’s state-of-the-art, full-motion, Redbird FMX simulator (pictured) gives the student an extremely realistic experience before they operate an aircraft under similar conditions. In the simulator, emergencies are practiced that cannot be safely conducted in the aircraft during actual IFR flight. Our simulator and Seneca have both been configured – including a Garmin 530 and Garmin 430 GPS so that the instrument panels are nearly identical. This technique is used by Airlines to make the transition from the simulator to aircraft as smooth as possible.

Whenever possible flight training in C-GNJX, our Seneca, is conducted in actual IMC (instrument meteorological conditions). This allows us to train you in conditions that will better prepare you for the situations you will encounter when you gain a position in the industry. The aircraft is also equipped with a Slaved Compass System incorporating an HSI and RMI. A fully IFR Certified GPS combination of a Garmin 530 and a Garmin 430 has been installed so that you may train in GPS navigation techniques.

Prerequisites

  • Canadian Private Pilot License
  • 50 hours cross-country pilot-in-command
  • Multi-engine rating (for multi-engine IFR)

Course Outline

  • 20 hours dual Redbird FMX simulator
  • 20 hours dual aircraft
  • Over 50 hours ground school

References

  • Canada Air Pilot 3
  • Low Enroute Charts
  • Terminal Chart
  • A.I.M.
  • Canada Flight Supplement
  • Instrument Procedures Manual

Instructor Rating

This rating is by far the most interesting in the sense that it is different from any training you have experienced so far. This course will develop your interpersonal and communication abilities as well as introducing you to in-depth training procedures and means of transferring knowledge. This is possibly the most rewarding type of flying a pilot can do… teach others to reach their dream of flying.

All of the training for the Instructor Rating is done one-on-one. 30 hours of dual flight training is required by Transport Canada with a minimum of 25 hours of ground training. However, most need closer to 40 hours of ground training in order to accomplish the objectives and pass the flight test. The course is approximately 3 to 4 months long with much of your personal time required. Course content includes lesson plan preparation, instructional techniques, methods of teaching, in-flight instruction, studying personality types and communication skills.

Prerequisites

  • Canadian Commercial Pilot License
  • Category 1 medical
  • 20 hours instrument time (10 hours must be instrument flight time)

Additional

  • The candidate will be required to pass a Transport Canada written test
  • The candidate will be required to pass a Transport Canada flight test

INSTRUMENT PROFICIENCY CHECK

An Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) meets the recency requirements for the holder of an instrument rating. A pilot must have completed an IPC (or equivalent) in the previous 2 years prior to exercising the privileges of an instrument rating.

Preparatory training prior to an IPC must be conducted by a flight instructor qualified in accordance to Standard 425.21(9) of the CAR’s that is not the examiner that will conduct the IPC. The IPC must be conducted by a Transport Canada authorized examiner.

Centennial’s Redbird FMX simulator is Transport Canada certified for IPC renewals. The multi engine configuration is based on a Seneca 1 and well equipped with a Garmin 530/430 GPS, HSI and an autopilot for coupled approaches. The course includes 3 simulator sessions including a mock IPC and pre/post ground instruction.

This course will review IFR procedures including SID’s, STAR’s, RNAV and ILS approaches, and emergency procedures including engine failures with single engine approaches.

This course assumes a recently lapsed instrument rating. Additional simulator and/or ground time may be required to reach proficiency depending on how long a pilot has been expired. Self-study and review will be required prior to each session.

Prerequisite:

  1. Candidate must hold an Instrument Rating

Textbooks:

  1. CAP GEN
  2. Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)
  3. Instrument Procedures Manual (IPM)
  4. Aircraft POH

Additional:

  1. Current IFR charts and CFS are required. An ipad or tablet with an electronic flight planning app (Foreflight, Garmin pilot, Flight Plan) is highly recommended.

NOTE: Additional simulator, Pre & post flight briefing and ground time may be required to achieve proficiency.

Book a Discovery Flight

Click below for a chance to feel how amazing it is to fly! This includes a guided classroom and hangar tour as well as a one-on-one with one of our instructors.

Mountain Check-out

Mountain flying is probably the most beautiful flying you will ever do. But, to fly in the mountains requires a great deal of knowledge and skill. Once you have attained your PPL, you can fly with any of Centennial’s experienced instructors in the majestic Rocky Mountains for your Mountain check-out. You will receive ground instruction with respect to pilot physiology, aircraft performance, mountain weather, and topography. The actual flight in the mountains will put your ground training to use as well as teach you the techniques and skills required for mountain aviation.

Turbine Engine & Operations Seminar

The Turbine course offers advanced ground school training in turbine engines. You will learn the theory and operation of turbine engines, advanced electrical systems, high altitude operations, crew coordination, and pressurization control. When you complete this course you will be ready for flight training in turbine aircraft.

Basic Survival & First Aid Seminar

This course is a must for any pilot. A basic understanding of survival skills and techniques, as well as basic first aid, will be introduced to you from the perspective of a pilot. Survival physiology, shelter building, fire lighting, signalling, and many other topics will be covered. Though these types of courses are offered out of Centennial, this course has been specialized to be directed at pilots specifically. (This course goes well with the Mountain Check-out).

Contact Us Today

Centennial Flight Centre Inc.
Building Hangar 42
Villeneuve Airport
Sturgeon County, AB, Canada
T8T 0E3

780-451-7676
[email protected]