Comments on: Controlling your training costs

By: Beau

Beau — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:55:51 +0000

Aim202 I believe you are right on track. I currently have about 13 hours for my private pilots license and I have only landed the plane once and that was on my last lesson. I taxi and takeoff the plane everytime and have for about the last 4 lessons. It’s all a matter of time and some people adapt to how the airplane works and feels a little faster than others. We are both along way away from hitting that 40 hour mark but just think, that’s a lot of flying time that we don’t have yet and that will be more and more practice for us to better ourselves. I think you are doing fine an on pace with most other student pilots.

By: AiM202

AiM202 — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:56:15 +0000

I have 10 hours of flying time and my instructor is still landing the plane. I was allowed to take off for the first time this last flight. Am I on track for someone who did not grow up flying or even around planes? I was going in 2x’s a week but I felt I wasn’t doing anything right so slowed down to once a week. Now I am starting to forget things from one week to the next. I was told “it will come” one day it will all click and you’ll be fine. I feel like I am so behind for having 10 hours of flying time. What skills should I have at the 10 hour mark. I’m really good at the pre-flight check

By: Jeff Jorgenson

Jeff Jorgenson — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:36:32 +0000

I have two recommendations for controlling your training costs. First, look into an accellorated flight program. The intensity of the programs are typically not for the week minded, but they hit you hard up from and keep up a pace that doesn’t give you time to forget anything and maximizes building upon what you learned previously. I am starting such a school myself – check out my website. Secndly, shop around, attend fly-ins and airshows and talk to others about who the god instrctors are. They can assess where you are and make the best recommendations about how to save money in your situation. Chair flying, as was covered by many, is also fantastic! – Happy Flying ~Jeff

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:32:02 +0000

I just fiinished my private. I agree with the frequency with one caveat: Keep it fun. If trying to squeeze in 2-3 lessons a week is frustrating and fatiguing, and you find yourself getting frustrated with trying to push progress faster than it is happening, dissipate the frustration first. Changing the focus of the lessons for a while or dropping to once a week may delay the acquisition of the ticket, but so what? Frustration is a major barrier to learning. I enjoyed it all until the end when I added pressure trying to get done by a certain date. That took a lot of the fun out of it and likely made it harder. I would rather that I had just poked along and let it come when it came. Just fighting rush hour traffic to the flight school weekday evenings in addition to my usual weekend lessons was a huge energy drain.

By: James R Hall

James R Hall — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:36:30 +0000

i am 77 yeas old i have 600 hr.privet ticket.my son just started to fly student plot.
i am very proud of him jim

By: Todd

Todd — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:41:17 +0000

I agree with Brent Battles that the key is about frequency. I am sure flight simulators help but nothing can save more money than frequency. I flew 2-3 times per week allowing me to earn my ticket in just over four months. By flying frequently I did not need to waste much time in each lesson relearning previous lessons. I completed my checkride after just 47 hours well below the national average saving hundreds if not thousands of dollars simply by flying frequently.

By: John Harris

John Harris — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:29:17 +0000

I have first-hand proof that X-Plane flight simulator for helicopters is extremely helpful in cutting down training time (at $250/hr dual, it’s worth it). I’m in Lihue, Kauai, Hawai`i right now taking lessons for a category/type add-on (to airplane/SEL) as my summer vacation, and my instructor told me just today that I’ll be soloing the R-22 Beta-II helicopter right at the minimum required dual hours (20). He said that’s very rare. I credit that to practicing a lot with X-Plane in-type, with CH products Pro Pedals with the springs removed and a Logitech joystick with its spring removed. I could hover, hover-taxi, and do pedal turns with just 3 hours real time under my belt.

Consider X-Plane for training, because the physics (and frequency of updates, and frame rate) are way better than MSFS. It’s a physics simulator first, and has eye candy as a secondary concern. Fly Microsoft if you like the airport and urban eye candy.

By: Rudy Moore

Rudy Moore — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:22:54 +0000

Lois,

Yes: get a new flight instructor. It’s very easy for a student to feel locked into a particular flight instructor. Don’t let yourself fall for it. There are lots of flight instructors out there. And every time you get a new one, you learn new things and become a better pilot. When you have a flight instructor that feels the need to scream, you’re in a bad situation. Just tell the person that you’re likely to match up better with a different instructor and then go find a new one.

Don’t worry about how long it takes you to get your ticket to fly. People like to brag about how few hours it took them as if it implies that they’re better pilots. Really it just means at the point they passed their checkride, they had less training. What you do after you get your pilot’s license is even more important than what you do before you have it.

As for saving money, flying twice a month will end up costing you more in flight time and money than flying more frequently because you have to retrain areas that you forget in between lessons. You shouldn’t necessarily look at this as a bad thing though. For now, until you get your pilot’s license, your hobby is not being a pilot. Rather, your hobby is learning to fly. Spending more time just means you’re spending time doing your hobby. It’s just a perspective thing. If you’re having fun learning to fly (and you will be if you don’t have an instructor that is yelling at you), then you’re getting your money’s worth.

Good luck and keep flying.

By: Lois Rubino

Lois Rubino — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:43:05 +0000

I wqas taking lessons twice a month. I have about 65 hours into training. I took lessons twice a month and studied ground school with Sporty’s DVD program. I tried simulator class but it did not work for me. My CFI moved out of the area and I interviewed with a new one. I liked him a lot but I am a product of the last CFI and he did not do a good job with me. I am now embarrassed to go to the new CFI. He expects someone with 65 hours to be good but the original CFI omitted a lot. Example – I had to do a cross wind landing. He never told me how and when it was not great, he screamed at me. Any advice?

By: Brent Battles

Brent Battles — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:01:20 +0000

I got my private licence the summer following graduation from high school in a total of 43 hours (back in 1961). The key for me (aside from being fortunate enough to have the $672 available in advance) was the fact that I flew morning and afternoon every other day. No ground school was involved, as I studied at home on my own. Equally important, I had an instructor who let me fly the airplane and was a good teacher.