My POA journal - my path to PPL

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Calrugerfan

Pre-Flight
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Nov 19, 2013
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calrugerfan
I decided to go ahead and track my progress in a single thread.

Nov 19, 2013 - I submitted my info on medxpress.

Thursday, I made some calls to AME's in the area to get prices but I haven't scheduled anything yet. I'm hoping to get in Wednesday but I'm not sure if any of them will still be open the day before Thanksgiving when I get off at 4pm.

After my medical, I will be scheduling my "discovery flight" with a local flight school. I will be scheduling it for early January. Unfortunately, my budget is only going to allow about 3 lessons per month so it will take me a little longer.

1/12/14 ---

I added this to the end but I figured I could add it here too.

Well here is the latest update. Absolutely nothing unfortunately. The holidays made it difficult to find time for my medical so I haven't done that yet. I think I should still be ok for time since I put the info into the FAA med xpress system.

On a side note, I had a stock tip that I had filed away in my brain to invest before the new year. Apparently, I filed it too far back because I forgot to invest the $1,000 I had allocated towards the stock. That $1,000 investment would have turned into about $30K in a matter of 2 weeks. That would have been training and a good start on my own plane right there. Oh well.
 
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A week or two won't make that big a difference.pick a good day for the discovery flight. Good luck ,have fun.
 
I wouldn't wait until medical is done. Try discovery flight sooner. Who knows, maybe you will absolutely hate it and won't even go through with medical. Or you will love it so much you will start studying your behind off to know more by your next lesson.
 
Thanks. I already know I love it since I went to an Air Force base when I was little because my brother was working on the aviation merit badge. They took us up in a 4 seater. It was the first time I had even flown.

The reason for waiting is budget. I'll be able to allocate money towards this goal starting in January. I figured I might as well get the medical out of the way since it's only about $90.
 
Sam D said:
Where will you be flying out of?
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I'm in the Sacramento area. I am probably going to use a flight school in Sacramento. After that, I'll probably fly out of Lincoln, CA or Auburn, CA.
 
Calrugerfan said:
Thanks. I already know I love it since I went to an Air Force base when I was little because my brother was working on the aviation merit badge. They took us up in a 4 seater. It was the first time I had even flown.

The reason for waiting is budget. I'll be able to allocate money towards this goal starting in January. I figured I might as well get the medical out of the way since it's only about $90.
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All good to get the medical out of the way.
 
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Yep. I'm prepared. I found a place that has a little bit lower rates (mainly rental rates that are lower). If I like them when I do my discovery flight, thats who I'll use. Their rental rates are about $40 less per hour.
 
Three flights per month is not optimal, but it can be done. I'm living proof. Be prepared for it to take 70 hours or more, and make the decision now that you'll be patient and enjoy the journey. Remember that even when you're training, it's still flying!

There will be segments of your training that will require more frequent flying, so save up for those times. That'll mainly be the soloing milestones and then as you're nearing your checkride.

Keep your head in the game during downtime, which means think about flying, spend time here on the forums, do lots of chair flying, and then over-prepare for your flights. I liked to close my eyes and run through an entire flight from engine start to shutdown, even envisioning the control panel and simulating the actions.

Enjoy.
 
I wish I could do more but that is all the budget will allow. After my first solo, I should be able to do a little bit more per week to build time because I will only have to pay rental, not instructor training for each flight. I am also hoping to split time with another student to build time at a cheaper rate but I don't know how that works, or IF that is even possible.
 
Calrugerfan said:
I am also hoping to split time with another student to build time at a cheaper rate but I don't know how that works, or IF that is even possible.
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Can't split time unless you both have your PP Certificate. Students cannot take up passengers, also, you wouldn't be solo, now would you :)
 
momalley said:
Can't split time unless you both have your PP Certificate. Students cannot take up passengers, also, you wouldn't be solo, now would you :)
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I only understood about half of that. PP certificate is Private Pilot certificate, I'm assuming. Is that different than license?

I thought that after you do your solo, you do some solo time to get to your 40 hours. Is that not right?

I thought I saw a post about somebody splitting time and it seemed like it was during training so thats why I was thinking it was possible.
 
Calrugerfan said:
I only understood about half of that. PP certificate is Private Pilot certificate, I'm assuming. Is that different than license?

I thought that after you do your solo, you do some solo time to get to your 40 hours. Is that not right?

I thought I saw a post about somebody splitting time and it seemed like it was during training so thats why I was thinking it was possible.
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Certificate/License are used interchangeably.
You can solo to get your 40 hours but no one else can be in the plane, hence, solo.

They are building time for their Instrument training and already have their Private Pilot Certificate
 
Calrugerfan said:
I wish I could do more but that is all the budget will allow. After my first solo, I should be able to do a little bit more per week to build time because I will only have to pay rental, not instructor training for each flight.
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Not sure if I'm understanding what your perception is regarding your continued flight training will be once you have soloed ?

Solo endorsement certainly doesn't mean you will shake hands with your CFI and he will wave you off to continue with the rest of your training on your own in the plane, you will need the services of your CFI all the way through the training right up to your check ride. There is a whole lot more than simply hour building involved here.

Sorry if I am reading it wrong, and wish you good luck with achieving your goal.
 
momalley said:
Certificate/License are used interchangeably.
You can solo to get your 40 hours but no one else can be in the plane, hence, solo.

They are building time for their Instrument training and already have their Private Pilot Certificate
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Got it. That makes sense.
 
Xscaliber said:
Not sure if I'm understanding what your perception is regarding your continued flight training will be once you have soloed ?

Solo endorsement certainly doesn't mean you will shake hands with your CFI and he will wave you off to continue with the rest of your training on your own in the plane, you will need the services of your CFI all the way through the training right up to your check ride. There is a whole lot more than simply hour building involved here.

Sorry if I am reading it wrong, and wish you good luck with achieving your goal.
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I didn't really make it clear and obviously, I don't know the whole process. Do you pay the CFI every time you are building time doing solo? Or would it be more likely that you fly a couple hours solo then an hour with your CFI?
 
Calrugerfan said:
I didn't really make it clear and obviously, I don't know the whole process. Do you pay the CFI every time you are building time doing solo? Or would it be more likely that you fly a couple hours solo then an hour with your CFI?
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Most CFI's will only charge you for the time they spend pre-flight on the lessons they want you to learn while up soloing, and then a de-briefing when you get back.

I think there was some poster who had a CFI charging while sitting in the FBO while the student was out soloing, because they argued they were "on call" or something.

Worth talking to the CFI you choose to make sure you understand when they are on the clock, and when they aren't. Either way, the CFI ain't getting rich, but you will be getting poorer.... :yes:


As for schedule and time, do what you can afford and commit, and enjoy the journey.
 
Thanks for the info Jose. I will add that to my list of questions to ask when meeting with my prospective flight school.
 
Calrugerfan said:
I only understood about half of that. PP certificate is Private Pilot certificate, I'm assuming. Is that different than license?

I thought that after you do your solo, you do some solo time to get to your 40 hours. Is that not right?

I thought I saw a post about somebody splitting time and it seemed like it was during training so thats why I was thinking it was possible.
Click to expand...

There is a "student pilot handbook" on the FAA website that will answer all of these types of questions.

Not all training is learning to fly in the first place. Things are different when you have a private pilot certificate. You can fly solo any time you feel like it and conditions cooperate. You can take passengers subject to currency rules. And so on.

There is still quite a lot of dual training after solo. All solo means is that you can take off and land safely on your own. It doesn't mean you can actually get anywhere, and it doesn't usually mean you can takeoff or land at night. Most of that 40 hour minimum is dual. And don't expect to finish it in 40 hours. That's difficult even under perfect conditions, and you're proposing significant roadblocks -- 3 flights a month is not really enough.

Almost no one is in the position of "building time" prior to a private pilot certificate. That's for advanced training, such as a commercial certificate that requires 250 hours.
 
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After my first solo I had about 9 hours of additional solo flight time which included my long and short xc and a couple hours of solo pattern work. I believe I had 10.2 hours solo. The remaining 49 hours was dual.

Once you solo your instructor will sign you off to fly solo with certain limitations on weather and airports. And you can take advantage of that, to an extent. But as was said, the majority of your time after solo will be dual, other than your solo XC flights.
 
Calrugerfan said:
Just turned 34.
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Sounds like we're in similar boats. I'm 36, and although I've had a number of "discovery" flights and a few lessons in the past that gave me some hours in the logbook, I'm finally able to commit the resources to training regularly.

I have my first lesson scheduled for next Tuesday and hope to fly twice a week, if all goes to plan (we know how that usually ends up).

Great idea to journal your progress here for posterity. I'll be recording my lessons with a GoPro setup for my own viewing, but don't think I'd be able to journal it online. At least, I haven't thought of doing so.

In any case, I'll be following your progress along with the others. Good luck!
 
Calrugerfan said:
I'm in the Sacramento area. I am probably going to use a flight school in Sacramento. After that, I'll probably fly out of Lincoln, CA or Auburn, CA.
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Welcome! I am based out of Lincoln. Lincoln does not yet have a flight school, although Skyways is looking at starting one. Mach 5 in Auburn is good and they have some good instructors. Davis (EDU) probably has the cheapest rates and there are a few people on the board that train out of there, but depending where you are at, that can be quite a drive. The other option is Sac Exec. Again, you need to look at the drive. As you get closer to your check ride, you will probably try to squeeze in a couple of flights a week, so the commute can make a difference. PM me if you want more info.
 
John221us said:
Welcome! I am based out of Lincoln. Lincoln does not yet have a flight school, although Skyways is looking at starting one. Mach 5 in Auburn is good and they have some good instructors. Davis (EDU) probably has the cheapest rates and there are a few people on the board that train out of there, but depending where you are at, that can be quite a drive. The other option is Sac Exec. Again, you need to look at the drive. As you get closer to your check ride, you will probably try to squeeze in a couple of flights a week, so the commute can make a difference. PM me if you want more info.
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Thanks. I ued to be in Rocklin but now I'm in Loomis. I've looked at Mach 5 and they seem really good but priced a little higher. Is the difference at Davis enough to warrant driving the extra distance. Right now, I'm planning on using Executive flyers because they seem to have the lowest rates.
 
calrugerfan: I live in Rancho Cordova and working on my PPL out of KEDU (Davis). I did a discovery flight at both kedu and with exec flyers. I felt exec flyers was a little more salesy. Kedu is about 20% cheaper. For me, the drive to kedu vs ksac is about 10-15 mins, but have to plan my flights to avoid traffic hours.

I'm really liking it out at kedu. However, its non-towerd, so you won't get much ATC practice. Though, I did request flight following from Travis Approach whenever I was doing pattern work that allowed for it. For touch and goes, you do get practice of making ctaf calls in the pattern so you can get used to the workload. Im going ask my instructor to let me do all my cross country training at towered airports so I can get some experience and training talking to ATC....but I'm still presolo (hopefully that'll change this week, flying every other day this week.)

I'm happy with my decision. However, you need to pick a school you like more importantly an instructor that you like. Good luck. Let us know where you go and why.
 
Thanks for the info Mitch. I will check out Davis too.
 
An advantage at executive is that the best burger joint I've ever seen is near there. Burgess Bros, across the street from Sac City College. Look for the smoker (!) out front.
 
Well here is the latest update. Absolutely nothing unfortunately. The holidays made it difficult to find time for my medical so I haven't done that yet. I think I should still be ok for time since I put the info into the FAA med xpress system.

On a side note, I had a stock tip that I had filed away in my brain to invest before the new year. Apparently, I filed it too far back because I forgot to invest the $1,000 I had allocated towards the stock. That $1,000 investment would have turned into about $30K in a matter of 2 weeks. That would have been training and a good start on my own plane right there. Oh well.
 
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