Right, let's pick this up — Page 79, Lesson 130

Right, let's pick this up. We're now looking at the rules that govern who gets credit for what flight time, and then the specific requirements for the Private Pilot Licence. First, the credit rules. If you hold a pilot licence, you are entitled to be credited in full with all your solo, dual instruction, and PIC flight time. That means every hour you've flown alone, every hour with an instructor, and every hour as Pilot-in-Command counts 100% towards the total flight time needed for the initial issue of a licence, or for a higher-grade licence. Now, here's the important distinction. When you act as co-pilot of an aeroplane in which a co-pilot is required, you can count not more than 100% of that co-pilot time towards a higher-grade licence. So it's still fully countable, but only when the aircraft type actually requires a co-pilot to be carried. But there's a special case. If you're acting as co-pilot but performing as PIC under supervision — that's a structured training situation where you're doing the commander's job while a supervisor watches — you can count the full hours towards the total flight time for a higher-grade licence. So that supervised PIC time is fully credited. Now let's move to the Student Pilot rules. This is the very first stage. Licence Issuing States — that's the national authority that issues your licence — must ensure student pilots do not pose a hazard to navigation. So there's a safety obligation on the state itself. A student pilot is only permitted to fly solo under the supervision of, or with the authorization of, an authorized flight instructor. And there's a restriction on international flying: a student pilot is not permitted to fly solo on international flights unless there's an agreement between the contracting states concerned. So no solo cross-border hops unless the two countries have specifically arranged it. There are also two hard minimums for solo flight. A student pilot cannot fly solo unless he or she holds at least a Class 2 medical assessment, and has attained the age of 16 years. So the medical standard is Class 2, and the age floor is 16. Now we come to the Private Pilot Licence (Aeroplane) — the PPL(A). Let's go through the three requirement areas. Age. An applicant for a PPL must be not less than 17 years of age. But note this carefully: training can be started at any age, yet a solo flight is not permitted until the student is 16. So you can begin lessons before 16, but you cannot fly solo until you're 16, and you cannot be issued the licence until you're 17. Knowledge. An applicant is required to demonstrate, by examination, a required level of theoretical knowledge. So there's a written exam standard you must meet. Experience. An applicant must complete not less than 45 hours of flight time. And where time in a synthetic trainer is permitted — that's a flight simulator or training device — it is limited to a maximum of 5 hours as part of that 45. So of your 45 hours, at most 5 can be in the simulator; the rest must be real aircraft time. That's the structure: the credit rules for licence holders, the student pilot constraints, and the PPL age, knowledge, and experience requirements.