FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The flying school operates 7 days per week during daylight hours, subject to weather and availability of staff and instructors who are all volunteers. To book a time, phone contact hours are 7am - 7pm daily or you can contact us by email at: admin@loneeagleflyingschool.org.au

You are welcome to arrange a time to visit the school to meet with other members and instructors. This will allow you to look over our airfield, check out the club facilities and aircraft and ask questions. You may just like to come for a "chat about aviation" and a coffee. Some of our members are not pilots but enjoy the aviation related atmosphere.

Yes, there are toilets for airfield visitors to use.

Yes. The Lone Eagle Flying School is an approved Members Stop Over facility for the Caravan and Camping Assn. of Australia. On site tent sites are also available. Caravan and camping guests are requested to make a donation to the club of about $ 10.00 per person per night.

There is now no minimum age at which you can start your training, however you must have the physical strength and size to reach all the controls and to be able to manoeuvre them in flight. You are not permitted to fly solo until your 15th birthday.

Phone the club on 0429 378 370 between 7am – 7pm or email us at admin@loneeagleflyingschool.org.au to organise a time. Come to the club, meet with the instructor and have a trial introductory flight (TIF) of about 30 minutes in either the Drifter or the Jabiru aircraft for a cost of $ 198. We recommend you have your trial flight early in the morning or late in the day. After your exhilarating flight you can arrange further flights.

There is no special education requirements. People who have dyslexia or other learning difficulties can be assisted through the exams. However, you must be able to speak, understand, read and write the English language.

Normally no, but these can be arranged if required or requested. Currently, there are no ground theory tuition fees.

No. All you have to do is to make a personal medical declaration that you are of the health standards to drive a car. If you have some more specific medical problems, eg. sugar diabetes, heart bypass, etc. you may be required to get a statement from your General practitioner that you are safe to pilot an aircraft.

The Lone Eagle Flying School operates most days, depending on instructor availability as all of our instructors, aircraft engineers and other staff volunteer their time. Phone ahead to ensure that someone is available to talk with you.

You could start training tomorrow subject to availability, weather and if it suits you! Flight lessons are tailored to suit every individual’s needs, work and family lifestyle.

No. All flying training is in certified club aircraft. Some home type flight simulators may be a hindrance to your training.

We have found that model aircraft pilots have a fine touch on the controls and understand the basic principles of flight and the various components of the aircraft. It certainly is not a hindrance.

There are a few options to choose from. You can pay as you go or you can pre-pay. We accept cash, cheques and direct deposit (preferred method). We DO NOT have any facilities to accept credit / debit cards.

Flight costs are calculated on the actual flight time recorded on the aircraft’s hour meter. Normally there is no charge for any pre flight or post flight briefings. Books, manuals and any other fees are charged at current rates.

Yes. All instructors have specialist training and are required to be re-tested every two years by an independent authorised testing officer. Our instructors have a wealth of experience.

Please be aware that flight training is competency based and the flight time needed depends on the individual student, but is a minimum of 20 hours. We do our very best to be realistic with the number of training hours you may require. A flight time of approximately 30 hours is the average for most students. Concentrated training of about 2 hours per day for about 3 days is available by arrangement. We do not recommend full time training as the student can easily overload with so much new information in such a short time. Your instructor will monitor this. We recommend allowing approximately 6 months to achieve your pilots certificate.

We suggest you budget $ 8,000 which will cover approximately 30 hours of flight training, your student pilots certificate cost, including membership fees, books and training. This is only an estimate as your training is competency based and some students take longer or shorter flying time than others.

You are permitted to operate an aircraft unsupervised up to 25 nautical mile (45 km) from your aerodrome of departure. Once you have 10 hours of solo flying experience, you can apply for your passenger endorsement to carry family and friends.

Very little really. All of your current endorsements are recognised but you will need to sit a Converting Pilot’s theory exam. Depending on when your did your training you may have to do some refresher exams to bring you up to currency. You will also need to undertake sufficient flight training (minimum of 5hrs including 1 hr solo), so that you can pass a flight test with an approved RAAus testing officer.

We encourage this as much as possible as the networking and camaraderie it builds is important to the long term safety of all pilots. Our instructors can be contacted most times seven days a week either in person or via telephone or e-mail to assist students and pilots with any problems, queries or advice. This also assists and helps keep the club together. Clifton airfield and the Lone Eagle Flying School are different to most airfields. Members are supportive to each other in their comments and their actions and pitch in and help each other in an atmosphere of respect and mutual cooperation throughout the club.