intro from the noob

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sea2summit

Filing Flight Plan
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sea2summit
Okay so intro and a question for the masses.

I’m an Army type that grew up with my parents owning a fly-in fishing lodge in AK and I’ve always had the heart to get my PPL but never the time and money…at the same time. I did some dual time when I was younger trading yardwork for flight time with my instructor but left for college before solo and that knowledge is probably all gone, did ground school in college in my second attempt but that is also becoming semi ancient history.

So the question. I’ve got from now until the end of July at the school house so my hours are fairly normal and I’ve got all my weekends (even some long ones wahoo!). So my thought is if I flew twice a week after work and a day every other weekend I could make it.

Thoughts?

Josh
 
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sea2summit said:
Okay so intro and a question for the masses.
I’m an Army type that grew up with my parents owning a fly-in fishing lodge in AK and I’ve always had the heart to get my PPL but never the time and money…at the same time. I did some dual time when I was younger trading yardwork for flight time with my instructor but left for college before solo and that knowledge is probably all gone, did ground school in college in my second attempt but that is also becoming semi ancient history.
So the question. I’ve got from now until the end of July at the school house so my hours are fairly normal and I’ve got all my weekends (even some long ones wahoo!). So my thought is if I flew twice a week after work and a day every other weekend I could make it. Thoughts?
Josh
Click to expand...

Yes, you can. I took my intro flight late July and was signed off to take my check ride at the beginning of November - if the weather cooperates.
 
I think a lot depends on your work ethic and some on the weather. I would say it's doable with a lot of hard work. I think you'll be surprised at how much you've retained. I started in 1970 and had to quit in 72 at 17 hours. I started back in Feb 08 and finished in Dec at 57 hours.

Good Luck to you.

P.S. Welcome to POA.
 
There will be mountains to climb during your training, but it can be done.
I think everyone has had at least one thing in their primary training that they thought they would never overcome, but they did.

Study hard and don't beat yourself up about a "bad" lesson.
You can do it.
 
Definitely do it. If you pass up this chance there will always be a question in your mind, and you don't want that question to be "if only...".

Bob Gardner
 
Welcome noob! :D

I think you can make it on that schedule. Looking back on my logbook, I went 2-3 times a week. Took me 6 months from the 1st week of April to the 1st week of November for my checkride. Definitely had some weather delays in between...
 
Welcome to POA! Yes it can be done depending on Weather and how hard you apply yourself! Go for it!!
 
Welcome to PoA. Thanks for telling us a little about yourself. I began flying so I could visit my grandchildren across the US on my own terms and learned to love it. Took lessons from a school in FL & in CT as well as lessons from unaffiliated instructors. Perseverence!

You can probably do it if the weather is good to you. Study every day. Read these:
http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/airplane_handbook/
http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/media/faa-h-8083-27a.pdf
http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/ATpubs/AIM/
http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/
http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/pilot_handbook/

For background:
http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/media/FAA-H-8083-1A.pdf

Be able to answer:
http://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/airmen/test_questions/media/pvt.pdf
http://www.exams4pilots.org/
 
I say go for it... if you don't quite make it, you should be able to grab enough free time later (this year, maybe?) to finish up. There would be some review, but it's not like you'd have to start all over. If you get to the point where you've soloed and moved on to navigation training, you should have a pretty solid foundation built. And you shouldn't dismiss your earlier training as useless... a lot of that will still apply, and it may come back to you readily.

What's going to be difficult is finding time for the flying and the studying, within that short period... but if you want to do this badly enough, it only takes some discipline and dedication.
Good luck!
 
I moved my response to it's own thread, "getting a pilots license after 60"

I was taking over this thread with my petty issues.

John
 
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Absolutely you can do this. Weather is one big hurdle. The other is availability of your instructor and airplane. I started my PPL training on August 1st in southwest Michigan. The weather is great for flying at that time of year. I was also lucky enough that the instructor at my airport only had one or two other students that hardly ever flew and no regular renters so I was able to fly almost anytime I wanted. I passed my checkride on October 15th. I was grounded one solid week by weather, one week with a nasty sinus infection, and two weeks while in Idaho elk hunting. I was able to do it in 2 1/2 months even with 4 weeks of downtime, so I think you can do easily in 3 1/2 months if you can overcome the hurdles I mentioned earlier.

My biggest advice is study for your written effectively throughout your training and take the test as soon as you're ready. I had started studying before I found an instructor and started flying. However, I never touched the books again after I started flying. I flew 2 or 3 times per week and once or twice each weekend and that was all I wanted to do. By the end of August I was nearing the 40 hour mark and preparing for my checkride but hadn't yet taken my written test. Knowing you're so close with the flying part, but completely unprepared for the written part that's going to hold up your checkride is no fun to say the least.
 
Josh,

You can do it! Keep at it, dedicate the time to review both ground and flying lessons. Chair fly often, pray to the good wx Gods. As previously stated, don't beat yourself up because of an off day. We all hit plateaus along the way, you will work through them, we all did.

By the way....Welcome to the POA Forum!
 
John, I would look at getting a checkride under the juristiction of another FSDO.
 
Gosh, John, if I'd been through all that, I would be very frustrated, too! Blessings on you for not quitting!

---

To the OP: Assuming you have a lick of aptitude, and the weather cooperates, yes indeedy you can get it done in this time frame. I went from first lesson to checkride in three months and one day, and that was while maintaining a full-time work schedule.

Keys:

1. Fly often - the more frequently you fly, the more efficient the whole process will be, because you'll spend less time reviewing and re-learning;

2. Review what you learned (“Chair Flying”) after each lesson, and spend a little time before each lesson getting yourself mentally prepared for the tasks to be covered - arriving mentally-primed for the lesson will serve you well, and will please your instructor;

3. Don’t be afraid to push your instructor to the things you needthe most work on; sometimes, they need that feedback to know how you’re doing, and their response will help you gauge your progress and confidence as well.

4. Have fun!

5. Ditto on the advice about getting the written taken care of. Suggested that you register for and use one of the on-line practice test sites (Sporty’s has a great one); the tests are just like the real deal, and if you’re up to scoring well consistently on the practice tests, you’ll findthe real deal is just like another practice, no sweat.

Welcome to PoA - keep us posted on your progress!
 
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