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Updating this thread after a LONG hiatus. This month marks my 1-year anniversary from the day I started my lessons; not too happy with my progress, but there's nothing much I can do until I can start getting out more often. With winter on the doorstep, it might be a while before I can...

I've had crummy luck with weekend flying weather here in Pittsburgh, but that's not necessarily surprising for this time of the year. Meanwhile I've been hitting the books hard at home. I've finished all the study units in the Gleim Pilot's Handbook and the FAA Knowledge Test Prep book. I've...

That's really good! Needless to say, I am planning for a longer time-frame myself, haha.

No rush on my end; I am actually loving the training part itself. Along the lines of what iHenning said, I just want to make sure I keep a good balance of training time so I retain the training itself. Also, the $$$ factor, although a given considering that it's aviation training we're talking...

If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to get your PPL on that schedule? I am thinking it'll take me 1.5 years or so at the current rate. This is after taking into account the frequency of weekends we have good flying weather here in Pittsburgh. I started in October 2012.

Welcome and I hope the forums turn out to be a good source of info for you! The training (at least for me) in itself is very exciting, so there's no rush to the finish line. I'm sure you'll enjoy it thoroughly as well :)

Thank you for the info! While I do plan to learn the manual flight computer for the sake of training, it's good to hear that most pilots do end up using more "modern" means of calculation on day to day basis.

Thank you! By the way, I was studying out of the reference PP Handbook, not just the study guide for the test. But even in the detailed material in the handbook I was still having issues grasping the info. I guess, to your point, Gleim books in general are probably geared more towards the...

Sidenote: Thus far, the toughest thing to completely grasp (for me in my studies) has been the use of the Wind Side of the Gleim Flight computer. I was fine with the other conversion side, but the entire process of determining direction, speed, favorable altitude, etc is really going over my...

Also, I am keeping up with my studying during the week. Using the Gleim Handbook, I usually go over the outline for each study unit, then read the entire unit in the handbook (usually anywhere from 40-80 pages per unit), and then I take the Gleim practice test for that unit, answering every...

Sorry to have started somewhat of a controversy here folks. I actually clarified with the CFI afterwards; we weren't counting that day's lesson as XC training. Basically we had planned to fly out to an airport that was around 30NM away to do landings and pattern practice, but it was a very...

Very good points! I like your second point; the airport I fly out of is very small and rarely has more than 2 planes in the air/pattern. But I do agree that I should get to the point where I am comfortable and able to visualize the traffic around me based on the radio chatter.

Hey there! I'm doing my lessons at Rock Airport (9G1), out by the Pittsburgh Mills Mall. Compared to PFTC they are extremely small and laid-back in terms of lesson-rigidity. The operation is called "Armstrong Aviation" and they basically pair you up with a CFI/CFII and you work directly with...

Quick update: Spoke with the CFI and did it strategically enough where I wasn't coming off as being critical. He completely understood. For the last lesson, we flew out towards Butler (BTP) County airport and did some landings and then went off into a practice area by there to do some other...

I think it's safe to say that the consensus is as follows for the most part: 1) Dual XCs should come after a solo, or close to it, which is clearly not the case here. I will follow up with my CFI (in an intelligent, non-accusing way) to make sure that we stick to more of a usual step-up...

That's a great way of putting it! Thank you!

According to the syllabus we're supposed to be doing "Emergencies and Stalls" next time we fly. So I'm hoping it comes up then. If not, I'll bring it up. Ironically I use rudders with my heels on the ground, but I still can't get the pressure on the right rudder perfectly most of the time...

What (if you can explain it verbally) was the incorrect foot position and how did you solve it?

Usually looking straight ahead right above the nose at the center lines (but not at the very horizon of the runway). I glance at the airspeed now and then to see if I'm approaching the rotation point though. And you're right, whenever I do that, it does throw me off slightly. I guess with time...

We have done basic maneuvers, ground reference work, radio work, and landings. Even on the trip, as I explained above, we did a total of 7 landings; 2 at the first strip and 4 at the second, with the final one being back home. But I will have to keep this in mind in the event that this indeed...