snip

And there's nothing wrong with that -- but then don't come back here
and scare the bejeesus out of lurkers by trumpeting that it now costs
5-figures to get your Private. Cuz it doesn't.


I was not trying to scare anyone. I put down what I spent. I have been
lurking in this group and reading/posting to the student group for a while,
this topic comes up from time to time. It seemed to be information people
wanted to know. I tried to qualify the amount by clearly stating that I
included EVERYTHING. There are two previous posts that attempt to define
what I meant by everything. I am also not bitching about what I spent, it
cost what it cost.

I know my timeframe to finish was longer than average, and I know why also.
I put the reasons for a lot of the delays in the second post. I will
restate some of them in case you missed them:
1. I was sent out of town for 2 -3 weeks at a time during the first year.
2. I got airsick during a lot of the early lessons, clarification - I PUKED,
these lessons were not very informative.
3. My instructor was out of town for some extended periods during training.

I was not "fleeced" as you say. My flight school is very reasonably priced,
my instructor was an honest man, who as far as I can tell really did not
need the $22 an hour or whatever portion of that he gets from the school.

I do not think that coming in here and speaking honestly about my experience
is a disservice to GA, as you put it. Pie in the sky estimates of a PPL for
3500 bucks and flying 3 times a week, while holding down a full time job and
raising kids is more of a disservice.

Look at your number, seriously. The numbers thrown around in here for plane
rental have ranged from 65 an hour wet for a c152 (that was me) up to 130
for a c172. Instructors have ranged from 22 to 40 an hour. Lets just do
some simple math.

20 hours dual at 110 an hour (80 for the plane and 30 for the instructor) =
2200
20 hours solo at 80 and hour. = 1600

OK, we are at 3800, 300 more than your pie in the sky estimate. We still
have to get a medical, I think mine was 100. Books, charts, a headset,
plotter, e6b, A/FD, flight bag etc. We are also assuming that you have no
ground time with the instructor, you just get in the plane and fly. I don't
know about you guys, but I had ground sessions with my instructor on
weather, FAR/AIM topics, night flying, aerodynamic principles etc. He
donated a lot of that time, but some of it is required and I had to pay for
it. The written test was 50 or 75, written study materials were 100 to 150.
Anyway, the point is you are over 3500 by a lot.

3 days of flying a week may be doable in the west, but here in N. Alabama,
especially in the summertime, you get these huge black clouds a lot in the
afternoons, you know the time after most people get off of work. I have
been taught that little airplanes do not like huge black clouds and it is a
good idea not to fly around them. So I would schedule three days a week,
and usually get to fly one of them. Not always the weather, sometimes I
could not get a plane, and sometimes I could not get the instructor.

Anyway, I was not trying to scare anyone away. I was certainly not bitching
about the cost. I put the information out there and was as honest as I
could be about what I spent. Some of that cost was not specifically for my
training, I will keep using my headset, plotter and e6b. Also, I will say
one more time, I included EVERYTHING that I could think of.

Remember it is not a contest, I was not trying to get the cheapest license
in the least amount of time of anyone else in the group, I just wanted to
learn how to fly and it was harder for me than for others.

John
PP-ASEL