Alan wrote:
Much the same was true when I got my power license -- flying is flying.

However, now I wonder about what sort of flights to expect while getting
the rating -- how many useful flights and how many wasted ones? Does it really
take 15 to 20 flights of dual before solo?

It took me 25, which was considered to be rather unusually low. However I
was not a transition pilot, but ab initio.

What is covered in those, and how
can one take control of the process to make it more efficient?

How many more dual before "high solo", and how many more before the check ride?

How many of these flights actually get into lift and give a good learning period,
and how many are just a ride back down from release?

For most training flights, the amount of time spent in the air is not all
that important. Learning how to handle the glider doesn't take all that
long. Even things like stall recovery, unusual attidutes, etc. don't
require that many flights. Learning how to find and work lift is always
good, of course, but you don't strictly need much for solo. What you do
need is to be able to take off, tow, and land reliably, and that's where
much of the pre-solo practice goes. You get to practice them the same
amount on each flight no matter how much lift you encounter, so this has
little influence on the number of training flights required.

When I was learning, I'd come to the airport any time the weather looked
flyable. If there was lift, great. If not, I didn't really care. Now I'm
much more careful about evaluating the weather beforehand to see if it's
going to be worth my while. Lift is much more important for having fun
than it is for learning.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon