Crash Course for Private Pilot! Please help...

[Gen]

So I want to be a pilot!
After a bit of googling it seems 40-60 hours of training is needed to
obtain Private Pilot's Certificate. I have about two weeks vacation in
July.
---------
QUESTIONs:
---------
1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?
2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?
I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.
Thanks in advance,
Gen

[Kyle Boatright]

"Gen" > wrote in message
m...
> So I want to be a pilot!
> After a bit of googling it seems 40-60 hours of training is needed to
> obtain Private Pilot's Certificate. I have about two weeks vacation in
> July.
> ---------
> QUESTIONs:
> ---------
> 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?
> 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?
> I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
> However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.
> Thanks in advance,
> Gen

I'm an engineer myself and found the written and oral exams to be relatively
easy. All you have to do is regurgitate the facts from a book written on
about a10th grade level. So, you're right, you should be fine on that
front.

On the practical front, I think a two week window is a bit aggressive for
initial flight training. Particularly on the first 10-20 hours, you won't
get a whole lot from flying more than a couple of one hour lessons a day. I
would make an analogy between learning to fly (especially how to take off,
land, and establish the other basic flying skills) to learning to drive a
car with a stick shift. Learning to drive a stick shift is best
accomplished a few minutes at a time, beginning in wide open parking lots
where the only thing you're going to harm is the powertrain of the vehicle
you're driving. Beyond maybe a half hour lesson on a stickshift, you're
probably frustrated enough and mentally overwhelmed enough that more time
simply wouldn't help. Same thing with flying. By the time you attempt and
botch your first 10 landings on a particular day, immediately shooting 20
more landings simply won't help. Better to land, take a several hour break,
and try again.

I'd say you might do OK with 2 one hour long lessons a day for the first
week, then evolve into more flying as you get the basics mastered. Getting
it all done in two weeks just ain't gonna happen.

Depending on where you plan on doing the training, the summer may not be
ideal for lengthy training days anyway. Little airplanes get hot in the
summer, particularly at low altitudes where most of the training takes
place. Add a little turbulence and poor visibility due to haze, and you'll
find that flying in the hot part of a summer day isn't conducive to a great
learning experience.

By the way, I completed my pilot training in about a 3 month period during a
Georgia summer...

KB

[John Gaquin]

"Gen" > wrote in message
> ---------
> 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?

Theoretically, yes. Practically, no. Ill-advised, in any case.


> 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?

Start with two lessons per day, maximum, separated by several hours. You'll
be trying to absorb an awful lot of three-dimensional physical data, and
develop "muscle memory" at the same time. Spending more than a couple of
hours in a small aircraft without break can be tiring even for those
accustomed to it. It can be exhausting for those who are not. Information
overload is also a very common problem in flight training. You will reach
the point of diminishing returns very quickly.

> I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
> However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.

Your engineering background may or may not be of benefit in the flight
portion of your training. Have you ever had the opportunity to find out if
you are adept at operating complex motion machines in three dimensions? Do
you know for a fact that you are *not* susceptible to motion sickness?
Acrophobia? These are not necessarily show-stoppers, but they are factors
that could slow your training schedule.

[EDR]

In article >, Gen
> wrote:

> So I want to be a pilot!
> After a bit of googling it seems 40-60 hours of training is needed to
> obtain Private Pilot's Certificate. I have about two weeks vacation in
> July.
> ---------
> QUESTIONs:
> ---------
> 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?

Yes, but you will not learn much.

> 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?

Two, one-hour sessions per day (one morning, one afternoon/evening)

> I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.

The written test knowledge is not that difficult. Some addition,
subtraction, geometry, graph/chart interpretation.

> However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.

The flying will depend on your hand-eye coordination.
Are you by chance an Industrial Engineer with time-motion studies
background? That would help.

[Kyle Boatright]

"EDR" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, Gen
> > wrote:
>
> > So I want to be a pilot!
> > After a bit of googling it seems 40-60 hours of training is needed to
> > obtain Private Pilot's Certificate. I have about two weeks vacation in
> > July.
> > ---------
> > QUESTIONs:
> > ---------
> > 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> > pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?
>
> Yes, but you will not learn much.
>
> > 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?
>
> Two, one-hour sessions per day (one morning, one afternoon/evening)
>
> > I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
>
> The written test knowledge is not that difficult. Some addition,
> subtraction, geometry, graph/chart interpretation.
>
> > However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.
>
> The flying will depend on your hand-eye coordination.
> Are you by chance an Industrial Engineer with time-motion studies
> background? That would help.

I'm an IE with those tools in the kit. Curious to hear an explanation of
how it helps...

KB

[George]

(Gen) wrote in message >...

snip

Bad choice of words

[George]

(Gen) wrote in message >...

snip

Bad choice of words

[Cub Driver]

On 13 Jun 2004 14:14:26 -0700, (Gen) wrote:

>After a bit of googling it seems 40-60 hours of training is needed to
>obtain Private Pilot's Certificate. I have about two weeks vacation

You probably won't get your certificate, but you should be well on
your way. If you are young and reasonably fit, you can certainly do
1.5 hours of air time in the morning and again in the afternoon. If
you fly in AZ you don't have to consider the weather, so you could fly
a theoretical 21 hours a week. (If you fly in New England, forget it!)

Taking lots of lessons close together will speed you up a great deal.
However, you will also be diluting the joy of the process. A lot of
people are bereft when they get that ticket: what do I do now? But
maybe that's just for those of us who spent a year or two at it.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org

[Noddy]

"Gen" > wrote in message
m...

> QUESTIONs:
> ---------
> 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?
> 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?
> I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
> However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.
> Thanks in advance,
> Gen

It may be possible but you will not be well trained, and you will not have
any practical experience. As an engineer you should be able to make good
choices about what is possible and what is practical. Be safe! Any accident
you may have reflects on everyone, and we all pay insurance.

Your whole premise begs another question: With so little time to train, how
do you expect to find the time to fly? If you have the time to fly a few
hours a month, that schedule is better for your training also. JMO.

[Gen]

Thanks a lot for all your valuable comments. As you advise, I will
take classes few hours a week instead of few hours a day.
I sure look forward to seeing fall colors from the sky this year. :)
(I live in Boston, not far from NH and VT.)

Gen

[Shirley]

Cub Driver warbird wrote:

>If you fly in AZ you don't have to consider the
>weather,

?? WHAT?? As Dorothy once said, "Toto, do you think there *is* such a place??"

Here in AZ, we do get many clear days, and we don't get the clouds, precip or
high humidity with the regularity that a lot of places do, but we sure as heck
get very high heat and high DA to consider, and we DO get high winds with the
regularity that other places get clouds. In the middle of summer, we also have
the monsoons in all their glory, complete with towering cus, thunder,
lightning, rain, hail, microbursts and gusty winds. And they can build pretty
fast.

No weather to consider? maybe you were kidding.

--Shirley

[EDR]

In article >, Kyle Boatright
> wrote:

> I'm an IE with those tools in the kit. Curious to hear an explanation of
> how it helps...

If you have performed job studies observing time-motion skills to make
a process more efficient, you will have the observation skills to
correlate what the instructor is doing to what the aircraft is doing.
Flying is all about coordination. The less wasted motion you make, the
smoother you will be on the controls, the smoother you are (in theory
;-) ), the more precise you are.

[Nathan D. Olmscheid]

I don't think he said he doesn't have time to fly, I just think he has some
extra vacation time and was wondering if he could get most of his training
done during that time.


"Noddy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Gen" > wrote in message
> m...
>
> > QUESTIONs:
> > ---------
> > 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> > pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?
> > 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?
> > I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
> > However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Gen
>
> It may be possible but you will not be well trained, and you will not have
> any practical experience. As an engineer you should be able to make good
> choices about what is possible and what is practical. Be safe! Any
accident
> you may have reflects on everyone, and we all pay insurance.
>
> Your whole premise begs another question: With so little time to train,
how
> do you expect to find the time to fly? If you have the time to fly a few
> hours a month, that schedule is better for your training also. JMO.
>
>

[Ronald Gardner]

I would not do more than 3 or 4 hours per week. There is allot of skill
that needs to be learned that will not happen instantly. There is also a
lot of knowledge that must be attained in the process the should not be a
cram course.

Gen wrote:

> So I want to be a pilot!
> After a bit of googling it seems 40-60 hours of training is needed to
> obtain Private Pilot's Certificate. I have about two weeks vacation in
> July.
> ---------
> QUESTIONs:
> ---------
> 1) Is it possible to take lessons 5 hours a day and become a private
> pilot in time frame of 2 weeks or so?
> 2) If not what's the fastest pace you would recommend?
> I am an engineer and am confident of clearing the written exam.
> However I need your advice/comments about the actual flying.
> Thanks in advance,
> Gen

[Legrande Harris]

I gave this reccomendation to a good friend of mine and it worked out
well.

1. Get about 5-10 hours of sailplane time. It doesn't matter if you
solo or accomplish anything other than getting some stick time with
instruction. Having fun is the most important thing.

2. Read some good books on flying like "Stick and Rudder."

3. Pass off the written and get it out of the way. I think studying
"gleims" is the easiest way.

4. Find a good instructor and fly as much as you can stand without
burning out. One 6 hour day of manuevers, touch and goes, radio work,
etc. is worth 12 hours spread over a month or a week.

5. As soon as you can, pass the flight test.

6. Now the real education begins :)

The secret to this system is to get some early, fun, flight time. So
that you have something to visualize and relate with.

LG