Something I forgot to mention in my previous post - make sure you get your medical done, and applications in for ARN, Student Pilot Licence and ASIC as soon as you can - waiting for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn holds people back all the time...
3 weeks to PPL? Does that include the theory, or is that assumed to have been done beforehand?
I guess if you can knock over the theory before your 10 week stint, that is helpful and will certainly make it a heck of a lot easier. But a big caveat emptor here - if you later plan to go on and do a CPL, there are requirements as to when you may sit the various theory exams to be considered as doing your training as part of an integrated course (i.e. 150 hour course) as opposed to non-integrated training (i.e. 200 hour CPL). These are detailed in section 2.8 of the
Day VFR Syllabus.
(a) A student pilot must have accumulated at least 5 hours dual flying training before he/she may be credited
with a pass in the BAK examination.
(b) A student pilot must have commenced cross-country training and passed the BAK examination before
he/she may be credited with a pass in CASA PPLA theory examination (where applicable).
(c) A student pilot must have accumulated at least 5 hours PIC cross country flight time before he/she may be
credited with a pass in the CASA CPLA written examination. Additionally he/she must have passed the
BAK examination before attempting the CPLA written examination.
(d) Alternatively, the CPLA subject examination may be attempted after the following phases of training have
been achieved:
(i) after passing the General Flying Progress Test (GFPT), or achieving the competencies for the GFPT
(as specified in the GFPT Achievement Record):
• Aerodynamics
• Human Factors
• Aircraft General Knowledge (AGK)
• Meteorology
(ii) after accumulating 5 hours pilot in command cross country time, or achieving the competencies of the
PPL (as specified in the PPL Achievement Record)
• Navigation
• Aircraft Operation, Performance and Flight Planning
• Flight Rules and Air Law.
Obviously if you don't intend to do the 150-hour course, then it is not an issue for you, and I'd strongly recommend diving into the theory as soon as you can. As for doing it in 3 weeks, I think that is extraordinarily optimistic in my (albeit somewhat limited) experience.
TT