Another new guy. I mean REALLY new

I soloed right around 19 hours and had my PPL at 80. I was ready for the checkride at about 72, but scheduling the examiner took several weeks so I ended up at 80.

I had just turned 40 when I started and earned my PPL a month shy of my 41st birthday. I had a 3 month delay to get my medical.
 
Constantly amazes me about the ongoing discussion about how many hours till this ride, that event, etc.

You solo when you're ready, you take the written when you're ready, you take a check ride when you're ready. How you get there and how 'long' it takes is way too subjective and depends on many variables along the way.
 
Welcome Mark.:yes:

Being able to devote 2-3 days a week you will solo much quicker than a "weekend warrior". My guess would be 15-20 hours, so prove me wrong, ;)

Enjoy the journey. It is a life altering achievement, one I never take for granted or ever get tired. Flying to me is never dull, never boring, always exciting, always challenging. I hope you catch the fever and become an aviator also.

Good luck, and don't be shy about asking questions. No such thing as a dumb question. :no:

Again, best of luck on your goal.
 
DutchessFlier said:
Constantly amazes me about the ongoing discussion about how many hours till this ride, that event, etc.

You solo when you're ready, you take the written when you're ready, you take a check ride when you're ready. How you get there and how 'long' it takes is way too subjective and depends on many variables along the way.
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What is wrong to discuss it? Things in life that are subjective should be held mum?

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markstanco said:
What is wrong to discuss it? Things in life that are subjective should be held mum?

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Well, it makes for pressures that can be counterproductive to safety.

Like "I have 30 hours, so I should be able to solo safely." It's really about WHAT you can do, not when. You worry if you're not making progress, not if you pass any specific number of hours.

There are so many variables that the number means very little.
 
Its perfectly fine to discuss and compare solos, check rides, etc. The CFI is the determining factor when it comes to signing off on endorsements.

I'm fairly sure no student would tell their instructor "but on the internet I read.....".

Talk about a laugh!

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Mark, my solo was at 5 hrs. But that was in a J-3 Cub off a grass field, I got my PPL at 43 hrs but that was in Nebr. a looong time ago when there were only 2 controlled airports, Omaha & Lincoln. I have been away from flying for almost 45 yrs and am getting back in to it. It is sort of like riding a bicycle but I expect to spend probably 8-10 hrs getting current before they will rent me a 150 or 172. But who cares, it is still flying an airplane and with somebody to talk to as a bonus. :) Just have fun with it.


Jerry
 
Due to wind and weather I didn't even start to work on landings until my 15 hour mark. It took me until 20+ hours to figure I needed to raise my seat to help with lining up with the rudder. I probably could have soloed around 25 hours but our airport was shut down for some construction. I'm around 30 hrs right now and I am ready physically and mentally, just waiting on a calm day.
 
DutchessFlier said:
Constantly amazes me about the ongoing discussion about how many hours till this ride, that event, etc.

You solo when you're ready, you take the written when you're ready, you take a check ride when you're ready. How you get there and how 'long' it takes is way too subjective and depends on many variables along the way.
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I can kinda remember my hours, but it's been a few years. When I was in the middle of it, that's all I could think about. It's like being in college and keeping track of your credits. I don't think there's anything wrong with it unless you start setting expectations based on the number of hours.
 
markstanco said:
Its perfectly fine to discuss and compare solos, check rides, etc. The CFI is the determining factor when it comes to signing off on endorsements.

I'm fairly sure no student would tell their instructor "but on the internet I read.....".

Talk about a laugh!

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You'll find occasional threads on this board and others along the lines of "my instructor won't solo me and I have X hours. Should I get a new instructor?"

No one laughs.

And people really do set expectations based on that number.
 
Even if we all learned in the same plane, same field, and learned at the same rate, flight time is irrelevant to when you solo. What if you don't start practicing landings until after 20 hours because of wind?, or because the CFI has a different teaching style and likes to do a lot of other stuff before starting with landings?. High traffic can make your patterns longer too, winds can make you have to fly to a different airport adding hours, and so on.

If anything, I think number of landings before solo is a better metric. Still I don't think it's a good idea to use that to track when you are ready or should be ready, or to compare "who did better", but if I decided to do that, landings is what I would use. I really don't understand why anyone would talk about "hours to solo".
 
aaaand the ground work is complete, course wise. 3 hours of night flight this Sunday, weather permitting.

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I hope that club has written assignments to be done before the flight lessons. It helps a huge amount if you know the theory behind the practice BEFORE you encounter it in flight. Otherwise you learn it in the air (which takes longer and costs more) or you never learn the theory properly at all. That sort of shortfall is what results in dumb things like stall-spin or carb ice accidents or destructive landings.

Dan
 
im 51 yrs old and have always wanted to learn to fly but have just gotten to the point in my life where i have the time. I have 6 hours of instruction and 1 of those was a basically a sightseeing deal. The small town i live in has no instructor with a plane so ive been driving over an hour each way for lessons.
Would take me forever to get my license

So guess what. I just bought a 182 in california. Me and my younger brother who's an ifr pilot (just recently)are gonna commercial our way out there in the next 3 weeks and fly it back. We're gonna Thelma and Louise that baby back to Georgia. Im jacked

If we make it back in one piece i'll let you know how it turned out
 
Dan Thomas said:
I hope that club has written assignments to be done before the flight lessons. It helps a huge amount if you know the theory behind the practice BEFORE you encounter it in flight. Otherwise you learn it in the air (which takes longer and costs more) or you never learn the theory properly at all. That sort of shortfall is what results in dumb things like stall-spin or carb ice accidents or destructive landings.

Dan
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We always have ground school for at least 30 minutes talking about maneuvers. The only one he didn't do on pre was engine out but we had gone over it previously.

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To continue my original post...

Somewhere between 12-1300Z there will be a solo pilot in the air around KTXK, M18, and KATA. Look out for the n00bs, but I got this.

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Did my solo last Wednesday, all good. Went up again by myself yesterday for just under 2 hours. Few landings, some slow flight, but mainly to do some sight seeing before I get down to work.

I continue to say this, but its a drug I'll tell you.

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Its good to be alone up there. :)

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Necro bump.

All done with my cfi. Sitting at just under 30 hours, just need to build some solo time. Plan on hitting it hard the next moth or 2. We have had bad weather the last 60 days, I bet I have cancelled solo time 10 plus times due to weather.

Not complaining, we need the rain in North Texas.

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Thinking back on it.... Solo was cool, but a bit less of a big deal to me than most folks make it out to be. I lost a bit of the adrenaline when I realized my medical was at home so the whole instructor-jump-out-of-plane-you-fly feeling was put on hold while I drove home and back to get my medical.

The most exciting and memorable flight for me was my 2nd solo cross country. I was heading to two airports I hadn't gone to before (I'm always a little nervous about spotting the airport), my attempt to establish flight following failed with a "STAY CLEAR OF CLASS C!!!" from the controller and the VOR/DME went on the fritz (random numbers on display). I held my course (avoiding class c), hit my landmarks, and found both airports. It was a great day! :D

DaytonaLynn said:
Nice job Mark
It's is one of life's demarcations you never forget?
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markstanco said:
Necro bump.

All done with my cfi. Sitting at just under 30 hours, just need to build some solo time. Plan on hitting it hard the next moth or 2. We have had bad weather the last 60 days, I bet I have cancelled solo time 10 plus times due to weather.

Not complaining, we need the rain in North Texas.

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Congratulations.
 
Been a pilot just short of a year now. Good reads.

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