This is usually your first license you will get. The Private Pilot License will allow you to fly and carry passengers in airplanes you have been checked out in. In most cases the Private Pilot License is all most pilots receive. Minimum FAA requirements for this License are 40 hours of Flight Training and the required ground training, most students take longer than the minimum hours to meet the requirements for Private Pilot. The Private Pilot will be able to fly in good weather only, meaning mostly clear skies and good visibility. If you are interested in traveling on days when the weather is less than perfect, you will want to add the Instrument Rating to your Private Pilot License.

As a Private Pilot you are able to use your aircraft for travel for business or pleasure. You are able to travel in furtherance of your business. You may want to take friends and family to meal on the other side of town or across to the other side of a state for a meal at an airport café or a nice restaurant, the choice is your when you are a Private Pilot.

You will  be able to use most of the about 15,000 airports in the United States. You will be able to take off and land at privately owned and operated airfields if you own them or have permission to use the airfield. You will be able to use the thousands of airports worldwide if you are in compliance with their regulations and laws.

With the Private Pilot License you are able to fly a wide variety of aircraft with additional training from your instructor, some examples are:

Conventional: Most commonly referred to tail wheel or tail draggers.

Complex: Aircraft with landing gear that may be retracted or extended, have flaps, and a propeller that is adjustable.

High Performance: An aircraft that has more than 200 horsepower.

Sea Plane (Amphibian): An aircraft that is able to operate on water as well as land.

Multi Engine: An aircraft with more than one engine