PPL hour breakdown

[BackPacker]

117!!?

My logbook shows 125 landings and 48.7 total time of flight until I got my PPL. 63 T&Gs until first solo.

Mind you, this was on an intensive course where I flew two-three times a day, every day. In mostly benign weather conditions. Also, I did not have any problems with nav (my 5th solo flight was my QXC), so I did spend a few more hours at the end of the course just doing T&Gs (both solo and dual) for the fun of it. (It helps that the US doesn't do landings fees.)

But I doubt whether you can do a full PPL with significantly less than 100 landings, or reach solo standard with significantly less than 50 landings. Especially not if you're doing a regular, one-lesson-a-week PPL, in typical NW-European weather conditions.

[Piper.Classique]

GQ, that was nicely explained. I am astounded by some of the prices people are quoting for landings, though! I don't know how people are finding the money to learn at some of these airports. I paid just under five euros the other day at Caen.....
Oh, and free at Gamston with a fuel uplift. Helpful and a good restaurant, as well.

[abgd]

Free landings and t&gs also at Inverness airport (Highlands aviation).

I never counted them, but I also had well over 100 t&gs by the time I qualified. I was doing quite nice 'standard' landings from early on but learned that I could still be caught out by the unexpected. You need to do a certain number of t/o and landings in order to gain unexpected experience.

The most interesting were 2 go-arounds (one on a crosswind landing and one at a short strip) where I may have come unstuck without an instructor.

Different flavours include:

Glide approach
Flapless
Stuck throttle approach
Bad weather circuit
Night t/o and landings
Short field takeoffs
Crosswind landings
Simulated instrument approaches

so there's plenty to practice. Next time the weather permits I may just go up with an instructor for a dozen crosswind landings.

[EGKB]

Well over a year for one lesson a week, most probably right.

I Plan on 5 hours a month. + a week of intense training + flying on bank holidays. Should take less than a year, just under

[cyberkryten]

But I doubt whether you can do a full PPL with significantly less than 100 landings, or reach solo standard with significantly less than 50 landings.

When I was struggling for a couple of lessons with the flare I was getting really annoyed with myself. Never counted before but I had 41 total landings in my log book over a period of 7 weeks before my first solo so clearly my instructor was right and I was being too hard on myself!