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Accelerated ratings, what do you think???

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Joined
Sep 13, 2004
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607
At this point, it looks as though my progression from zero time to about 20 hours/first solo will have taken about 1 year. At this rate, I can expect to have my certificate in another 1.5 years if I'm lucky. The funny thing here, is that I'm always scheduled to fly twice a week. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel it really shouldn't be taking over 2 years to obtain a simple private pilot certificate, given my ability to fly twice a week. Besides bad weather, part of the problem seems to be insufficient time spent on each lesson. On average, my lessons usually consist of about .7 hours in the air. Of my 17 hours, only 3 single lessons have actually been 1 hour in length.

Right now, I really don't care. However, if I ever get the PPC, I'll probably want to work towards an instrument rating. However, the factors above are unacceptable. I've seen advertisements that can get you an instrument rating in 1 or 2 weeks if you can commit full-time. This seem like the way to do it.

What does everyone think of these accelerated programs???
 
I guess I don't see the math. Even at 1.4 hours a week, that is less than 15 weeks to get to 20 hours. If weather is the reason for cancelation, man, you need to move somewhere MUCH nicer!

First thing I would do is sit down with your instructor and talk with him/her. There is no reason you can't do 1-1.5 hours per flight. Unless this instructor is trying to cram 6-8 students a day in, it sounds to me they're just plain lazy. Is this a professional instructor (someone doing it for a living) or Joe Schmoe who is doing it "for the fun of it" on the side from a full time job? Both can be great instructors, but the students priority is the most important aspect to flight training.

If a talk doesn't work to your satisfaction, check another instructor or another flight school. If the student is truly dedicated to learning to fly and has the time and funds to get the rating done, it shouldn't take more than 6 months at the most. The longer you take, the more money it's going to cost you.

As for advanced ratings, again...if your local school can't get the job done, look elsewhere.

2000Flyer
 
It could be worse. I took my first hour of dual in July 1995, solo'd in August 1996, and finally finished my PPL in March 2001.

H@ll ... you're screaming thru it compared to me. :D

And of course ... there's my three starts on the IR, as well. :(


Minhberg the Old
(I'm pacing myself :D )
 
2000flyer said:
Is this a professional instructor (someone doing it for a living) or Joe Schmoe who is doing it "for the fun of it" on the side from a full time job? Both can be great instructors, but the students priority is the most important aspect to flight training.

My instructor is an older man, who is retired. I guess he's instructing for something to do, extra money, or whatnot.

2000flyer said:
If a talk doesn't work to your satisfaction, check another instructor or another flight school. If the student is truly dedicated to learning to fly and has the time and funds to get the rating done, it shouldn't take more than 6 months at the most. The longer you take, the more money it's going to cost you.

That probably sums it up. However, the next closest airport is like 1 hour away, and I don't even know if they have a flight school there. Besides, I get along very well with my instructor and the people I've met at the school. The last thing I want to do is actually walk away, and look for other instruction. I just wish things weren't taking so long.
 
Are you talking .7 total in the airplane, as in on the Hobbs? That's just not enough. Even with a short taxi and a nearby practice area that leaves you with what, 15 to 20 minutes of airwork?

Where I instructed we scheduled 2 hour blocks for lessons and easily did 1 to 1.5 on the Hobbs, depending on how much pre or post brief we needed. Your instructor is doing you a disservice if all he can manage regularly is .7 per lesson.
 
Irrespective of where you go, try to see if you can get 3-4 flights per week. Continuity is so important, and you need to push to try to fly more frequently.
 
There is nothing wrong with flying twice a week. I agree with everyone else and think that most of your lessons should be from 1.0 to 1.5 in the aircraft. Currently you're wasting 25% of your time taxiing the airplane. This is why simulators are a nice addition to aircraft training. You do a lot of airwork without wasting time on cruising and taxiing. If you like your insructor that is great. Maybe you could take a proactive stance on your learning and give him a set of goals for each flight lesson. By looking at the PTS or a JEPP syllabus you could tell him what you want to practice from your last lesson and what you would like to learn new on this lesson. Try to do this in a tactful manner, without over stepping your position as student. Maybe this will make each lesson more productive. Hopefully he'll be receptive to your needs. Once you solo more you'll be able to progress quicker since you can control what you practice. Good luck and don't be afraid to use all of us on this board.


PS- My older brother started in the 70's, has over 80 hours and still doesn't have his PPL. It's his fault all the way.
 
There is no reason you can't get everything done in less than a year. My school didn't have "Get all you ratings in 90 days" and I still managed to get everything done in less than a year and we had an extremely wet winter. There was also a few months that I didn't fly due to surguries. Actual time I was at the school, took about 9.5 months. But... I did it full time. It hurt like hell taking a HUGE paycut but the wife and I figured it out.

If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. Too many students out there don't have the commitment to do this thing balls to the wall. It's not fun doing slow flight, stalls and a million trips around the patch. Thats where you find out how bad you want it.
 
Okay, at the risk of starting a $hit$storm:

I agree with much of the advice given thus far.

It just doesn't have to take so long under any circumstances. You are the paying customer. Yes, an instructor owes you a professional responsibility to evaluate and control (to an extent) your progress, but students should be proactive and demand a timeline that suits their goals and their learning style. I disagree to some extent with Mickey though when he/she writes:

"Try to do this in a tactful manner, without over stepping your position as student. Maybe this will make each lesson more productive. Hopefully he'll be receptive to your needs."

This seems like a passive approach, and I never cared very much for students who were passive about their flight training. I always thought the most important thing I taught was a quality of PICness, which is the antithesis of being passive.

What is do-able? If made a full-time job, one month, December, in the Pacific NW from first lesson to Private checkride, with a 10-day no flying break due to weather. Obviously not the norm, just an example of what's possible with a proactive student and flexible flight instructor resources, though not necessarily just one instructor.

Honestly this isn't intended to be a lecture -- I hope it didn't come across as one. I just strongly believe that students are capable of using instructors in a way that gets the process done quicker and less expensively, and, oh by the way, can result in a better flying education, due to immersion, rather than dabbling.

Of course, I may be full of crap, in which case I'm sure someone will gleefully point it out.
 

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