Student Drop out rate

[saracelica]

I was actually thinking that it might even have a detrimental effect if her husband trained a long time ago and picked up some bad habits since that maybe Sara's picked up on.

There's definitely an interesting dynamic to a husband/wife pair who are both pilots.

When I started with my CFI (who I like and won't kick him to the curb) I told him to treat me like any newbie pilot that never saw an airplane...and if I happen to know what he's talking about it's a bonus for me.

 

[MadseasoN]

Sara's experience is exactly what I mean when I say that "standards are too tough as it is, there's no need to have a CFI forcing more strict requirements upon a candidate."

My instructor was like this. I used to hate it, I was ready to quit 2 weeks before my checkride signoff. Now that I'm flying my family and friends around I'm glad that he was so tough.

My suggestion to OP is to fly with a few other instructors. They WILL give you some different viewpoints and you will improve in some areas. Request a 'checkride' by one of them.

 

[steingar]

A practice checkride is not in any way a bad idea. Also, not having some license is not SO horrible. A student can still fly all over the place with an instructor sign off. And our OP gets to delay the argument with her husband on who gets to be PIC. Thank Odin I never have to argue that with Mrs. Steingar.

 

[John Baker]

I've made more than a few posts about my trials and tribulations of trying to become a pilot, I know where your coming from.

My DPE told me afterwords that I had given him the best check ride he had had in years.

I fly with complete confidence now, so all that repetitive training ended up being worth it.

We were told in ground school that over fifty percent of people who get their certificate never fly again. I think the reason for that is they were trained to pass their check ride, they were not trained to be a pilot. They lacked the confidence in themselves to be a safe pilot. They probably thought luck got them through it.

Your instructor sees a pilot in you, so that is what he is making. Anyone can get a certificate, not everyone can be a pilot.

It's not a matter of hanging in there, its your road to being a pilot, enjoy the ride. In the end, it will have been worth it, trust me.

John

 

[TripleZ]

We were told in ground school that over fifty percent of people who get their certificate never fly again. I think the reason for that is they were trained to pass their check ride, they were not trained to be a pilot. They lacked the confidence in themselves to be a safe pilot. They probably thought luck got them through it.

John

That is a scary statistic.

 

[N801BH]

And a huge waste of time and money, IMHO.

 

[Everskyward]

We were told in ground school that over fifty percent of people who get their certificate never fly again. I think the reason for that is they were trained to pass their check ride, they were not trained to be a pilot. They lacked the confidence in themselves to be a safe pilot. They probably thought luck got them through it.

That doesn't surprise me at all. I think a lot of people get that "what now?" feeling. Once the goal is reached it's sometimes hard to sustain the momentum. Once you have taken your family and friends for a ride once there is not much else to do, especially if you have spent all your money on your ticket. I was lucky in that, by the time I got my private, I had developed a social network of pilots based on a college flying club and I got the taste for new adventures. I think you are right in that confidence is an issue too. I was not if favor of reducing the solo requirement for private. When I learned it was 20 hours. I think you learn quite a bit solo, particularly about yourself, if not about the mechanics of flying.

 

[steingar]

I didn't care about the license that much by the time I got it. After getting a PhD you figure out about these things. My goal was to learn to fly, not get a license. The only thing that changed was I started taking my wife and buddy places.

 

[mcarlini]

I remember that during my checkride preparation flights, I would almost get airsick and I was nervous and anxious all the time. I almost wanted to quit because of the stress and anxiety, but I remembered how much I love aviation and knew that once it was all overwith, I would be so glad that I kept up on it. That, and that fact that I had taken up two jobs during my senior year just to pay for all of it and I was not about to let all that training go to waste.