Light Aircraft Pilot Licence (LAPL)

The first step to becoming a commercial pilot, or the start of an exciting hobby!

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Key Numbers

First Time Pass

97%

Average Time to Complete Course (full-time)

3 months

Average Time to Complete Course (hours)

52h 21m

Cost

£8,100 (PA38)

£9,750 (PA28)

Pre-Requisites

There are no entry requirements for the LAPL course. We do not believe in aptitude testing like other schools do, and we wish to encourage everyone to fly!

We do strongly suggest however, that you get an aviation medical certificate issued before starting the course. There are three types:

Class 1 – required for commercial operations and licences
Class 2 – required for private operations and licences
LAPL Medical – for those not wishing to progress beyond the limitations of the Light Aircraft Pilot Licence (see Privileges below for the limitations)

Our advice: if you ever wish to fly commercially, get a Class 1 medical before starting. It will "default" to a Class 2 upon expiry, and this way you know that you won't be limited on your career choice later on down the line!

You can start flying at any age, but you must be 16 to fly solo and must be 17 to be issued with a licence.

Privileges

The Light Aircraft Pilot Licence (LAPL) allows you to act without remuneration as PIC in non-commercial operations, with the following limitations:

You can only fly single-engine piston aeroplanes and touring motorgliders
You can only fly aeroplanes with a maximum take-off mass of 2000kg or less
You can only carry a maximum of 3 passengers
You cannot carry passengers until you have completed 10 hours as pilot in command after having your licence issued

Training Course

The Light Aircraft Pilot Licence training course is a minimum of:

30 hours flying training, of which:
- 15 hours must be with an instructor
- 6 hours must be solo
9 theoretical exams
FRTOL (Radiotelephony) practical exam
Skills test

Although not required by regulation, our course also includes 8 hours of 1-to-1 ground school.

Cost

The LAPL(A) can be paid for in one of two ways:

Package
Pay as you go

The package is considerably cheaper long term, as an unlimited number of landing and touch and go fees are included (an average cost of over £2,000).

However, if you pay as you go then these fees are charged to you.

Our package includes everything listed in "The Course" above.

The LAPL package costs £8,100 for the 2 seat PA38 or £9,750 for the 4 seat PA28.