I know a key factor is flying often enough to develop and maintain the skills you have learned. If a person takes things too slowly, they may actually lose those skills and not refine them to the point needed.

That being said, has anyone gotten a private pilots license and taken more than 3 or 4 months to do it? How long do you feel is too long? 12 months?

It's just something that always seemed like it would be fun to do, but it would probably take me a little longer than 3 months.

I'm working on it. I have a lot of down time at work and was studying for the test, but then got moved to midnight shift in April and all my drive went out the window.

Been a long time ago but IIRC I took about 12 months to complete mine, was a function of disposable cash flow at the time.

Put in perspective, 52 hours over 12 months has you flying one hour a week. But remember that some of those hours will be in bigger chuncks, X-Country, etc.

I don’t remember how long it took me, but 6 months is very reasonable IMO.

It really helps to fly a lot and have that be your focus, but one rarely has that luxury. Flying takes money and time. My experience was that I had one but rarely both. I got lucky in that I worked in London for a while in the middle of college. When I came back I had some money, more credit, and some time before the quarter started. I did my private pilot airplane license quickly, then while in back in school started flying gliders on the weekend. It probably isn’t an exaggeration to say that a lot of times I spent half the lesson re-learning stuff I’d forgotten from prior lessons.

It can be done over time, you just have to work harder at it. It will take more time and be more expensive, but if your options are doing it slowly or not doing it at all, doing it slowly looks pretty good.

I can't imagine how difficult it is to fly a plane. Has to take a great amount of skill unlike "driving" a car these days.

Why are you getting the PPL? Are you going slowly because of funds, time to commit, or other reasons? Do you plan on getting other ratings, instrument ticket? I'm a CFI/II and would be happy to talk if interested. I also fly an XL so I am frequently off the grid for a day or so, but feel free to email me if you'd like.

The skills and knowledge are a perishable commodity. It requires study before and after the rating to remain proficient, current, and safe. If their are clubs in the area, having others to help out is extremely beneficial. You can learn from them, and the more resources, the better. Funds are often the biggest reason, and it can cost 10k or more, so it can be a big commitment. Hope this helps. I'm sure others will chime in with their expertise and thoughts as well.

I was working towards it in high school & a limited amount in college. Was trying to be in the plane just about every weekend.

Haven't flown as PIC in >10 years & greatly miss it. Had 26 hours logged & was (according to my instructors) likely to be checkride ready probably not a lot above 40.

Have thought about going back to it, and have called some schools locally. Pricing is pretty reasonable, just not sure what I'd do with it when I got it.
When I was flying in HS, I had a free plane (GF's mom had 2 planes, a Cessna 150M & a Cessna 177, later the 150M & a Piper Lance), and a cheap instructor (older gentleman who did it because he wanted to, lessons were $50 regardless of length).

I did this a few decades ago, mostly for entertainment purposes.
Once I was able to solo, I could fly locally and that pretty much was what I wanted to do anyway. Getting the license didn't really add that much except to check off the box and be able to take an occasional trip.
My hours were pretty limited and I realized I needed to fly more to stay proficient and gain skills but my time and budget didn't allow for much more.
Now I find that in my circumstances, it's better to have friends with planes than to have one myself.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:

That being said, has anyone gotten a private pilots license and taken more than 3 or 4 months to do it? How long do you feel is too long? 12 months?

Two or three months is actually much shorter than many people take, given expense, work, commitment, etc.

I completed my private with a little over two years, starting when I was fourteen; soloed at sixteen, did the private checkride at seventeen, commercial at eighteen, etc. About a year to solo, and a year to finish up. Mostly fitting it in during high school, and cycling the 30 miles to the airport to scrub airplanes and turn wrenches at night, to pay for it. I didn't ever entertain the possibility that it might turn into a career.

The fastest I ever had a student complete certification was 30 days; a German who called from Germany to ask if he could do it in one month, and he did. He showed up, focused on training, knocked it out in 30 days, then bought his girlfriend a ticket over from Germany. They rented an airplane and flew around the country for a month, then commercialed home, all for less than what it would have cost to just do the basic pilot certification in Europe.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I can't imagine how difficult it is to fly a plane. Has to take a great amount of skill unlike "driving" a car these days.

It's really not that hard. If you can learn to drive a car or ride a bike, you can learn to fly. There's not a lot to hit in the air, navigation is greatly simplified, and let's face it: air is soft. Most of what you need to know about airplane behavior and aerodynamics you already know from sticking your hand out a car window on the freeway, and driving a bike. Tilt the hand, it goes up. Pedal up hill, it takes more power to keep going. Coast down. Faster, more lift. Too much angle of the hand, stall. Same stuff, different setting, but everything works the same.

That thing where you're not allowed to talk on your phone and drive. A good thing. In the airplane, you're required to talk and drive. Don't run out of gas. If there's a problem, you can't pull over to the shoulder and think about it, but you have written directions, and people to call if you have questions. There's no shoulder to pull over on, but sometimes the airplane makes that choice for you. When it does, speed is life, just like the hand out the car window. Same stuff. It's not nearly as hard, nor as complicated as you might think.

It's just expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I can't imagine how difficult it is to fly a plane. Has to take a great amount of skill unlike "driving" a car these days.

It's really not that hard. If you can learn to drive a car or ride a bike, you can learn to fly. There's not a lot to hit in the air, navigation is greatly simplified, and let's face it: air is soft. Most of what you need to know about airplane behavior and aerodynamics you already know from sticking your hand out a car window on the freeway, and driving a bike. Tilt the hand, it goes up. Pedal up hill, it takes more power to keep going. Coast down. Faster, more lift. Too much angle of the hand, stall. Same stuff, different setting, but everything works the same.

That thing where you're not allowed to talk on your phone and drive. A good thing. In the airplane, you're required to talk and drive. Don't run out of gas. If there's a problem, you can't pull over to the shoulder and think about it, but you have written directions, and people to call if you have questions. There's no shoulder to pull over on, but sometimes the airplane makes that choice for you. When it does, speed is life, just like the hand out the car window. Same stuff. It's not nearly as hard, nor as complicated as you might think.

It's just expensive.

Agreed, I was surprised how much simpler it was than I was expecting.
Granted the majority of my seat time is in a Cessna 150, which you could just about get into the air with the tow bar & a brisk run.
Luckily, it made for a fantastic learner, IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I can't imagine how difficult it is to fly a plane. Has to take a great amount of skill unlike "driving" a car these days.

It's really not that hard. If you can learn to drive a car or ride a bike, you can learn to fly. There's not a lot to hit in the air, navigation is greatly simplified, and let's face it: air is soft. Most of what you need to know about airplane behavior and aerodynamics you already know from sticking your hand out a car window on the freeway, and driving a bike. Tilt the hand, it goes up. Pedal up hill, it takes more power to keep going. Coast down. Faster, more lift. Too much angle of the hand, stall. Same stuff, different setting, but everything works the same.

That thing where you're not allowed to talk on your phone and drive. A good thing. In the airplane, you're required to talk and drive. Don't run out of gas. If there's a problem, you can't pull over to the shoulder and think about it, but you have written directions, and people to call if you have questions. There's no shoulder to pull over on, but sometimes the airplane makes that choice for you. When it does, speed is life, just like the hand out the car window. Same stuff. It's not nearly as hard, nor as complicated as you might think.

It's just expensive.

Agreed, I was surprised how much simpler it was than I was expecting.
Granted the majority of my seat time is in a Cessna 150, which you could just about get into the air with the tow bar & a brisk run.
Luckily, it made for a fantastic learner, IMO.

I'm fairly certain I could get one of those in the air in the decent weather based on Microsoft Flight Simulator. I am also fairly certain many would consider the landing a crash.

It is expensive for sure and conflicts with our big hobby - boating. I also clearly recall the first year or two learning how how to maneuver a large boat in small spaces with wind and weather conditions all over the map. What seems routine now was a bit ugly early on.

I did. I got my private many years ago just because I'd been interested in airplanes since I was a little kid. I started, then quit, then continued months later. Can't remember exactly, but must have been around a year overall. That is not the way to do it IMHO. Had to relearn stuff, etc. I considered pursuing a career in aviation, but at the time my instructors seemed to be starving. So after the private, I started a non aviation career, and was away from flying for many years. Much later, I did my commercial, multi engine and instrument, and was partners with some folks in a small airplane. Spent a lot of money getting those ratings, but never made a penny in aviation. I guess it was just an expensive hobby for me, almost as expensive as my firearms hobby

I started flying and got my license when I was in high school. I was working towards my license because I wanted to go into the military and thought that if I was already rated it would count in my favor towards getting a slot as a military pilot.

I had an appointment to Royal Military in Kingston in 1978 but was told flat out that there was no way they would put me on the pilot track. I ended up going into the reserves for four years.

I still fly, and about 10 years ago I re-did my entire PPL course curriculum and got an outright US Certificate as I had been flying on my Canadian certificate since I moved here in 1991

I started in 1972 in Napa, CA. I was stationed at Mare Island for Nuclear Power School. I flew 2 hours a week on the average at a rate of $15 wet and $25 with an instructor. (My instructor was a WW2 fighter pilot). I flew about 35 hours when I got transferred and ran out of money and time in Idaho Falls. I flew a couple of solo hours there and that was it.

I've flown with friends over the years and have another 20 hours in single and multiengine but none logged as I was in the right seat. Now it's toooo expensive and I'm toooo old.

I'm in the middle of my ASEL, right now.
Covid put a monkey wrench in things this year. The flight schools all shut down for quite a while; some are still not flying, or they are flying in very limited amounts depending on the location and Covid spread.
Mine will be about a full year from when I started. Plan on it taking some time. Weather will always cause problems/delays in your seat time (but not so much on your bookwork/ground).
The medical can also take some time, depending on your health history (I have had my medical exam, but had to document a couple things...which takes more time).
In short: Plan on it taking longer than you think it will, and just roll with it. You'll get there exactly when you're supposed to.

I've saved the money to do this but I'm considering a job change and would rather do it when I have time to commit. Interested to hear more.

Back to the original poster's question; the duration of the total training isn't really what's important. If the question is the ideal frequency of training, then 2-3 times a week is ideal. Most people who are working can't do that, and end up flying maybe once a week or once a month, a weekend here or there. Especially today, where prices are through the roof.

Flying, like many things, is a perishable skill, and especially so in the early stages when one is in primary training learning the basics. The most cost-effective and efficient way to learn to fly involves flying frequently enough that one can retain the training developed on previous lessons, and applying them to the next. Otherwise it's a constant game of catch-up.

Learning involves plateaus, where one can't seem to improve or get over and obstacle, and then bursts when it becomes clear and one moves on; this is true of anything, but flying is expensive and unique enough that it can prove frustrating to a student who is attempting to land, or do a stall...and a fear of stalling or fear of the ground creeps in...the student doubts the outcome and the mental block becomes a deterrent to learning. This tends to occur less when the student retains more and can devote more of the learning time, and energy, to pressing forward instead of repeating them same things.

Today the aviation industry has ground to a halt, so there's a good chance that as a student you'll have the same instructor. In the past, it wasn't uncommon to go through several instructors before finishing, because they didn't stick around that long; I had five, I think, before finishing my private. Each one came with a different way of doing things, and that impacted learning and progress, too. And each instructor had to evaluate, and a relationship had to develop, which caused repetation.

The FAA requires 40 hours for a private certificate, but the national average for a new student is closer to 80. The amount of time you end up putting in has a greater impact on the total cost; more airplane rental, more instructor time, more commitment. Think of it like interest on a loan; the longer you take to pay off the loan, the more it costs. The longer you train, the more flight hours you're likely to put in, getting it done, and the greater the cost.

When you do finish, the majority of private pilots will end up not flying much, if at all. The training interval is a time when there's a goal: get the private pilot certificate. Once that's done, the goal met, it's harder to justify. There's no crystal clear reason for showing up, for the expense of rental, and it's hard to justify. The goal achieved, the pilot goes non-current, and they seldom fly again. Perhaps 9 our of 10 private pilots fit that category. A small fraction go on to do it for a living, and a few others go after instrument ratings or higher certification, or seek other forms of training such as conventional gear (tailwheel), seaplane, multi-engine, or aerobatic training. Most don't.

A lot don't finish, either due to expense, or just losing interest, or losing the drive to justify the cost. More drop out than finish. Especially if it takes a long time.

Those who do finish are to be commended, because it does take some drive, especially in this day and age. Flying isn't necessarily difficult, but it does take staying with the program and some dedication, and it is not a small accomplishment by any means, to get certification.

That said, private flying is pretty damn cool. I do all kinds of flying, including a lot of long distance around the world stuff, and by far, the most satisfying and enjoyable flying is in a light airplane, just doing landings, or flying to see the leaves change in the fall. Private pilots tend to be enthusiasts, those who stay with it; they love to chat and talk about flying, and nobody cares if they're doctors or plumbers: it's the interest that binds, and it's the same kid-dream that drove us to hold up a paper airplane and make jet or propeller noises and hand fly it around and pretend we were inside. It's like flying dreams, except awake (and really expensive): it's kid games for grownups, and it's fun. Worth it. But really, really expensive any more.

Someone who is interested, but finds it hard to justify the cost, should also look into learning in a glider. Soaring is its own reward, and also exceptionally cool. It costs a lot less.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:

That being said, has anyone gotten a private pilots license and taken more than 3 or 4 months to do it?

Yes. One of the best things I ever did with my life. Racked up a little over 1200 hours before I got bored with it. I was 46 at the time and money was no object.

Many years ago I won 10,000 in a radio contest. I used that money to start flying lessons. I was actually taking the classes before I won the money. After 25 hours in the air, I came to the conclusion that my airsickness was not going to go away...