Info on becoming a pilot (non comercial)?

Question

Hello, this Q is directed toward any pilots out there.
I was hoping someone could enlighted me as to the time, supply and money investment required in becoming a pilot. My husband thought it may be a good idea for us to both get pitvate pilots' licences and a small prop plane for our own personal travel, however I am a little leery of the huge commitment involved. I have skills as an aircraft electrican, so that would cut a little of the maint. costs, but still there would be fuel and parts, supplies and storage, and many other costs I am not aware of. Could somebody please fill me in on details to give me an educated opinion? Also, any 'insider jargon' to help me look into this topic further would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

I recommend you visit the following website. http://www.beapilot.com/indexfl.html
You can print a coupon for a "discovery" flight for $59. that will be honered at most flight schools. Lots of good info there as well. Also visit AOPA.org loads of info to answere your questions there as well.

Answer 2

It will depend a little on where you live but $5,000 to $6,000 (each) is reasonable. Taking lessons at the same time might help a little; you would only need one set of books and you would have someone to study with. Plus often the spouse is jealous of the time/money being spent which wouldn't be a problem for you.

Different people learn or study at different rates but don't underestimate the amount of time that you will need to spend on the books (or DVDs or computer) Probably three to four hours for every hour of flying time.

Depending on where you live (again) there may be other options than owning your own plane outright. Renting, owning with a partner(s), fractional ownership, flying clubs. A bigger city will have more choices on that.
Someone earlier suggested a Mooney which is a great plane but until you have some time and experience flying you're probably not going to be able to get insured for something like that. You're probably looking at flying pretty much the same type of Cessna or Piper you train in for a couple hundred hours.

Go to your local airport, or check out the yellow pages for aircraft schools or aircraft renting. Take a couple of lessons and see if you like it. If you decide that you do, sometimes you can negotiate a little bit of a discount if you are willing to pay up front for a certain amount of time; say ten hours of aircraft time with an instructor.

Answer 3

The minimum number of flight hour required by the FAA to get a private pilot license is 40. The national average before one actually obtains the license is 80. The cost is:

- either ground school or home ground kit (home kit is best...dvds books, etc - $300)
- hourly rental of WET (with fuel) plane (depends on type, i suggest cessna 152 or 172 - $100/hr)
- flight instructor hourly rate ($50/hour)

This is already $12,300. Its not cheap. Search for local "FBO" (fixed based operation). They would be at a local airport and would likely get you started with instructors and planes or at least have message boards with contacts. The longer you spread the 40-80 hours out,the more hours it will take. You must be proficient when the test comes around. Every two years, you must have a flight review by an instructor. The "bible" is FAR/AIM and comes out at least yearly. This book has all the regulations (FAR) pertintent to pilots and other information (AIM). Good Luck!

Answer 4

at a top notch school, like northwestern michgan college, it costs a little under $8000, but at others it cost as little as $3000.

I advise you not to buy a cessna, since they are primarily for people who arent good enough to keep from stalling or spinning.
I advise getting a mooney m20, usually can be found for about $100,000 but as low as $35,000 for the older m20 with manual flaps and gear (I prefer the manual because it has a feel and electric does not)
A mooney m20 has the same O-360 as the cessna 172, but can cruise at 200mph unmodified, when a 172 can only hit about 130mph. The m20 can cruise at over 230mph with modified windshield and cowling.
The range of a standard m20 is about 1000mi, but can be increased greatly with modification.
The weight and balance of the m20 allow for more useful loads than the 172, which actually cannot carry 4 people, even though it has 4 seats. the m20 can carry 4 180lb people with 150lb of luggage, with full tanks.

The actual cost of operating can be surprising. If you fly from chicago to ancorage alaska (3000mi) it would cost $1500 in fuel, which ends up to about $375 per person for a round trip, not to mention that you get to check out tons of cool stuff near airports on the way.

The costs outside operation vary greatly.
Each year aircraft require annual inspections, which run over $1000 usually.
Every 2000 hours most aircraft need overhauls which end up about $15000 on mooneys and cessnas. I seriously doubt you will fly more than 500 hours a year.
Most aircraft last long long times, most mooneys are 40-50 years old and in great condition. They can get over 10,000 hours.

Answer 5

Well as a student pilot in europe I can tell you this:

Time depends on you. How much are you willing to study, How fast you learn, but on average a season's lenght of groundschool sessions will do. After that you do your checkride. To get your licence you also need to make a solo flight.

The cost depends largly on where you are and what aircraft you'r traning on. But around $5,000 would do it here in europe.

Keep one thing in mind. If you don't have passion for flight i do not recommende to you that you do this!

Then you bring the issue of owning an aircraft. The cost involved largly depends on the type. I can tell you this. A Tecnam P-92J will cost you somwhere around $7,000-$15,000. It burns around 18 liters of fuel per hour.

Answer 6

You can save a few bean$ by getting a programmed text for the ground school. Convince an experienced pilot ( or better, CFII ) friend that you make great coffee and cookies on Saturday afternoons and get a little coaching from that person. That is what my neighbor did and I was glad to help as it got me back to the basics. Take your flying lessons as close together as feasible. You will retain knowledge easier. Remember: Keep thine altitude and thine airspeed lest the ground riseth up and smite thee.

Answer 7

Great to see that you want to learn to fly. If you want a very inexpensive ground school, buy Microsoft "Flight Simulator", and couple that with a Saitek ST290-PRO joystick for your desktop. It contains many basic and advanced aircraft and a flight school. Try it for under a $100.