Private pilot license

I'm considering going in for a private pilot license. Just wanted
general feedback from anyone who has one or is considering opting for
one.

Cheers

In article .com,
says...


I'm considering going in for a private pilot license. Just wanted
general feedback from anyone who has one or is considering opting for
one.


Sorry - no one here has one of these!


Couldn't resist the joke - sorry.
Just about the only ones here who don't have one are (like Rachel)
because they have a commercial or ATP!

So you're going to have to be more specific about what you want to know.
How much does it cost? To get, or to keep? Is it safe? Is it fun? Is it
practical? How do you get acces to planes? Rent? Buy? How much for all
that? I think "general feedback" is a bit too general for this group.

G Faris

In article , says...

Just about the only ones here who don't have one are (like Rachel)
because they have a commercial or ATP!



Oops, I forgot - There's Skylune who doesn't have one, but admits he's
considering getting one! He'll also be happy to give you "general feedback"
:-)

Don' be put off by my jokes.
Any aviation enthusiast is welcome here, and people will gladly answer your
questions.

G Faris

It is very much a worthwhile endeavor and a great
experience. The time required is often somewhat longer than
the minimum times listed in the regulations, often taking
50-100% longer and costing more money. There are many
things to learn and skills to develop and each student is
different.
Getting books and videos and studying before you begin the
flight portion will save money and time once you begin to
fly. Try to have the money available so you can fly at
least every other day [3-4 times per week]. Try to devote
this as a full-time schedule, don't mix up your time with a
family vacation, or start any new businesses, in other
words, focus on the flying.

There many obstacles, mostly time and money and more things
to learn every day that passes, as new regulations are
added, new navigation technologies develop. The weather is
always a factor in flying and that includes pilot training,
schedules are often hard to meet. It is possible to get a
private pilot certificate in as little as a month or so ,
but many people take a year or more because of time and
money issues. If you get the test passed in one season, you
won't have learned about the other three seasons yet. If
you learn to fly in Florida, you won't know about Kansas
winds or Colorado mountains.

If you want motivation to begin, get started. Get the
catalogs from Sporty's and Aircraft Spruce, join the AOPA
and the EAA. Go to Oshkosh for the national flying of the
EAA [July 24-30 this year]. Checkout the FAA website
http://www.faa.gov/ where you can download all the current
regulations and many text books at no cost. You can get a
PDA or laptop computer and save the cost of printing these
documents which are mostly PDF files.

Buy some commercial text books and get two copies of some of
them, keep one at home and carry one with you to work and
read it instead of the newspaper.

You will need a medical exam before you can solo, unless you
want to learn to fly gliders or get the new Sport Pilot
certificate as a stepping stone or even final goal. You can
find which doctors in your area are FAA DME [designated
medical examiners] by calling the nearest flight school or
looking on the Internet at the medical link on the FAA site,
or the AOPA.

www.aopa.org www.eaa.org www.aircraftspruce.com
www.sportys.com

Don't be concerned about whether the airplane is high wing
or low wing design, don't forget to have fun.


wrote in message
oups.com...
| I'm considering going in for a private pilot license. Just
wanted
| general feedback from anyone who has one or is considering
opting for
| one.
|
| Cheers
|

wrote:
I'm considering going in for a private pilot license. Just wanted
general feedback from anyone who has one or is considering opting for
one.

Cheers


First thing I tell everyone - it's addicting!

In article ,
says...


wrote:
I'm considering going in for a private pilot license. Just wanted
general feedback from anyone who has one or is considering opting for
one.

Cheers


First thing I tell everyone - it's addicting!

That's true!
First question - are you married?
How do you like the prospect of no longer being? :-)

GF

wrote:
I'm considering going in for a private pilot license. Just wanted
general feedback from anyone who has one or is considering opting for
one.

You need to tell us what your expectations are. You said "private"
pilot. A PPL can't do much other than fly around with passengers and
without an instructor. For instance it doesn't qualify you to fly an
airliner or even to charge a few bucks for hauling cargo.

OTOH, you are able to have fun. Flying is just pure fun. But, you had
better have plenty of insurance even though you are renting airplanes.

And note that achieving the great goal of getting a PPL does not make
flying suddenly free. You maybe allowed to operate an airplane, but you
still have to pay for it and pay for fuel, etc.

G raris:

Oops, I forgot - There's Skylune who doesn't have one, but admits he's
considering getting one! He'll also be happy to give you "general
feedback"
:-)"

I might yet do it, as I sold the boat, and will have some free time. If
I
can't find the time to fly at least once per week, I won't bother.

I tried that once, and realized I could develop just enough skills to be
dangerous, but still legal. That, plus the totally unprofessional CFI at
FRG (I can't mention the companies or individuals name: that could start
a libel suit) caused me to pull the plug after 15 hours...

"Skylune" wrote

I might yet do it, as I sold the boat, and will have some free time. If
I
can't find the time to fly at least once per week, I won't bother.

I tried that once, and realized I could develop just enough skills to be
dangerous, but still legal. That, plus the totally unprofessional CFI at
FRG (I can't mention the companies or individuals name: that could start
a libel suit) caused me to pull the plug after 15 hours...

Everything you write seems to contain at least one slam against the AOPA,
FAA, NTSB, or flying in general - you just can't seem to help yourself, can
you?

If you feel that your skills have deteriorated to the point that you are
dangerous, does it really make any difference whether you are "legal" or
not? The amount of flying it takes to stay "current" varies from individual
to individual, and is also somewhat related to experience level. That being
the case, how do you regulate the amount of flying it takes for everyone to
be "safe"?

It would be nice if we could start to give people at least some credit for
having a minimum amount of common sense. Some things in life were not meant
for everyone - flying is one of them, especially if you expect to be able to
abdicate your responsibility for keeping yourself safe to the FAA.

BDS

BDS: It would be nice if we could start to give people at least some
credit for
having a minimum amount of common sense. Some things in life were not
meant
for everyone - flying is one of them, especially if you expect to be able
to
abdicate your responsibility for keeping yourself safe to the FAA.

The REASON I decided to stop is that I do take responsibility for my own
actions, and realized I could get the PPL but only be a marginally
competent pilot. Maybe
some people can maintain proficiency by flying 1-2x per month. I didn't
think I could, and would not subject any passengers to unnecessary risk.
I still think it was the right thing to do.

(Where was the slam against AOPA, FAA, NTSB in that post? The CFI was a
jerk. So what? I'm not intimating that all CFIs are jerks, or that all
flight schools are bad.)