Planelopnik

"MylesD" (mylesd) 07/10/2017 at 16:39 • Filed to: None

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No, that’s ^ not me, but it is the same type of plane I’ll be in - Cessna 162.

Anyway, I’m taking my 2nd lesson towards my PPL on Wednesday. First one was great, but I’m not really sure what to expect this time around since it’s not a “discovery” flight.

There’s probably another sub-blog to post this on, but does anyone have experience getting their sport/private from scratch (no real aviation experience beforehand)?

WilliamsSW > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 16:45

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It’s been a long time, but yeah, I got my license in June of 2000. There are numerous people on here who have done it more recently (one just soloed a month or so ago, can’t remember who right now).

It’s a lot of fun - and takes some effort and focus, both during the lessons and in advance preparation for lessons (so you use the time wisely).

My 2 biggest suggestions are to make sure you have an instructor that you work well with, and to fly as frequently as you can. Work/life/weather etc. got in the way for me sometimes, and a few times, I went 3-4 weeks without flying - you end up spending half of the lesson re-learning things from the previous lesson, so it wastes your time and $.

Good luck - I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

Ash78, voting early and often > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 16:52

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I just went out flying with my dad in a Piper Archer (4 - place, 180hp) for the first time in about 20 years. I forgot how much fun it was...just so much simpler than even cars, in many ways. I come from a longtime aviation family, including my dad who paid his way through college as a flight instructor, so he ’ s done it for a very long time. His advice is exactly what he does himself, even at age 68 — go out and practice lots of takeoffs and landings every time you fly. Crosswinds, no flaps, different airports, mix it up. He also pushes for “ full - stall landings ” every time — rather than just flying the plane into the ground. Always try to fly the full pattern rather than coming straight in. These are all just good habits that you can always choose to shortcut later on, once you gain experience.

Cross - country is easy, don ’ t worry about it too much. When the time comes to take long trips or learn instrument flying, you ’ ll have a lot more confidence in the harder and more dangerous parts of the hobby. My grandfather was an aviation author for half his life and said the same — at under 5,000, all you really need for VFR cross - country is a road map (or Google Maps, etc). So true. I don ’ t know this from the left seat, but I ’ ve got probably 200 - 300 hours in the right seat over my lifetime and it was just as common in our family as hopping in the car.

Also, if you can find a proper flying club, it’s a huge help — ours is about $80/month in dues, then $40/hour rental (including fuel) and it’s based on tach hours, so if you’re just out cruising around, you can fly for 90 minutes at the price of an hour (give or take). This is a lot better than paying $150-$200/hour for renting something commercially, IMO.

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often 07/10/2017 at 17:08

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There’s a lot of great stuff in here! $40/hour with fuel seems awfully cheap though? But yeah, a good flying club is the most cost effective way to fly, unless you fly enough to justify your own plane (spoiler alert: almost no one flies enough to justify their own plane)

facw > WilliamsSW 07/10/2017 at 17:20

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make sure you have an instructor that you work well with

This. The main reason I don’t have my license is that my instructor (who I liked) went to a new job and my flying club stuck me with a senior figure at the club who I really didn’t mesh with at all. In hindsight it’s obvious that I should have just gone to the head instructor and asked him to put me with someone else, but to 17 year-old me that didn’t feel like an option.

WilliamsSW > facw 07/10/2017 at 17:26

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That sucks - - I’m sorry you had that experience, but I’ve heard it a lot. I got lucky and drew a great instructor (18 year old kid!) for my discovery flight. After I got my PP, though, I bounced around several instructors during instrument training, because they left for bigger and better things. That stretched out the training a bit, none was as good as my PP instructor, and at least one I really disliked.

Hope you get the chance to try again with a better teacher !

Ash78, voting early and often > WilliamsSW 07/10/2017 at 17:34

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Yep, the $40 just covers the fuel* and mechanical overhead, plus some reserve for future avionics. The monthly dues cover the administrative stuff, plus the joint ownership of the plane (capital cost). Apparently this structure is common all over the world except in the US, but they’re catching on. Since it’s nonprofit, the goal is just to break even. The club started a couple years ago, just bought a second plane, and is looking at a third (all without raising dues, just by adding members).

*Maybe 6 gallons/hr at $3/gallon = $18 in fuel out of that $40.

MylesD > Ash78, voting early and often 07/10/2017 at 17:36

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This is GREAT stuff. Thank you.

MylesD > WilliamsSW 07/10/2017 at 17:38

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How long did it take you overall? I’m planning on paying for most of it as I go (ah) so I do anticipate a few gaps of 3-4 weeks (oh well). I may aim to get the Sport certification done on the way, but goal is PPL.

Ash78, voting early and often > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 17:41

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Good luck and happy flying! I’m a firm believer in stick & rudder flying, so if you can learn in a LSR like your Cessna, all the other concepts are the same on other planes — just bigger and faster. Plus you get that awesome visibility from the high wing :D

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often 07/10/2017 at 17:43

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Ah - I always forget, that’s very location/aircraft dependent. By me, Avgas can run $6/gallon (and higher) and in cruise, the aircraft I’ve flown burn 8-10 gph - so the $40 wouldn’t cover fuel. I mostly flew newer aircraft, too, which raises the capital cost factor. Older Cherokees/Skyhawks (or even 150/152s) away from big cities will have a huge impact on that hourly rate.

You can find this structure around the US though, it’s fairly common - but many of those clubs only have 1 aircraft.

WilliamsSW > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 17:47

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I’m NOT a good example for that - it took me almost exactly a year, and I think I had somewhere around 85 hours - it really shouldn’t take you that long. I was working full time AND finishing my MBA at the exact same time. When winter rolled around, it was pretty much weekends only, since I’d have zero daylight available during the week. At one point, I started taking a day off here and there to fly. Sport Pilot didn’t exist then, so it was never a consideration for me—

Ash78, voting early and often > WilliamsSW 07/10/2017 at 17:49

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Yeah, they’re based at a reliever airport about 15 miles from the main airport, so the FBO is just happy to keep people coming in. I might be understating the fuel cost, but I know it’s cheap because they have to work hard to attract commercial/jet aircraft from the big airport, and GA aircraft from another much smaller one. So they stay pretty competitive. For what it’s worth, though, quite a few companies (including Mercedes of AL) keep their jets here and operate internationally...but mostly they keep it cheap to stay competitive.

MylesD > Ash78, voting early and often 07/10/2017 at 17:51

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I flew in a 172 last time so I’m excited to get in this little guy. The Miata of planes, amirite?

WilliamsSW > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 18:05

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You raise an interesting question - off the top of my head, I think this would be the Miata of airplanes? But you would NOT want to fly this on your 2nd lesson. :)

I haven’t flown the 162, but the 172 is a really nice airplane - especially if you can get your hands on a 172S - 180 HP is a nice bump.

WilliamsSW > Ash78, voting early and often 07/10/2017 at 18:08

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Yeah, I learned to fly at an airport that’s 7 miles from the O’Hare VOR. Airnav says Avgas is $6 there, over $8 at ORD/MDW, but you can fly 50 miles north and get it for $3.30, self-serve. Big difference.

WilliamsSW > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 18:23

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Another point that I forgot to mention earlier, which Ash78 indirectly reminded me of. I learned to fly at a fairly busy, towered airport that sits just 7 miles from O’Hare - which meant that at times, there was Hobbs time burned sitting on the ground awaiting takeoff, and extra time on every flight spent going back and forth to the practice area for slow flight, stalls, etc.

Ash78, voting early and often > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 18:57

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I was going to make that analogy. Or maybe the SMART or Renault Twingo of planes — not real powerful, but light and nimble.

Flyboy is FAA certified insane > MylesD 07/10/2017 at 20:07

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Have fun dude. Never flown a 162 but they’ve had mixed reviews. The center stick is weird

TheRealBicycleBuck > MylesD 07/11/2017 at 08:14

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If you can spare the time and money, there are some places where you can power through the entire course in a couple of weeks.

https://www.afit-info.com/course/14-day-private-pilot-course/

MylesD > Flyboy is FAA certified insane 07/12/2017 at 01:26

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Yeah, so I’ve read. Center stick seems weird but fun at the same time? Very excited to give it a shot tomo