When should you begain taking pilot lessons?

Question

if you can get your licence at 16 should you start when you are 15?

Answer 1

In the US, FAA regulations say that you cannot get your private pilot's certificate until 17 years of age and must be 16 to solo.

There are many factors that would affect when a person should start.  First is maturity.  Being a pilot requires a certain level of maturity.  As such, some teens are capable of handling the responsibility, others are not [there are some adults that can't handle it as well].

Second is the frequency of taking lessons and how quickly the student picks up on things.  The more frequently a student is able to fly, generally the quicker he or she will learn.  But, also, the student must be learning what's going on.

So, if the individual is able to learn quickly enough, handle the responsibility, and practice quickly enough, the student could potentially finish in 3 months and thus start at 16 years and 9 months.  That would be very rare [even if the individual is capable and has the funds, the weather in most of the country is not favorable for that].  I would say that the average person should figure about a year minimum, and as such perhaps the 16th birthday would be a good time to start.  I've known teens who soloed on their 16th birthday and were ready at 17.  I've known others who were not ready by 17.  And known others who would be ready 2 months after their 16th and had to try to stay sharp until 17.

I've not really answered the question, as it really depends on the individual.  Try taking some introductory lessons and see if you think and the instructor thinks you are ready to start at whatever age you may be.  Most instructors should have the professionalism to be honest and not just waste the student's money.

One option if you're not ready to start yet is to just take one lesson every month or so to keep interested.  It doesn't end up costing all that much and it keeps the teen interested in learning and also gets a small leg-up once lessons actually start.

Answer 2

And start saving your pennies now.  You know the old saying...

"What makes an airplane fly?"

Gas and money.....

Answer 3

Whenever you want. The earlier the bettter.

Answer 4

I started at 15, now im 16 with my FAA written complete and the ability to solo two aircraft. You can start when ever you want. The sooner the better because the prices are growing fast.