Gliding / Flying Training Courses

Royal Canadian Air Cadet awards glider and power flying training opportunities to qualifying cadets every year. Senior cadets have the opportunity to apply for these courses and spend the summer months training towards the Glider Pilot Licence and Private Pilot Licence.

Cadets need to be 16 years of age to hold a Glider Pilot Licence and 17 years of age to hold a Private Pilot License. To qualify for gliding and flying courses, each cadet needs to complete a qualifying exam. Weekly pilot training ground school runs from September to December to prepare cadets for the exam. During ground school, cadets are introduced to topics including:

• Aeronautical Rules and Facilities
• Theory of Flight
• Meteorology
• Navigation
• Airmanship
• Flight Instruments
• Radio
• Aero Engines

After 40 years of granting Glider Pilot Licence, the Air Cadet program trained over 10,000 Glider Pilots. One in five Private Pilots in Canada and 67% of Commercial and Airline Pilots have their roots in Air Cadets.

Squadron Ground School Reference Material

Glider Pilot Training Course (GPTC)

This six-week course is an intensive programme of ground school and in-flight glider pilot training. Cadets who successfully complete their flight test and Transport Canada (TC) written exam will qualify for a Glider Pilot Licence and be awarded Air Cadet Glider Pilot Wings.

Prerequisites (2009): Must not hold any TC pilot licence. Must turn 16 by 1 Sep 10, be physically fit, be certified medically fit (Cat 3) by a Canadian Civil Aviation Medical Examiner, have completed Level Three training by 30 Jun 10 and grade 9 by the application deadline, and must obtain a minimum passing score of 50%⁺ on the qualifying exam. Certain height and weight restrictions are made necessary by the gliders used: Height minimum 4'6"/137.16 cm, maximum 6'3"/190.5 cm; Weight minimum 90 lbs/40.82 kg maximum 200 lbs/90.72 kg
Training Centres: CRGS, ERGS & ARGS

Power Pilot Training Course (PPTC)

This seven-week course is an intensive programme of ground school and in-flight pilot training. Cadets who successfully complete their flight test and Transport Canada (TC) written exam will qualify for a Private Pilot Licence and be awarded Air Cadet Pilot Wings.

Prerequisites (2009): Must be 17 by 1 Sep 10, be physically fit, be certified medically fit (Cat 3) by a Canadian Civil Aviation Medical Examiner, have completed Level Four training by 30 Jun 10 and grade 10 by the application deadline, and must obtain a minimum passing score of 50%⁺ on the qualifying exam.
Training Centre: Various Flight Training Units across Ontario

⁺ 50% is the minimum entrance exam score to continue to the interview process. Applicants should aim to obtain at least 65% for GPS and 80% for PPS to have reasonable chances at securing the courses.