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In the years immediately following World War II, the demand for general aviation was huge. Interest in private flying was stimulated, in large part, by the role air power played in the Allied victory. During 1946, the first year after our government ended its wartime probation of light aircraft manufacture, domestic companies delivered 35,000 general aviation aircraft to consumers—an annual quantity yet to be repeated. (Even in the boom years for GA at the end of the 1970s, peak deliveries only reached about half 1946’s output; deliveries of piston-powered singles and twins in 2022 were about 5 percent of 1946 numbers.)

Responding to the public’s interest in personal aviation, the federal government encouraged learning to fly. The GI Bill provided the financial wherewithal for lessons, and flight schools popped up at local airports like mushrooms growing in a damp root cellar. Training programs reflected what had worked in the past. In the 1940s and ’50s, there was considerable emphasis on piloting skills. For example, spins were a requirement of the private curriculum initially. But knowledge training—particularly testing private candidates for flight planning, weather, and airspace—was minimal.

Until early in the 1950s, the private written consisted of just 50 true/false questions that were contained in a 200-question study guide available for less than a dollar from the U.S. Printing Office. Knowledge testing for private pilot certificate candidates received an overhaul in the latter part of the 1960s, but there was no mention of risk management in either training materials or testing for general aviation pilots until decades later.

The interaction between government and GA changed noticeably after the Federal Aviation Agency replaced the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 1958 and then became the Federal Aviation Administration within the newly created U.S. Department of Transportation in 1967. FAA involvement with general aviation grew noticeably following the appointment of J. Lynn Helms, formerly CEO of Piper Aircraft Corp., as FAA administrator. During his FAA tenure, which began in the spring of 1981 and concluded January 31, 1984, Helms interacted actively with the GA community by forming small working groups to address specific issues, often saying that if given 90 days and a specific problem, a committee of a dozen experts could propose a viable solution that resolved 90 percent of the challenge. Helms argued that the remaining 10 percent would take considerably more time and effort, resulting in high cost and marginal value added.

Don Engen (retired U.S. Navy vice admiral and member of the NTSB) succeeded Helms as FAA administrator in 1984 and continued involving the GA community in addressing specific safety challenges, building upon the concept that government works best when users of government services are involved in devising solutions.

Significant improvements in flight training have been made by FAA committees and working groups coordinating closely with the user community. One is the development of airman certification standards (ACS) to enhance and supersede the FAA’s practical test standards. The ACS emphasizes risk management in addition to the traditional elements of knowledge and skill as essential aspects of learning to fly, thanks in part to input from GA users (see “Making Training Better” next page).

Prior to issuance of airman certification standards, FAA training documents referenced knowledge and skill. When the ACS was introduced, risk management was given equal emphasis as a fundamental requirement for airman certification. Specifics for the private pilots ACS were published in 2016, for commercial pilots and instrument ratings in 2018, and for airline transport pilots in 2019. The ACS for flight instructors is in draft form.

Navigating the maze

A roadmap is needed whenever a journey is long and spans unfamiliar territory, and for many an aspiring aviator the journey to becoming a pilot appears long, unfamiliar, and imposing. The ACS is the roadmap that puts the journey into perspective, providing the student with confidence that success is on the horizon.

Tasks in the ACS are milestones on the path to certification. Each task’s objective is identified and presented as areas of knowledge, risk management, and skill. Material is presented logically, and references are provided that support the given information. Students should download the relevant ACS from faa.gov and use it to position each lesson within the overall curriculum required by the regulations and the training syllabus.

Whether it’s the pilot’s first exposure to flight training or the pursuit of an ATP, the FAA’s airman certification standards are an effective tool for learning. Why progress in training protocols and testing criteria moves so slowly is a subject for another day. The takeaway here is that guidance in the form of airman certification standards should be used by all students today.

John W. Olcott is an airline transport pilot, CFII, and remote pilot, as well as former president of the National Business Aviation Association.