So, student pilots.. Who are we and where do we stand?

Starting Instrument Ground School on October 7th

class is all day 7-8 and 21-22

I'm doing the King course and Gleim beforehand so that on the 22nd, I can walk out of class, go to the testing station and pass the written.

I've got to find an instructor and start flying in November. I need to determine if I'll use our club (best rates, but they're all PT with day jobs, so scheduling can be hard) or spend a little more and get trained someplace wehre someone can do 3 day a week flying with me.

Also, our club won't have simulators, but if I go to either of the other options on field, they have advanced simulators. So the hourly rate would be higher in the "non club", but I'd get more simulator time, which would be cheaper.
 
mscard88 said:
:cheerswine: Welcome! Don't be hesitant to ask questions or to give your opinion. POAers will provide theirs, and answer your questions.
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I should add, whether you want those opinions or not. Doesn't matter, POA will do the POA thing. It's painless after awhile really...
 
MIFlyer said:
I've got to find an instructor and start flying in November. I need to determine if I'll use our club (best rates, but they're all PT with day jobs, so scheduling can be hard) or spend a little more and get trained someplace wehre someone can do 3 day a week flying with me.

Also, our club won't have simulators, but if I go to either of the other options on field, they have advanced simulators. So the hourly rate would be higher in the "non club", but I'd get more simulator time, which would be cheaper.
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My suggestion would be to start out with a simulator and try to do the 3 day/week schedule.
 
write-stuff said:
My suggestion would be to start out with a simulator and try to do the 3 day/week schedule.
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Thanks. The place doing my ground school advocates for Sim use at first and then transitioning to the plane, which is dandy with me too. I've heard, and believe, that I want to do a little time with an instructor in the plane early just nailing climbs, decents, turns, power settings, etc so that when i'm navigating an instrument procedure, that kind of thing will be natural and programmed into me already.
 
MIFlyer said:
Thanks. The place doing my ground school advocates for Sim use at first and then transitioning to the plane, which is dandy with me too. I've heard, and believe, that I want to do a little time with an instructor in the plane early just nailing climbs, decents, turns, power settings, etc so that when i'm navigating an instrument procedure, that kind of thing will be natural and programmed into me already.
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I do a minimum of 5 hours in the sim with instrument students before ever setting foot in an airplane. The sim is so much more effective for learning the concepts and practicing the procedures. Learn them in the sim, then master them in the airplane.
 
write-stuff said:
I do a minimum of 5 hours in the sim with instrument students before ever setting foot in an airplane. The sim is so much more effective for learning the concepts and practicing the procedures. Learn them in the sim, then master them in the airplane.
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thank you for the validation on that. It sounds like a winner to maximize the sim time and to use it early. the place i'm taking my in person ground school from (and I can't go further without recognizing your product and acknowledging that I would have looked at it, but wanted in person), has the same philosophy, so I think it will work.
 
Passed the private pilot check ride today!

Passed the oral little over a week ago and had to reschedule the flying portion due to weather and today was that day. Everything went great and now I have my temporary certificate!
 
mtnflyr said:
Passed the private pilot check ride today!

Passed the oral little over a week ago and had to reschedule the flying portion due to weather and today was that day. Everything went great and now I have my temporary certificate!
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Congrats!!! I can't wait for that day to come. Was supposed to go up today after being out of it for 3 months. Cancelled due to weather unfortunately.
 
I know the feeling..between schedule conflicts and weather i had to wait about 2 months for my check ride.

All the training and studying will pay off..the feeling when the DPE told me to taxi back and as long as I don't hit anything I'll have my PPL is unexplainable.

I'm booking a bunch of time next month and it's a funny feeling knowing I can go farther than 25nm and bring friends now!
 
If your instructor says your ready, you are. Just relax.your going to mess up a few times so don't worry about it and just move on. The biggest thing the DPE wants to see is safety and you are in control of the plane. Know your runway markings, airspace, and air speeds. vx,vy, and vg should be instant. Know engine out procedures exactly. A solid understanding of emergency procedures. Engine fire, smoke in cockpit. I had a carbon monoxide warning on my checkride and I knew the most important basics, then doubled checked it with the checklist.

Use every single check list.

When you make a decision during the check ride especially engine out simulation stick with it. I decided to make a aggressive forward slip to land when I probably could continue in the downwind and land..but I knew I could make it so I chose being aggressive than probably. Plus I really enjoy forward slips!

Treat the checkride like your just showing what you can do..if you fail you fail no big deal. Your not ready yet. Being afraid of failing shouldn't even be a thought. Just have fun and watch your altitude!

If I think of more I will add it
 
mtnflyr said:
Passed the private pilot check ride today!

Passed the oral little over a week ago and had to reschedule the flying portion due to weather and today was that day. Everything went great and now I have my temporary certificate!
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Congrats!
 
I gotta stop bouncing my landings.

Took 2 weeks off due to vacation time. Came back and last week I was SUPER rusty. Was to do my second solo sign off, but my landings were crap. Planned to do the second solo this week instead. First landing was perfect. Second was rough, third I bounced it 3 times, then some better ones with a bad one here or there. So no second solo.

Next week I hope to get my second solo signed off...little frustrated though.
 
When my landings start becoming arrivals instead of landings it's almost always because I didn't shift my view to the far end of the runway before the flare. If I start focusing closer to the plane the arrival can be 'a little firm' as my wife once put it.

Stick with it
 
GaryV said:
When my landings start becoming arrivals instead of landings it's almost always because I didn't shift my view to the far end of the runway before the flare. If I start focusing closer to the plane the arrival can be 'a little firm' as my wife once put it.

Stick with it
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What he said. If I count all my bounce and plops, I will have 3 times the number of landings I have in my log book... at some point I started moving my eyes down the runway, I still don't know where exactly, some people say down the runway, but my runway in 10k feet ... some say 3k-4k feet out. I believe u develop your preferred distance and it sticks with u, but again, a student like u so take my words with a boat load of salt

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
I did a little time today at truckee(trk) Reno (Rno), and first time into South Lake Tahoe (tvl) and had a blast. Got some stern talking to from someone in the pattern over the radio for not knowing the pattern for a runway at truckee, but to be fair I thought I saw someone doing a right pattern for a left pattern runway and I simply asked ' is it a left or right hand pattern for 29 today? ". Hey better safe than sorry I think. I let it roll of my back and made one of my smoothest landings! Also to clarify. I was not set up for a right hand pattern for a left hand pattern runway. I was planning on crossing midfield for a left downwind entry. Which I did just fine :) it was when I was 5 miles or so out I asked if people were doing a right pattern.thats when I "thought" I saw someone doing a right pattern..my cfi was right..a PPL is a license to LEARN.

The weather is incredible up here in the Tahoe region. I'm looking forward to the aviation round up air show at minden (mev) this weekend!

So far I'm having a blast with my PPL!
 
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GaryV said:
When my landings start becoming arrivals instead of landings it's almost always because I didn't shift my view to the far end of the runway before the flare. If I start focusing closer to the plane the arrival can be 'a little firm' as my wife once put it.

Stick with it
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In hindsight I believe you are correct. I think I was fixated on the runway close-in instead of starting to shift my view down the runway.

THanks for the reminder!
 
I have completed all my training requirements (in a C172) and now studying hard every day for the written test.
Yesterday I took a break from all the studying and went on an aerobatic training lesson in an American Champion. The best 90 minutes of my life. (only the solo counts as comparable to the joy I felt). We did a couple of 1-spin and recoveries then 3 full-spins and recoveries, loops, zero G, falling leaf, Dutch rolls, upside down flying and it was a blast. I would recommend to any student to take an aerobatic training before the check ride if possible. (prep your stomach for it, it will be like a long day at Six Flags)

I now have a different view on airplanes and flying.

One sunny morning, during my training, I was soloing and did power off stall practices and messed up the recovery and almost went into a spin. I don't know how I managed to recover the airplane, it was unconscious, but the experience of staring down the ocean through the windshield scared the hell out of me and for a while I was afraid to fly again.
Now in the Champ I had the chance to re-experience the whole thing over and over again in a very safe environment and was able to analyze and study every move of the plane and myself. I think it helped me tremendously to be a better (student) pilot.

I know my little old 172 will never be as agile and fast as the AC, but now I am not afraid of any weird attitudes she will throw at me in the future.
 

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Sorry for repeating for those who know, but I'm in Norway (an american living here) going for my PPL.

So last fall I started ground school (online) and flying with instructor. I ended up at around 11 hours, but after talking with my instructor, he was pointing out It wasn't THAT long until first solo, but legally I had to have taken the written, and I believe passed at least certain sections of it.

We agreed it made sense for me to get it out of the way, and it is so much along with working full time and other things, that I needed to concentrate.
Anyway, finished the online course, had a weekend intensive classroom course, and here the school has to submit you for the exam, which they did after I passed their tests.

Took the exams one evening on sept. 14. It was nine subjects, took around 5.5 hours. Pretty exhausting. The language use, in norwegian, was confusing as hell. They mixed terms or used what should be specific terms loosely, and one person I'd become friends with at the intensive course, a guy around my age (well aged) but that was Norwegian told me HE struggled with about 5 or 6 questions in each section even just to get what they were driving at.
I began learning norwegian from scratch when I got here as a 36 year old (60 now). Phrases were tough. Word choice...

Took three weeks to get the results. Passed in 6 of the 9 categories. There were 20 questions each category.
The ones I passed I was in the 80-95% results. The three I missed was 65%. What really got me, Navigation. I was great at it in the online tests, and loved doing it, felt very competent at flight planning, NAV, etc. but the test was more word problems, no real map use, etc.
Air law and ATC also failed. That wasn't surprising, I knew I was weaker there, it's also all in norwegian and norwegian "legalise" with a lot of words I had to look up, ask about, etc.
Last one I failed, Meteorology. I had spent a lot of time with it, and thought I had it better but apparently not.

Don't know how you have it in the US, but here you can take "the exam" up to six times, BUT you cannot fail any subject more than 4 times. I decided to take all three over again at the same time. I hope to get all three, but if I fail again but hopefully pass one it still will at least narrow the studies for the next to last chance.

Hope I get it all done in the November exam. I'm not bitching about the Norwegian. It's just how it is. Gotta just concentrate more, ask more about phrasing, study.
 
Went up last week again, 1.5h, all simulated check ride. Did well on everything (a little screwup on a steep turn, but it was within spec). Did a couple power-out over terrain emergencies, and successfully picked a field and would have easily landed it. I've improved a lot in field selection and getting to the right place at the right altitude to land it. I feel ready.

Check ride - TUESDAY NEXT WEEK 10/17 if weather cooperates.

Want to fly KSYR to KRME (check ride will be at KRME) at least once before then. Tried to go last week but KRME was IFR. Hoping to fly Thursday, and either Friday or Saturday. Sunday/Monday looking BAD.

Studying my ass off/refreshing my knowledge at night. Re-read the entire ACS last night, and "quizzed myself" about each section. As an excersize, I planned a cross country from KRME to KMMU since I've heard DPE likes to assign something down near NYC airspace for the XC. Will meet with instructor after next lesson to go over all the plane logs, etc. Then its go-time next week. It's been almost 3 years since I started, I can't wait.
 
passed written today. 88%. no question on W&B, 1 on flight planning, a bunch on VOR. out the ones i got wrong, read the density altitude graph wrong, same with landing distance (2 answers were very very close), 1 wrong answer on VOT check and the other one was where is the aircraft based when dialed on certain VOR with To flag. came up with the right answer, marked the wrong answer. glad its out of the way
 
Trying to get back on the horse again. Haven't flown since February. Got a flight scheduled to get checked out and hopefully renew my instrument currency via IPC this weekend. Can't think of a better way to blow a few hundred bucks :).
 
Check ride coming this Thursday (10/12). I took the long road to get this far. Started in January 2016, flying on Saturdays. Increased flying time this year some. 104 hours later, going for the check ride.

Hopefully all goes well. I do feel prepared, just nervous..
 
ACG said:
Flew 1.4 hours under the hood today. It was really fun. Total hours now 27.8.
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Those were my least favorite lessons, didn't even get to see the scenery! Good for you!
 
WannFly said:
passed written today. 88%. no question on W&B, 1 on flight planning, a bunch on VOR. out the ones i got wrong, read the density altitude graph wrong, same with landing distance (2 answers were very very close), 1 wrong answer on VOT check and the other one was where is the aircraft based when dialed on certain VOR with To flag. came up with the right answer, marked the wrong answer. glad its out of the way
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Doesn't it feel nice to have that behind!!! 88% for me too. We should get together and drink a beer celebrating being just slightly less than above average :)
 
Sinistar said:
Doesn't it feel nice to have that behind!!! 88% for me too. We should get together and drink a beer celebrating being just slightly less than above average :)
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U will have to come to kfar then, cuz no way in hell i am going to yours with parallel runways and mess it up. I am following your footsteps and avoiding all airports with parallels . Don't need to follow every foot step

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
WannFly said:
U will have to come to kfar then, cuz no way in hell i am going to yours with parallel runways and mess it up. I am following your footsteps and avoiding all airports with parallels . Don't need to follow every foot step

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
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Should come down to KIMM sometime and try 9 or 18 :). Not parallels, but always fun taxiing :)

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Hey folks, first post on the forum. Been reading the posts here since just before I started taking lessons, but finally have something to post about. I soloed for the first time last Friday. Did two ugly landings and one decent one. I've got 15 hours towards my PPL and I'm excited to continue my training, although I'm a company commander in the US Army, so it can be hard to find time to get lessons in. Also, Winter is Coming for upstate NY, which will also make it difficult.
 
Travis P said:
Hey folks, first post on the forum. Been reading the posts here since just before I started taking lessons, but finally have something to post about. I soloed for the first time last Friday. Did two ugly landings and one decent one. I've got 15 hours towards my PPL and I'm excited to continue my training, although I'm a company commander in the US Army, so it can be hard to find time to get lessons in. Also, Winter is Coming for upstate NY, which will also make it difficult.
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Congrats on your solo.

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@Travis P Congrats! You mention upstate NY - who/where are you training with?

As for me - Signed off today for the check ride (next Tuesday). IACRA submitted and all official. Whew. Flew another 2.1 doing practice out at KRME and nearby, as well as 0.5 under the hood. I think I'm ready if I can just remember to slow down and "do the tasks". I.e. not get flustered or distracted. Gotta say I'm confident, but nervous.
 
Travis P said:
Hey folks, first post on the forum. Been reading the posts here since just before I started taking lessons, but finally have something to post about. I soloed for the first time last Friday. Did two ugly landings and one decent one. I've got 15 hours towards my PPL and I'm excited to continue my training, although I'm a company commander in the US Army, so it can be hard to find time to get lessons in. Also, Winter is Coming for upstate NY, which will also make it difficult.
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Welcome, congrats on your 1st solo.
 
Student here, put 20 hours in three years ago and haven't flown since. Was supposed to restart at KMSN yesterday but got rained out. Now in the middle of ground school with another lesson scheduled for ten days. I love this.
 
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