Useful things to do before the beginning of training

[Oriya]

Hello!
I'm about to visit Vancouver next week to look around some flight school.
I do not plan to start the training at least until June.

I would like to know if there is any useful stuff I can do during the visit that can spare me some time and maybe money. Mainly I would like to know about the medical exam, if it is recommended to do it right know, or should I wait until the beginning of training.

Thanks a lot!

[paytoplay]

If your goal is the airlines then you should ensure that you’re medically capable for certain before embarking on such an expensive venture. As for the school visits, best advice I could give you would be to try to talk to some students that you see around the school to get a realistic review of the place in addition to the sales pitch you’ll be given from the employees.

[indieadventurer]

Do your medical exam now so you’ll know if there are any issues that may prevent you from holding a medical and hence a licence before wasting any time and money flight training.

[Adam Oke]

Definitely get on that Category 1 medical with an ECG and see if you're fit for the profession. You can locate an examiner below. If it is just for recreation, you will be looking at a Category 3 medical.

Ref: https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/ ... =eng&l=124

You can also start to familiarize yourself with the CARs, AIM, and the PSTAR. You will be required to complete a medical and the pre solo exam (PSTAR) before your instructor will send you solo.

CARs: https://www.tc.gc.ca/en/transport-canad ... 6-433.html
AIM: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/ ... c-aim.html
PSTAR: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/ ... u-1135.htm

[TalkingPie]

In addition to the good advice of getting your Cat 1 medical out of the way, you can consider starting your ground school training. You can do your entire ground school online with a place like Harv's Air (https://www.pilottraining.ca/index.php). Although I can't speak for all flight schools, both of the ones I've been involved with actually recommend doing your ground school this way. You can finish all of it before June and write your PSTAR exam, too, if you want. The financial commitment is minuscule compared to the total cost of your training, but it does take a good bit of time to learn. Alternatively, you can get the book From the Ground Up, which is the Canadian bible of flight training. Reading as much of that as possible would be a good use of your spare time no matter how you proceed with your training later on.

[albertdesalvo]

Reading as much of that as possible would be a good use of your spare time

...and a great cure for insomnia too!

[fish4life]

save up enough to do all of your private + some additional contingency cash. It will take way longer and cost way more in the long run if you have to spread the training out because you run out of cash half way.

[Oriya]

Thanks for the answers!
Do I need any reference from Transport Canada before I do the exam? I know there is an Aviation Document booklet thing, should I have one of these before I can take the test?

[NatSk1llz]

You will need a recommendation letter from your ground school instructor, 10 hours flight time and a valid medical to write the PPL written.

The pilottraining.ca online course is a good way to prepare you for your training as it will cover everything from the PSTAR, Radio license, exercises you will fly in the airplane, the written exam and help prepare you for the flight test.