New pilot help

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muleywannabe

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Dec 30, 2013
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331
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Independence, Kansas
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Cherokee235
I am new to all of this. I would like to get started flying. I have been reading on this forum and like the people and responses and thought I would join.

Are the online based programs for testing, i.e. sporty's any good for pre flight training and test taking?

also, what is the minimum for private pilot licence and should i proceed right into IFR?

I have flown a lot of hours in a private plane with friends and they have inspired me to start flying. My family loves to travel and it would make travel so much easier for use.

thank you for the help
 
Welcome to PoA. A lot of experienced people are here to offer great advice.

Download the free ebook at www.FreeFlyBook.com. It will answer just about any question you can come up with about learning to fly. No registration or email needed - just click and download.
 
muleywannabe said:
I am new to all of this. I would like to get started flying. I have been reading on this forum and like the people and responses and thought I would join.

Are the online based programs for testing, i.e. sporty's any good for pre flight training and test taking?

also, what is the minimum for private pilot licence and should i proceed right into IFR?

I have flown a lot of hours in a private plane with friends and they have inspired me to start flying. My family loves to travel and it would make travel so much easier for use.

thank you for the help
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I am using Sporty's for my instrument, along with the instrument products by King, Sheppard Air, Bob Gardner and Gleim audio. I don;t know what the Sporty's private pilot program is like.

I used King for the online ground school, Bob Gardner's book - the complete private pilot, and listened to the Gleim audio CDs while driving (they reinforce test questions if you can get by their continuous advertisement for their other products). Contact Andrea Stout at King Schools (858-576-6239) and tell her Arthur referred you. The last person I referred got a $40 discount.

I scored a 94% on my knowledge test and completed it in about 1/2 hour. My son only used King, got in the mid 80's and breezed through the exam. The method I used worked for me.

Welcome, and good luck.
 
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muleywannabe said:
I am new to all of this. I would like to get started flying. I have been reading on this forum and like the people and responses and thought I would join.

Are the online based programs for testing, i.e. sporty's any good for pre flight training and test taking?

also, what is the minimum for private pilot licence and should i proceed right into IFR?

I have flown a lot of hours in a private plane with friends and they have inspired me to start flying. My family loves to travel and it would make travel so much easier for use.

thank you for the help
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Online classes work. Downloading the free stuff from the FAA and self studying works too.

What do you want to do with your ticket?

If your primary objective is to get from point A to point B on a schedule, then IFR is not a bad idea. If you want to be a commercial pilot it is a must do. Or it could be a complete waste of time and money if you don't have the need to travel on a schedule and you don't do it enough to remain current. (Others will disagree)

Most people have no problem with the medical - but breeze through the medical topics section to see some of the (for some, unexpected) gotchas. Past history of ADD, depression, getting knocked unconscious, wrong medication, vertigo, kidney stones, DUI, etc. needs to get addressed BEFORE you do something stupid like walk into an AME's office unprepared.

Minimum what? Dollars? Time?. Physical prowess? (don't need much of the last, lots of the first). I would just set up a regular flying budget and work with it.
 
muleywannabe said:
I am new to all of this. I would like to get started flying. I have been reading on this forum and like the people and responses and thought I would join.
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Glad to have you here -- hope you find it useful.

Are the online based programs for testing, i.e. sporty's any good for pre flight training and test taking?
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It depends on how well you learn from such programs -- different people learn best in different ways. But if computer-based on-line training works for you, these can be very effective programs.

also, what is the minimum for private pilot licence
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The legal minimum is 40 hours of flight time, but almost nobody does it in that time. The average is more like 55-60 hours, mostly with an instructor but some practicing by yourself. I'd suggest seeing how your primary training goes and then making that decision.

and should i proceed right into IFR?
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No way to say at this point. It's certainly an option, but in my experience giving 10-day instrument training courses, most people seem to do better if they get at least 50 more hours of flying on their own before starting instrument training.
 
Great advice guys!
I would like eventually buy a plane to use for business and personal use. I think it would be a nice quality of life change, for the better. We drive a lot to colorado from kansas and it would save a lot of driving time for sure.

what is the minimum hours to fly solo and what is the minimum to take passengers, etc? I would never put my family in the plane with me until I was fully capable of flying with IFR. thanks for the info and advice.
 
Welcome,hope we can be of help. We have all been in your position at one time. Some of us started flying before computers .
 
muleywannabe said:
what is the minimum hours to fly solo and what is the minimum to take passengers, etc?
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For Solo, there is no set minimum. It is up to your instructor to determine if you are capable of completing solo flight without bending the aircraft, or yourself. It could be in as little as 10-15 hours if you're a quick study and a good stick. Or significantly longer, such 30-50 hours, if you're not getting a key item or two to click.

For carrying passengers, the direct answer is the 40hr minimum required to get your PPL. But as Ron Levy points out, few students finish right on that number. More typical is 55-60 hours.

But one you have your PPL, you are legal to carry passengers.

Should you will be a personal minimums choice. Many are okay with short hops right away. Many also wait until they get a few hours of post PPL experience. No pat answer there, and it's totally up to you.

I would never put my family in the plane with me until I was fully capable of flying with IFR. thanks for the info and advice.
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I'd win the cup of coffee bet that you'd have friends and members of your family in the plane well before you start your IFR training. There is plenty of flying to be done VFR and all can be done very safely, including the trips between Kansas and Denver you mentioned.

While "until I was fully capable of flying with IFR" is a respectable personal minimum choice, it is very limiting. You'll achieve a good level of comfort with your skills pretty quickly and be out there with friends and family having fun.
 
and should i proceed right into IFR?
Ron Levy said:
No way to say at this point. It's certainly an option, but in my experience giving 10-day instrument training courses, most people seem to do better if they get at least 50 more hours of flying on their own before starting instrument training.
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The bolded text describes me. Now that I have about 100 hrs post PPL, and nearly 70 in the C182 I'm flying now, I am much more comfortable being in the air. Things that I struggled with early on are more natural now, especially landings and radio skills.

And my knowledge base on all sorts of aviation topics has greatly expanded. I would have likely done okay going straight to IFR. But now with all of the experience and additional knowledge, the IFR course work will make a lot more sense and "slot in" a bit more quickly.
 
I have abotuu 10 hrs flight time, and purchased the Kings online program for my "ground" school. It really seems to be doing the job, and so many pilots have used it over the years it seemed like the way to go. I was the $40 discount that CPA mentioned.
 
AggieMike88 said:
The bolded text describes me. Now that I have about 100 hrs post PPL, and nearly 70 in the C182 I'm flying now, I am much more comfortable being in the air. Things that I struggled with early on are more natural now, especially landings and radio skills.

And my knowledge base on all sorts of aviation topics has greatly expanded. I would have likely done okay going straight to IFR. But now with all of the experience and additional knowledge, the IFR course work will make a lot more sense and "slot in" a bit more quickly.
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So now do we start your IR training? :D
 
all great advice. I love it! let me ask this question now...

Can you buy a nice 172 or 182 Cessna and use it while training and then sell it off at the end if its not for your and still be ahead of the game on renting or is renting the airplane still a better way of going?
 
muleywannabe said:
all great advice. I love it! let me ask this question now...

Can you buy a nice 172 or 182 Cessna and use it while training and then sell it off at the end if its not for your and still be ahead of the game on renting or is renting the airplane still a better way of going?
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First, it is often advisable to be a bunch of hours past solo until you consider purchase. 1) do your first hard landings on someone elses landing gear, 2) what you might want/need in an aircraft is gonna change as you work through your PPL.


Bestest way is to join a club that will permit training in their aircraft.

Consider the one I am in... www.metroflyersclub.com Two very nice aircraft, $3500 equity buy-in, low # of members, $300/mo dues, low rental rates. Dues cover fixed costs plus building some reserves toward routine mx and inspections. If something requires maintenance (like our current squawks of no panel lights and an oil leak out the front seal), the cost to repair is borne by the club.

So if I don't fly at all, my only expenses are $3600 per year.

Compare to the fixed cost of ownership in a 172, and we often talk about $8000 and more before you start the motor.

And the repairs, that cost is all on you. So you need to be ready to write the big unplanned check every once and a while.


Your question is a good one. But as someone says, unless you are more than 100% committed to fly and have the deep pockets to support ownership, it's better to rent or be part of a club.
 
muleywannabe said:
what about if you can use it as a business expense or deduction, assuming you have the expendable income to do so?
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I'll let others talk about that... but I recall past conversations and threads saying that this can be a tricky field of land mines to navigate.
 
muleywannabe said:
what about if you can use it as a business expense or deduction, assuming you have the expendable income to do so?
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While the IRS might accept your rationale regarding some business use, the FAA operates with different rules. As a private (or student) pilot, you must personally pay your pro rata share of expenses. The IRS may not care who foots the bill but the FAA does.
 
all good points again. I guess it comes down to quality of life and how much you really enjoy flying. I appreciate everyones opinions on this topic. It has put a lot of things in perspective. my first step is to get in the drivers seat and see if I am in love or not.
 
muleywannabe said:
my first step is to get in the drivers seat and see if I am in love or not.
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:eek: :rofl: :eek: What seat??? :eek: :rofl: :eek:

Actually first step is to pick up the phone and call the local pilot training center and schedule your discovery flight and first lesson
 
AggieMike88 said:
:eek: :rofl: :eek: What seat??? :eek: :rofl: :eek:

Actually first step is to pick up the phone and call the local pilot training center and schedule your discovery flight and first lesson
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haha. good point. I have to find one close to me. I posted a question about training in my area. I have to drive a ways, which really sucks!
 
We got some good folk around Wichita and SW Missouri. Someone should have an idea or two for you of who you can go fly with.

And go visit the airport and start introducing yourself to other pilots as a prospective pilot. Ask the pilots who they use when they want instruction and what they like about that instructor. If you start hearing the same name more than once, you might have a winner.

And you just might get an invitation to take a ride in their airplane.
 
I can't really help with online classes cause I never took them. I used the old fashioned way- I read books. :)

I'll chime in about your question about whether to start IR rating right away. I chose not too and have loved just flying with my Private pilot ticket. Most will say it is safer to get the IR and I'm sure that's true but it's also ok to just enjoy flying.

Either way, you are about to start a great time in your life!
 
I absolutely think that you should go straight into your IR after the PPL if you have the money and time to do so. It is one of the most fundamental skills in aviation, and even if you don't need to exercise it much, the training itself will make you better.
 
take a discovery flight and see how you like it. i strongly suggest getting your IR after your private as it opens up a lot of new doors to flying and helps you become more precise.
 
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