Bad News from Plumbus Bobbus - I'm outta here

It is neither normal nor acceptable for a CFI to be 1 or 2 hours late. He
may be trying to dump you as a student.

You show exceptional perseverence for someone thinking about quitting.
Hanging around for an extra hour or two for your CFI, continuing to fly in
ratty aircraft, continuing your lessons even though progress has slowed,
etc. Eighteen hours to solo is not unusual, but I would expect you to be
closer now. I would also expect you to have your medical certificate by now.
This shows a either a definite lack of guidance from your instructor, or a
failure on your part to follow that guidance. There is more to being an
instructor than being patient and knowledgeable. The instructor has to be
able to teach, too, and I don't see much teaching going on here.

Learning to fly in winter is a pain. Many of my students also complain about
the frequent cancellations for fog and icing, but there is little we can do
about it short of moving to San Diego. (I might just do that myself.) Still,
look at it this way. When spring rolls around and the weather clears up you
will be all ready to finish off those last cross country flights and enjoy
your certificat all summer.

GA is financially distressed, but that does not mean that we cannot afford
to maintain aircraft. Having your engine fail to start does not indicate to
me that you have a maintenance problem. That is largely a winter thing, a
function of low batteries and improper preflight. It can get cold enough
that the starter will not engage even though there is enough battery power
to turn the starter. A maintenance problem would be if the airplane sits
broken for weeks on end, or if the airplane has something major wrong with
it that never seems to get fixed.

My advice would be to make the sacrifice in time and effort to learn to fly
somewhere else. At least take a vacation and get some instruction someplace
else that has new airplanes and professional staff. Have them evaluate where
you are and find out whether it is worth trying to finish up there.

I have been getting letters from several places that have no flight
instructors asking me if I would be interested in relocating there. I am
happy at PAVCO, but I am beginning to get a real sense that there is a
genuine shortage of qualified and experienced instructors.