AOPA's Flying Companions Course

The Flying Companions Certificate Course consists of a minimum of 8 hours dual flying with a qualified Flying Instructor and 10 hours of ground training. The course is available exclusively from any flight training organisation that is a corporate member of AOPA. Soloflight has been a Corporate Member of AOPA for many years. Completion of the course leads to issue of an AOPA Certificate.

If your Pilot Companion is a full current Member of Soloflight, your Membership is granted a 50% discount for the first year.

AOPA has designed this syllabus to increase the enjoyment, participation and confidence in flying of those who regularly accompany private pilots.

The Syllabus and Guide to the AOPA Flying Companion’s Course has been constructed to enable those who fly regularly with a Private Pilot Licence (PPL) holder to be more involved in the flights and, therefore, more confident when flying as passengers.

Although the course does not in itself lead to a pilot’s licence it must be conducted by a qualified Flight Instructor. We appreciate that some flying companions may wish to continue training for the PPL and the hours flown on the course may be counted towards that qualification. However, you should note that the syllabus is an abridged version of the early flight exercises and ground studies for the PPL and covers only parts of the training requirements for the JAR-FCL PPL.

Similarly, if you wish to assist your Pilot with the operation of the radio on a private flight you would need to hold a Radiotelephony Licence and your Soloflight Instructor will be able to advise how to achieve this. The training for this AOPA Certificate will not necessarily comply with the standard procedures and phraseology required by the applicant for a full Radiotelephony Licence. You can complete the Radiotelephony Licence without having to hold a PPL. It consists of one written exam and one oral exam carried out on a simulator with our in-house Radiotelephony Examiner.

Please click on the link here for further details, the syllabus and an application form.