1. I have a competent, patient, and otherwise very good CFI. However,
he can never be on time, and as a busy professional, and despite many
discussions, I cannot live with this. Not 10 or 20 min late, but 1 to
2 hours late, and frequent.

You should not put up with this. You need to speak with his boss, if he has
one, and explain why you are about to remove your substantial financial
support from his small business. Done in the proper tone, this can have an
AMAZING effect.

If he doesn't have a boss, you need to explain this to HIM.

2. GA seems economically distressed.

GA IS economically distressed, for precisely the reasons you outline. We
currently have a very professionally-run FBO on our field, and they are
doing fine, despite intense competition. However, poor service and
slip-shod operations are unfortunately quite common in GA.

Stick around and help us change that.

3. Living in the Great Lakes area, just how practical is all of this,
with 5 to 6 months of crappy weather being typical. It is perpetual
IFR, lots of icing, and when the plane will start, crosswind 2x or
more the POH limitations, and headwinds that leave driving a car
faster.

Not a problem. I trained and lived in Wisconsin, and currently reside in
Iowa -- not a whole lot warmer than your neck of the woods. Despite this,
Mary and I fly every few days, year 'round. You just have to pick your days
carefully, and don't think of GA travel like an airline. Be prepared to
scrub your flights, because it WILL happen -- even in summer. Remember,
what we are flying is as different from an airliner as Miata is from a
HumVee -- you're not always going to be able to get there from here.

If you've done any motorcycle touring, weather planning is really quite
similar. In fact, we take frequent GA flying vacations, and we ALWAYS plan
at least two entirely different trips, so that if the weather sucks in one
direction, we are prepared to go the other way. By following this plan, we
have NEVER scrubbed a vacation, in ten years of VFR flying. We just choose
to go another direction!

I learned many things, made better progress than I had envisioned, and
really enjoyed the few timely, good days that were available, and
really enjoyed the reading and learning. I had wanted to get my
private pilot certif. For business and pleasure purposes. The best of
luck to those of you who have better circumstances, I am really sorry
to have to give it up.

Personally, I had to wait until I was 35 years old to be able to get my
ticket. And then I had to drive 45 minutes before work in the morning to
take lesson, in the winter, in Wisconsin, and would often find that the
weather was below minimums when I got there, or the airplane was down. And
if the airplane WASN'T down, it still had to be cleared of snow, de-iced,
and pre-heated for half an hour before we could fly.

Learning to fly isn't easy. Between lessons were long nights of study, with
two toddlers underfoot, and a tired wife to help support. Compared to
getting my college degree, learning to fly was MUCH harder for me, simply
because of the many other things going on in my life.

But it was the best thing I ever did, and it has truly changed my life. I
simply can't imagine life without flying, and we're now on our second
airplane. Mary got her ticket in '99, and we literally fly EVERYWHERE with
our kids, ages 10 and 13.

Here's the harsh truth: If you give it up now because of a tardy CFI, you
aren't cut out to be a pilot. Flying is either in your blood, or it's not.
If it is -- and you're given half a chance to get your Private -- you'll
stick with it, no matter what.

Less than 1% of the world gets to be a pilot. With 18 hours invested, you're
half-way there. Keep at it -- you won't regret it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"