PPL Hours Breakdown

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TangoZulu

Filing Flight Plan
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TangoZulu
Hey,

I've got a few questions regarding the breakdown of the number of hows it takes on average to get a PPL if the student studies for the written and oral portions primarily by himself:

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?

So how many did it take you?

If it makes a difference, the course would follows a Jeppesen sylabus.

Thanks
 
The national average is around 60-70. It can be done in 40-50 if you fly a few days a week. If you can only fly once in a while you are going to hurt yourself in the long run and it will take you longer. I don't remember how many hours I had when I completed my PPL
 
TangoZulu said:
Hey,

I've got a few questions regarding the breakdown of the number of hows it takes on average to get a PPL if the student studies for the written and oral portions primarily by himself:

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?

So how many did it take you?

If it makes a difference, the course would follows a Jeppesen sylabus.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I just finished up this morning. Here is my breakdown

I did my checkride at 50.6 hrs of which 10.7 hrs of it was solo time.
I logged 10hrs of ground instruction.
My first flight was in August '14 and I got my temporary today.

I also used the Jeppesen syllabus.

I think if I would not have flown 2-3 times a week, I couldn't have done it.
I still have LOTS of work to do but, it feels good to check the certificate of the list. Now it is time to practice what I have learned and keep learning!

Eric
 
TangoZulu said:
Hey,

I've got a few questions regarding the breakdown of the number of hows it takes on average to get a PPL if the student studies for the written and oral portions primarily by himself:

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?

So how many did it take you?

If it makes a difference, the course would follows a Jeppesen sylabus.

Thanks
Click to expand...


What is your situation?
Can you fly weekly? or do you have to space it out?
The averages are what they are and people do it in 40 hours and people do it in 140 hours.

If you cannot fly as frequently, it can still be done. I was not able to fly twice a week or even once a week a lot of times and I did fine.
I didn't fly frequently but there were 2 points where I saved enough money to group 5-6 hours over a couple days to get over some hurdles and prep for the ride. Other than that I spaced it out and it took me 10 months.
 
I tried to fly 3-4 times a week. With many cancellations due to weather, some weeks it was only twice. This added some additional hours when I was in the checkride prep phase. I was at a Part 141 school which required 'stage checks' with an instructor other than my primary. This added some additional hours. Flying out of a busy Class D added some additional hours, due to sequencing for takeoffs/landings. I ended up at about 75 hours about 6 months from when I started my training.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
What is your situation?
Can you fly weekly? or do you have to space it out?
The averages are what they are and people do it in 40 hours and people do it in 140 hours.

If you cannot fly as frequently, it can still be done. I was not able to fly twice a week or even once a week a lot of times and I did fine.
I didn't fly frequently but there were 2 points where I saved enough money to group 5-6 hours over a couple days to get over some hurdles and prep for the ride. Other than that I spaced it out and it took me 10 months.
Click to expand...

I want to fly primarily on Saturday and Sundays when I can. I want to get it done as soon as possible, as we near the summer months (if I start in February or early March) I'll try to get a third or fourth lesson in after work.. Problem is my commute from NYC to the airport will eat up a chunk of time so this is not a viable option until the sun sets much later.

Thanks guys
 
TangoZulu said:
I want to fly primarily on Saturday and Sundays when I can. I want to get it done as soon as possible, as we near the summer months (if I start in February or early March) I'll try to get a third or fourth lesson in after work.. Problem is my commute from NYC to the airport will eat up a chunk of time so this is not a viable option until the sun sets much later.

Thanks guys
Click to expand...
What airport are you dping your training at?
 
jordane93 said:
What airport are you dping your training at?
Click to expand...

I think Somerset KSMQ. Went there last weekend and liked it a lot. Also visited a few other airports. I also like Caldwell too, but wanted something a little more laidback initially. I work in lower Manhattan and live in Jersey City so my commute home is only about 20 minutes via mass transit (15 minutes of which is walking to the world trade center), then the drive on I-78 to the airport from my apartment is about 40 miles so a half hour or so. Trying to figure out the logistics of all of this.
 
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TangoZulu said:
1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
Click to expand...
Based on the typical 60 or so total minus the typical 10 solo, about 50 seems typical.
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
Click to expand...
Typically the legal minimum -- 10 solo, including 5 solo XC.
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?
Click to expand...
Rarely well-documented and wildly variable.

So how many did it take you?
Click to expand...
You made me drag out my old student log from 1969-1970, but it was 34.9 dual and 25.8 solo (back when it was minimum 20 solo). Not that those numbers have any particular relevance today, given the substantially different training requirements.
 
Ron Levy said:
Based on the typical 60 or so total minus the typical 10 solo, about 50 seems typical.
Typically the legal minimum -- 10 solo, including 5 solo XC.
Rarely well-documented and wildly variable.

You made me drag out my old student log from 1969-1970, but it was 34.9 dual and 25.8 solo (back when it was minimum 20 solo). Not that those numbers have any particular relevance today, given the substantially different training requirements.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks Ron. I just wanted to get an idea. I wasn't sure if solo was typically kept around the legal minimum or if it was much greater. Can't wait to get up into the sky to start my own log!
 
TangoZulu said:
I think Somerset KSMQ. Went there last weekend and liked it a lot. Also visited a few other airports. I also like Caldwell too, but wanted something a little more laidback initially. I work in lower Manhattan and live in Jersey City so my commute home is only about 20 minutes via mass transit (15 minutes of which is walking to the world trade center), then the drive on I-78 to the airport from my apartment is about 40 miles so a half hour or so. Trying to figure out the logistics of all of this.
Click to expand...
Nice! Good luck with your training.
 
TangoZulu said:
Hey,

I've got a few questions regarding the breakdown of the number of hows it takes on average to get a PPL if the student studies for the written and oral portions primarily by himself:

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?

About 30

2) How many hours of solo flight time total?

about 14

3) How many hours of ground instruction total?

About 20


So how many did it take you?

If it makes a difference, the course would follows a Jeppesen sylabus.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I took my checkride at 44.
 
TangoZulu said:
Hey,

I've got a few questions regarding the breakdown of the number of hows it takes on average to get a PPL if the student studies for the written and oral portions primarily by himself:

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?

So how many did it take you?

If it makes a difference, the course would follows a Jeppesen sylabus.

Thanks
Click to expand...

60hrs is a good average.

Most do the bare bones solo of 10hrs, maybe a little more

Under 5 ground, self study, if you need to be spoon fed it's going to get expensive. Watch all the King videos.

Jepp syllabus, meh whatever, it's more having a well organized CFI.

THE SINGLE BIGGEST FACTOR --> your CFI (not the school or what syllabus they use)

THE SECOND BIGGEST FACTOR --> How often you can fly, fly at least 2 time a week.


Fly in the cheapest plane you can find, the pretty one might not be the one in the best condition.

Try to get your PPL in tailwheel with a very basic instrument panel if you can, you'll be a better pilot for it.
 
TangoZulu said:
Awesome, thanks Ron. I just wanted to get an idea. I wasn't sure if solo was typically kept around the legal minimum or if it was much greater.
Click to expand...
No, most folks these days do it in the legal min for solo, which is to my thinking rather a shame -- you gain a huge amount of experience/confidence during those solo flights. If you have the funds and opportunity to fly more solo than the min, do it!
 
So I am a very bad example of todays averages although I had 63 hours when I took my check ride.
1 it was 1988 when I did it and 20hrs was the minimum dual required
2 I did a lot of home study and used my solo time to practice
3 I learned to fly at a very small non-towered airport.
4 I had been flying R/C gliders and airplanes for a couple years.
5 I was a farm kid and had be operating tractors, swathers and various kinds of equipment from the time I was heavy enough to hold the clutch down.

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
Click to expand...
20 hours
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
Click to expand...
43 hours
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?
Click to expand...
wasn't logged, but was minimual

The reason I had minimum amount of dual was primarily because my instructor got hired doing charters and I was unable to fly with him much so I did a lot of solo flying and practicing. I eventually had to change instructors to finish.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
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I took my checkride at 58 hours. I was ready at about 50, but the examiner was booked for a month after we setup the date, so I just kept taking a few more lessons to keep fresh.

Everyone is different, so pretty hard to compare person to person. I flew 2-3 days a week when I was able. Most weeks were twice.

Huge thing is, don't start until you have the money to do it from start to finish. Taking time off to save up more funds will just cost you more in the long run.

-Brian
 
It all depends on the person...I was a young guy when I got mine, but I have log entries over the course of 3 1/2 years totaling 45.3 hours when I took my checkride. Admittedly, the bulk of these hours were evenly spread over the last 2 years. While not the ideal way of obtaining your ticket, with determination and self study it can be spread out and completed in a time less than average. I was fortunate to have parents who paid for this as they could and I really appreciated it, so I think that caused me to focus a lot more on self study. I didn't do any courses, just read and re read several times all of the FAA docs that are available for free.

The biggest thing I will say, is just get out there and fly as you can. Do not feel like you have to rush it. You will know when you're ready to take the check ride. Learning to fly is just as much fun as flying. Take advantage of having an experienced person sitting on your right and soak everything up like a sponge. Once you get your ticket, never stop learning. Do not hesitate to fly with CFIs. I do regularly, and learn something new every time.
 
The number of hours they quote you at the start is rarely the amount it will take to get your license.

I took the checkride with around 55 hours +-

It really just depends on your schedule and how well you learn the material.

Hope this helps!
 
TangoZulu said:
Hey,

I've got a few questions regarding the breakdown of the number of hows it takes on average to get a PPL if the student studies for the written and oral portions primarily by himself:

1) How many hours of dual flight time total?
2) How many hours of solo flight time total?
3) How many hours of ground instruction total?

So how many did it take you?

If it makes a difference, the course would follows a Jeppesen sylabus.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Not sure on the dual/solo split, but I started my check ride with 40.0. Ground is hard to calculate because where I trained ground cam in the form of pre and post flight briefs (not charged for, instructors charged only flight and sim time) and sitting around the couches talking. It's really hard to put a number on it, but I would say ground instruction time is 2:1 for flight time to be able to convey all the information, and that is with you primarily self studying. However much "ground" training is done in flight concurrently with the flight training, so there's an other fudge.

It really depends on how the program at the flight school or with the private instructor you choose operates. 141 schools are very structured and can provide you a syllabus that will spell out the answers to those questions to you quite exactingly. A private CFI operating under Pt 61 doesn't have the same stringency of schedule or process, so there are many models to use to achieve the result. Regardless how you divide the hours between self and structured study though, I figure a total of 500 hrs s sufficient for most people.
 
At checkride:
Dual: 48
Solo: 22
Ground: The only things I really did ground for were brief/debrief, XC planning and checkride prep. I did a lot of self study and absorbed myself in aviation so I didn't have to pay for ground sessions.

Those are likely inflated a bit due to:
- three different stretches of training over almost 3 years
- an additional solo XC beyond requirements I opted to take
- 3 different instructors and some extra dual flights beyond minimum requirements
- moving from 172N to 152 to 172S then back to 152
- extra practice solo flights while waiting for checkride day

So... I took the ride at 70 hours TT, but I was probably ready closer to 60-65 (maybe 50-55 if I hadn't broken up the training). During the time I trained, I was flying probably twice a week.

I didn't rush to complete in the lowest hours because I read somewhere that even if it's dual, it's still flying :). Also, in between duals and while prepping for the written, I took solo flights at every opportunity to practice maneuvers and whatnot. It paid off well in the end. So, even if your total time is 50 or 100, as long as you're making good progress, just keep on flying.
 
At Checkride:

Dual: 27.3
Solo: 13.5
Total: 40.8

Ground instruction: Don't remember. Did a lot of it on my own and then the instructor and I would sit down if I had questions. If I came in ready for the lesson and it was clear I did the homework, the pre-flight instruction would be very brief.

Hours at first solo: 7.0

First flight: June 2005
Checkride: Dec. 2006

Factors(excuses) for me:
- Solo time includes a couple flights to take a few aircraft to have altimeter/transponder checks done for the FBO I worked at.
- Switched from a 152 to a 172 just before solo
- One of the solo X-countries was a much longer distance than needed to a Class C airport cause I wanted to go visit a girlfriend
- Spread out over a long period of time because I wasn't 17 until Nov. of 2006
- Weather in Nov delayed the checkride a month
 
Let's see how long it takes for this thread to turn into a pi**ing match. :)
How about a checkride with 40.2 TT? ;)
May the poop flinging begin!! *ducks and covers*
:popcorn:
 
Hi,

my breakdown looks as follows:

Dual: 36.1
Solo: 10.9
Total: 47.0

Before we decided to proceed with the US PPL* we took some lessons which added up to 10 hours to get an idea what to expect. Those hours were not really used efficiently, but they helped to get me hooked. I guess that was Oliver's goal... :wink2: :D Flight training was very intensively for two weeks and we basically lived in the flight school.

In the end it is not important how many hours you need to be ready for the check ride. You should feel confident. I was signed off for the IFR check ride after barely over 43 hours (training spread over 8 months) and passed the check ride with about 55 hours flight training (additional hours in intense training again).

Have fun flying,
Martina

* At that time we still lived in Germany and considered either a German PPL or an Ultralight license as well. Advantages of the US PPL convinced us.
 
BigBadLou said:
Let's see how long it takes for this thread to turn into a pi**ing match. :)
How about a checkride with 40.2 TT? ;)
May the poop flinging begin!! *ducks and covers*
:popcorn:
Click to expand...

After CFI & I had gone through my book and come up with 40.0, the DPE added up 39.9 and had me do a lap while he had coffee before starting the oral. Started my ride with 40.0
 
BigBadLou said:
Let's see how long it takes for this thread to turn into a pi**ing match. :)
How about a checkride with 40.2 TT? ;)
May the poop flinging begin!! *ducks and covers*
:popcorn:
Click to expand...
I'm out. I had at least 300 hours of dual before solo.
 
Clark1961 said:
That's what ya git when ya start training at 14...
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I could reach the pedals of the neighbor's champ at 12, thats when he started a logbook for me. I didnt find out i had an early logbook until he passed away, it was in a box of stuff he left for me. All the maneuvers for ppl and coml were in there. I was oblivious. For example turns around a point were disguised as checking a downed cow. He worked it all in.
 
JHW said:
I could reach the pedals of the neighbor's champ at 12, thats when he started a logbook for me. I didnt find out i had an early logbook until he passed away, it was in a box of stuff he left for me. All the maneuvers for ppl and coml were in there. I was oblivious. For example turns around a point were disguised as checking a downed cow. He worked it all in.
Click to expand...

That's an awesome story!!
 
JHW said:
I could reach the pedals of the neighbor's champ at 12, thats when he started a logbook for me. I didnt find out i had an early logbook until he passed away, it was in a box of stuff he left for me. All the maneuvers for ppl and coml were in there. I was oblivious. For example turns around a point were disguised as checking a downed cow. He worked it all in.
Click to expand...

That is so cool! I may do that one day :)
 
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