2strokes

Very helpful feedback, much appreciated.

As cubdriver underlined, I now realize that a good portion of my flights where not clearly focused on acquiring new skills.
Many of my solo flights were spent going back and forth between small airports within the allowed 25nm radius around my home airport. While this definitely helped me get comfortable with my local airspace, it did not help much in building some of the skills needed for cross country. In the end, I was only able to have one or less x-country per week which is, to everyone's point, insufficient.

Following you guys advice I have done the following:
- met with my instructor to identify those skills I still need to acquire before my checkride
- agreed on how many flights / prep time I should need to acquire those skills. According to my instructor, I am around 7 x-country flights away from my checkride, which amounts to around 15 hrs flying + 15hrs prep time.
- defined clear objectives for each of my upcoming lessons
- identified things to study at home before each flight
- agreed to assess my progress after 4 flights to make sure I am still on track. If not, find why and modify plan accordingly

Finally, I have scheduled as many flights as my schedule and the plane availability at my club allows: 2 x 3hrs session per week-end. To timbo's point I could book 2 sessions / day on the week-end but this would not leave me time between flights to plan new x-country routes, revise procedures to practice in flight and do some chair flying.
Once I am cleared for solo x-country, I will book several 5 hrs blocks to complete the required 150nm, 3 airports flight.

Thanks again for all your advice. I will keep you guys updated on my progress. If the weather cooperates and all goes according to plan I should have my PPL by the end of January....at least that's the goal.

Cubdriver

Sounds good, you are approaching it in a mature way. You'll be done soon then you can fly for fun without as much stress.

2strokes

That's because I am 40

Thanks for the kind words, I am looking forward to that day.

2strokes

Hello Guys,

It's been a couple of months since I came to this forum for advice and I wanted to close the loop. Without further ado, I am proud to say that I am now a Private Pilot! and I want to thank you for your advice and support.

The process was not smooth and I thought I would share it here in case it can help someone else:
- after the meeting with my instructor things moved pretty fast and I got green lighted to take my club solo cross country checkride only 2 weeks later
- finding a club examiner within a week's notice proved challenging and I discovered that not all the club's CFI were equally friendly and helpful. With the help of my instructor and the club admin we found someone and I completed my checkride before christmas.
- after a 2 weeks hiatus for the holidays, I took 2 more lessons and begin flying solo cross country. After 2 weeks I was able to complete my long solo cross country flight and we begun looking for a DPE
- For some reason the bay area only had one DPE for a little while and there was a consensus among the CFIs that the situation was not healthy (this DPE was apparently not the fairest guy). They called upon a ex-DPE to come back into business and I for one called myself lucky that he agreed for he was not only insanely qualified but also great to fly with even in an exam situation.
- For my 1st appointment the weather was overcast and we had to cancel
- For my 2nd appointment, the weather looked clement and we completed the oral portion of the test. By the time we were done clouds had moved in and I judged the conditions unsafe. The DPE agreed and we rescheduled.
- For my 3rd appointment, the plane I had booked became non-op a day before. I booked another plane at the last minute and found out during the pre-flight that the tail light was non-op. I called the DPE to cancel.
- For my 4th appointment all went well until I messed up the recovery for unusual attitude with the foggles. The DPE failed me.
- I booked a lesson with instructor, went over the exercise without problem and he renewed my endorsement.
- I then booked my 5th and last appointment with the DPE and was able to complete the exercise with flying color. The flight lasted less than 20 min and the DPE looked baffled that someone who messed up the exercise so badly a week earlier suddenly completed it flawlessly He gave me my PPL!
- That same day I took my wife and we went for a San Francisco Bay Tour together for the first time. I flew through the B space with confidence and was rewarded with gorgeous views of Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge.

I am proud to say I am now a Private Pilot!
Thanks all for your help and support.

Cheers,

Flightcap

Just came upon this thread so cannot take credit for the prior guidance you received, but nonetheless I want to congratulate you on your achievement. A pilot's license is a rare privilege. Use it well and enjoy your hard-won freedoms!

Blue skies.

Flyhayes

Congratulations!

USMCFLYR

Congrats 2strokes. Mission accomplished.
Now where does it go from here?
Anywhere?

2strokes

Thanks for the kind words folks.
If you guys remembered, I had a deadline to complete my PPL. I never mentioned why but if you guys are curious, here is the answer: www.wolfandzebra.com