Flight training time frame

[Tyler Traylor]

Hello, my name Tyler I wanted to reach out to the community because I begin flight training really soon and at my school I'm attending they are only allowing certain amount of hours which seems like a short amount of time to complete the course and I wanted to know if the max hours they set was a reasonable time frame maybe compared to some others training. I know everyone take a different time but failing this course could set me back a semester in flight training

 

[rhkennerly]

I don’t understand. That’s not one course, that is an entire curriculum. Is that all flight time or ground school & flight time, test prep too, etc.? Is this somehow attached to a university?

however, your first stop should be asking graduates & current students of that particular school. It would have been best doing your due diligence before you signed a contract.

If not, then like Marine basic training, the fastest way out is through.

Put your head down and bull your way through. Get up early, stay late, study weekends. Fly as a backseat observer during other student training, if you can. Pay for extra flight time & tutoring out of pocket.

 

[Tyler Traylor]

So the way my flight training is , I have 3 ground class a week and 1 flight lab a week and at the university the max hours is the hours they are giving you to complete the course requirement which i assume and for the first course I'm in is FLT117 l PPL part 1 and I have to solo by the end of the course.

 

[Half Fast]

It’s aggressive.

They allocate 55 hours for PPL. The average is around 60, but 75 or so isn’t uncommon.

You need to know what they charge per hour if you need more time. Also ask if you complete one phase in less than their maximum, can you credit the difference toward extra hours in the next phase? If not, you might as well use every minute up to the max; you’re paying for the time. (Note that finishing a phase early means your dollars per hour are higher.)

 

[Half Fast]

BTW - with only one flight a week, your progress will be slower.

 

[Tyler Traylor]

Yeah this is very space out course and I have a few class centered around aviation but I can't wait to start and I wanted to know , once I solo could I be able to rent planes and schedule more flights outside the one flight a week thing they have going but I'm extremely excited and I will have plenty question to ask my instructor on the first day

 

[Half Fast]

It would be interesting to know what percentage of their students pass the checkride with 55 hours or less.

 

[dmspilot]

Nothing makes flying lessons sound more fun than calling it "FLT 117L Private Pilot Flight Lab I".

In seriousness, we can't really answer questions about your schools policies, rental rules, etc.

 

[woodchucker]

It would be interesting to know what percentage of their students pass the checkride with 55 hours or less.

I also would be interested in that data point. Some students take longer to grasp the concepts and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Tyler Traylor]

Nothing makes flying lessons sound more fun than calling it "FLT 117L Private Pilot Flight Lab I".

In seriousness, we can't really answer questions about your schools policies, rental rules, etc.

I just wanted to get a general idea of the average time it takes to complete this different rating from other who have might gone through flight training

 

[Dana]

Soloing in 30 hours is quite reasonable. Passing the private checkride in 55 is possible if unlikely. But it sounds like they're charging a flat fee for the hours shown, but you'll be able to fly more hours if necessary for a per hour charge. You'll have to ask the school what that charge is and how it's handled. What school is this?

 

[Jim K]

I went back and looked...I went to my private checkride at 72 hours... which is way more then I realized. That was flying 2-3x/ week.

I did my instrument with right at 40 hours dual, but I had a couple hundred hours at that point, all in that plane, so I was very comfortable in it, and I had all my xc hours ahead of time. Would've been much harder coming in right after private.

The 141 on my school has an hourly rate, but I don't know what it is as I went pt61. The kids who don't get done during the semester finish up in the summer. I think they include minimal hours with the program so that basically everyone uses them up.

What strikes me about the schedule you posted is how reasonable the pricing is. Just over $100 an hour with an instructor is really cheap. The community College based 141 I looked at is about triple that.

 

[luvflyin]

So the way my flight training is , I have 3 ground class a week and 1 flight lab a week and at the university the max hours is the hours they are giving you to complete the course requirement which i assume and for the first course I'm in is FLT117 l PPL part 1 and I have to solo by the end of the course.

What school is this? Only allowing one flight per week is likely to stretch out the total time needed.

 

[Pinecone]

Yeah, that is nuts.

2 - 3 times a week is much better.

 

[Salty]

I did my private check ride at 45 hours and averaged a flight every 7.5 days.

 

[Motor6]

Yeah, 55 hours is pretty aggressive, but $6500 for your private pilot is not bad if you can pull it off. If you break it down, assuming "Max Hours" are flight time, you're paying 130/hr for aircraft and instructor if you use the max hours for the entire 255 hours. That seems like a pretty good rate. I don't think you can rent a plane near me for $130/hr. Private pilot took me 51.5 hours, averaging a flight every 5.5 days. I think it's a good idea to find out how much additional hours will cost if needed.

 

[Rgbeard]

Yeah, 55 hours is pretty aggressive, but $6500 for your private pilot is not bad if you can pull it off. If you break it down, assuming "Max Hours" are flight time, you're paying 130/hr for aircraft and instructor if you use the max hours for the entire 255 hours. That seems like a pretty good rate. I don't think you can rent a plane near me for $130/hr. Private pilot took me 51.5 hours, averaging a flight every 5.5 days. I think it's a good idea to find out how much additional hours will cost if needed.

Just FYI - FirstFlight in San Diego (SDM), last I knew, still had a C172, wet, for about $100/hr.

 

[Motor6]

Just FYI - FirstFlight in San Diego (SDM), last I knew, still had a C172, wet, for about $100/hr.

Maybe it’s cheaper where the OP is too. I did check and you can get a Skycatcher at the flight school at my airport for $120. Mid 1970’s 172’s start at $160. $130 still seems pretty good with an instructor included. They run at least $65/hr in the DC area.

 

[sarangan]

Hello, my name Tyler I wanted to reach out to the community because I begin flight training really soon and at my school I'm attending they are only allowing certain amount of hours which seems like a short amount of time to complete the course and I wanted to know if the max hours they set was a reasonable time frame maybe compared to some others training. I know everyone take a different time but failing this course could set me back a semester in flight training View attachment 109527

I am assuming flight lab 1 is dual time, which works out to $120/hr. That seems a bit too low, even if you are flying in a 152. Where exactly is this school located? If it is in the east or west coast, I would be skeptical if the above is the whole cost.

 

[kaiser]

More data points. Agree that you should be flying more than 1x weekly.

I felt like a slow learner in general. It took 23 hours and 81 landings for me to solo. From there to PPL took another 40 hours and 100 landings. My CFI got fired and I had to basically start over with a new guy from scratch. I did my instrument in 49 hours and my commercial in another 45 hrs and 110 landings.

 

[Albany Tom]

The questions I'd ask are, how long has the school been offering this program, and what's the pass rate? I'd ask for some references. A college near here started up a new aviation program, and they didn't have the aircraft availability to support the program, for whatever reason. My guess is that the people planning it didn't accurately estimate the number of bad weather days, and actual student requirements for learning, and planned it based on optimistic numbers. That's my guess. But the reality is that there were a number of students who didn't end up meeting the goals and getting their private on time.

 

[mondtster]

Since everyone is throwing out opinions and input on the number of flight hours to earn a private certificate I'll throw some out too.

Between myself and two other instructors working at the same school and flying out of the same relatively quiet, towered airport we could easily get most students a private certificate in 50ish hours. There were a few that did it quicker and a few that took a bit of extra time. At the same time, we were also running an accelerated training program specializing in commercial and CFI certificates. One thing I noticed was that regardless of where the student came from or who trained them, they all had roughly the same number of hours of dual received to go from private ASEL to CFI ASE.

The hours allocated for the private certificate might be a bit low but not unreasonable. At a glance the rest seems about right. The local college 141 school graduates students with 220 or so hours.

 

[Clip4]

If you have scheduled flight training 3 days a week, completing your training in the listed hours is realistic.

 

[Tyler Traylor]

I am assuming flight lab 1 is dual time, which works out to $120/hr. That seems a bit too low, even if you are flying in a 152. Where exactly is this school located? If it is in the east or west coast, I would be skeptical if the above is the whole cost.

I'm attending Elizabeth city state university and they use cessna 172 and they have AABI accreditation

 

[Tyler Traylor]

The questions I'd ask are, how long has the school been offering this program, and what's the pass rate? I'd ask for some references. A college near here started up a new aviation program, and they didn't have the aircraft availability to support the program, for whatever reason. My guess is that the people planning it didn't accurately estimate the number of bad weather days, and actual student requirements for learning, and planned it based on optimistic numbers. That's my guess. But the reality is that there were a number of students who didn't end up meeting the goals and getting their private on time.

They actually had this program for a while , it's the only university in north Carolina that offer a aviation science, they have a wide range of fleet and they are partners with alot of different programs

 

[Rgbeard]

I'm attending Elizabeth city state university and they use cessna 172 and they have AABI accreditation

One one sentence I learned of two things I'd never known of before. An obscure college somewhere on the East Coast, and an aviation organization of which I was also unfamiliar. Thank you, Google.

 

[soarohio]

The hours look ok if you can fly a few times a week. The website has more information. If they have quality instructors, I don't think you can do much better cost wise.

This is from Elizabeth city state university website.
Prices are subject to change due to various factors including fluctuating fuel costs.

Prices do not include costs of FAA check ride examiner fee, knowledge test fee, and flight materials (headset, navigational charts, flight kits etc.) These costs are paid directly to individuals or companies that are independent of ECSU.

In order to keep flight training costs as low as possible, ECSU does not charge students for flight and ground instruction. Students receive flight training at cost, paying only for operating and maintenance cost of the aircraft.