"Gilan" wrote in message ...

I just started flying at a school that offers Private Pilot in 10 days. I
plan on taking a bit longer then 10 days but wondered how long the average
person takes to complete their PPL?

The other posters who mentioned mental fatigue (you know, what made
all them DH Comets crash in the '60s) and the value of down-time have
excellent points. I'm learning the slow way, and I believe the days
(sometimes weeks in our capricious NE weather) between each lesson are
vital, both for preparing for the next flight and allowing the brain
to focsu on other tasks.

It seems that a lot of 'learning' is done when you're not actively
concentrating on picking up a new skill; think of how easy it is to
remember the name of a song when you stop trying, or how effective
'sleeping on it' is when dealing with a problem. The brain does its
good work when you don't think it's doing anything.

I learned to drive with a week's intensive course. Idea was 9am Monday
was the first time you got behind the wheel and on 3pm Friday you'd
take your test. This is in the UK, I imagine the standards for a
driving test in the US are simliar. I ate, drank and slept driving for
5 days and passed. I'd spent the week learning at a frenetic pace but
the lessons of judgement never sank in until I'd discovered them all
over again on my own. Looking back it was only a couple of weeks later
that I was even remotely safe (or confident) behind the wheel.

You can't rush the accumulation of experience. 40 hours over 10 days
is not the same as 40 hours over a year. With an 'intensive' school
you don't give yourself enough time to analyse your mistakes before
moving on to making the next one. If I come close to busting airspace
now, or extend my crosswind so far I end up flying over the
incinerator smoke stacks and nearly flipping the plane, then I have a
week to let that sink in and I won't make that mistake again. If I was
up again the same afternoon I do not think the impact of my bad
decisions would have had a chance to sink in.

I think this really applies to primary training though. For additional
ratings where you're augmenting your skills, not learning an entirely
new skill (and flying is unlike anything we encounter in daily life),
then the intensive method may be more effective.

Jim's school sounds excellent. Immersion isn't the same as Intensive.

If you do go for it you should probably budget for followup lessons
with a CFI while you build confidence.

$0.02

Best & good luck,

Tim K.