how did you press through at the end of your training?

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muleywannabe

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Cherokee235
I have more than enough hours, I lack towered airport time, 1.5 hours night flight and my solo cross country. Then its time for my checkride. My problem is coordinating time with an instructor, time away from family. I am getting frustrated and I am at the point where I cant quit now!

How did you finish up your training and buckle down to become a pilot?
 
I owned my airplane, so all I needed was an instructor's sign off (any instructor) and I was good to go. I was having ball, so it really wasn't that big a deal. Airplane will always compete with your spawn, you'll have to figure out a way to deal. And don't plan on said spawn falling in love with aviation, it doesn't always go that way.
 
muleywannabe said:
I have more than enough hours, I lack towered airport time, 1.5 hours night flight and my solo cross country. Then its time for my checkride. My problem is coordinating time with an instructor, time away from family. I am getting frustrated and I am at the point where I cant quit now!

How did you finish up your training and buckle down to become a pilot?
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I planned ahead. I didn't let everything jumble up.
 
Dedication to purpose, strong drink, fast women, good food. All required but not necessarily in the order stated.

Just book the aircraft time and stick to the schedule. It's up to you. The instructor cannot do it for you.
 
Coordinating time with an instructor can be hard. Especially if you need the solo cross country, since he has to approve your flight planning on a particular day, so you're also dealing with weather on a several hours time scale as an added constraint.

You haven't said why this instructor is so hard to schedule with. Is he busy with other students, or a freelancer with a day job? If the latter, I'd suggest going to a flight school to finish up. If you're that far along, it shouldn't be too hard to make the switch. I did it twice, once after soloing because I no longer trusted the airplane I was training in, and then again when my second instructor lost his job at the flight school.
 
Stubborn and a checkbook.

Bought the cherokee after the short XC so I wouldn't have to deal with squawks that didn't get fixed, airplane not available, etc.

You've discovered the 4 Variables of Flight (not to be confused with the 5 Forces of Flight):

A. Your schedule
B. CFI schedule
C. Airplane Schedule
D. Weather

Just keep trying. At some point, everything will come together.
 
I was basically ready for my check ride in December, then winter happened. I flew whenever I could, finished up those few odd hours that always pop up, and managed to do the checkride in April. Heck, I even did my checkride in two parts, because the wind became 17g25 possibly more by the time I finished my oral. Despite all that, I passed, and so will you.
 
muleywannabe said:
I have more than enough hours, I lack towered airport time, 1.5 hours night flight and my solo cross country. Then its time for my checkride. My problem is coordinating time with an instructor, time away from family. I am getting frustrated and I am at the point where I cant quit now!

How did you finish up your training and buckle down to become a pilot?
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I got stubborn. At some point you say "there is no way I'm not finishing this".

It also helped that my CFI had me signed off for solo practice so I could fly between about 3 airports. Time in the air is time in the air. Once you get your ticket, you'll forget about how it felt to wait.
 
Yup, persistence and patience.

It will happen. Don't be afraid to ask your instructor how to get his time if that's a problem. Or ask for him to recommend a substitute if he can't find the time to take you out to a towered airport.

Many instructors will make special priority for a student nearing a check ride. Flight schools sometimes do as well, with aircraft scheduling.
 
My son is in the same position in his training, except he just won't make time to finish!:mad2: He has the airplane, he has the time this summer and all he needs is one more solo cross country and 2.0 of hood time, then review for his flight test. I just can't get him motivated to finish! :mad2: I finally quit asking him, but I did bring the airplane back from college!
 
Unless you plan on cross country trips with passengers every time you fly I'm not sure what will change after getting your ticket.
 
I just mapped out a plan and got buy in from my CFI on it. Basically consisted of flying 3 times a week for a few weeks to knock out the long solo XC and checkride prep. Then we scheduled up the checkride and I had to make sure I was prepared for it. I literally mapped out each flight and what I was going to do... planned 2 mock checkrides.
 
Schedule weeks in advanced and let your family know you might have to check out for a few weeks
 
The AF was getting ready to move me. If I didn't get it done, I would have to stand down for a few months while I made the move, find a new place to rent, get signed off, and take my check ride in the LA basin. That was sufficient motivation.
 
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Just think....when ur done, you'll be a pilot. Should be motivation enough.
 
I had a lot of interruptions towards the end too. I feel your frustration. In retrospect I should have just blocked off some time when weather was still good and got through it. As it was, I ended up checkriding in winter and waiting out the ups and downs of weather and flying enough to be in top shape for that final flight proved more challenging than needed.
 
I ended up taking some vacation time over the last couple of weeks. I had to schedule them out about 2 weeks because of the factors you mentioned. But, I was able to have 5 or 6 long sessions (4 hours or so each) to go over the oral stuff and firm up the maneuvers. It worked out so that my last flight with the instructor was a check ride profile the afternoon before my morning check ride.

That way It didn't interfere with my dad/husband duties.
 
For me the mental grind was the toughest part, maybe you're saying the same thing. It was the doubts about being able to do it, I got scared a couple of times for no reason at all, weather was bad, plane went in for annual, then had a alternator go out, then had some other thing I forget what. I wondered about just saying F-it, but in the end, I am not a quitter......you aren't either, just put your shoulder into it and plow through the suck. It's worth it.
 
bflynn said:
I got stubborn. At some point you say "there is no way I'm not finishing this".
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:yeahthat:

I trained at a very busy Class-D airport (TEB.) and had multiple instructors. My primary CFI was building time and landed a corporate job so I had to finish up with a couple other guys. All great instructors but I had many challenges with scheduling and managing time between my job, flight training, being a husband and dad (3 young kids), and juggling a rotating work schedule which includes nights and three weekends per month (still do).

Afternoons and night shift are seven days in a row. Sometimes I could only manage to get one lesson in per week. All in all, I was determined to get through it because at 32, I was finally in a position financially to fulfill my childhood dream! MS Flight Simulator just wasn’t good enough anymore.:lol:


I remember showing up for my second or third lesson at 8am, after working all night. My CFI told me never to do that again, lol.
Still don't know how a managed to solo in only 23 hours:dunno::rofl:
 
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muleywannabe said:
I have more than enough hours, I lack towered airport time, 1.5 hours night flight and my solo cross country. Then its time for my checkride. My problem is coordinating time with an instructor, time away from family. I am getting frustrated and I am at the point where I cant quit now!

How did you finish up your training and buckle down to become a pilot?
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Schedule the checkride and just make the conscious decision to make it a priority. That's the only option. Sit down with your family and say, "Look, I need to finish up my pilot's license, so excuse me if I am distant and distracted for the next two weeks." Sounds like you can finish in a week if you are otherwise prepared.
 
I think the one instructor thing hinders a lot of people. I trained at a busy place with a big fleet of planes. When your lesson time came, you went with whichever instructor was available in whichever plane was available if the preplanned CFI/Plane was not available. Pretty much everyone took their checkrides at 40hrs and within 3 months with the exceptions being notable.
 
It has been said a few ways already, but the importance of making a plan with your instructor to get to the end and then just blocking the needed time out of your schedule to dedicate to flying is key. This isn't always easy but the reality is it's probably only a few weeks to finish the investment you have already made.

Nearly everyone struggles with this part, it's a matter of what works for you, but dedicating the time to flying and studying is the only way.
 
I was a young guy with a career, two little kids at home, and a wife working part-time.

I was renting my boss's Cherokee 140. He was selling the plane on "x" date, and leaving the company. I absolutely HAD to finish by then, or go find another plane to rent.

It was 40 minutes out into the Wisconsin countryside to get to the airport. And it was winter.

All of this focused the mind wonderfully. I just kept showing up until I was told by my CFI to go take the danged test. :)

Flying is easy. Getting your pilot's certificate is ridiculously complicated. Keep at it.
 
When my CFI took an early retirement I found a good CFI to finish up with whom I'd done a phase check with earlier so it worked out well for me.
 
Book a cross country solo one day on the weekend, and then book a night time trip with your instructor to a towered airport to do some trips in the pattern and make sure 1.5 of that is at night. to easy.

Take a vacation day at work or something similar and you can get it knocked out quick
 
I had a lot of gaps in my training (money and time problems). For example, I only had one flight between January '14 and June '14. When I went back in June I had to switch to a different cfi as well. Five flights in June, including my two XC solo flights. Then another gap of no flying in July because I was out of town. Finally, in August, my cfi said: you need to finish this month. And she really pushed me. Six quick training flights and then my checkride. It was such a roller coaster process, but you just gotta stick with it.

It's really key that your cfi knows you are frustrated as well, so s/he can make that plan and give you a positive push. It's mostly on your own shoulders to get it done, but others around you need to give you support and encouragement as well.
 
I day-dreamed about flying unfettered pretty much anywhere I wanted. The freedom to fly - and being able to tell folks "I'm a pilot" - those thoughts kept me going through some rough stretches when I was ready to quit.

Ten years later, and those basic ideals still hold true for me.
 
I pressed through because I wanted to, and because I enjoyed it. Despite contrary suggestions by some, it is not a race. Relax and have fun, but maintain a stubborn persistence as long as it's enjoyable. If you have a bit of a gap in your training, keep your head in the game at home by: reading about flying, thinking about flying, chair flying, etc.
 
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