Kyle Boatright wrote:
"Crash Lander" wrote in message
...
"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
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One thing which helps is to accelerate your training. 90 hours over 2.5
years is 3 hours a month. It is hard to make much progress at that rate,
because you tend to forget things in that week or 10 days between
lessons.

People make this comment all the time, and I'm sorry, but I don't
necessarily agree with it. I'm not going for my PPL, rather, I'm going for
my R.A. certificate, which is our (Australia) equivalent of the US Sport
class. Due to budget and family constraints, I cannot fly more than once a
week, and only on weekends. Some weekends the weather is bad all weekend,
so I don't get to fly. I've got 4.9 hours total now, which I know isn't
much, but I started back in September, and can say that I haven't
experienced any lessons that have required me to 're-learn' anything
before progressing. My instructor says I'm progressing very well, and she
estimates I'll be solo in about another 4-5 hours at the rate I'm going.
With only 4.9 hours under my belt, in 2 months, I've got 16 landings and
18 take offs in the bag!
Whilst I agree, some people may forget things in the gap between classes,
I haven't, and don't believe that 'most' people would. Maybe I'm just some
'natural flyer' but I seriously doubt it.
Oz/Crash Lander

What you most likely forget is touch or feel. Back when you were a new
driver, did you ever go a week or maybe a month when you didn't get behind
the wheel? That was my situation in college - I didn't have a car, so I
could sometimes go for weeks or months between opportunities to drive. When
I did get back behind the wheel, it was obvious to me that my skills had
regressed and it took a couple of trips before I got "back in the groove".

The same thing applies to flying. You forget the subtle points and lose the
fine motor skills when you're away from it. If you're a new aviator, it
takes less time to lose "the touch". If you have more experience, it takes
longer before your touch diminishes, but I assure you, it does...

When you have 5 hours you haven't yet had the opportunity to have
learned the subtle points, nor develop much "touch" to lose.

The less you know and the less experience you have the less skills seem
to be necessary and the easier everything seems to be... since you
haven't yet broken the surface of knowledge or skill.
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- gpsman