Right now I am dealing with the worst luck weather-wise. I have been ready for my PPL checkride for over two months now! As I sit here listening to the pouring rain I am checking weather.com for San Antonio, and they are calling for storms the next NINE days in a row. ARGHH.

Here is a breakdown of my last eight weeks: I go for a review flight with CFI, schedule check ride, cancel, go for a review flight with CFI, schedule check ride, cancel.. I have had to cancel four times now due to low ceilings/rain. I am fearful of going on my checkride without having flown in a few weeks, so I go up with an instructor on a VFR day just to make sure I am still PTS proficient, but then like clockwork it is mostly cloudy for another 10 days...

What other setbacks have you guys/gals experienced out there in your pursuit of various licenses? Just wondering what other problems I can look forward to/prepare myself for - at this point I am thinking of becoming a meteorologist.

 

My private checkride was first scheduled on 9/12/01. Yeah, didn't happen on schedule...

 

If I remember right, It took me about 5 years to get my commercial add on for a helicopter. We had examiners that didn't show up, bad wx, and maintenance problems. We had to replace the engine once. There was always something going on to delay the check ride. It's just part of the fun involved with flying.

Hang in there, you will get it done eventually.

 

I was in the middle of doing my instrument on 9/11...my CFII was also a corporate Falcon 2000 driver and was stuck in D.C. with his jet for 2 1/2 weeks.

 

I was at 56 hours total time after 7 months training for the PPL, preparing for the checkride. This was September of last year. All of a sudden the airplane I'd been training in became real popular with a couple of new students who started scheduling it 3 or 4 times a week for 2 or 3 weeks out. Then the plane went in for its 100 hour. Then the weather went bad. Then the plane went in for its annual. Then daylight savings time started and I couldn't fly during the week anymore because it was dark by the time I got in the air. Then the alternator in the plane went bad. Then I had a $500 dental bill, a $600 auto repair bill and a $1000 medical bill. And the holidays were looming. So I had to stop. I just started back up two weeks ago. Only now the school I train at has lost 2 of its instructors and has only replaced one so far, and he's a brand new CFI. Oh, and the plane went in the shop to get the door repaired. And the ammeter is busted.

Other than that, clear sailing.

 

Being in the Denver area, it was no easy task. I was threatened (well, not really) by another instructor that told me it took him 6 months to do his solo cross country flights. Then (low and behold) by some miracle, I was able to complete the 2 required solo cross country flights within one week, then the checkride soon after that.

My suggestion would be to try to do it at the crack of dawn before the weather has a chance to act up (if your examiner has the time). Fortunately (or unfortunately, whichever way you look at it), the examiner suggested to do it at 7:00am. I couldn't sleep the night before knowing I had to get up at 5:00 in the morning, but I managed to get it done.

I'm not quite sure how the weather acts down there in south TX, but that is what I have to offer.

Knock 'em dead !

 

My biggest hurdles for the private was weather and time. Since I was in high school and working the weekends at the airport to pay for the lessons I would only be able to get in a lesson once a week or once every other week. That definately slowed things down. Then when I got to my solo cross countries, I had about a month to a month and a half between each one because of the weather. And then had to deal with it getting darker, so I could fly even less because I couldn't go after school. I eventually got it done on a nice Sunday afternoon in January.

You just got to hang in there and keep at it, eventually it will work out.

 

I had a lot of hurdles on my journey and the part of me that takes pride in being a pilot is from having kept going through all the challenges. I was self-funded through my flight training with no loans and I ran out of money several times, which was big obstacle. Each ticket was a financial mountain. Another obstacle was a CFI who didn't know how to teach very well and wasted quite a bit of time. Another was an engine breakdown in the only airplane one could use for the checkride. Someone mentioned how scheduling can be crazy too. Unaware club members can take your only vehicle off to Sun 'N Fun and make that dream trip out west without realizing what it does to your program. Another problem was an ambitious CFI who really didn't dedicate herself to my cause preferring to get away so she could further her career. Weather was frequently a problem and the endless number of aircraft squawks slowed things down. I always said anyone who gets his tickets darn well deserves them! It's a shame the industry doesn't reward the effort, because in terms of angst and challenge flight training is right up there with the best of them. Anything good in life is always a challenge.

 

longest i had to wait for a checkride is 3 weeks, hurricane season doesnt really help. =)

 

If you had gone to ATP this wouldn't have happened to you. They can't control the weather but they can and do get you trained on time and within the quoted budget.

-LAFF