Point of no return, start up flying lesson !

[Waterobert]

Thank you for your tips. I am only 46 years old and still in a good shape, so I should pass physical exam without problem. But you never know. I picked flight school 10 miles away from my work so I can book lessons at 4 pm during the week. Unfortunately, this place is the most expensive and it is located at a big airport. Other schools are 30-50 miles drive, so that would be difficult to get there on time. I will do a lot more thinking before I make my final choice.
Thanks again for your support.

[Waterobert]

I looked around and found two schools 30-40 miles from my work with instructors willing to fly after 6 pm. Price for renting plane is about $40 less than at my original airport. That is such a big difference when you think about it.

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by Waterobert

I looked around and found two schools 30-40 miles from my work with instructors willing to fly after 6 pm. Price for renting plane is about $40 less than at my original airport. That is such a big difference when you think about it.

True, but that means you have to fight rush-hour traffic after work (along with the anxiety that comes from being stuck in traffic and potentially missing your lesson) and won't be able to do daytime flights when daylight savings time "falls back." Then again, night VFR is good practice!! If you can cram more lesson in on the weekends, the more distant airports make more sense.

[rgmwa]

Originally Posted by DaleB

As others have noted, fly as often as you can. If I were in CA I'd budget $10K... I think I spent around $7K a couple of years ago, but I think it's a lot more expensive there.

An see if there's a flying club out there that will get you cheaper flight time. I did part of my training flying some pretty ratty rental Cherokees at about $100/hr., and finished up in a fairly nice 172 for about $85 an hour - and I had the keys to the hangar and could fly pretty much whenever I pleased. That's really nice.

$10k is cheap! Getting your PPL in Australia will typically cost you about AUD$25-$30k (currently US$17.5-21k). Rental rate on a 1970 C172 is around AUD$220/hr (wet).

[Saville]

Originally Posted by Waterobert

I looked around and found two schools 30-40 miles from my work with instructors willing to fly after 6 pm. Price for renting plane is about $40 less than at my original airport. That is such a big difference when you think about it.

It is.

Another consideration is finding the right instructor for you.

[Charles in SC]

I am not sure why the hours needed to get a private has creeped up over the years. I suspect it has to do with liability. I taught 200 plus students and I do not think any of my private students ever took 50 hours and I was embarrassed about that one. At the time I was working for a part 141 school and the target was to get them through in 35 hours which we had approval to do. Are there any 141 schools in existence any more? I have not taught a private since 1990.

[ka6dan]

My best advice is to find a glider operation. Take a few instruction flights. You will learn the aircraft will fly without a fan turning and how one can safely land without a fan. Energy management is the key. A pilot needs to know and understand the operation of a power plane and the rules of operation (radio, traffic, etc.) but too many folks don't have an understanding of fundamentals of what keeps a aircraft in the air. Too often someone is pulling the stick back when that results in the stall that kills. Just my two cents

[Waterobert]

Thank you for your support.
Doug, thank you for letting me borrow dvd. This week I will see how bad traffic is around 4pm towards Corona airport. If I leave my work at 3:30 maybe I could take my traning at that airport. John Wayne is still my first choice, however $12-17k price is hard to accept if other places want $8-12k.
Thanks

[rightrudder]

You're doing the right thing by shopping around and weighing all the pros and cons. The insidious thing about John Wayne is that it's the better part of a mile to taxi from Dove St. (where Sunrise's rental planes are kept) to the hold short line at 19L...with the Hobbs ticking all the while, of course.

One of the great things about Sunrise is that they'll put you in a Citabria and have you initiate and recover from a spin. Many schools teach spin/stall avoidance, but don't have you recover from the real thing. That was a fun day in my training...I did a couple of loops and aileron rolls in the practice area as well.

[Dmadd]

Take a week or more of vacation and cram as much flying into that week as possible. Fly twice a day. Make your own aviation summer camp :-)
Drive to corona and back will be opposite the traffic...
Git er done!

DM