Fixed+Rotary (aircraft, not washing lines)
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Peak District, Yorkshire, UK
Age: 56
Posts: 357
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A lesson every two weeks is a quite sufficient target to aim for. That's been my experience to date and I've just completed my qualifying cross country on 44 hours. I had my first lesson on 2nd May LAST YEAR. So thats 44 hours in about 75 weeks, about 0.6 hours per week, or just over 1 hour every fortnight.
In this time I've had a regular Sunday slot booked EVERY week without fail except for holidays. I've also taken the odd extra lesson on a Saturday or Bank Holiday Monday.
In this country what will really hit you will be the weather. You can go weeks without getting into the sky and then you might have 3 or 4 consecutive weekends of activity.
I'm in absolutely no hurry to get my PPL - i.e. not doing this as a means to get a job - and so I can take my time.
In the down time you will have the opportunity to read the theory and sit the exams - I took the first 10 months to complete them. Leaving the R/T practical until I had more airtime this summer.
To sum up - it might be worth booking a regular weekly slot and seeing how you go. You may end up with a lesson every two weeks on average which will help with the cash flow. But then you also have to be prepared for the times when it all goes very well and you get a hefty demand from the flying school in one big invoice. I hadn't been up since 28th August until this last weekend - then I managed to get 4.1 hours in. Which was great until I got the bill - ouch!
Enjoy!