How long did it take you to achieve your PPL?

[RITZER82]

Hi folks, can you please tell me how long it took for you to achieve your PPL as it so far taken me almost 5 months to date and have clocked 32.5 hours I am now at the stage of building up some solo time and than onto my navigation side, I just feel I am being taken for a ride by Redhill aviation, they are not booking enough slots for me, not enough instructors and not enough aircrafts available, although I have passed all my theory studies and achieved an average of 85% I feel quite overwhelmingly depressed as I want to achieve my fatpl by the time i reach 30 years old.

[Bla Bla Bla]

I learnt to fly at Cub air in Redhill and apart from a couple of niggles they were great. Took me eight months whilst working full time as well, 45hrs 5mins I think.

You have to push flying schools all the time as they are rarely as committed as the student its a common theme in all the countries I've flown in. PM me if you like, I have had a bit of time a different schools and seen most of the good and bad points.

[Whirlygig]

6 weeks but I did it full time. :} Surely it's down to the student to book his or her slots as only the student will know his or her availability and other committments.

Weather and serviceability can't be helped which is why you should always book back-up slots.

And there's no need to set yourself a target which you may not achieve if it's just going to depress you.

Cheers

Whirls

[Genghis the Engineer]

About 3 years - I kept moving job (my employer at the time believed in moving people, often to the other end of the country, about twice per year) and a couple of times I just ran out of money.

Started on the University Air Squadron on Bulldogs, then after I graduated went solo on a Spectrum (microlight) in Yorkshire, then 2 job-moves later got my licence on a Shadow (also microlight) in Wiltshire.

If presumably you're also working, so this is not full time: 5 months to do 32 hours of lessons, learning to fly in British weather Ritzer - I'd say you're not doing badly at-all. If it's full time, then yes, it's dreadful.

G

[122.85]

It took me 5 months which included the night priveleges (45 hours total time), I was very lucky with the weather as the QXC / Skills test had no weather delays. I had a very supportive flying club and where possible tried to fly twice a week. Doing the night flying also allowed me to fly in winter after work (although only 5 hours it all adds up).

Stick with it and enjoy the flying.

[RudeNot2]

18 Months in all dues to life's hurdles including bereavement and divorce!!

Was only able to fly every 2nd weekend but got through in about 48hours total.

[Alexsky]

I went through in exactly one month. With total flight time of 45.7hrs.
Study full time within this month and flights almost every day, another guy at that time passed the complete PPL course in 3 weeks and it was the fastest result of the Avioservice flight school.

You can continue with ATPL in any other FTO. Or at least to continue the ATPL ground training with the same school, but to build hours in any other.

[Parson]

It's not so much how long it will take you, but how you are being treated by the school. Are you getting continuity of instructor(s)? You should be aiming to fly with the same one all the way through your course with the odd exception. Are you booking lessons and having them cancelled? Are there other ppl students with the same problems? If you are getting messed about, consider other schools - it's no big deal to change schools at ppl stage and you should have a few options in your area.

[Leezyjet]

19 days. 15 flying days and 4 groundschool days.


:ok:

[Put1992]

3 Years

Passed at 45 hours

[ken0311]

about 3 months... includes CTA/CTR and cross country navs with entry into circuit pattern at an aerodrome other than the departure aerodrome and a touch and go...:ok: good fun!

72 hours total time:)

[RITZER82]

Ahhh ok thanks for your experiences and thoughts shared here guys has been a great honour to take aboard I feel a little bit more relaxed now I thought I was the only one that will experience finishing my PPL approximately in 6 months time, the FTO overall is not bad at all especially when you consider the landing fee and the circuit fee, my instructor is a very experienced one and I have no complaints on he's skills as an instructor, from next week onwards I am having another instructor a BMI captain so looking forward to that very much indeed and a great privilege too.:)

[Aerouk]

3 years, done it while at University so funds were the main problem.

[FREQUENTFLYER1234]

4 weeks for me full time. I'm an instructor now and normally do a PPL in 4 weeks. It does however depend on how well prepared the student is, I am lucky as where I work the weather is usually not the problem and neither is instructor availability as you are allocated an instructor for your whole stay so there are no continuity issues.

Good luck in getting it finished!

[flash8]

2000 OBA I think 26 days (but passed most exams beforehand)
I even survived AT (usually by grovelling)!
Happy Days.

[whistling turtle]

I can see where you are coming from original poster - I did my PPL in Ireland part-time and ended up flying about one hour every one to two weeks or even more due to weather and occasional tech problems etc.

My school was fine but I personaly found it frustrating a lot of the time with the length of time it was taking to finish. It is very easy to lose momentum and even if you are the most enthusiastic student around it can have a retrograding effect. I think it depends on personality, some people are ok with doing it that way and others aren't - there isn't a right or wrong here in my opinion just horses for courses.

Having since done further training abroad and with the benefit of hindsight, if I were to do the PPL again I would find a school with a GOOD reputation in the U.S.A and do an accelerated PPL course there as some of my friends have done. There are many naysayers about doing it this way but I can honestly say I don't think those that I have flown with are any better or worse than I am and they achieved their PPL's much quicker and actually cheaper too.

So I think doing something like that may benefit your training but that said it sounds like you are nearly done anyway so you may as well keep your head down and just stick with it ;)

[AlphaMale]

Ritzer,

Looks like we have a few things in common;

I'm 27
First lesson on 10/04/09
First solo on 22/05/09 @ 14.5hrs
First solo XC on 21/06/09 @ 22.5hrs

Currently waiting for the weather to brighten up for my XC qualifier (150nm), which I'm hoping might be on Monday (12th). I have a total time of 32hrs 59mins and after the QXC I will be around the 35hr mark.

I just hope I get the PPL completed before the winter weather comes in. I've had a few flights canceled over the last 2 months or so due to the flights being Nav exercises and needing VFR conditions.

I tend to fly every other Sunday for 1 or 2 hours.

Also like you, I'd like to think I'll be armed with a fATPL by 2012 when I hit 30 and hopfully the recession will seem like a distant memory. :cool:

Good luck with the rest of your training.

[206Fan]

Done my helicopter PPL in 5 weeks last year. Trained in florida!

[99jolegg]

21 days including a night rating but that was full time and intensive in the USA.

[G CEXO]

School: Stapleford Flight Centre
Duration: 6 months part time.
Hours: 53

Passed my skills test last weekend. Still hasnt sunk in yet :ok:

[destinationsky]

6 days to go solo
22 days from start to finish to complete 45hours (3 days off + 1.5 days lost for weather included!)
Passed the skills test last saturday :)
Was pretty intense!
This was done at EFT in Florida

[Lude-og]

FAA PPL(H) in Cloud 9 West Palm Beach in 22 days. I did two visits, the first visit for 6 days in April and the second visit for 18 days in July/August, passed the checkride on day 16 of second visit, plus I took one of those days off for the written exam! 45/46 hours to checkride.
But PPL's this quickly are usually an exception rather than a rule, it all depends on SO many variables, I had great luck with weather and scheduling.

I can only echo what HARBRO said: Great school, great instructors.

To RITZER82, just relax and enjoy it, having deadlines for such great tasks as an fATPL can't be easy. You're learning in the environment you will be flying in, the weather is ****ty, but you'll be all the better for it in the long run.:ok:

[RollNow!]

TC PPL flown in Canada. 60 Hours ... i did have a 6 month gap in between though or it would have been a few hours less. I couldnt get the time off work to do the whole thing in one go but it was fun... i got to meet a load of really nice people and saved rather a lot of money.

Not to say anything bad about training here... its just a bit expensive. I lived on site out there and it was excellent :ok:

Solo at 13 hours
X-Countries somewhere in the late 40's
The brush up for the skills test
Written test at around 50 hours. Although i would have loved to have got that out the way a lot faster.

It varies a lot i think on skill, time, situation, weather and pilot attitude. There was a guy i knew who was cracking onto 45 hours and had not even flown his solo yet :ooh:

[kaptene]

It took me about 5 months, but I was flying 2 to 3 times a week, and there was a month where the weather was too crapy when I didn't log any flight time:ugh:
So in a full time training, it can be done in 1 month, maybe less. but the average of having the PPL is around 60 to 70 hours.

I also had a bad instructor, who looks only for money, so I wasted some time with him, especially when I reached the average solo time, then I fired him, it wasn't honest from his part and I was desapointed by him :mad:

[Rj111]

I've clocked up 13 hours in about 10 months now.

I blame...

Weather
Redundancy
Mr Tax Man

:(

Saving up again and am hoping to take 2 weeks off soon and knock out as many hours as possible.

[fanda78]

11 months and 53 hrs TT at Andrewsfield EGSL
QXC canceled 17 times due to weather and once due to my work (but weather was crap on this day anyway)
also did some evening groundschool lessons there and my worst result was 88% (4 times 100%) with some reading at home (and PPL confuser)

[RITZER82]

I have completed my PPL TT @ 76 hours with total solo time 16 hrs 40 min, I know it is no way near the minimum 45 hours but I had the weather, work, commitment and time to blame aswell as my greedy instructor who wasted my time on doing silly excessive circuit training thus prevented me in keeping constant with my flying, is 76 hours un-attractive when I eventually apply to airlines obviously once I have achieved my fATPL or airlines are not really interested on PPL record?

[Whirlygig]

airlines are not really interested on PPL record?Can't see why they would be? The most they might want to know about your PPL record is whether you passed the skill test first time but even then, i'm not convinced.

Cheers

Whirls

[Denti]

Five weeks around and exactly 40 hours including the checkride and LFT acceptance flight the day before. Flightschool was ATCA as subcontractor for LFT in Goodyear/AZ.

[kevmusic]

Um... 28 years. :hmm:

[fuzzy6988]

48 hours and 22 days for me, but that was intensive. I did it in Florida in near-perfect weather conditions.

I didn't get time to do much reading beforehand so ended up cramming study material for the seven written papers for most of the time when I wasn't flying.

Learning how to flare at the right moment was tricky - I didn't get it at first. Then it suddenly clicked.

It is normal to take more hours if you plan to complete your course at a more leisurely pace. In the UK, cancellations due to weather are common, especially in the winter months.

[joelgarabedian]

45 hours and 35 minutes over 5 months (although the last month was spent waiting for good enough weather to take the Skills Test). :)

[IO540]

In the UK, most people take a year. It doesn't seem to matter whether the school is good or crap, or what the weather is like...

The average TT is 55-65 hours.

Very few do it in 45 hours (probably 1-2%) and IMHO most of those that do have actually done a lot of unlogged "passenger" hours with a mate, or a lot of hours on a sim :)

[Denti]

Just depends how you do the training. The above mentioned by me was a US PPL during abinitio training for a german ATPL, everyone except one in my course managed to achieve the PPL with absolute minimum hours, soloing after the same number of "missions".

Now, in a training that isn't as strictly organized it usually takes quite a bit longer and more hours as well. For example my glider PPL took me 8 years, simply because i never needed to have the license as i could do everything without it anyway.

[Ryan5252]

In the UK, most people take a year.

Not a bad guesstimate Peter, I done my skills test 1 year to the day since my first flight! TT aprox 47hrs but many, many hours armchair flying! :ok:

[fuzzy6988]

Very few do it in 45 hours (probably 1-2%) and IMHO most of those that do have actually done a lot of unlogged "passenger" hours with a mate, or a lot of hours on a sim

My friend did his in 45 hours, and I felt the pressure! ;) Later I found out he spent many years sitting in his dad's plane as he crop dusted his field.

It's important not to feel pressured to do it in minimal hours. Rather spend a bit more under instruction than to get signed off and do something silly in the air...

IO540's figure of 55-65 hours is a good one. I have heard of someone who, after 60 hours of flying, still could not fly straight and level. But he got there in the end.

[MichaelJP59]

45 hours and 35 minutes over 5 months (although the last month was spent waiting for good enough weather to take the Skills Test).

Does that mean you only did 35 minutes flying in the last month while you were waiting? :)

Did my PPL in 49 hours 30 minutes, over about 18 months i.e. a lesson every week or 2. Would have liked to do it quicker, but couldn't spare any more time from work.

[Pitts Flyer]

17 days over 3 1/2 weeks Wednesday lunch time to Sunday lunch time in the UK

[joelgarabedian]

Does that mean you only did 35 minutes flying in the last month while you were waiting? :)

It was worse than that - my last flight before the test took me over 45 hours and up to the 45:35 mark - It was another three weeks before I flew again for the Skills Test :)

[screetch]

I have done it in 65 hrs over a year. mainly flying on weekends. with 3 x 1 month breaks in between. So there were a few repeat lessons. however before anybody starts to brag about them doing it 45 hrs - i just have 20hrs more experience :)

[RITZER82]

I am thinking of undertaking an IMC rating added to my PPL before I commence with my ATPL side therefore does anybody have any experiences of this subject whether it is worth undertaking as my instructor suggests so but than I dont want to listen to everything my instructor tells me!

[Piper.Classique]

Way way back in 1981, when the course was forty hours, that's how long I took to do mine. The great incentive to work at it was that I was stony broke, and I had just managed to save enough money for that many hours, the books, and a few landing fees and the exams. That was with a second job, at that. You do need to be very disciplined and not fly without a clear goal for each flight. no flight simulator, and no time with mates either.

[RedKnight]

6 months (October - March), ~46hrs. Battling the winter weather wasn't a terribly exciting prospect.

[Flyingmac]

Burkini Faso Distance Learning College of Aviation. I've just received my ATPL in the post. £60 total and it came with a free pen!

[AdamFrisch]

I did it in 43,5hrs. Mind you, this was in 1991 and the Swedish standards only required a leisurely 40hrs back then, so I'm assuming I was a pretty average student.

Didn't fly much after that and let it lapse again so had to do new checkride/skills test in 1995. The it lapsed again and had to do new test. Again. But now I fly tons and hopefully it won't ever lapse again.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Actually looking at my log book it was faster than I remembered ...

Eighteen months, 51:45

[E-n-i-g-m-a-8-3]

10 Days in total, with one day on the ground due wx. Theory exams fitted in whenever we had chance, mostly at the end of the flying day. Was tempted by the USA courses, but did mine in good old sunny UK in the end.

I would say though, that doing it as an intensive course is so much better - no need to recap lessons from previous flights, as it's all so fresh in your head.