Training Time
 

Im a CFI and I was wondering what some of the longer training times people have heard of or seen. Im talking time to solo and time to get the private. I know a guy who said it took him 180 hours to solo and around 900 for the private, and he made it to becoming a professional pilot.

That is really, really scary! I will go out on a limb and make a bold statement that a career-oriented student who is putting in the effort should be able to get a PPL in under 60 hours. Somebody who really needs that much work is probably missing some critical aptitude for aviation!

There are a lot of factors, I took an excessive number of hours to get my PPL but I wasn't career oriented at the time and was doing it with one of my military buddies. Once I soloed, he kept endorsing me and I went a couple of years just doing my own thing as a solo student pilot. Eventually I wanted to take my girlfriend somewhere so I had to finish up.

But 900 hours is nuts! If I was a CFI I would send the guy packing after about 50 with no solo.

If I recall 60 hours is the national average for PPL. 15 hours is a ballpark figure to solo. It took me 60 hours for my private, and about 20 to solo but I was not career-oriented. Those who take flight training full time should be able to beat these numbers, and I have known a few who soloed in under 10 and obtained private in about 45 hours under Part 61 rules. It's not a race- many excellent pilots have taken longer.

900 hours is excessive, there is no question about it, especially if one were career oriented. I am glad somebody brought it up, because I am myself worried about what is happening with me. I have a tad more than 90 hours and I still don't have my private. It is because I have a FT job that requires a lot of dedication and time. Although I fly at least 2 times a week it is not always possible for me to stay sharp. Sometimes I feel like just quitting my job and doing it full time. But at this state of the economy, that is not practical. I hope to get my instrument rating in a significantly less time. I also have quite a commute to the flight school. All these factors have lead for me taking so long to get my license. I have however, gained a lot of experience by the additional hours. I have become more exposed to winds, weather, making decisions etc. So I'd say it all depends on your personal situation and how you make the best out of it.

90 hours is still getting up there, you might want consider the progress you are making and possibly talk to another instructor just to make sure your instructor is not mismanaging your training.

And yeah, don't quit your job.

900? thats....... scary.
I myself used about 60.

All depends on where you are training as well though, if you're flying out of an uncontrolled airport in no-mans-land, it's gonna take you shorter to solo/finish than if you're flying out of places like Daytona, where it takes 40 minutes just to start the engine and get to the practice area for every flight.

I've seen students with 60 hours and no solo, or 180 hours before PPL, and I thought that it was extremely excessive, but 900? I'm almost inclined not to believe it

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I have had students take the Private checkride at 42 hours and up to 60 hours. Solo happens when the solo is ready to happen, the student better be able to do EVERYTHING involved in the traffic pattern by himself. No touching the controls or talking on the radio from you.

Every student is different and needs special consideration, for example I currently have a 78 year old primary student. At 78 years old that would give him the hand eye coordination of a (drumroll please) 78 year old. He is progessing quite nicely but a 20 something will have a easier time handleing the controls.

I have seen 900 hour student pilots, but they are in the middle of nowhere with the closest CFI sometimes being a hundred miles away, these guys just never took their checkrides and bought their own planes. There are some that trained to solo and some that taught themselves. Scary.

You think??? I know I'm thickheaded, but good gawd amighty.:D

Geez! That's crazy!



atp

I had a guy I soloed at 45hrs, signed off for PPL ride at 186. No he wasn't going for pro, just leisure.

Pearl, it depends on your situation and your priorities. It would be really hard to really see your future in your current situation on whether or not you can hack it as a pro. Honestly you're in the best position because even if you get a PPL at 60hrs, you still need to build time to get to the Inst/Comm/CFI anyways. You have a good way to pay for your flying without going into crazy debt. I wish you the best of luck in your path, regardless of where it takes you.

900hrs @ $120/hr = $108,000 for a private

that's quite a few berries!