Originally Posted by
TiredSoul
National average is about 75-80 hrs.
Reasons are the very young and the very old and the very unmotivated.
Also a lot of people start/stop/start/stop their training, usually because of funding issues.
Part time training increases the news for repetition.
All that drives up the average.
Training in very busy airspace can lead to quite a bit of travel time to and from practice areas which reduces the ‘effective’ learning time in a lesson.
Let me break it down:
Start up and taxi 15 min
Checks in run up area 5 min
Travel time to practice area 15 min
Travel time back from practice area 15 min.
Single traffic pattern and landing and taxi and shutdown 10 min.
In a 1.5 hr lesson that leaves you 30 min effective practice and training time.
Indeed there is a huge difference for full time, motivated students versus people doing it part time as a hobby or because their parents want them to.
For full time students, I've generally seen averages of 50-55 hours for domestic and 65-70 hours for international students in private.
For part time students, I usually quote 60 hours, which everyone thinks is very high. That said, I'd say the average is near what you said at 65-75 hours. The company that I work for really doesn't accept students that fly less than twice per week though.
For cost, I'd say $12-16k in North Texas, depending on the factors mentioned above and if you fly a C172 or C152.
Zero to hero, 0-MEI, is $74,495 including check ride fees, books, supplies, etc at US Aviation.