xyzzy wrote:
I'm one of those guys. A software engineer, was in my
late 30's when I did my PPL, and it took me 80 hours
over 2 years to earn my PPL.

Two years may be a long time, but three years ago, our school (a Cessna
Pilot Center) quoted prices based on *approximately* 60-80 hours of
flight time for PPL. It was suggested and highly encouraged that
students fly at least once/week, preferably twice, to build and maintain
momentum and not spend a lot of extra time/money on review. But in the
end, you're absolutely right that everyone is different.