Getting started
How Many Flight Hours Does a Private Pilot Certificate Require?
✓ Reviewed against current FAA sources on October 22, 2026
In this guide
In short
For an airplane single-engine rating, Section 61.109 (opens in a new tab)(a) requires at least 40 hours of flight time, including 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training. Within those are specific requirements including 3 hours of night training with a cross-country of over 100 nautical miles and 10 takeoffs and landings, and a solo cross-country of 150 nautical miles.
Forty hours is the number everyone quotes and almost nobody achieves. Both facts are worth understanding before you start, because the regulation sets a floor and the national average sits well above it.
What Section 61.109 (opens in a new tab)(a) requires
For a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine rating, the applicant must log at least 40 hours of flight time, which must include:
- 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor; and
- 10 hours of solo flight training.
Those hours must cover the areas of operation listed in Section 61.107 (opens in a new tab)(b)(1).
What must be inside the 20 dual hours
- 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a single-engine airplane.
- 3 hours of night flight training, which must include one cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance, and 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop, each involving a flight in the traffic pattern.
- 3 hours of instrument training on control and maneuvering solely by reference to instruments.
- 3 hours in preparation for the practical test, completed within the 2 calendar months preceding the month of the test.
What must be inside the 10 solo hours
- 5 hours of solo cross-country time.
- One solo cross-country of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment of more than 50 nautical miles straight-line distance between takeoff and landing.
- Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop at an airport with an operating control tower, each involving a flight in the traffic pattern.
Why almost nobody finishes in 40
The regulation states a minimum, not an expectation. Proficiency, not hours, is what the practical test measures, and weather, aircraft availability and gaps between lessons all add time. Planning for the minimum is the surest way to be disappointed by it.
The two exceptions worth knowing
Section 61.109 (opens in a new tab)(k) permits limited credit for training in a flight simulation training device: up to 2.5 hours with an authorized instructor, or up to 5 hours in a course conducted at a Part 142 training center. An applicant completing an approved private pilot course at a Part 142 training center may qualify with 35 total hours rather than 40.
The night requirement is also subject to Section 61.110 (opens in a new tab), which provides a limited exception for applicants training in Alaska.
Hours are only one of four requirements
Flight time is one part. You also need the aeronautical knowledge of Section 61.105 (opens in a new tab), a passing knowledge test, the medical eligibility discussed in the medical certificate and BasicMed, and the practical test. The hours are simply the part with the most quotable number.
Sources: 14 CFR 61.105 (opens in a new tab), 61.107 (opens in a new tab), 61.109 (opens in a new tab), 61.110 (opens in a new tab).