RFC has many advantages for learning to fly and is a great place to meet other pilots!

The Rockcliffe Airport is small enough, making it is easy to learn to fly in an environment where there is less stress and traffic than that of a large airport. RFC is close enough to medium and large airports to provide all the practice locations you need. We like to give individual attention to students and tailor the training program to meet their needs. We offer a full range of general aviation training programs. Our graduates have an enviable reputation throughout the industry. We offer training in English and French.

As a club, Rockcliffe welcomes new members and provides them with many opportunities to fly with more seasoned pilots to hone in on their skills.

Sure! As long as your glasses or contact lenses correct your vision to the required degree. Your medical exam will confirm whether your eyes meet the required degree of sight.

Very likely! People of all ages are taking up flying as a hobby or a career. Both men and women are realizing their dream of flight. Our youngest student is 15, our oldest is 72. One of the best parts is meeting a lot of people who like to fly and travel together. The minimum age to get your recreational pilot permit is 16. But you can start your training as early as 14. Maximum age? There is no maximum age. Some people fly into their 70s or 80s. It depends on your medical condition.

During your training, you will most likely rent an aircraft from our club. Once you have your license, you can continue to rent or you can buy an aircraft. Another popular solution is fractional ownership: you buy an aircraft with friends or buy into an existing partnership that owns an aircraft. Many people find this the most affordable solution and one that distributes the cost of maintenance of the aircraft.

Passenger mile for mile, single-engine general aviation aircraft have five times fewer accidents than automobiles. Pilot training emphasizes safety as its first priority. You not only get trained on flying the aircraft but how to act in case of emergency. Flying requires very different skills than driving a car, and our program will teach you all these skills.

You start flying on your introductory lesson. This first lesson is intended to familiarize you with the sensations of flying in a small aircraft and start showing you how to fly the aircraft. Don’t worry, you won’t be expected to land the aircraft by yourself on your first lesson!

The initial portion of your flight training will be with an instructor (this is called dual) and then by yourself (solo). As you acquire flying skills, your instructor will let you do more and more of the flying.

Some people start ground school first, before starting to fly. This can be done, but you get more out of ground school if you have a few hours of dual flying under your belt first.

Unlike many other programs, you don’t need to pay money up-front to fly. You pay as you go and determine the speed of your own training. This minimizes the financial risk to you.

Here are some things you can do to reduce your costs:

• Fly as often as possible. While the average flying time that a pilot takes to get a Private Pilot Licence across Canada is between 60 and 70 hours, Those who fly every day (and have the right basic skills) can get their license in the Transport Canada minimum amount of hours. The more often you fly, the less you forget between lessons.
• Fly with others! It’s amazing what you can pick up in the right seat or even the back seat in terms of procedures, radio communications, etc. just by flying with other pilots. This will speed up your own progress.
• Study hard!  Read and re-read your books, review the material, practice drills, and stay focused.  Good work ethic leads to success in flight training.

Do you have a friend, spouse, other family members interested in learning to fly? Two ideas:

• Buy them an introductory lesson gift certificate from RFC. This will give them their first lesson. Just call the club at 613 746 4425 and we can schedule the flight directly at the time you buy the certificate or let the recipient schedule it later. If your schedule it ahead and the weather is not good that day, we will gladly reschedule the flight.

Actually, a lot of pilots are afraid of heights. Even after completing their flight training, they would much rather be sitting in a nice safe airplane than standing on a balcony, a bridge or even a stepladder. You can fall off those things!

Flying in small aircraft is different than in large jetliners. They are lighter and smaller, so they tend to be more sensitive to wind effects. However, you get a panoramic view of the world from above and the sense of freedom is incredible. You very quickly forget any initial fears.

Once you have your permit or license, you can carry passengers. During your training, you will be flying with an instructor or by yourself (after your first solo).

With a recreational pilot permit, you can carry one passenger. With a Private Pilot Licence, you can carry as many passengers as is permitted in the aircraft for which you are rated to fly (typically three passengers in a four-seat aircraft).

The initial permit or license you receive (recreational permit or private licence) allows you to fly and carry passengers during the day, under “Visual Flight Rules” (VFR) which means that you must be able to see the ground and around you so you can navigate visually.

To fly at night (defined as 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise) you need to get further qualifications which is called a “night rating”.

To fly when you can’t see the ground or around you due to weather conditions, you need an IFR rating (Instrument Flight Rules). With this, you can fly through cloud, above cloud, and in other poor visibility conditions, within certain limits for takeoff and landing.

There is also another rating which is part way towards IFR and is called VFR OTT or Visual Flight Rules Over the Top. This allows you to fly over cloud, even if you can’t see the ground, during your trip, as long as you are able to see the ground at your departure and destination.

Float rating allows you to fly float planes.

All these ratings require additional briefing and flight training time.

Yes, but you may be restricted to daytime flying only. You will have to complete a colour spectrum eye exam (Farnworth D15 exam) which your Canadian Aviation Medical Examiner will direct you to complete. These exams are available at most optometrists.