Private Pilot's License

Jay Honeck wrote:
If you can only fly once every 14 days, you will spend most of your time
re-learning what you have already been taught. It will be enormously more
expensive, and you will be more likely to get frustrated and quit.

The best way to get your PPL is to treat it like a semester of college.
Fly 3 times each week, Mon-Wed-Fri. Study bookwork on Tue-Thu. By doing
it this way, you will maximize retention of what you have learned, and your
progress will be smooth and quick. My wife, Mary, and I both did it this
way, and it took us each about 4 months, start to finish.



Excellent advice, Jay. I did it that way too and I'm convinced it cost me MUCH
less in the long run.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

I agree 100% with Jay. Having recently (June) passed my checkride,
I can tell you first hand what Jay is saying.

I started out taking lessons in winter 2004 (mistake #1, since I live in the
Chicago area), pretty much on the weekends, with a young newly minted CFII. I
spent almost 6 mos, and about 38 hrs and no solo. Basically could not retain
from lesson to lesson what was taught. I reached a plateau with landings. I
decided after getting advice from the good folks here, discussing it in the news
groups, and with other pilot friends, that I needed to change CFIs.

First thing we did is increase lesson times to 2 sometimes 3/week. I took a
ground school, 1 night a week, to get through the written. I soloed 25 hrs
later (some politics with club policy was involved, as I was ready much sooner).
I then ran into weather issues for cross country/night, etc... training and
work issues, that forced me to finish up about 18 months after I originally
started, at about a 40% more cost than I planned for.

So my advice is don't start until you can put in the time that is required
to devote to it, as Jay recommends and you have the resources committed to pay
for it. Things will go much smoother for you.

As far as retaining proficiency, I have gone 2 wks once, due to weather and
plane availability and that was too long. Basics were good, but the finer
points were a little rusty. Nothing an hour or so of doing touch and goes with
a good crosswind didn't cure. I personally try to fly once a week now, or 10
days max. But I also find I cannot wait that long and develop the need for an
"attitude adjustment" due to other job/life stress. Yes, I fly to help
relieve stress.

But that is a different topic.

Kevin Kubiak - PP-ASEL

Jay Honeck wrote:
As much as it pains me to say this: Don't get your PPL right now.

If you can only fly once every 14 days, you will spend most of your time
re-learning what you have already been taught. It will be enormously more
expensive, and you will be more likely to get frustrated and quit.

The best way to get your PPL is to treat it like a semester of college.
Fly 3 times each week, Mon-Wed-Fri. Study bookwork on Tue-Thu. By doing
it this way, you will maximize retention of what you have learned, and your
progress will be smooth and quick. My wife, Mary, and I both did it this
way, and it took us each about 4 months, start to finish.

Was it tough, with kids, a house, and two jobs? You bet. But, in the long
run, we knew it was the best way to do it.

As far as proficiency goes, when you're a new pilot you will need to fly
more often to stay in that "comfort zone" -- probably an hour a week, or
more. As time goes on, and your flying skills becomes more ingrained, you
can probably drop down to every other week -- although personally I am not
comfortable flying that seldom.

Kevin Kubiak wrote:
I agree 100% with Jay. Having recently (June) passed my checkride,
I can tell you first hand what Jay is saying.

I started out taking lessons in winter 2004 (mistake #1, since I live in the


63 hours to solo? How long did it take you to get your license? (BTW,
congrats)




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
Kevin Kubiak wrote:

I agree 100% with Jay. Having recently (June) passed my checkride,
I can tell you first hand what Jay is saying.

I started out taking lessons in winter 2004 (mistake #1, since I live in the



63 hours to solo? How long did it take you to get your license? (BTW,
congrats)




Grand total: 105 hrs. That includes scheduling 6 different times
for checkride over a 7 week interval. Fired first DE, after being blown off
because she just got back from vacation previous day and wanted to take a break,
then could not reschedule cause she was going out of town again. So we went
with a different DE. Also includes, off 10 days for planned vacation trip with
wife prior to sign-off for checkride, plus CFI
wanting to fly with me 1 time per week during the 7 week interval.

63 hours to solo? How long did it take you to get your license? (BTW,
congrats)

Grand total: 105 hrs.

Congratulations, Kevin. You truly deserve the Persistence Award, as most
mere mortals would have probably quit in frustration.

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

You kind of have a dillema. I think to make reasonable progress you're
going to need to fly 3+ times per week on a continuing basis without
missing much. Doing so will get you through in a minimum of time. You'll
also need to prepare ahead of time for each lesson and have some
goals for each one. Flying every other week will have you spending
a good share of lesson time backtracking to get back to where you
were after the previous lesson, and will take a lot longer to get up to
speed.

Taking vacation and flying a whole lot in a week (like 20+) will likely end
up
in overload, especially when you're first learning to fly.


"Vern Torino" wrote in message
...
Haven't begun any training yet. Still considering time and cost factors.
One problem is my job will only avail me to fly every other week, so I
figure it'll take me at least the better part of a year to get licensed.
My question is, after licensing what would be a likely minimum flight time
and frequency to maintain proficiency? Appreciate any helpful comments.

Taking vacation and flying a whole lot in a week (like 20+) will likely
end up
in overload, especially when you're first learning to fly.

Agree 100%.

As a new student, an hour of flying was like running 5 miles. Everything
was so new and intense, I was wiped after a lesson. I remember telling my
instructor, after one particularly intense 90 minute lesson, that I didn't
think any more new learning was taking place in my wee little brain. Mary
had the same experience with her instructor.

IMHO, 20 hours in a week would lead to sensory overload, and would do more
for your flight school's bottom line than anything else.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Vern didn't actually say that he can only fly ONCE every two weeks.

If that is the case, it will indeed be a challenge to complete the
license in a reasonable amount of time.

If he can get in a few flights during a flying week, then he has to
skip a week due to travel or work schedules, it won't be quite as bad.

Something I've found useful as a low-hours student pilot who gets to
fly about once a week (weather limitations, mostly) is to write down
detailed notes about the intangible stuff I learn on each flight. Not
just facts learned, not just things related to ground school or the
upcoming knowledge test, but my perceptions and recollections of the
flight. What does the sight picture over the nose look like during a
proper climb-out? Where was the seat adjusted, since this affects the
sight picture? How was the sensation felt in an uncoordinated turn
different than what I felt in a coordinated turn? How much control
input did I feel I was using for a give maneuver? What feedback was I
getting from the instructor at various points in the flight? It all
gets written down, and I review it before the next flight. I find it
makes the preceeding flight(s) fresher in my mind, and it helps
minimize the effects of going a week or so without flight time.

Yes Gary, I was vague about my fly-week. During that week there's some
chance I might be able to get in two one-hour week day flights (depending
on weather, day light, and the remote possible chance of getting off from
work a little early by starting work early or skipping lunch), and one
two-hour weekend flight. That would give me about eight flight hours per
month. If I can't get off from work early, then I might have to jump
through more hoops by flying early in the morning before work, i.e. 6-7a.m.
With a couple of staggered weeks of vacation, I could get in three two-hour
flights each week (or go broke, which I think would come first). Except for
the vacation days, I would still have basically eight hours of flight per
month. Far from best, much better than once per week (I hope), but maybe
still not good enough.
All of you have given very noteworthy and insightful help. I welcome any and
all. Thanks.

"Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
Vern didn't actually say that he can only fly ONCE every two weeks.

If that is the case, it will indeed be a challenge to complete the
license in a reasonable amount of time.

If he can get in a few flights during a flying week, then he has to
skip a week due to travel or work schedules, it won't be quite as bad.

Something I've found useful as a low-hours student pilot who gets to
fly about once a week (weather limitations, mostly) is to write down
detailed notes about the intangible stuff I learn on each flight. Not
just facts learned, not just things related to ground school or the
upcoming knowledge test, but my perceptions and recollections of the
flight. What does the sight picture over the nose look like during a
proper climb-out? Where was the seat adjusted, since this affects the
sight picture? How was the sensation felt in an uncoordinated turn
different than what I felt in a coordinated turn? How much control
input did I feel I was using for a give maneuver? What feedback was I
getting from the instructor at various points in the flight? It all
gets written down, and I review it before the next flight. I find it
makes the preceeding flight(s) fresher in my mind, and it helps
minimize the effects of going a week or so without flight time.