I have a student in his early forties, retired army who always wanted to fly. Now that he has the funding he has decided to change careers and wants to be a bush pilot in alaska. We are pushing 45 hours and no solo and no chance of it. he simply is not safe but WILL NOT give up. i admire his attitude and persistence he tries very hard and studies very hard but simply does not retain information well and again the physical part is not coming to him. Has anyone come across anything similar and how do you go about it? What legal right do i have to stop his training other than not signing him off to solo? The VA has come down on frivolous use of flight training funds and may possible put a limit of some kind in the near future and i dont want him running out of educational benefits with no useful skills to speak of...

A tough situation. My hat's off to someone who won't quit and to the instructor who hangs in there at least for awhile.

First thought ... you might consider having the student fly with another seasoned instructor for two or three flights to see if this sheds new light on the situation for you and/or the student.

Barring progress there ... one of my mentors said, "Bad news doesn't get better with time." If you haven't already, I think you owe the student an honest assessment at the right time based on your experience and knowledge. You could opt to put it in terms of pros and cons (we can continue flying together but I don't see you being cleared to solo, etc.). Sounds like you may also need to make a separate judgment call related to VA funding.

Best of luck.

Have him fly with another instructor, maybe the chief pilot. If that doesn't go well, then it might be time to cut him loose.

Agreed...have another very experienced instructor that students love to fly with...it's one thing if he's experienced, but there is a difference between knowledge/skill, and the ability to impart it.

Maybe even a third opinion.

If you all agree that it is hopeless, then all should talk to him about it together, so he won't think one guy is singling him out.

1. Have him fly with another instructor, just to verify what you're seeing.

2. Sit down, give him the honest assessment which is "no end in sight, no way to predict it".

3. Give him the option of continuing, with the understanding that there can be no expectations or timeline. Basically turning avgas into noise and see what happens, if that's what he wants to do. If you can't keep the training safe (ie really sketchy landings), don't give him this option.

4. Make it clear to him that instructor shopping might get him a rating, but his lack of aptitude could get him killed.

Also, let the PTS (or whatever they ca it now) be the standard. If he doesn't meet the standard, show him so he doesn't take it personal.

He's using the VA to pay?
So is he training under Part 141?
How did he pass his first stage check and end up at 45 hours without soloing?

we are 141, but the first stage check is right after initial solo, so he is still stage one. and due to being a public institution we cannot deny his enrollment. Im sure there is a way to do so be we would rather him come to the conclusion on his own.

my plan is to have him fly a few times with a senior instructor as soon as flying resumes in a week. and maybe he can shed some light on the situation and help, or confirm my feelings.

we did have a sit down council with the chief that at this rate a career in this is very bleak at best. his response was "can i take the hour ive done here and apply them somewhere else?"

i have tried to tell him that there are other careers in aviation other than pilots. he used to be a combat medic so my first thought was a flight nurse. i told him you still get to be around airplanes and use a skill you obviously already have...

Good luck with that man...My issues are students that can't speak english. I have one guy who can't read the checklist. Yes the checklist in a 172SP.

management is trying very hard to get foreign students and i am not looking forward to it. fortunately they are at least a year out and i will be at R-ATP mins in about 5 months.