In article ,

Howdy, first let me say you might want to look at rec.aviation/student
for more info on these questions or do a deja/goolge search for that
newsgroup as a lot of this ahas been covered before. I'm going to assume
you are in the USA too

How much are lessons typically and the license fees?

It really varies from place to place. Check http://www.airnav.com and
http://aviationtoolbox.org/old/nearby_airports for airports in your area.
Airnav use to have a complete list of local FBOs (fixed based operators)
and flight schools, but now is more hit and miss. Once you find the
airports in your area visit and ask about costs.
Most of the training flight is made of Cessna 152s (2 seat) and Cessna
172s (4 seat) airplanes. Cost vary but figure about $50-70/hr for a C152
and $70-100/hr for a C172. Insturction runs about $20-30/hr.
The minimal training requirments can be found online at
http://www.studentpilot.com or in the databases at http://www.landings.com
Basicaly it's 40hrs of training including at least:
20hrs dual (with a instructor)
10hrs solo
Cross country trips (trips 50nm)
Pass a written exam (it's a joke)
A practical flight test w/ an examiner
40hrs is the min, but the national average is closer to 50hrs. Often
clubs will have packages where it's cheaper to buy bulk time in advance.
But I would factor in ~$4500 for everything. I trained as cheaply as
possible and spent $3700 over 4mos.

Once your done with the certification, how do you access a plane? Do
you rent, lease, buy?

Most rent. If you fly less than 1000hrs a year renting is cheaper, if
you fly 100-200hrs a year renting/owning is about even, 200hrs a year
and owning is normally a better option. But that's a general rule of
thumb, owning gives you a fredom that you can't have with renting and as I
said the training/rental fleet is mostly C152/C172 so if you want to
flying something 'nicer' you have to either buy or join a
club/partnership.

What's the price range for all of these things.

See above

Would it ever be feasable to fly yourself somewhere else for a vacation
for a week, or would it be too expensive?

It really depends. Normally you are only billed from engine start to
engine stop. So If I take a 1.5hr trip east, stay there for 4days, then
fly 1.5hrs back west, I'm only billed for 3hrs.
But a lot of places see that as lost revuence and charge a 2hr minimum
on days you keep the plane overnight. Where I rent they DO NOT charge
this (club).
As a general rule of thumb any trip you can make without having to
refuel is cheaper to fly yourself, if you ave to land fly on the airlines.
But it also depnds on how 'cheap' you are. I book 6-8wks in advance using
internet specials, that's a LOT cheaper than just showing up at the
airport to buy a ticket the day off.
Plus how much to to much? I live in Seattle and often fly to portland.
That's ~$150 by air, or ~$20 by car, or $80-140 on the majors. BUT I can
leave when I want, there's no traffic (I5 sucks), don't have to check in
45-60min early at the airport, etc. etc. Plus it's just more fun to fly
myself.
And in the end that's what it's all about, it's just fun to fly! Money
wise it almost never works out.
I've also flown family from Maryland to Mass to visit Nana (aka
grandma). That's a $300 trip, but spilt 4 ways it's not tha tbad and
again we get to skip all the hassle of going ot the airport, and we can
land at a small GA field that's 10min from her house. If you fly the
majors we have to rent a car and drive 30min.

How noisy are planes? Will I need earplugs?

Loud, you will need a heaset. Get one with ANR (active noise
reduction) you can find more info/reviews at http://www.avweb.com

Sorry for so many questions. I'm just excited! If these questions are
highlighted in a FAQ, please point the way.

again, try to track down the rec.aviation.student faq or do a few
searchs on the group

Oh, and I wear glasses, monofocal about -2.5 diopter plus astigmatism
correction of about 2.5 as well. Will this be a problem?

You need to pass a class 3 medical (check landings.com database to find
an aviation medical examiner in your area). To pass a class 3 you need: 2
arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, to speak english, and able to hear out of one ear
If you corrected vision is at least 20/40 you'll be fine. The FAA
cares more about history of : kidney/gall stones, heart attackes, etc.
However, you can still get a class 3 with these conditions it just takes
more work. They are letting type I diabetics fly so you should be ok.