Cost Savings for PPL

HI Jack,

Thanks for your respond. you went soloed after jsut spent 7 hours, wow
thats a record so far i know. I dont think the program at my flying
school is set up that way. But 7 hours is too low for me, I am not
confident to do it in only 7 hours. I gave my self max of 13 hours, but
30 hours is seems way to much. Perhaps a $3000 budget is to low in
california and i dont mind paying more as long as they dont take an
advantage. 2 hours slow flight introduction i think that a little to
much. You are right about Class E airspace, can be a disadvantage also.
Thank you for your input, its really helps and I will defiinitely sign
up with AOPA.

Thank you

Jack Cunniff wrote:
"oscarm" writes:

Hi Group,

I am currently attending a flying school Part 61. Since I've been
playing Flight Sim for about 15 years, on my first lesson I was able to
land the airplane right away. Thanks to Microsoft Flight Simulator.
I believed that I am a step or two step ahead compared to other student
that never realy see a cockpit or play a simulator before. Is there any
body can help me to set up a better program for me. I give my self a
target that in 45 hours I will get my PPL, It sounds funy but flight
simulator really helps me on practice and understanding how the system
works.
In this school I have to spent at least 30 hour dual flight until they
release me a solo, and learn about the radio communications and trafic
pattern on the very last section. Is this a good program or jsut trying
to get as much as hour from me. I heart a rumors that the Instructor
also wants you fly as much as possible so they will earn the hours
while I am paying it.
Please I need your Input. My Budget only $3,000. This is something that
I always wanted to do, but since I jsut have a baby I have to shrink
the budget.

Thank you for your help

Welcome to the newsgroup.

Like the other folks who have responded, I'm concerned about the
requirement of thirty hours dual before you solo. I soloed after seven
hours of dual, and like you, I thank my experience with many flight
simulator programs. Of course, flight simulators were a little different
twenty years ago, but the basics don't really change. Unless you're
having trouble learning and demonstrating the necessary skills for your
first solo, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to solo in less time
than you were quoted. If they -require- thirty hours, you should take your
logbook and your checkbook, and go somewhere else, without spending any
more money with these people.

Learning at an airport in a Class E airspace (which we call a UNICOM
field, because it doesn't have a tower) has the advantage of doing more
flying and less talking on the radio. Still, if you are going to be a
pilot in California, you'll find you need to do a lot of flying with air
traffic control, and towered fields, so don't be afraid to learn at an
airport with a control tower.

Lastly, that $3000 figure might be a problem. One thing about aviation,
everything costs a bit more than you think it will. As you continue
flying, you'll learn that you'll always be able to come up with more and
faster ways to spend your money. Unless you're willing to break your
budget on a somewhat regular basis, flying might not be for you.

You might want to check out AOPA's FAQs on this, at
http://flighttraining.aopa.org/stude.../presolo/faqs/
While you're there, maybe you will sign up for six free issues of Flight
Training magazine (click the "No Risk, enroll today") on that page.
An AOPA membership will let you read all the online content.
Note: I'm not affiliated with AOPA, but I AM a member.

Best of luck,

-Jack