I wouldn't worry at all about how the timing might affect his enthusiasm.
It's more important that he be able to follow what he wants to do. If
training now turns into a bust because he gets distracted by other things
before he can take the checkride, so be it.

Philosophically, I agree. However, finances must also come into play here.
Joe knows that we will help him with flight training expenses. He also
knows that he must kick in a fair share of the cost.

Mary and I are firm believers in training as fast and as hard as you can, in
order to minimize the time spent. We both treated flight training like
just another semester of college, flying Mon/Wed/Fri, and studying Tue/Thu.
By doing so, we kept the cost of flight training to a minimum, and finished
up in about four months.

If he can't do that (due to his age), he will end up spending a great deal
more money (both his and ours) to get his ticket. With college looming on
the horizon (and a daughter coming up not far behind), stretching out his
flight training is not a good option, financially.

But, as you may have read in another part of this thread, Joe has already
decided to wait another year before he starts his "real" training. In the
meantime, he will continue to learn all of our bad habits by flying
"unofficially"...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"