Min Hour Requirements & the Real World
#12
Min hour requirements are useful to help schools suck in uninformed students, who are then quoted training prices based on the mins (additional charges apply if you should happen to go over of course )
#13
I did my Private Helicopter in 55hrs back in 2003 then added my Airplane SEL on in exactly 30hrs a couple years ago. A lot has to do with you, your CFI and how many times per week you fly. I can say without a doubt that having your knowledge base as high as possible before you start a new rating will save you lots of money in flight time!
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2009
Position: Another RJ FO
Posts: 1,272
#16
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2009
Position: CFI/II/MEI
Posts: 481
I took almost 80 hours to get my private part 141. Although I had to take two extended breaks from flying because of knee surgeries that kept me out of the cockpit for a couple months each (breaks in training can really screw over a pre-private student). Then my 141 instrument took 35 hours to get signed off (~12 hours of sim and 23 hours of airplane).
From my experience teaching, private pretty much always go over. Instrument is kind of 50/50. Some people pick things up quickly and are more than ready by the time they hit the mins, and other struggle a bit more, but usually they only go over by 5-10 hours or so if they do go over. Commercial students are usually right at the mins when it is checkride time. Maybe they go over by a flight or two because of checkride scheduling delays or checkride-itis.
Also, the training environment makes a huge difference. Where I currently teach it is a decently busy class D, that is under bravo airspace. To taxi from our parking to the runways that are usually favored by the wind it is more than 2 miles, which means that our students are usually taxiing around the airport for 10-15 minutes of each flight. Over 30 flights that is at least 6 hours of time spent on the ground. Then we have to fly a good 12-15 miles to get out our practice area away from the airspace before we can climb up and do maneuvers. Again that adds another .2 or so to each flight. Then factor ATC delays and that means are average private pilot student is probably 'wasting' 10-15 hours of hobbs time over the course of their rating, when compared to students at other flight schools where aircraft parking is located close to the runways, don't experience ATC delays, and only have to fly maybe 4-5 miles away from the airport to start maneuvers.
I've flown at non-towered airports where you just start up and taxi 2 min to the end of the runway, do a quick runup, and can knock out 10-12 trips around the pattern in .8 hours. Where I teach now, a pattern lesson flight where a student gets 10 landings, is probably going to be 1.2 on the hobbs.
From my experience teaching, private pretty much always go over. Instrument is kind of 50/50. Some people pick things up quickly and are more than ready by the time they hit the mins, and other struggle a bit more, but usually they only go over by 5-10 hours or so if they do go over. Commercial students are usually right at the mins when it is checkride time. Maybe they go over by a flight or two because of checkride scheduling delays or checkride-itis.
Also, the training environment makes a huge difference. Where I currently teach it is a decently busy class D, that is under bravo airspace. To taxi from our parking to the runways that are usually favored by the wind it is more than 2 miles, which means that our students are usually taxiing around the airport for 10-15 minutes of each flight. Over 30 flights that is at least 6 hours of time spent on the ground. Then we have to fly a good 12-15 miles to get out our practice area away from the airspace before we can climb up and do maneuvers. Again that adds another .2 or so to each flight. Then factor ATC delays and that means are average private pilot student is probably 'wasting' 10-15 hours of hobbs time over the course of their rating, when compared to students at other flight schools where aircraft parking is located close to the runways, don't experience ATC delays, and only have to fly maybe 4-5 miles away from the airport to start maneuvers.
I've flown at non-towered airports where you just start up and taxi 2 min to the end of the runway, do a quick runup, and can knock out 10-12 trips around the pattern in .8 hours. Where I teach now, a pattern lesson flight where a student gets 10 landings, is probably going to be 1.2 on the hobbs.
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