Optimal Frequency of Lessons

David,

As usual, I agree with what Dudley says, but only based on my own
experience, as I'm not a flight instructor. I'll also add that I really
learned how to fly when I got hold of a Supercub one summer and was flying
several times a week. Not long flights, most of them spent in the pattern
doing every concievable kind of take off and landing combination I and my
mates could think of. There were rest periods in between, and lots of
analysis and hangar flying to boot, but there was definitely something about
frequency in there for me. This wasn't the old "get your PPL in two weeks"
kind of pressured course, it was just me flying after I got my PPL as much
as I could. Flying more often allowed me to retain more between lessons,
requiring less relearning during each. I developed a feel for the airplane
during that period that I've never matched since, simply because of how
often I was flying. I would suggest you give that some thought as a
balancing argument to having weeks beetween lessons.

Also, depending on where you live, if you schedule for every other week, in
reality you'll get weathered out at least part of the time and end up only
flying one weekend per month sometimes. Consider scheduling every weekend
and let weather and other factors give you the seperation you're talking
about needing.

Just my .02 worth,
Shawn
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
ink.net...

"David B. Cole" wrote in message
m...
Just coming off my latest aero flight just over a week ago with Mr.
Stowell, I've decided that I want to take advantage of the momentum
and start a more formal course fairly soon. I think I have an
instructor nailed down. My plan is to start with a 5-10 hours course,
spread out over several months. But here are the issues.

The airport is about 70 miles away from where I live, but only about
19 miles from my girlfriend. This makes it convenient to some extent,
but her house is on the market and I want to take advantage of her
location before she sells.

I know there is a benefit to flying as much as possible to increase
tolerance, but I would like to spread it out over a few months as I
tend to retain things longer if I acquire them more slowly. But I
would also like to get as much time before the hard NJ winter arrives,
as the airport has a grass strip.

I'm thinking twice a month, with the possibility of both Saturday and
Sunday, weather and schedule permitting for the first few sessions.
Would like to hear some ideas. I would also continue to fly casually,
particularly with the goal of remaining IFR current.

Dave

It's just a suggestion but you might want to rethink that "fly as much as
possible" thing just a bit.
I've had just about every kind of acro student you can possibly imagine in
my airplanes and theirs (mostly theirs) through the years, and as an acro
instructor, I came to some basic conclusions about scheduling.
Aerobatics require you as the student to think about what you are going to
do with the airplane before you do it, then execute a maneuver as a rote
function, then remember what happened with the airplane when you did it;
then "adjust" what you did to correct for any mistake you made for the
next attempt at the maneuver. It's a continuing cycle of thinking, doing,
learning and adjusting, then doing it again...and so on.
The sessions although enjoyable, can be stressful, and like all flight
instruction, you do your REAL learning and retention BETWEEN flights.
I can't tell you how much stress I place on this "period between flights".
In aerobatics, even more so than regular flight instruction, this
"breathing" period is absolutely vital. It gives you a chance to relax and
rethink what you did in the air. It's here that the small pieces come
together for you that make the difference between a pilot who can perform
a maneuver by rote alone, and a pilot who actually understands what is
happening to the airplane and why.
So whatever you do with your schedule, and I understand that the distance
will be a factor, try and schedule your flights with a downtime between
them. Even if it's only a matter of hours between flights; take that time
as a programmed and anticipated downtime for yourself.
Best of luck to you with your aerobatic training.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired