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Hello everyone. I am hoping you can help me figure this out. My husband has been very lucky in his life and gotten to do most of the things he wanted. The only thing he has not done is learned to fly. I would like to surprise him for his birthday next year and give him flying lessons. Although he has talked about buying a plane I don't imagine we will. So:
I have heard of sport lessons? Can someone explain the difference between those and the regular much more expensive ones? And what are your thoughts on either/both?
What about flying a helicopter?
How long would it take? We go to Florida in the winters in our RV so we can camp anywhere in the state. Does anyone have a recommendation for any flight schools?
It is much more expensive to learn how to fly a helicopter vs. an airplane. Perhaps you would like to surprise him first with some gliding/soaring lessons which are cheaper and a great introduction to flying.
You may want to get him private pilot lessens instead. Obama just signed the medical reform act. The law will be effective next summer.
The new law requires one medical if you have never had a medical and then that's it for the rest of your life.
He can fly any (under 6000 pound or under) and 5 passenger or less aircraft. With the addition of the Instrument rating, he would be fully qualified to fly in any weather night or day.
Sport Pilot requires 20 hours of supervision verses 40 hours for the regular Private Pilot. Sport pilots are limited to the LSA or light sport aircraft, one passenger, and only day time operation. So sport pilots are very limited and consequently there are very few out there. My suggestion is to see if said husband even likes flying as it is a very different experience. Buy him an introductory demo lesson first at any decent looking flight school. If he's enthusiastic then move to the next level keeping in mind that a superman is not required but to pass the FAA written and the check ride it takes some serious study and some moxy to be able to toss around an airplane at altitude and master cross wind landings. Some fire in the belly is required to push through. The studies aren't hugely difficult just different from anything you have experienced before.
He will have to pass one medical from an AME.....things like DUI and congenital problems are big deals to the FAA, so make sure he is squeaky clean.
The how long it will take varies hugely from one individual to another, could be 3-4 months best case to years in others. Expense will be roughly $7K-$10K depending on where and when. Best deal is 3 lessons per week in a good weather spot, so nothing is lost from one lesson to another.
First things first.......get him in the air and see if he actually likes it.........happy landings
Addendum to my post.......if you persevere and do receive that coveted Private Pilot license the day after when you walk out to a plane with the keys in your pocket will be the best day of your life..............you will remember it always........
Thank you all for the information. He has been up in a plane years ago and just never took all the lessons to get a license. I know it is something he really does want to do but I don't know how practical it is. If he did get his license I think a Sport Pilot would be sufficient.
If he was to get a Sport Pilot license would he still need another 40 hours for private pilot? I'd hate to have to double pay.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vf6cruiser
Sport Pilot requires 20 hours of supervision verses 40 hours for the regular Private Pilot. Sport pilots are limited to the LSA or light sport aircraft, one passenger, and only day time operation. So sport pilots are very limited and consequently there are very few out there. My suggestion is to see if said husband even likes flying as it is a very different experience. Buy him an introductory demo lesson first at any decent looking flight school. If he's enthusiastic then move to the next level keeping in mind that a superman is not required but to pass the FAA written and the check ride it takes some serious study and some moxy to be able to toss around an airplane at altitude and master cross wind landings. Some fire in the belly is required to push through. The studies aren't hugely difficult just different from anything you have experienced before.
He will have to pass one medical from an AME.....things like DUI and congenital problems are big deals to the FAA, so make sure he is squeaky clean.
The how long it will take varies hugely from one individual to another, could be 3-4 months best case to years in others. Expense will be roughly $7K-$10K depending on where and when. Best deal is 3 lessons per week in a good weather spot, so nothing is lost from one lesson to another.
First things first.......get him in the air and see if he actually likes it.........happy landings
Health wise he is super so that won't be a problem. He is extremely mechanical so I'm pretty sure while it may be challenging he will ace it
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vf6cruiser
Addendum to my post.......if you persevere and do receive that coveted Private Pilot license the day after when you walk out to a plane with the keys in your pocket will be the best day of your life..............you will remember it always........
I bet
I think I will check into and introductory lesson. Will they let you take the controls at all?
Thank you so much for your help. Maybe I should take baby steps with a gift of this
I would recommend a Discovery Flight for the first "lesson". The CFI will take their time and do some minor teaching and get the airplane into the air and most likely let him fly around. The CFI will take over and bring it back to the airport for landing.
Not sure where you'd be taking lessons but the cost will vary widely, there really isn't any magic number cost wise. A lot depends on what type of equipment available (older aircraft tend to cost less per hour) and being in a lower cost of living area will also help. There are flight schools on every block in FL and prices there are pretty reasonable at most locations outside the major cities (Miami, Orlando, Tampa, etc.).
Budget on $9k-$10k for this, it might come in under that but that is the overall average cost for someone who doesn't have any sort of aviation knowledge to get their license. One thing I would not recommend doing is pre-buying a package with a school. Simply do a pay-as-you-go method regardless of any discount offered. Flight schools tend to shut down at an alarmingly high rate.
A mechanical background will help tremendously. Also, if you have access to a computer, consider purchasing Flight Sim X off eBay (it's fairly inexpensive) and some sort of basic joystick/yoke combo. It will cut probably $1000-$1500 off your training costs if he practices on that and "chair flys" before lessons.
Personally, I would skip the Sport license in favor of a Private license. The sport license is pretty limiting. The private license lets you do much more, such as fly VFR on top and at night. And the sport license requires endorsements for things like flying to a tower operated airport. You are also limited to LSA type aircraft. A private pilot doesn't have that limitation.
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