PPL after 32 Hrs 40 mins
Solo after 9 Hrs 20 mins

Mind you that was with a dispensation for having a gliding "Bronze C" qualification and it was at a time when there was no Navigation Flight Test and the total requirement was 40 Hrs not 45.

Whether or not you are a good or lousy pilot bears no relation to the number of hours you took.

The training and exams are not designed to make you a good pilot, they are designed, like the driving test, to ensure that you are reasonably competent to be let loose on your own.

Mike

I wish people would quit bragging about how few hours it took them to solo and to pass their checkride, and then go on to say that it's not the number of hours, etc. It tends to skew the perspective of student pilots perhaps making them think that they're not as capable. Please folks, leave the first part out...I've known some great pilots that took forever to solo and a LOT of hours before they got their licenses.

I can relate to what some of these student pilots are feeling as I'm working on adding a helicopter rating to my PPL and it seems like it is taking me longer than the average pilot. The strange thing is that it doesn't bother me. I'm confident I'll be a fine helicopter CFI eventually and in the meantime I'm enjoying every minute of rotary wing time.

As long as you're enjoying yourself that's what counts. Now, a few people have mentioned the instructor making all the difference in the world. THAT IS TRUE! If for ANY reason (even one with no logic to it) you want to try a new instructor - do it! It will probably offer a little different flavor and you may like it so much you'll never look back. Don't be shy about finding a new instructor and being up front and telling him/her that you just want to see if it makes a difference. I did that with my heli instructor and it was the best move I could have made.

OK, shall I redress the balance somewhat? Around 48 hours to first solo. :{ Not helped by an instructor who made things worse rather than better, and a lifelong difficulty with depth perception - but once I recognised that problem, I could work on it and overcome it.

90 hours to PPL(A) issue. Convinced I must hold the world record for number of hours; soon discovered that wasn't anywhere near the case - three figures to PPL issue is not that uncommon.

Decided to get a PPL(H).....nearly 60 hours. And there was I thinking I'd do it in minimal hours as I had a PPL(A), liked the instructor, so what could go wrong? Well, nothing specific really, but I don't learn new things that fast.

CPL(H) - just a a few extra hours. Ditto for FI rating. I guess I'm just a slow learner where aviation is concerned, but I get there in the end. :ok:

Am I a good pilot? No idea. Some people seem to think so, maybe some don't. I think I'm safe and know my own capabilities and limitations, and I'm still learning and will be for years and years. Am I a good instructor? Probably not yet; I don't have the experience. But I think my own difficulties, plus a lifetime of working with people, mean that I'm better than most at understanding students' difficulties. And everything looks very different a few years on in aviation.

So if all that helps someone, well and good. But ultimately, when learning to fly, you have to learn about yourself and trust yourself, and while you must take advice, don't assume someone else knows it all. It's a complicated business. A bit like life really.

And if anyone wants to think any the worse of me for all my extra hours of learning, feel free. :)

Gerhardt

Don't be a git. Tacitus asked a specific question and was given a specific and truthful answer to it. Would you prefer we told lies or refused to answer?

Mike

Tacitus actually asked a very wooly question but I suspect his first language is not English.

what was the average time it took you to complete your training , for example total hours , hours for the first solo

The average time for the total population to complete their training is about 55 hours. Average time to first solo for the total population is about 15 hrs. FAA figures.

Individuals within the group will have their own time which depends on all sorts of factors, and it's pretty irrelevant. People with apparent low times to solos have, in my experience, unlogged time. You get the occasional whizz kid who has never been in a light aircraft before and just 'gets it' within 10 hours, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

Also if someone complete his PPL , for example , after 60 hrs of training does it mean that he is and a lousy pilot ?

Absolutely not.

Tacitus - a better question to ask would be how much is it going to cost to solo/get a licence/continue flying. You can then plan accordingly for your personal goal, but the answers are varying amounts of 'a lot'.

a "git"?
 

A git? That's a new one for me so it's entirely possible I'm a git.

"Would you prefer we told lies or refused to answer?" Someone truly concerned would treat the subject much like he would if his wife asked if she looked good in an outfit she'd just picked from her wardrobe. No need to lie, but perhaps accentuate the positive without detracting from someone else.

I just think that it's ill-conceived to tell an aspiring pilot "I'm a he-man and passed my test in the minimum time...but I won't think any less of you if it takes you longer."

I know Mike and have met him several times too. He is a top bloke. That comment quoted above is not the Mike Cross I/we all know. Mike would never dream of thinking along those lines and so would never even dream of being like that with someone. I think you may have crossed wires somewhere along the lines.

Thanks BRL.

Gerhardt
Apologies for my ill-chosen flippant choice of words. It resulted in my post being taken the wrong way. Time to solo and PPL were in my case affected by the fact that I had a fair amount of gliding P1 time which qualified me for an hours reduction and helped reduce my time to solo. To put it in perspective, minimum hours to PPL at the time were 40 or 20 for the holder of a Bronze C. I did it in 32 Hr 40 which is 12 Hr 40 or over minimum or 163%. On todays minimum of 45 Hr that would be equivalent to doing it in over 73 Hr, hardly he-man stuff, and I had one less written exam and one less flying test than is required today.

Tacitus' question is remarkably difficult to answer other than on a superficial level. I think the point all of us have tried to make in our own way is that hours to solo or PPL are not an indicator of whether or not someone is a "good" pilot. How do you define "good" anyway? The nearest I can get is "A good pilot clearly understands the limitations of himself and his aeroplane and does not allow himself to get into a situation which might lead to them being exceeded." This has nothing to do with what machine he flies, what licenses and ratings he holds or how many hours he has amassed.

Mike

Parbleu Mike,

I just hate it when people shy away from a bit of a scrap!

Why do you have be so reasonable!?!

:}

Anyone needing more than the minimum is obviously not worthy of slipping the surly bonds, and can not possibly be a he-man or she-woman and must be a failure, not only in flying.

:yuk:

Next thing is that people start flying when there is less than a 25kt X-wind.

I mean what is this nancy-pancy talk doing for our image?

Exactly!

First i would like to thank you all for your interesting replies and secondly i apologise for not beeing articulate enough . My basic concern , regarding the total hours , is about competence and ofcourse the financial viability of the whole training process . Maybe , as related from the posts , someone who completed his PPL training in 60hrs is a safe and competent pilot ( which is very encouraging ) but on the other hand this means that the total cost for the training is going to be more than 7000 pounds ( or 11000 euro ) , which is an inhibiting factor . So if you want to spent a reasonable ammount for your training wouldn't be wise to quit if it takes you more than 20 hrs , for example , for your first solo? Furthermore , a PPL is just the beginning and an IR would be the logical next step ( from my own point of view ) , so the bottom line appears to be that regarding of the total hours at the end you gonna be a good pilot but having spent a significant amount of money first and that if you want to continue you can , but spending more than the average student for your IR .

Once you've got your PPL in hand and have made a few trips really for no reason other than for enjoyment you'll be much more relaxed. At that point your perspective will change from "can I really afford this luxury?" to "what do I have to do to come up with the $ to pay for this?!!!". For me, airplane flying didn't become fun until after I had my license. At that point, to my wife's dismay, cost wasn't an issue anymore.

As for the instrument rating...they're not for everyone and don't let people pressure you into thinking you need one if you're really not interested. There's a lot of good fun VFR flying to be done.