Thought id just throw this out and see what you guys say.
Any tips for someone that wants to learn to fly small planes?

I live right next to a small two dirt runway airstrip used pretty much only for a skydive outfit and sail plane out fit.
There is another small airport a few miles away that I hear gives flying lessons
Can anyone give some advice on costs and what is involved like learning navigation etc?

Thanks

You are taught navigation in ground school. You put it into practice up there. As for costs, I'd check a few sites to see what seems to be the going rate in the larger cities around you. I'm going to guess around $5,000 by the time you've gotten your Private Pilot license...

http://www.pilotjourney.com/ho...-fly-the-real-story/

http://www.firstflight.com/fea...s/costCalculator.htm

http://www.warbelows.com/fligh...ol/flight_costs.html

More like 8-10k for the average guy, from all I've read. If you already have, or can borrow the study materials, that'll save a bit. If you have your own plane or access to one, and don't have to rent a plane, that'll help more than anything.

JD:
I've been a pilot/ mech/ inspector since 1962. I'm not a new guy!
This is what I'd do. Find a local instructor with a plane if you can. If not, go to a flight school. Use their planes and solo. If you scare yourself, and quit, no big lose. After you solo, buy a cheap plane. T Craft, Aeronca Chief, 7AC, Cessna 150 etc. Get a good one. (You should be able to get a good one for around 15$ to 25$.) A good friend just sold a good Chief for 20$ last year. If you don't wreck it, you will not lose money on it. Planes are not like cars, they don't depreciate with age. You now have soloed and have a plane to fly. Most of the time required to get the license can be done solo. When you need an instructor, hire one.
There are good printed lessons to teach you what you need to get the license. An internet search will find them.
Good luck!

I suspect insurance to cover a student pilot will be a bit on the high side. I'm not sure how the insurance would cover the instructor perhaps as a "Named insured" if only one would be used. I doubt the insurance would cover "Any FAA CFI (Certified Flight Instructor)". In the early to mid 80's I was instructing with the Kansas State University Flying Club (I was on the faculty in the Grain Science Dept., Flying was a sideline) and could get a student through a Private License for a bit under $2000 if they were willing to stick with it and fly two or three times a week. If they slacked off and we had to reinvent the wheel a few times the price went up. I was charging $20/hour (Hobbs Time) for instructing and the Clubs C-152's were around $25/hr as I remember it. I don't have any feel for current costs but given the general price rise since then I'd guess the 5,000-10,000 depending on location and equipment is likely not far off.

Ground school at a Community College. About $30 plus materials.

i did my ground school at angelo state university as part of the continuing ed program... cost about $80 with materials... i'd bought the king tapes used, several yrs before for $100... i traded flight and instructor time in a cherokee 140 by building hangars at a private strip... got my multi/inst ticket in florida in 1999 as 1 of those "guaranteed" packages... my ex and i bought the cherokee warrior used for $14k... she got it in the divorce... got my 310r bearcat in 2004 for $129k...it's paying its own way, leased to an FBO that flies bank paper from south texas to kansas 2 days a week...i paid $40/hr/wet for a 172 in the 80's when i needed to travel some... i'm afraid to ask what 1 cost's now.... i put $80/hr back for future maintainence on the 310... and hope that it will be enough... the FBO that is leasing my plane owns the avionics in it...

This is going back a quite a few years, but I started by buying a Cessna 140 and letting the instructor use for his own purposes it in return for lessons. He was flying water bombers that summer out of the town I then lived in, and wanted transportation to/from home during the rainy stretches...worked well for both of us. I had to do the flight test with an DOT examiner because of the unusual training, but that was no big deal.

The cheapest way depends on local resources. If there is a glider club near you, getting a glider rating can be very economical. After that, you do an add-on powder rating if you like.

A lot of people go for the Private Pilot certificate which requires navigational skills, communication in controlled airspace, etc. There are also two other relatively economical certificates available now neither of which require sterling navigational skills, a lot of talking on the radio, etc. They would be the Sport Pilot and Recreational pilot certificates.

Shop around a bit. Some operators charge very high prices while others are much more reasonable. If available, you're best bet is an old guy who does it because he likes to and doesn't really have to. Other good candidates for being excellent instructors are those who have done or do things like charter flight, freight dogging or other commercial operations. While the new instructor, aka the "time builder" may be OK, a lot of them haven't weeded themselves out yet.

As far as hours required are concerned, for the Private certificate, a minimum of 40 hours of flight time is required. I've had one student who I signed off at exactly 40 hours who passed his check ride but he was a military type who took direction very well and worked hard. Most will take in the 55 to 60 hour range and some take a lot longer.

I am a current CFI and still do a bit of teaching on the side. Now days you can pretty well plan on about 10K to complete a private license. Might do a little better might do a little worse but that is about the average.

I would look into taking a 'private pilot ground school'. That would allow you to learn some about aviation without the big expense. You could look into taking the next step after that.

A military flight program is the most cost effective way to learn to fly. I know it's not for everybody.

You will need 40 hours of flying at a minimum and virtually no one does that. 50-60 is more the norm and if you drag it out it can take even more.

There are plenty of flight instructors out there willing to work for $35-40/ hr and only half or your time is spent with them.

I will second the idea of buying an inexpensive plane like a used C-150 . They can be had for $12 to $14,000 and then can be sold for usually the same amount afterwards.

If you want to get your pilots license nowadays, my suggestion is to choose a flight school offering a 14 day accelerated course and take a couple of weeks to live and breathe flying and get your rating and be done with it. If you choose the weekend method it takes a couple of years and twice as much time.

After you've gotten your license, then you can decide how much further you want to get involved in it.

Nowadays I think I would suggest not going for a private pilot license necessarily but get a Sport Pilot rating (with a tailwheel preferably). You can always upgrade later but this will get you flying sooner and cheaper.In addition you won't need a medical exam, just have a valid drivers license.

Anyway, this will cover 90% of what people want to use a plane for and is a lot simpler to get and pay for.

I googled up a random school and their price was about $4500 for a package but don't know if that covers room and board.

I'm on another forum about homebuilt airplanes, and there has been a LOT of discussion about the LSA stuff and sport pilot license. I agree that the license will cover most of what most of us do most of the time. I've not persued this personally, but the general consensus among the guys who have has been that the CFIs don't really want to mess with it and essentially make it as expensive to get as the private license anyway.
Not saying that there aren't exceptions to be found if you do your homework, just what most guys have come up against. Unless I had medical issues, I'd just go ahead and get the full privileges of the PPl. my .02

With avgas prices averaging around $4.50 a gallon, plus aircraft rental, plus the instructor, I guess it depends on your definition of cheap.

Stepchild...Licensed private pilot.

I have had my certificate for a couple of years now and can offer the following advice.

Rent the plane for at least the first 10 hours to make sure you really like flying. If you are committed, then consider buying one. Plus you may have the chance to try out a couple different planes before you buy.

As you noticed on the prior responses, the costs vary. I think this depend a lot on the amount of time you can dedicate to flying. If you fly on the weekends only, then expect to take more time than if you try to fly every other day. The reason being you forget stuff and have to re-learn it, the longer the lessons are apart. I found that the more concentrated the training, the better I flew.

I found that American Fliers www.americanflyers.net/ offered a very good ground school.

Another thing to consider is if the school has an Examiner on staff. This allows you to establish a relationship with the guy that will be giving you your certificate.

Learning how to fly is not hard, its just the class room is either noisy, hot or cold and a tight fit for a lot of people. I been a professional pilot and a flight instructor for over 35 years now. Money aside, you have a bunch of choices we did not have when I started in 1973, with lessons. First you can go recreational, almost nobody dose that one, Sport Pilot is were I would go, if all you want to do is just fly from time to time. Then there is Private Pilot and so on. Most instruction is done in Cessna 152's they are old the last of them were made in the 77-82 time frame, they called a bunch if 78 and 79's 80 and 82 because they were un sold. economic down turn of the mid 1970s had a lot to do with it. With Sport Pilot you are limited to what the FAA calls Light Sport Aircraft, no problem Cessna is making one now called the 162 Skycatcher. But any of the airplanes like the J-3 cub will be considered and LSA. Then you have the choice of the old vac instrumentation or what the FAA calls TAA. Glass is taking over and a very fast rate. The only other thing is that take some time and find a flight school and an instructor that you can get along with. A good instructor will adapt the training to fit your learning ability. Every student is different. Plan on a year from start to finish. Those 14 day courses are well 14 day courses you will forget 50% of what you learned in 30 days. It takes a lot of time and study, the whole system is a lot more complicated since the Certification rules were written in the 1930's and 40's More controlled airspace, then we are living in the post 9/11 world, and well light aircraft and it operations has had a lot more hurdles to over come. Learning how to fly is both a painful and enjoyable thing. And you will spend money on it more that you will have thought when you started. Have fun with it.

quote:

get a Sport Pilot rating (with a tailwheel preferably).

Mark, why do you recommend this? I just returned from the Sun and Fun Fly in at Lakeland in Florida. They had a LOT of LSAs on display. Some of them looked pretty neat. I was thinking of going the sport pilot route.
Peter.

The Sport Pilot rating will be much easier and cheaper to obtain and will allow people to do 95% of the flying they do with a Private Pilot rating.

If you wish to upgrade in the future after you have some experience and have an idea of what you actually want to do when flying, then your time will count towards the requirements of the rating.

Actually, if you want to get a pilots license cheaply and quickly the BEST way is to get a glider pilot license, and that will make you a much better pilot in the long run too. But not many people have access to sailplanes, so I don't preach it that much.

At any rate, IMHO the best casual approach to a pilots license is to obtain the easiest one possible and then continue to learn but you will then be qualified to make your own decisions as to how far up the ladder you want to climb.

Thanks Mark! I was really asking about the "tailwheel" recommendation.
Peter.

OH, the tailwheel stuff!

IMHO, just like having some glider time makes you a better and more aware pilot, so does a tailwheel.

Granted, the only real difference happens during takeoff and landing, but you are pretty much forced to be aware of the wind most all of the time. In a 152 or 172 you are taught how to hold the controls when taxiing in a crosswind, but it really doesn't matter that much most of the time. That is often not the case in a light taildragger, and then when the odd time occurs that you do have to land and taxi a tricycle plane in a truly nasty crosswind it will be much easier and most likely safer for you to do.

quote:

Originally posted by JD Miller:
Thought id just throw this out and see what you guys say.
Any tips for someone that wants to learn to fly small planes?

I live right next to a small two dirt runway airstrip used pretty much only for a skydive outfit and sail plane out fit.
There is another small airport a few miles away that I hear gives flying lessons
Can anyone give some advice on costs and what is involved like learning navigation etc?

Thanks

Here is what I did. Go to ground school first. If you like the training and do well, buy a Cessna 150, pay an instructor for 20 hours(required), fly another 20 hours solo, take your check ride and sell the plane before the first payment is due. So the cost will probably be 1000 for fuel, 1000 for instruction, including ground school. Worked for me.