Point of no return, start up flying lesson !

[Waterobert]

Yesterday I went to Sunrise Aviation flight school and booked my start up lesson ! I will be flying on May 28th !
Ground school will start in the July, so should I book few flying lesson before school? How many?
I was told that it should take me about 60-75 hour in flight to complete my learning. I would love to save some money and do it closer to 60 hours than 75 hours. What should I do get the most out off every flight hour?
I want to finish by the end off the year, however money may not be there. Looks like I will be spending way over $10k

[scrollF4]

Bert,
Three things:
1) good on ya for getting started. That's usually the hardest part. Now, keep plugging and get it done!
2) I personally recommend getting a lot of the ground school done first. Just the initial basic stuff that goes over basic flight. Maybe the first several days/nights.
3) Don't expect to get it done within some certain number of hours. When the CFI says you're ready, you're ready. That may take less than 60 hours....or more.

Best of luck!

[humptybump]

Congratulations!

Different training and study techniques work for different people.

One common observation on the number of flight hours to solo, cross country, and you check ride is to fly OFTEN. This prevents the student from having to re-learn.

It is different for everyone. A good rule of thumb I use with students is to book 3 flights every week in hopes that you get two flight in. I understand it's not realistic for many student pilots. However, it is effective to reducing your total flight training hours in the airplane.

[NHDave]

Great job on starting Bert,

I'll give you my story. I just got my PPL in Nov, 2014. I'm 54 years old and have always wanted to fly, but life happened, etc... I was finally able to jump in last year and it took me 6 months to get my license. I agree with Humpty that if you have the funds available, you should try to schedule 2-3 flights per week. I averaged 2 and it worked out great. If you are able to stick with that cadence, you should be able to finish in under 60 hours.

I was able to solo at 8 and finish in 53 hours by sticking with that schedule, but it really doesn't matter how many hours it takes you to complete. My feeling was the more hours flying the better.

I decided to take my written towards the end of my training so I would have that info fresh in my mind for the checkride, but that's a matter of preference. Just keep to a steady schedule of studying and you will know when you are ready. If you get >80 on 3 practice exams than go ahead and take the written.

It's a big commitment, but totally rewarding. Good luck!

Dave

[wirejock]

You got good advise.
Ask yourself how you learn. By reading, listening or doing.
Whichever it is discuss it with your ground and flight instructors. It will shorten the learning curve. Train as often as you can. If it's ground first, study daily. Once you fly, two or three a week if you can.

Personally, I agree with ground first. The flight time will make more sense.

[G-force]

A few observations I can share having just gotten my PPL:

1) the only way to save money by reducing hours it to fly more often. One or two flights a week, it will take you 9-12 months and 60-75 hours to do it. It did for me. Think about it, you learn something in month 2, then don't do it for 10 months. You're are going to have to go back and knock the rust off that skill to pass the test. That takes flight time. Have the money ready and pound out as many lessons as often as you can.

2) You're going to spend $10k, accept it or find another hobby!

3) Schedule your first 3 flights with a different instructor. Find a CFI that teaches they way you learn, and you get along with well. Your going to be spending alot of time shoulder to shoulder. Remember your the paying customer, they work for you, don't hesitate to change instructors if things just are not working out for you.

4) Work on getting your class 3 medical now. Go to your regular GP first and make sure everything (blood pressure, vision, medication your on, etc.) is good to go before going to the AME. If something medically comes up, you got time to address it now before you need to have your medical (before your solo.)

5) While the instructor will be going over the material in ground school you need to pass the exams, the bulk of the learning will be studying on your own time so set started now. Go buy the pilots manual they will be using (Gleim, Jepson, etc.) and read through it. You won't understand it yet, but you'll get a feel of what you will be doing. Might as well start memorizing the stuff that you simply will have remember through rote memorization such as the A,B,C,D,E, and G airspaces, weather minimums for each airspace, the V speeds (and what they are for the aircraft your training in.) etc.

Good luck, have fun!

[Charles in SC]

When I was teaching lessons I found that there are so many different skills involved ( math, weather, mechanical understanding, legal problems, physics, physical dexterity, coordination, etc.) that everybody has problems with something. If you cold think through all this and find your weak spots first you may be able to get a jump on things. Controlling the airplane through the sky is just a small part of it.

[Waterobert]

Thanks guys.
Sounds like at this point I should save as much money as possible, so I can book 3 flights a week for the first few months. Flying is not cheap, lol.
I would love to build and fly RV-3B. It will probably take a long time, 5-6 years if I stay motivated. I wanted to start this year, however I want to get pilot license first, just to make sure that flying is what I really want to do. It is an expensive hobby and I am still in 99% group.
I just bought "Stick and Rudder" book, are there any other good books about flying?

[pilotpip]

Best of luck to you! Flying is fun, but I don't think I need to say that here. I'm a reformed airline pilot now working for a respected leader in the training field. I spent a few years as a CFI in the GA world too. Others have given great advice, this is mine:

1) Get a medical. Makes no sense to start, only to be denied a medical.

2) If you want to get through by spending less, you're going to have to commit the time and the up-front expense. 3 times a week is a good goal. Even if the weather is crappy, spend the time (and money) and take an hour or two with your CFI. If it's the first time you've been in a classroom setting in a long time it's a tough adjustment and the extra time will pay off with more knowledge. Your ground school may be very generic (especially if the school has a varied fleet or you take it at a community college) and this is a great time to get more specific with the make and model you're training in, or dig deeper in the hangar which may come in handy when you start building your RV.

3) Ground school should correspond with your flight training. The airplane isn't the place to learn the "why". It's where you learn the "how" and it will all come together in the airplane.

4) You don't need to rent the newest, shiniest, most advanced cockpit airplane at the FBO. Push yoke forward: cows get bigger. Pull back, cows get smaller. Private pilots need to look outside to get the fundamentals of flight. Save the fancy stuff for instrument training.

5) NEVER give a huge amount of cash to a flight school, even if they offer some sort of bulk rate discount. Flight schools come and go. Many have lost lots of money when they showed up for a lesson and the doors were boarded up and the ramp empty. Keep it in your savings account, and pay as you go.

6) Don't stop at your private rating. The instrument and commercial will save you tons in insurance if you plan to own one day and will make you a safer pilot even if you never use them.

[wirejock]

Something else.
If you have access to multiple locations, find one away from tower airspace. Uncontrolled airport. You'll save money driving a little. When you take off, you will be closer to the training area instead of paying to sit on the tarmac waiting for a clearance then flying half an hour to the training area. That plane/CFI time is expensive.
Others may disagree but it saved me a ton. We flew into Class D when we wanted to practice tower ops.