To get a PPL or not?

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nmodor

Filing Flight Plan
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nmodor
Hello all! I'm new to the forum and have been interested in training for a PPL for some time now but have never become serious about it until recently. I am a senior undergrad with one semester left and will need extra hours to be a full time student during this last semester. I can obtain my PPL through the aviation department and get enough extra hours from this to be considered full time. However, I will hopefully be starting medical school next fall and am wondering if I will have time to put a PPL to good use if I end up enrolling in the courses to obtain one in the spring. Will it be an issue if I'm not able to fly very often in medical school?

Also, my father is not very supportive of the idea. He has known people who have died piloting smaller planes and is under the impression that I should not fly unless I will have time to do it regularly and maintain a high level of experience. I will be paying for it so its not a matter of financial support. I just don't want him to be worried about it.

Any thoughts?
 
Well you can certainly get a pilot certificate, and then let it lay dormant while you're in med school. You'll just need to spend some time working the rust off when you want to pick it up again.

I think it just depends on how urgently you want to get the certificate.

The safety record for instruction is very very good, by the way. And YOUR safety in a general aviation airplane is directly related to the effort you'll put in to manage the risks.
 
Go for it. I'm sure your dad knows lots of people who have died in car wrecks, but you still both drive.

It is good for the soul to fly.
 
Do it.

You can stop, pick it up later.
You can fly once a month, or every couple. If you don't feel comfortable, pay a CFI to ride along and go out for a hamburger.

Becoming a pilot taught me other skills besides being a pilot.
 
If you want to be a pilot because you like flying go for it. If your going to do it just to get a credit for school than I recommend you take another class, it is not the easiest thing in the world and not the safest.
 
If it is something you want and can do. Better to do it now then get recurrent when life allows.
 
Yes, it is easier to get it done while you are young and have the time and resources. You can then lay off of it for a long time and pick it up again when life allows for it again. I took decades of no flying while priorities took front and center. It didn't take much to get current again.
 
skidoo said:
Yes, it is easier to get it done while you are young and have the time and resources. You can then lay off of it for a long time and pick it up again when life allows for it again. I took decades of no flying while priorities took front and center. It didn't take much to get current again.
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I realize it wont take long to before current legally, but realistically how long does it take to becomes as skilled as when you stopped flying?
 
nmodor said:
Also, my father is not very supportive of the idea. He has known people who have died piloting smaller planes and is under the impression that I should not fly unless I will have time to do it regularly and maintain a high level of experience. I will be paying for it so its not a matter of financial support. I just don't want him to be worried about it.

Any thoughts?
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My first thought is, stop caring what your parents think. Don't let them make the decision for you.

I respect my parents, listen to their opinion, but ultimately make my own decisions. I'll accept that they might bring up points that I didn't think of, but other than that, their opinion does not matter at all about some things. In other words, if my mom 100% disapproved of my flying, too ****ing bad.
 
MachFly said:
I realize it wont take long to before current legally, but realistically how long does it take to becomes as skilled as when you stopped flying?
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Well, I had 76 hours at age 19, stopped for 35 years, then it took just a few hours (perhaps 5-10) dual to feel comfortable and and 15 hours dual to meet insurance requirements. And that included the addition of a high performance endorsement in a TAA aircraft.
 
Wow thanks for the feedback guys! After reading your posts I think I will stick with my plan to get it next semester. It is definitely not something I am doing just for credit hours. There are much easier, cheaper, and less time consuming classes I could take to get the necessary hours. I just figured why not get a PPL like I've always wanted to and knock out these hours at the same time. Plus I think its cheaper through the university I am at.

ajstoner21 said:
My first thought is, stop caring what your parents think. Don't let them make the decision for you.

I respect my parents, listen to their opinion, but ultimately make my own decisions. I'll accept that they might bring up points that I didn't think of, but other than that, their opinion does not matter at all about some things. In other words, if my mom 100% disapproved of my flying, too ****ing bad.
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I agree with you completely. I wasn't going to let my father's opinions keep me from doing it if I decided that it was really something I wanted to do. I would however like him to warm up to the idea. We'll see what happens once I convince him to come fly with me once I have my license :D
 
You realize that this is the wrong kind of forum to get an unbiased opinion? :wink2:
 
And to just add fuel to the fire..............I would also consider how flying may also help in your medical aspirations. LOTS of high flying medical type opportunities for those that have the skills. Not sure what it would potentially do for a paycheck, but there are ways to tie flying into your med-school earned career. Just a thought!
 
Do it now and cutback later if needed. It's not hard or unsfae to get recurrent and proficient with proper instruction when time and finances permit. Just don't get in a Bonanza or Cirrus after you become a doctor.;)
 
nmodor said:
Plus I think its cheaper through the university I am at.
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Look at it this way - These ARE the good old days! Flight training will never get cheaper than it is right now.

As others have said - get it while you can, you never know when you'll get another opportunity.
 
skidoo said:
Well, I had 76 hours at age 19, stopped for 35 years, then it took just a few hours (perhaps 5-10) dual to feel comfortable and and 15 hours dual to meet insurance requirements. And that included the addition of a high performance endorsement in a TAA aircraft.
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I see. That's really not that much.
 
I also say do it. Big surprise, huh.

Life tends to throw curve balls at us, and for whatever reason, school, career, family, wife not "allowing" it, etc it may never happen.

I did mine after a divorce. My previous wife would have never been on board with it. I knocked it out in less than six months and never regretted it.

Do it while you are able.
 
If you can't devote a part of your life to it, don't do it. You have to remember this is a bunch of people that have made flying such a big part of their personality that they spend more time on the ground thinking about flying than do in the air.

If you want it as an accomplishment and then don't care if you fly after, that's less of a factor. Keeping everything it takes to fly (safely) in your head as a recently used skill is tough.
 
nmodor said:
Will it be an issue if I'm not able to fly very often in medical school?
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Not as long as you don't fly when your proficiency is low until you've built it back up with an instructor.

[He] is under the impression that I should not fly unless I will have time to do it regularly and maintain a high level of experience.
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He's right -- you should not fly without an instructor when your proficiency is low. But I doubt you'd want to perform brain surgery when you haven't done one recently, either. As long as you apply solid judgement to your flying and are able to make realistic assessments of the current state of your pilot proficiency and then make appropriate decisions based on those assessments, you should do fine. And if you can't do that, I don't want you in my thorax, my brain, or my sky.;)
 
As the lone dissenter, you know my opinion already.

I'm sure you already know my reasons why.
 
Jaybird180 said:
As the lone dissenter, you know my opinion already.

I'm sure you already know my reasons why.
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But nobody else does, unless I missed it? If he has the opportunity now to get it done, then doesn't fly through med school, what is the risk? Once he has the time, he can get the dual instruction necessary to get proficiency, and fly again.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm still planning on doing it next semester. It sounds like I have no reason not to if I can fly with instructors after having not flown for awhile to brush up on things.

Loving how active this forum is by the way.
 
BellyUpFish said:
More people are killed everyday in automobile crashes than will die in a year in plane crashes.
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Those of us in the aviation community cite this, expecting it to sway the minds of non-fliers. It is unconvincing. Perhaps a new mantra?
 
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