Love Flying,
I wanted to comment on flight training. There is a major difference between people who train full time vs people who train part time. In the long run, part time training, especially in primary training, will cost you alot more time and money.
In Florida, I would like to give an example of a part time FAA student vs a full time FAA student. (The reason I am not comparing part and full time JAA students is we only get full time JAA students.)
The part time FAA student works full time and usually has a family too. They fly anywhere from once every two weeks to twice a week. About half of every flight lesson is spent re-learning what they forget from their last lesson. Most of the time, the student will arrive for his lesson unprepared, due to job or family reasons. They will not have done their homework they were assigned. The flight lesson for that day has to be canceled in order for the instructor to teach the lesson the student should have already read. At this pace, the average student will get a private in 1 to 2 years with an average flight time anywhere from 90 to 120 hours.
The full time student will usually be coming from some place else and be dedicating 4 to 5 weeks to one goal, their private license. They will fly two to three times a day and the rest of the time is spent studying the lessons they have been assigned. The average student finishes in 4 to 5 weeks with between 39 to 45 hours.
In this situation it is easy to figure out who saved the money in the long run. When you are working on a private license it is vital to train full time. You need to learn the skills and aeronautical knowledge in order to build the foundation for your flying ability.
As you advance to Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine, and ATP, you will already have a foundation and basic skill in aviation, so flying full time is not as critical to reaching your goal.
There is one thing that will not change, the book work. When you are doing it part time, you will have other responsibilities that will cut into your study time. After a full day at work, and the family distractions in the evening, it will be very hard to pick up the books and study. I am not saying it is impossible to do, I have seen many people do it. They all have one thing in common. They all had an office at home or other secluded area where they were able to go and study. They all had a family rule being, while they were in that room, unless the house was burning, they were not to be disturbed.
I hope this helps a little with the confusion.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.