1Purpose & authority

1.1 Purpose

This manual governs how training is delivered, graded, checked, documented, and corrected at PilotRules Flight Academy. It sits between the General Operations Manual, which sets company-wide policy, and the syllabi, which set the content of individual lessons. The General Operations Manual says who may fly and under what conditions; this manual says how a cadet is trained and how the academy proves it.

1.2 Authority

The Chief Instructor maintains this manual and is responsible for the quality and consistency of all instruction given under the school's Part 141 certificate, in accordance with 14 CFR §141.35 and §141.85. The Assistant Chief Instructor acts in the Chief Instructor's absence under §141.36. Check instructors conduct stage checks and end-of-course tests under §141.37 and grade independently of the instructor who trained the cadet.

The Wing Commander / Commandant, as the Owner and Responsible Manager, holds final authority on any matter of cadet status, including elimination, and is the appeal authority for a progress review board decision.

1.3 Precedence

The Federal Aviation Regulations, the Aeronautical Information Manual, the approved Pilot's Operating Handbook or Airplane Flight Manual for each aircraft, and the applicable Minimum Equipment List take precedence over this manual in all cases. Where this manual and another company document conflict, or where a company standard is more restrictive than the regulation, the most restrictive requirement applies.

1.4 Revisions

Revisions are issued by the Chief Instructor. Revised text is marked in the revision that introduces it, and the revision number and effective date appear on the cover of every controlled document. Changes requiring immediate effect are issued as Operations Bulletins, which carry the same authority as the manual they amend and remain in force until incorporated or withdrawn. Every IP and cadet is responsible for reviewing current bulletins before each duty period.

2Program structure

2.1 The five phases

The program runs 52 weeks from zero experience to Airline Transport Pilot, organized into five phases modeled on United States Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training. Each phase has a defined goal, and a cadet does not advance until the phase gates are met.

2.2 Class organization

Cadets are grouped into a numbered class — for example Class 26-Alpha — of approximately 30 cadets, divided into two flights of about 15. Each flight is led by a Flight Commander, an IP responsible for the flight's training progress and discipline. Within the flight, a cadet serves as Flight Leader on a rotating basis, responsible for accountability, musters, and publishing the detail sheet. A senior cadet serves as Class Commander for administrative matters affecting the whole class.

2.3 The three levels of syllabus

Training content is published at three levels of resolution. All three must agree; where they do not, the Chief Instructor resolves the discrepancy and issues a correction.

The Part 141 course structure as approved by the Administrator is published separately as the Training Course Outline. Where the TCO is more specific than the internal syllabus, the TCO governs for certification purposes.

2.4 Aircraft assignment by phase

The Cessna 172 carries Phase I through Phase II and the instructor phase. The Piper Seminole is used for the multi-engine rating and for multi-engine instructor training. The Pilatus PC-12 is used in the FTU phase for turbine transition and crew operations under the PC-12 Training Program. Cadets do not fly a type until the corresponding ground academics and systems examinations are complete.

3The training day

3.1 Why a 12-hour day

The academy runs a 12-hour duty day because professional flying is a duty-period occupation, not an appointment-based one. A cadet who learns to show at a fixed time, brief, wait productively, fly, debrief, and remain available until formal release is learning the habit structure of an airline or corporate flight department. The duty day also lets the Operations Support Squadron schedule two flight waves against weather and aircraft availability rather than one.

3.2 Standard duty day

Monday through Friday the duty day runs 0600 to 1800. The 0600 formation, the 1745 end-of-day muster, and the 1800 formal release do not move. Everything between them flexes with weather, aircraft, and checkride scheduling.

3.3 Saturday and Sunday

Saturday is a six-hour day, 0600 to 1200: formation and scored physical training, a meal, then a single primary flight wave reserved for long profiles — solo cross-country, instrument cross-country, and the commercial long cross-country — followed by debrief and release at 1200.

Sunday carries no scheduled duty. It is a recovery day. Off-base passes are available after 0900 with the flight leader's knowledge. The weekly gear and uniform inspection is at 1900 under the Quartermaster SOP, the flight leader posts Monday's detail sheet by 2000, and quiet hours begin at 2200.

3.4 Crew rest

Across the program this produces 260 duty days, 52 Saturday half days, and 52 liberty days, for approximately 3,432 scheduled duty hours. Instructor duty and rest limits are in Section U of the General Operations Manual.

4Flight room culture & the formal brief

4.1 The flight room

The flight room is the cadet's duty station whenever they are not in a sortie, a simulator, or a scheduled academic block. It is a working space: charts out, checklists open, chair-flying aloud, cadets quizzing each other on flows and limitations. It is not a lounge. Cadets remain in the flight room until formal release so that the flight is available to absorb a weather window, a returned aircraft, or a schedule slip.

4.2 The formal brief (stand-up)

Stand-up at 0730 is the day's most important 30 minutes. A cadet is selected without warning to brief the day: current and forecast weather, NOTAMs affecting the operation, aircraft status, and the emergency procedure of the day. The cadet briefs standing, from their own preparation, to the whole flight.

The IP does not rescue a weak brief. The IP corrects it — the METAR misread, the missed NOTAM, the emergency procedure recited without understanding — in front of the flight, because the standard is public and the correction is instructional for everyone. A cadet who cannot brief is not ready to fly that day, and the IP will say so.

Emergency procedure of the day

Each day one abnormal or emergency condition is nominated. The briefing cadet states the recognition cues, the memory items verbatim, the follow-on checklist, and the decision the situation forces. Memory items are recited from memory; reading them is an unsatisfactory brief.

4.3 Chair-flying

Chair-flying is a required, graded activity, not a study option. A cadet chair-flies the next profile aloud with a checklist and a cockpit poster or mock-up, calling every flow item, callout, and configuration change in sequence and in real time. Cadets who chair-fly consistently fly fewer repeat lessons, and the flight room schedule protects time for it.

4.4 Conduct and bearing

Cadets address staff by position or rank equivalent, arrive early rather than on time, and maintain uniform and grooming standards throughout the duty day. Professional bearing is assessed continuously and is a weighted criterion at track select. Standards are in the Cadet Handbook and the Quartermaster SOP.

4.5 Early release

Formal release is 1800. A Flight Commander may release a cadet or a whole flight early when the day's training objectives are complete, the flight room has no remaining work, and no cadet is awaiting an aircraft. Early release is a discretionary recognition of a flight that is ahead, not an entitlement, and it is never granted to a cadet with an open Corrective Action Plan.

5Instructor standardization

5.1 Why standardization matters

A cadet flying with three IPs in one week must be taught one method, graded on one scale, and corrected against one standard. Where IPs differ, the cadet learns that the standard is negotiable — which is the single most damaging thing a training organization can teach.

5.2 Initial qualification

Before instructing for the academy, an IP completes indoctrination covering the General Operations Manual, the Flight Standards Manual, this manual, the Safety Management System, the syllabi, and the grading scale, followed by a written examination and a standardization ride with the Chief Instructor or Assistant Chief Instructor. The standardization ride assesses the IP's own flying to the standard they will teach, their briefing and debriefing technique, and their grading calibration.

5.3 Grading calibration

At each standardization meeting the staff grades a common lesson — observed live or from a recorded debrief — and compares results. An IP whose grades sit consistently above or below the group is recalibrated by the Chief Instructor. Two IPs observing the same performance must arrive at the same grade; that is the test of the scale in Section 7.

5.4 Instructor of record

Every cadet has an assigned primary IP who is the instructor of record and owns that cadet's progression, grade sheets, endorsements, and record entries under 14 CFR §61.189. When another IP flies with the cadet, the grade sheet still routes to the instructor of record, who reviews it and briefs the next lesson accordingly.

5.5 Endorsements

Only the instructor of record, the Chief Instructor, or the Assistant Chief Instructor may issue an endorsement affecting cadet privileges — solo, solo cross-country, knowledge test, or practical test. Endorsements are issued against the specific regulatory paragraph and are recorded in the cadet's training folder as well as the logbook.

5.6 Changing a cadet's instructor

A cadet or an IP may request a change of instructor without stating a reason beyond a training-effectiveness concern. The Chief Instructor decides. A change is a normal training tool — some pairings simply do not work — and it is never recorded as a deficiency against either party.

6Syllabus administration

6.1 Proficiency, not hours

6.2 Lesson sequencing

Lessons are flown in the published sequence because each builds on the last. An IP may reorder lessons within a stage when weather, aircraft, or airspace makes the scheduled profile impractical, provided no prerequisite is skipped and the change is recorded on the grade sheet. Skipping a prerequisite requires Chief Instructor approval.

6.3 Repeat lessons

A repeat is a normal event, not a failure. A lesson graded Unsatisfactory overall is repeated in full. A lesson satisfactory overall but with an Unsatisfactory maneuver is not repeated in full; the deficient maneuver is retrained and re-evaluated on the next flight, and the grade sheet carries it forward so it cannot be lost.

A repeated lesson slips the cadet's position in the sequence rather than compressing later content. The Operations Support Squadron absorbs the slip using the remediation capacity described below.

6.4 Weather, aircraft, and absorbed time

Weather cancellations and aircraft unavailability are planned for, not treated as lost days. When a sortie cancels, the cadet's day converts to flight-room work: chair-flying the cancelled profile, simulator time if available, academic block work, or written test preparation. The duty day does not shorten because the aircraft did not fly.

Each phase carries slack — a remediation allowance built into the phase length — so that ordinary weather and repeat rates do not extend the program. A cadet consuming remediation capacity faster than the phase allows is flagged to the Flight Commander before the deficit becomes unrecoverable.

6.5 Incomplete lessons

A lesson terminated early — weather, a squawk, an air-traffic constraint, or cadet incapacitation — is graded on what was actually accomplished and marked incomplete. Elements not attempted are graded Not Observed, never Unsatisfactory. The lesson resumes at the first unaccomplished element.

6.6 Solo authorization

A cadet flies solo only with a current endorsement from the instructor of record, after the presolo knowledge test and presolo flight training required by 14 CFR §61.87, and within the limits of Section 14.4 of this manual. Each solo flight requires the instructor of record or the Flight Commander to confirm that day's weather, aircraft status, and cadet condition before release.

7Grading system

7.1 The scale

Every maneuver and every lesson is graded on one four-point scale plus a non-grade. The scale is defined by how much instructor intervention was required and whether Airman Certification Standards tolerances were met — not by the IP's impression of effort.

7.2 Consequences of a grade

• Any Unsatisfactory maneuver must be retrained and re-evaluated before the cadet is endorsed for the stage check that covers it.
• An Unsatisfactory lesson overall requires the lesson to be repeated in full.
• Two consecutive Unsatisfactory lessons trigger a Corrective Action Plan under Section 9.
• Any grade of Fair on a maneuver at the last lesson before a stage check withholds the stage-check endorsement until the maneuver is re-flown to Good or better.

7.3 The grade sheet

Every flight, simulator session, and graded ground lesson produces a grade sheet completed before the IP leaves for the day. It records the lesson code, date, aircraft and hours, each element with its grade, deficiencies carried forward, the overall grade, the debrief points, and the assignment for the next lesson. An unsigned or missing grade sheet is a records discrepancy reported to the Chief Instructor.

7.4 Debriefing

Every flight is debriefed, without exception, on the day it is flown. The debrief follows a fixed shape: what the objective was, what happened, why it happened, what the cadet will do differently, and what the cadet will chair-fly before the next lesson. The debrief is where the learning occurs; the flight only generates the material.

7.5 Roll-up to the stage record

Grades roll up into a stage record showing every lesson, every carried deficiency, and the trend. The Flight Commander reviews the stage record before endorsing a cadet for a stage check. A stage record showing a persistent Fair in one area — even with satisfactory lessons overall — is grounds to withhold the endorsement and retrain first.

8Stage checks & end-of-course tests

8.1 Purpose and independence

A stage check is an independent verification that a cadet meets the standard, conducted by a check instructor qualified under 14 CFR §141.37 who did not provide the primary instruction for that stage. Independence is the entire point: it tests the training, not just the cadet, and it is the mechanism by which the academy detects an IP who is grading generously.

8.2 Structure

Each stage check has an oral component and a flight component. The oral covers the knowledge areas of the stage to the applicable Airman Certification Standards depth. The flight covers the stage's maneuvers to ACS tolerances. Both must be satisfactory.

Exact weeks follow the 52-week program gates, and the graduation requirements for certification purposes are those in the approved Training Course Outline.

8.3 Endorsement for a stage check

A cadet is endorsed for a stage check by the instructor of record with Flight Commander concurrence, only when every element of the stage has been flown to Good or better and no deficiency is carried forward.

8.4 Unsatisfactory stage check

An unsatisfactory stage check is a training signal, not a disciplinary event. The following happens, in order and documented:

1. The check instructor records the specific unsatisfactory areas on the stage-check grade sheet with the observed performance against the ACS tolerance.
2. The Flight Commander and instructor of record review the record the same day to determine whether the cause is cadet performance, a training gap, or a grading calibration problem.
3. Additional training is assigned against the specific deficient areas, not the whole stage.
4. The cadet is re-checked by a check instructor — normally the same one — once the instructor of record certifies the deficiency corrected.
5. A second unsatisfactory check on the same stage opens a Corrective Action Plan under Section 9 and is reported to the Chief Instructor.
6. A third unsatisfactory check on the same stage convenes a progress review board under Section 10.

8.5 End-of-course tests and graduation

Each course concludes with an end-of-course test administered by a check instructor. Satisfactory completion of the end-of-course test, all required lessons, and all required hours is the basis for the school's graduation certification under 14 CFR §141.95. The Registrar issues the graduation certificate and retains the supporting records under §141.101.

9Remediation & the Corrective Action Plan

9.1 Purpose

A Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is a written, time-bound plan to close a specific, identified deficiency. It exists so that remediation is deliberate and documented rather than a vague instruction to try harder, and so that the academy can demonstrate it gave the cadet a real opportunity to recover.

9.2 Triggers

9.3 Required contents

A CAP is invalid unless every element below is present and specific. “Improve landings” is not a deficiency statement; “fails to arrest descent in the flare, touching down flat and long, in more than half of observed landings” is.

1. The specific deficiency, stated observably and measurably.
2. The measurable objective that will constitute closure, tied to an ACS tolerance where one exists.
3. The additional training assigned — specific lessons, ground sessions, simulator periods, or chair-fly requirements.
4. The IP responsible for delivering it.
5. The re-evaluation date and who will conduct the re-evaluation.
6. The cadet's acknowledgement, signed, confirming they understand the deficiency and the plan.

9.4 Progress review while a CAP is open

An open CAP is reviewed weekly by the Flight Commander with the instructor of record and the cadet. The review records whether the cadet is on track, and if not, whether the plan itself needs to change. A CAP that has been open more than four weeks without closure is escalated to the Chief Instructor.

9.5 Closure

A CAP is closed by the Chief Instructor, on the recommendation of the Flight Commander, when the measurable objective has been demonstrated on re-evaluation. The closed CAP and the evidence supporting closure remain in the cadet's training folder permanently. A closed CAP is not a mark against the cadet — a documented recovery is evidence of resilience, and it is treated as such at track select.

10Progress review board & elimination

10.1 Purpose

The progress review board is the academy's formal decision point on whether a cadet continues. It exists so that a decision of this consequence is made by a panel on documented evidence, with the cadet heard, rather than by one instructor's judgment.

10.2 Composition

10.3 When a board convenes

• A third unsatisfactory check on the same stage.
• Failure to close a CAP by its re-evaluation date, where the Chief Instructor judges further remediation unlikely to succeed.
• Two failed FAA practical tests for the same certificate or rating.
• A deliberate violation of regulation or company procedure, or falsification of a record or logbook.
• An act the Director of Safety classifies as willful disregard for safety.
• Conduct incompatible with continued training, including any conduct that endangers another person.

10.4 The cadet's rights

The cadet receives written notice of the board, the specific matters to be considered, and the evidence at least 48 hours in advance. The cadet has the right to appear, to present their own account and any supporting evidence, to be accompanied by another cadet or staff member as an observer, and to receive the board's decision and reasons in writing.

10.5 Possible outcomes

10.6 Appeal

A cadet may appeal a board decision in writing to the Wing Commander / Commandant within five business days. The Commandant reviews the record and the board's reasoning and may uphold the decision, substitute a lesser outcome, or return the matter to the board for reconsideration. The Commandant's decision is final.

10.7 Out-processing

On elimination or voluntary withdrawal, the Registrar closes the training record and issues a transcript of training completed to date, which preserves the cadet's credit for hours and lessons already flown. The Quartermaster completes gear turn-in and clearance under the Quartermaster SOP, and the Finance Officer settles the account. Records clearance and gear clearance must both be complete before final records are released. For foreign nationals, the Designated School Official completes the required SEVIS reporting — see foreign-student compliance.

11Track select

11.1 What track select is

Track select occurs at the end of Phase II, in week 32, once the Commercial end-of-course is complete. It assigns each cadet to the Phase III and FTU path that best matches demonstrated aptitude and the academy's requirements. It mirrors the USAF track select event and is treated with the same weight — it is the single most consequential assignment of the program.

11.2 Criteria and weighting

11.3 Available tracks

11.4 Process

1. Cadets submit a ranked track preference in week 30.
2. The Flight Commander and instructor of record submit written assessments and a recommended track for each cadet.
3. The Chief Instructor convenes the track select board — the same membership as the progress review board — in week 32.
4. The board scores each cadet against the weighted criteria and matches cadets to tracks, considering preference where merit permits.
5. Results are published to the class at once, at a single event, so that no cadet learns their assignment informally.

12Knowledge tests & academics

12.1 Academic delivery

Academics are delivered in the 0800 and 0945 blocks by ground instructors and IPs, supported by computer-based training in the lab. Phase I is predominantly academic; from Phase II the blocks shift toward mission planning, chair-flying, and oral preparation as flight-line time increases.

12.2 Pass standard

A cadet who passes an examination is still required to review every missed item with a ground instructor before the next block. Passing is not the objective; knowing the material is.

12.3 Retest policy

A failed examination is retested once after documented review, normally within three duty days. A second failure of the same examination opens a Corrective Action Plan under Section 9. Retest scores are recorded alongside the original; the original is never erased.

12.4 FAA knowledge tests

The academy's internal standard is that a cadet does not sit an FAA knowledge test until they are scoring 85% or better on practice examinations, so that the FAA test confirms readiness rather than discovering it.

12.5 Presolo knowledge test

Before solo flight the cadet passes the presolo knowledge test required by 14 CFR §61.87, covering the applicable regulations, the airport and airspace in use, and the flight characteristics and operating limitations of the aircraft. The instructor of record administers it, reviews every incorrect answer with the cadet, and retains the completed test in the training folder.

13Records & documentation

13.1 Responsibility

The Registrar maintains cadet training records in accordance with 14 CFR §141.101. The Chief Instructor is responsible for the accuracy of the training content of those records. Instructors are responsible for their own entries under §61.189.

13.2 Training folder contents

13.3 Cadet logbook

Cadets log flights the same day they are flown, in accordance with 14 CFR §61.51. The instructor of record verifies logbook entries against the grade sheet at least weekly. A logbook that does not reconcile with the training record is a records discrepancy and is corrected immediately, with the correction documented rather than erased.

13.4 Access and privacy

A cadet may inspect their own training record on request to the Registrar and receive a copy of any grade sheet, CAP, or board record concerning them. Records are otherwise disclosed only to the cadet, staff with a training need, the Administrator, and — where the cadet has authorized it in writing — a prospective employer.

14Safety in training

14.1 Relationship to the Safety Management System

Training and safety are one system. Every grade sheet, stage-check result, and repeat lesson is safety data, and trends in that data are reviewed by the Director of Safety under the Safety Management System. A rising repeat rate on a particular maneuver is a hazard indicator, not merely a training statistic.

14.2 Non-punitive reporting

A cadet or IP who reports a hazard, an error, or their own mistake is not disciplined for the report. The protection does not extend to willful misconduct, falsification, substance abuse, or deliberate violation of regulation. Reporting channels and protections are defined in the Safety Management System manual.

14.3 Go / no-go authority

Before every flight the crew completes the flight risk assessment required by the Safety Management System. Cadets maintain a personal minimums sheet — see the personal minimums tool — and may not operate outside it without the instructor of record's specific approval for that flight.

14.4 Solo weather limits

Solo cadets operate to the most restrictive limits in the academy. These are minimums, not targets, and the instructor of record may impose tighter limits for an individual cadet.

Each solo release additionally requires a same-day confirmation by the instructor of record or Flight Commander of actual and forecast weather, aircraft status including any open deferral, and the cadet's fitness for duty.

14.5 Training incidents

Any training event involving an unintended deviation with safety significance — a runway incursion, a loss of separation, an unstabilized approach continued to landing, a hard landing, an airspace violation, or an inadvertent entry into instrument conditions — is reported through the Safety Management System the same day, in addition to any maintenance write-up. The report drives a review of whether the syllabus, the standard, or the instruction needs to change.