Jay Honeck wrote:
A 152 isn't a plane you can learn in if you're a fatass.


Boy, THAT is for sure. I didn't fly in a 152 until last year (I trained in
Cherokee 140s), and my co-pilot was a 250 pound guy.

We got to know each other a *lot* better than I wanted... ;-)


You say it takes 55 hours to get your private. But I scheduled two
flights, every week, and it took me around 80.


Well, I scheduled three flights each week, and averaged twice, with weather
being the main problem. (I trained in Wisconsin, in winter, in '94-'95.
Not the brightest thing I've ever done...) I was an early flight simulator
aficionado, so controlling an airplane was second nature to me, which
(according to my instructor) made things go very quickly, initially. I
soloed in less than 7 hours.

Did you take 80 because of on-again/off-again training, or some other
factor? It seems like a lot, with a dedicated flight training schedule.
(It seems pretty quick, if you were doing the old "whenever I've got a few
extra bucks I'll take a lesson" method.)


So, I'm curious ... assuming it still would have still taken me 80
hours if I trained in Iowa City, what would that have cost me in a 172 in
your neck of the woods? It doesn't have to be a new one; a clapped
out one is fine.


Hmm. I don't know what 172s are renting for, but I'm assuming somewhere
around $90 per hour? (For the not-so-new-ones.) More for the glass
cockpits.

How many hours did you fly with an instructor, and how many without? That
makes a HUGE difference in cost.
I was just looking over my log book and it looks like I had about 80
hours or so when I took my check ride. The raw numbers don't tell the
story in my case and I bet they may not in others. The day of my
planned solo I was told by my flight school that my instructor was no
longer working there and I had to start with a new one. I was among her
first students and she wanted me to do things her way and it added
another 13 hours to my totals before I soloed. After I had soloed and
got signed off to go to the practice area and several area airports I
could fly whenever I wanted to and there were times I did just that. I
was not specifically working on any set of skills, I was just flying
around. I do think I could have cut some of those hours out but I
enjoyed them very much and that's why I was learning to fly anyway.
When it came time to take my checkride I needed to fly to a airport
about 45 min away and on my first attempt the winds had picked up during
the day and it became turbulent enough that I did not want to try to
maintain PTS standards in heading and altitude for the test. My DE
thought that my decision was a good one and so we just did the oral that
day. The flight home was bumpy but uneventful. The next 2 scheduled
checkrides were canceled due to bad weather and I did some training
flights in between to keep my skills sharp and it turned out to be a
month before the weather gods and her schedule aligned for me to take my
checkride. I guess the point of this story is that the numbers are a
guideline but you must very very careful when you draw conclusions from
them.

John

PS. After my checkride I added up the costs for getting my private and
it was about 6000 in 1998. I've never added up costs again. I just
don't want to know