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Old 22nd Feb 2014, 16:44
  #140 (permalink)  
Whirlybird

The Original Whirly
 
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
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It took me 48 hours to go solo - I was in my late 40s. I finally got my PPL(A) at just under 90 hours...rather a lot. Then I went for a helicopter trial lesson, loved it, and decided to get a PPL(H). 30 hours to solo, and under 60 (I think), to PPL....a little under "average". Then I got a CPL(H) and FI(H) and became an instructor, and I like to think I was a good one, partly because I knew about every problem possible and sympathised; I'd been there!

So don't worry about hours. However, I realise now, many years later, that I'd have done better if I'd switched instructor sooner when doing my PPL(A). The chap who first taught me was a rather unsatisfactory instructor, indeed, a rather unsatisfactory human being, sad to say. If you're not "getting it" ask yourself why. It may just be that you need more time, and there's no harm in that; we slow learners get there in the end. But a change of instructor may help; it may not, but going up with someone else to see how you get on can't do any harm.
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