powersmurfuk1

I'm confused. If I go and do a full-time 40 hr course that would take me to 70 hrs. That's not a short timeline?

powersmurfuk1

Interesting points. Sounds like your a seasoned instructor with thousands of hours under your belt rather than some rookie trying to build hours.

I started training in November. Got some sessions in, December had some cancellations due to weather. In Jan the first instructor started a new job so wasn't as available, and then in Feb I took a month off to get the written exam out of the way. That was a huge mistake. Should have done that before I even started training. It is what it is. I take full responsibility for the situation I'm in. Now I just need to find a decent school/instructor to move forward.

155mm

It's taking 80 hours because you have idiot instructors looking at the hobbs meter instead of giving you quality instruction! I find the older retired flight instructors who aren't trying to time build to be the best. They are school teachers, cops, retired airline pilots, etc. that are doing it for the love of flying and not for "building flight hours." I also suggest purchasing the microsoft flight simulator X program and logitech joystick for your computer to practice manuevers. Sorry to hear the cost of rental is so much. I wonder if there are some surrounding areas that have cheaper airplanes and CFIs ie: Mesquite?? St George?? Boulder City?? Personally, you should be able to get a Private in about 65 hours. AOPA says between "60 and 75." Weekly lessons and continuity are important in reaching the goal of Private pilot.
https://www.aopa.org/training-and-sa...-flight-school

155mm

Sorry to hijack the thread but it seems that General Aviation is totally screwed! Designated Examiners are charging between $500 and $1000 a check-ride. Yeah, they really have "aviation safety" in mind! The cost of a flight instructor is between $40 to $80 and hour. They better be Chuck Yeager for that price! Airplane rentals at "$175" an hour...common guys your airplane doesn't need to have a G1000 cockpit! Consider an older Piper or Cessna! Couple this with a major downturn in the airline industry and I only see a disaster for General Aviation sector.

USMCFLYR

DPEs aren't regionally restricted anymore.
If they are traveling to you - are you paying their travel expenses now?
Airline/POV gas/Hotel/Per Diem?
You know - most of the things that professional pilots expect to be paid when they are flying or doing flying related duties?

You can always get an ASI to do that ride.
For now maybe - but they really are trying to divest themselves of flying and turning most (if not all) over to the DPEs.

TiredSoul

I’ll answer this for all the instructors out there:
Excuse me, I’m teaching you the skills to stay alive.
Also the school takes their cut for insurance, workman’s comp and overhead such as rent and utilities.
I’ve also invested about $80,000 to get to the point where I can teach you.

You are possibly giving him the two worst pieces of advice you could have come up with.

- a professional flight instructor that does this full time every day all day is worth their weight in gold.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with instruction to build time. Two 40 hr students equals 80 hrs also. I think it’s only ethical to quote the national average.

- a flight simulator for a VFR private pilot student is the worst thing you can do as it does not mimic the 300(?) degree visuals you have in pretty much any light airplane.
Flying any of the Private maneuvers should be down and practiced with visual references and not almost exclusively on instruments on a computer screen.

Stoked27

The disaster was in the making when entry-level pilots weren’t making those Chuck Yeager wages as you say - banks wouldn’t lend without a co-signer because there was no way you could earn enough money to justify the monthly re-payment of the loan. Flight instructors only get a portion of that (~$25/hr in my area), yet the high schooler who didn’t spend any money to train for a job at Chic-Fil-A is making $13/hr.

It’s sort of like paying an attorney $200 for a 20 min consult. Seems ridiculous to pay them for something that was so quick for them while you’re sitting there, but you’re actually paying for the years of experience and hundreds of thousands of dollars in education they’ve invested/risked.

Also, regarding finding a retired airline pilot as an instructor that someone else mentioned, that’s a broad brush. I would offer that “it depends.” There are great instructors who are retired from a long flying career and great time-building instructors, but there are also some retired pilots I’ve come across who get complacent or create their own ‘isms’ for how to do things their way instead of the FAA way. Remember, you’re learning to fly a Piper or a Cessna, not a 747.

littlejon988

I was in nearly the same boat with my PPL. I started in 2018 at a flight school in Kissimmee FL that advertises its partnerships with Regionals and Liberty University. My instructor kept his eye on the Hobbs more than my flying. I was $9k and 24 hours into training without a solo. I ran out of cash and took a 8 month break. I moved over to PropellerHead Aviation at SFB flying with George Traber. He was an angry old guy, but was a great instructor. If I had him from the beginning, I would’ve been thru PPL in 50 hrs. Unfortunately, my wife’s job moved out to Colorado and I basically had to start again. After a few months of saving up again, I flew at the US Air FOrce Academy Flight club for about 30 more hours and earned my PPL. I was at 92 hours after the check ride. I fly at the Rocky Mountain FLight Training Center at Peterson AFB now. The extra experience has paid dividends now that I am 3/4 of the way through the material of my instrument rating though. 110ish flight hours and under the hood as much as possible to make sure I have the hours. The extra experience will help greatly. If you’re looking to move for a few weeks, Colorado Springs military aero clubs are the cheapest places to fly with great instructors. $100/hour wet and $42/hr instruction. If you don’t have any military affiliation, joining the Civil Air patrol gives you access to join the aero clubs.

155mm

There are many useful scenarios available to practice on the Flight Sim even at the Private Pilot level. Tune, ID and proceed direct to the VOR, track a radial, clearing turns, steep turns, perhaps even some approach to landing, departure stalls and recovery. You can even practice the cross country flight beforehand or familiarize yourself with the class B airspace beforehand. In addition, you can have the POH out and just keep the sim running with the park brake set and go over cockpit setup, fire during engine start procedure and other static training scenarios at no cost! It's just an idea to integrate and practice procedurally what one was taught and perhaps clarify concepts.

155mm

I would venture to say that many retired pilots with a current CFI have kept current in GA through the use of their personal aircraft. Chances are they have little interest in instructing anyway.