I agree 100% with Jay. Having recently (June) passed my checkride,
I can tell you first hand what Jay is saying.

I started out taking lessons in winter 2004 (mistake #1, since I live in the
Chicago area), pretty much on the weekends, with a young newly minted CFII. I
spent almost 6 mos, and about 38 hrs and no solo. Basically could not retain
from lesson to lesson what was taught. I reached a plateau with landings. I
decided after getting advice from the good folks here, discussing it in the news
groups, and with other pilot friends, that I needed to change CFIs.

First thing we did is increase lesson times to 2 sometimes 3/week. I took a
ground school, 1 night a week, to get through the written. I soloed 25 hrs
later (some politics with club policy was involved, as I was ready much sooner).
I then ran into weather issues for cross country/night, etc... training and
work issues, that forced me to finish up about 18 months after I originally
started, at about a 40% more cost than I planned for.

So my advice is don't start until you can put in the time that is required
to devote to it, as Jay recommends and you have the resources committed to pay
for it. Things will go much smoother for you.

As far as retaining proficiency, I have gone 2 wks once, due to weather and
plane availability and that was too long. Basics were good, but the finer
points were a little rusty. Nothing an hour or so of doing touch and goes with
a good crosswind didn't cure. I personally try to fly once a week now, or 10
days max. But I also find I cannot wait that long and develop the need for an
"attitude adjustment" due to other job/life stress. Yes, I fly to help
relieve stress.

But that is a different topic.

Kevin Kubiak - PP-ASEL

Jay Honeck wrote:
As much as it pains me to say this: Don't get your PPL right now.

If you can only fly once every 14 days, you will spend most of your time
re-learning what you have already been taught. It will be enormously more
expensive, and you will be more likely to get frustrated and quit.

The best way to get your PPL is to treat it like a semester of college.
Fly 3 times each week, Mon-Wed-Fri. Study bookwork on Tue-Thu. By doing
it this way, you will maximize retention of what you have learned, and your
progress will be smooth and quick. My wife, Mary, and I both did it this
way, and it took us each about 4 months, start to finish.

Was it tough, with kids, a house, and two jobs? You bet. But, in the long
run, we knew it was the best way to do it.

As far as proficiency goes, when you're a new pilot you will need to fly
more often to stay in that "comfort zone" -- probably an hour a week, or
more. As time goes on, and your flying skills becomes more ingrained, you
can probably drop down to every other week -- although personally I am not
comfortable flying that seldom.