So, student pilots.. Who are we and where do we stand?

Just passed my checkride this week! Age 38 and started in September and flew 1-2 times a week. Had several weeks where weather grounded me. Did my checkride at 34 hours and was able to use 10 hours of glider time I have logged 10 years ago to get me over 40. I had all the other times required in powered aircraft. The DPE has not had the situation where he had a student with fewer than 40 hrs and use hours from a glider that didn't have a glider license.

Want to now work on ifr and go and spend a weekend and get my glider addon.

It's been a lot of fun and can't wait to take the family up. It's great to see so many students out there. We had several start when I did.

The best part is my wife really pushed me to go and do it earlier this year.
 
Wind, fog, and ice have played havok the last month or 2 here in Dallas. Crazy, but got it done. The check ride oral part was pretty stressfull. The flying was the fun part.
 
Storm said:
Just passed my checkride this week! Age 38 and started in September and flew 1-2 times a week. Had several weeks where weather grounded me. Did my checkride at 34 hours and was able to use 10 hours of glider time I have logged 10 years ago to get me over 40. I had all the other times required in powered aircraft. The DPE has not had the situation where he had a student with fewer than 40 hrs and use hours from a glider that didn't have a glider license.

Want to now work on ifr and go and spend a weekend and get my glider addon.

It's been a lot of fun and can't wait to take the family up. It's great to see so many students out there. We had several start when I did.

The best part is my wife really pushed me to go and do it earlier this year.
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Really frustrated with all of these success stories. I'm still trying to finish mine out. Started in July. Latest pause has been for a month due to weather and then the 172 went into annual early due to a busted front strut. Supposed to be back tomorrow or Monday. The 150 is finally back so most of the other students will be using that. I should have the 172 almost all to myself. Weather has been beyond perfect recently. Hopefully I can get me 2-3 flights per week in after the new year and finish up soon
 
48dodge said:
Really frustrated with all of these success stories....
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STOP. Don't listen to a lick of these "I finished in blah blah hours". Who f'n cares, you finish when you finish. Put it this way, most of the people on the internet (PoA IS on the internet) who say they did it in 40.x hours are full of it. I can almost guarantee if you looked at their log book it would tell a whole different story. It's like scoring in golf.....I play with plenty of people who only record the shots they like and then brag about how they shot 92 when in reality it was 112. Put the pieces of the puzzle together....if someone on PoA joined in 2007 and posted in 2013 how they finished in 40.1 hours and they haven't posted since 2008, they are probably full of sshh it.

however, I'm with you, with 2 major delays due to weather, and it's extremely frustrating. just get it done when you can get it done and that's all you can do.
 
Unless you are doing it for a career in aviation, I don't see the point in getting frustrated. I mean, I understand the frustration when you seem to not be able to get something (landings come to mind for most people), but I wouldn't get frustrated at the 40 hrs checkride.

What Jason did is not the norm at all. Congrats tho that you pulled it off!

I'm still working on mine, and I'm not planning to be in the 40 hrs checkride club :goofy:
 
I think I am target for the much more typical 60 hr check ride, but if it takes more so what. If you ultimately get to the same place, nobody is printing on your license how many hours it took you.
 
Didn't want to brag but was excited to get it done. The glider flying really helps in my opinion. Good luck and keep at it.
 
I don't care about the hours to finish. I'm just wanting to get more hours. If it takes a hundred so be it. I've been scheduled for about 100 only have mid 30s. Also 2 separate month long times between flying is the most frustrating. Mother Nature and Murphy are in cahoots. First break happened right when I first started landing. Second was right one lesson after solo. Like I said should be smooth sailing from here on out. Damn, just jinxed myself
 
48dodge said:
I don't care about the hours to finish. I'm just wanting to get more hours. If it takes a hundred so be it. I've been scheduled for about 100 only have mid 30s. Also 2 separate month long times between flying is the most frustrating. Mother Nature and Murphy are in cahoots. First break happened right when I first started landing. Second was right one lesson after solo. Like I said should be smooth sailing from here on out. Damn, just jinxed myself
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I feel ya....My checkride is scheduled for Monday and yesterday is the 1st time I've flown in the past 15 days. This past Monday the plane I've been training in had a small fire in the cowling due to being over primed/flooded on a cold start. Yesterday I went up in the clubs Archer for the 1st time....Supposed to go up again this afternoon and then possible Sunday but weather does not look good for Sunday.

At this point I'm almost hoping that Monday is a rain out and I get the Oral out of the way and have to reschedule the flight portion of the checkride :(
 
Hello Everyone!

Long time, no see. First time on in more than a few months. I took a new position, moved back up north, and it's been quite demanding getting everything in order and situated. I finally had some free time and stumbled on this one when I logged in this morning.

Student pilot! I've got maybe 10 hours in my book, but I haven't been able to fly since February. I'll need a bit more time to get everything settled in after the move, but hopefully, pretty soon I'll be seeking out a new instructor. Good news is that we've got a great airport here, and it's a whole 2 miles from my house.

I've got time in both a 150 and a 172, and I like them both. The 150 is fun to me because I'm a smaller guy and fit in it well. I would compare it to a go-kart I guess. It doesn't handle the best or climb the fastest, but it's fun, easy, and saves a few bucks an hour. I like the 172 as well and getting up faster with the extra power, but it's not always worth the extra $$$ to me.

Personally, I don't care if I finish in 40 hours or 80 hours. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to fly as often as some of you others do (unless I can add in the time I sit on commercial flights!), but that's not going to stop me. If it takes another two years, I'll still get it done. It's not a race for me, it's a fun, recreational activity.

How has everyone been?
 
Yeah got up today for the first time in just over 2 weeks!! Pattern work, but for a nice added twist a 10 to 15 knot crosswind, basically 90 to the runway, so no way around it. The CFI even cancelled the lesson after mine. Wow that makes things tons harder, and the first few runs through the pattern was shaky. Almost did my first fully unassisted landing despite the wind, once I got in the grove some.
 
drotto said:
Yeah got up today for the first time in just over 2 weeks!! Pattern work, but for a nice added twist a 10 to 15 knot crosswind, basically 90 to the runway, so no way around it. The CFI even cancelled the lesson after mine. Wow that makes things tons harder, and the first few runs through the pattern was shaky. Almost did my first fully unassisted landing despite the wind, once I got in the grove some.
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Yeah, landing in the middle of the trees does help break the wind.:D;)
 
Passed private checkride on 12/28/2013, made first go/no-go decision this evening. Wanted to test out my new headset (perfect excuse to fly, right?!) but the gusty winds just didn't really let up. Actually if it was a xc I prob would have gone but for sticking around the pattern I thought it would be a lil bumpy. Oh well, I'm still booked for tomorrow!
 
Every flight is a go/no-go decision. My CFI had me making the decisions prior to either of my XC flights which is a good thing IMO.
 
Finally, back in the plane after 10 days of holidays and bad weather. So interesting today, density altitude of about -3000, and a cleared but icy runway. My pattern is getting better, and I am about 95% landing it on my own, and at 11 hours or so logged. Wow, that density altitude is incredible, I am around 170, my instructor is close to 250, 20 lbs random crap in the plane, and full fuel, and in a PA28-161 we were getting 1100 fps climb rates easily, and I was even a little fast on my Vy coming out around 85 instead of 79, because I felt like I was reaching altitude too fast in the pattern. Also getting used to minimal pressure on rudder, and basically not using brakes on landing to avoid skidding off the runway was kinda fun also.

I guess it was also a valuable lesson in proper plane de-icing during pre-flight. No icing in the air because just a beautiful cloudless sky.
 
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11/19/2013 was my last time flying the 172 before yesterday. Plane had its 100 hour/annual since then and a few little thing were fixed that had been bugging me. One was the seat had stripped a gear so couldn't be adjusted to my liking. Now I can see out the windshield again! Yesterday was not a pretty site at all. First landing felt about like when my CFI told me to land the plane the first time months ago. Wind shear was pretty rough, too. Landings did at least get progressively better. By the last landing I greased it and we both agreed I'd better end on that note. Today much calmer on the ground, near dead calm. 30kt cross at 400'. Made for an interesting pattern. After 1 ugly landing then 3 nice ones I soloed again. Sun broke out so got turbulent on the ground again but I made 1 great landing and didn't damage the plane on the other 2. Felt good to be back in the left seat.
 
New to the forums here. I just restarted training for my private. I initially started in 1989 through a class offered at my high school. We (the students) shared one flight instructor across 6 classes. So needless to say flight time was stretched thin. Over three school years in the class, I amassed 41.9 hrs, of which .7 was solo. One solo (Jan 10th 1992), three trips around the pattern at KSEE (Gillespie Field) in El Cajon CA.

Fast forward exactly 22 years from the day I soloed. Jan 10, 2014. I had my first lesson in 22 years, Yesterday! :D

It was amazing to get back in the air. The lesson went well, it was certainly filled with a lot of sensory overload to begin with especially the pattern work. We started with the basics, straight and level, some turns, steep turns, slow flight, and turns around a point. Then back for some T&G's. All three T&G's and the full stop unassisted, I was surprised at how much of the muscle memory was retained. The first couple of landings weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing that required my instructor to take action. I was more critical of my landings than he was.

So to cut it short, I'm just getting back into the hot seat and looking forward finishing this time and finally getting my private after a 22 year break.


Dan

forgot to mention, I'm currently living in Myrtle Point, OR and flying out of Roseburg, OR
 
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djscott said:
New to the forums here. I just restarted training for my private. I initially started in 1989 through a class offered at my high school. We (the students) shared one flight instructor across 6 classes. So needless to say flight time was stretched thin. Over three school years in the class, I amassed 41.9 hrs, of which .7 was solo. One solo (Jan 10th 1992), three trips around the pattern at KSEE (Gillespie Field) in El Cajon CA.

Fast forward exactly 22 years from the day I soloed. Jan 10, 2014. I had my first lesson in 22 years, Yesterday! :D

It was amazing to get back in the air. The lesson went well, it was certainly filled with a lot of sensory overload to begin with especially the pattern work. We started with the basics, straight and level, some turns, steep turns, slow flight, and turns around a point. Then back for some T&G's. All three T&G's and the full stop unassisted, I was surprised at how much of the muscle memory was retained. The first couple of landings weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing that required my instructor to take action. I was more critical of my landings than he was.

So to cut it short, I'm just getting back into the hot seat and looking forward finishing this time and finally getting my private after a 22 year break.


Dan

forgot to mention, I'm currently living in Myrtle Point, OR and flying out of Roseburg, OR
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Welcome !
 
Haven't seen any updates from some of you guys. How are things progressing? I'm sure the weather isn't helping much.
 
Not much new since the solo. Working on stalls this Saturday, did some fun VOR work a few weeks ago, out to Catalina and back. And then we played with Foggles. I hate Foggles.
 
Old Fart said:
Not much new since the solo. Working on stalls this Saturday, did some fun VOR work a few weeks ago, out to Catalina and back. And then we played with Foggles. I hate Foggles.
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I've flown to Catalina/Avalon :) , What altitude did you make your trip at? That's a cool airport to fly into.
 
Old Fart said:
Not much new since the solo. Working on stalls this Saturday, did some fun VOR work a few weeks ago, out to Catalina and back. And then we played with Foggles. I hate Foggles.
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Not planning on an IR after you finish then? ;)
 
momalley said:
Passed my check ride on 1/17 and haven't flown since due to the weather
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I have to have sympathy for you folks with REAL weather. Other than a bit of fog last week (even affected the work airport), it's been VFR here pretty much every day
 
Damn that's cold (says the guy who usually flies in shorts)
 
momalley said:
We've had plenty of VFR days, they've just been 20 degrees or below
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Do your planes have pre heaters? there is nothing wrong with going out itnbelow freezing when its VFR. I went on wednesday and i believe it was 20 and the plane flew great
 
jordane93 said:
Do your planes have pre heaters? there is nothing wrong with going out itnbelow freezing when its VFR. I went on wednesday and i believe it was 20 and the plane flew great
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I took a 172 up to high altitude to try out some canyon turns at 10,500 not long ago.

It was below 20 up there. Airplane was really happy. I just had to stay out of the clouds; there were a few over the mountains. As one might expect, not the slightest hint of any ice.

But I did discover that the upper vents leaked air. That wasn't much fun. Neither was the traffic. I found out that you're not over the skydivers at that altitude.
 
jordane93 said:
Do your planes have pre heaters? there is nothing wrong with going out itnbelow freezing when its VFR. I went on wednesday and i believe it was 20 and the plane flew great
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I'd have to get a pre-heat from Sheltair. I know I can go out but pre-flighting in 14 degrees doesn't intrigue me.
 
Got to tackle some crosswind techniques last couple lessons. It had been at least a month since any crosswind practice. And it was pretty minor back then. One thing I realized is I had never had to deal with crosswinds from the left. Last lesson I had some really scary landings. Finally had a couple decent ones but far from consistent, more luck than anything. Wind was a direct cross this morning and using the opposite runway. So wind was from the left. Had some really good practice this morning. 20kts starting about 100' up creeping up to 30kts at 1000'. The pattern was fun. I got to watch the runway go by my windshield on downwind.

I soloed after a few laps but that wind that was 200' up started working its way down after dropping my CFI off. One of the few times I had a legitimate go around. I ballooned and was heading for a stall with a monster gust. Next time around was a nearly perfect crosswind landing. I was glad to be back safely on the ground by that point.
 
The plane I train in has been out for an overhaul. It was originally slated for 10 days but has been more like twice that. Feels like forever...
 
I've got about 9 hours in the air.
Been on the ground for two weeks due to 8 inches of snow on the grass strip I'm training off of, plus my CFI went on a cruise with his wife. He should be back in a couple days.
 
I am feeling more like a pilot today. I got to do a short solo xc. Very short to one of the nearby airports I've flown to several times before. Less than 20nm from my home base. Getting ready for a shortish xc to a controlled airport wed and a long xc on Fri with 4 legs. Starting to talk about my solo xc and night hours.
 
JasonM said:
Haven't seen any updates from some of you guys. How are things progressing? I'm sure the weather isn't helping much.
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Taking my written at the end of this week. Intense clean up sessions planned with my CFI for the following week. He says he thinks I'm pretty much ready to go and is pleased with my skill. That said, I do still have weaker areas or I should say, areas that I'm less confident with, gotta smooth those out.

Looking to schedule checkride the second or third week of March.
 
48dodge said:
I am feeling more like a pilot today. I got to do a short solo xc. Very short to one of the nearby airports I've flown to several times before. Less than 20nm from my home base. Getting ready for a shortish xc to a controlled airport wed and a long xc on Fri with 4 legs. Starting to talk about my solo xc and night hours.
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Nice! Don't you love that "I just got in this plane and flew it somewhere and now I'm on the ground again" feeling?

Having lots of diversity of airports close by has been a big help for me, slowly enlarging the circle of places I fly has been key since nothing has really been totally foreign, as in, I've already flown somewhere in that direction before and know some of the landmarks already.
 
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