How many hours did it take for you to complete RPL training

[twistedmr]

Hi all, i am just gathering information on the real life hours and dollars spent completing RPL training.
I realise the Brochures from various clubs quote the minimal amount for obvious reasons however, I do wonder what the average amount of hours people are doing for example from start to first solo, then from first solo to completion.?
Any input would be valuable and appreciated.
Cheers,
twisty

[Deceiver]

Everyone is different. It will all depend on how good the teacher is, and how easily the student learns.

[Stickshift3000]

At my club the advertised RPL price guidance is from $12k. This will obviously depend on the student, weather, availability of aircraft/instructors etc. 30-40 hours of flying is typically what I see students needing before their RPL flight test.

I have seen the RPL attained within a single (full time) 4 week block of flying, I’ve also seen people attain it casually over 12+ months.

I flew around 35 hours prior to my RPL flight test, but many of the above-mentioned factors influenced this. I now have a PPL.

[Okihara]

33h. If you can afford it in both time and money, try to pack your flight training in as little as you can. It'll be great help if you already have: 1. your medical certificate, 2. your BAK done before you start. I could have knocked another 3-4h off that figure just due to the repeated delays I incurred due to the utter lack of organisation (cancelled lessons, bouncing from one instructor to the next) and professionalism of the flight school where I did my RPL. And weather in Melbourne is never of much help for VFR flying. Obviously you're really only smarter after the fact. 'Onya!

[deja vu]

33h. If you can afford it in both time and money, try to pack your flight training in as little as you can. It'll be great help if you already have: 1. your medical certificate, 2. your BAK done before you start. I could have knocked another 3-4h off that figure just due to the repeated delays I incurred due to the utter lack of organisation (cancelled lessons, bouncing from one instructor to the next) and professionalism of the flight school where I did my RPL. And weather in Melbourne is never of much help for VFR flying. Obviously you're really only smarter after the fact. 'Onya!
Yeah, not so sure about "packing in your flight training"
In 1971 I was a C grade instructor for a large Flying school based at Jandakot. Someone ( management) had come up with the bright idea of offering a 4 week (20 days)course from zero to RPPL, all in, theory etc. all for a fixed sum. Only requirement was that candidates needed to get their student licence and medical before the course was started. So on the first day there were 5 new students and 5 instructors assigned to do nothing else but fly, brief and teach the basic PPL Principles of flight, Engines, Met and air legislation, this went from 7 AM thru to 7 PM each day. It was exhausting for all involved but all passed on the 20th day.
About 3 weeks later one of these students came back to start the unrestricted part (Navs) and I was assigned to fly with him. What a disaster, the poor guy didn't have a clue, he had forgotten everything and we had to spend about 6 hours dual before he was up to leaving the training area.

So, take it easy, have a bit of time to digest what you have done and learned after each lesson would be my advise, but sure there is merit in getting it done quickly.

[gchriste]

Apart from the flying and briefing costs, don't forget other things along the way. You will need to sit your RPL exam and depending on if your club/school can offer it, or you have to pay ASPLEQ to sit it, and Casa fee. Medical. ASIC. Will you get your own headset. ERSA, Charts, AIP or subscription to EFB. It all adds up.

For me it has been roughly $12K flying cost for RPL and about another $13k to PPL give or take. On top of that I would have spent another few thousand at least on good headset, charts, ERSA etc. And then given I have been at it for a few years, 3 ASIC renewal and 3 medical renewals at $200+ each etc.

[glenb]

In my opinion plan on 35 hours for an RPL and the same again for a PPL. i.e. total about 70 hours.
Take off 20% if your flying fulltime.
If you cant afford that, don't start, and don't forget to allow another $2500 for RPL and $2500 for the PPL, for other costs, (theory, medical, maps, charts, ASIC, books etc)

[Kundry]

I did my pre-licence in 20 hours and had to pad out the remaining 5 hours. I wasn't doing it full time. I did it over 6 months and had gaps up to three weeks between lessons.

I feel like the main factor towards getting it done efficiently and in low hours was learning at (1) a small uncontrolled field (2) a school with a very "practical" way of operating (and a good instructor) (3) having messed around in desktop flight sims a lot.

I have to agree with what deja vu says about not packing in your flight training. Obviously in the most extreme sense, going at it over two weeks, full time each day won't work for everyone. But even doing a lesson every day or multiple times a week may start to blur memories. It's good to have a decent amount of time after a lesson, proper downtime, to reflect and go over everything that happened, but then also to not have too much time after this reflection and your next lesson.

[gchriste]

I just checked my logbook (yay LogTen and custom fields). 35 to RPL and 30 to PPL. 13 hours until solo. RPL was part time over two years and PPL over six months. As I said before about $12k for each plus as Glen said around another $5k for other stuff. Worth it, yep, just don’t tell the wife!

I think the main thing to ask yourself is why. If it is for a career option great. If for fun, like me, I know a bunch of people that got the RPL and spent all that money and then stopped. The reasons break down into a) struggling to get the money to keep going to PPL or b) lack of motivation or drive to keep going. I know for me personally being for fun, before getting PPL, you can only fly friends within 25nm for so long before the fun wears off. Therefore I see continued training as a driver and join an aero club for the fun and friends.

[Okihara]

Yeah, not so sure about "packing in your flight training"
In 1971 I was a C grade instructor for a large Flying school based at Jandakot. Someone ( management) had come up with the bright idea of offering a 4 week (20 days)course from zero to RPPL, all in, theory etc. all for a fixed sum. Only requirement was that candidates needed to get their student licence and medical before the course was started. So on the first day there were 5 new students and 5 instructors assigned to do nothing else but fly, brief and teach the basic PPL Principles of flight, Engines, Met and air legislation, this went from 7 AM thru to 7 PM each day. It was exhausting for all involved but all passed on the 20th day.
About 3 weeks later one of these students came back to start the unrestricted part (Navs) and I was assigned to fly with him. What a disaster, the poor guy didn't have a clue, he had forgotten everything and we had to spend about 6 hours dual before he was up to leaving the training area.

So, take it easy, have a bit of time to digest what you have done and learned after each lesson would be my advise, but sure there is merit in getting it done quickly.

Well well... I've seen the opposite: students dragging on and on sluggishly and taking the better part of 12 months to complete a mere RPL. There's no denying that taking time to allow concepts to sink in can't be bad. But I personally have always found that it takes a certain volume of practice over a comparatively short period of time to make substantial progress.

And then there's the fact that (mostly) everyone is different.

Good luck to OP, don't stress yourself and just get started. You'll figure things out quickly enough.