Fly bi-weekly or stop

I flew once a week towards the end of my PPL training. Sometimes I was able to afford twice a week, but that was rare. I found it a bit tougher to progress once a week verses two, but not impossible. It's an individual situation that only the OP and his CFI can answer.


After getting my PPL, I would fly once every other week. After doing that a while, I could feel my skills getting a bit "rusty." But about that time the FBO ran out of money and closed up shop and I ran out of money to go elsewhere. Never got to find out if the "rusty" was due to my frequency our just being out from under the watchful eye of a CFI.
 
I flew once a week towards the end of my PPL training. Sometimes I was able to afford twice a week, but that was rare. I found it a bit tougher to progress once a week verses two, but not impossible. It's an individual situation that only the OP and his CFI can answer.


After getting my PPL, I would fly once every other week. After doing that a while, I could feel my skills getting a bit "rusty." But about that time the FBO ran out of money and closed up shop and I ran out of money to go elsewhere. Never got to find out if the "rusty" was due to my frequency our just being out from under the watchful eye of a CFI.

Almost the same boat as you. I got my PPL in 2010, while i was in grad school. Had a lot more time (and some help from the family) to go get the PPL. However, since then - I have flown maybe 5 times. Lack of time coupled with no cheap rentals, and absence of CFI, has slowed me down.
 
Let's say a student pilot who has about 15 hours left to go can no longer afford to fly on a weekly basis, would flying bi-weekly be enough to maintain some skills or would it better to just stop and pick it up at a higher frequency when able?

Life is a journey and not a destination. I'd fly as much as I could and leave it at that.


Sent from my TRS-80
 
Going into credit card debt for flying is HUGE MISTAKE. The interest rate on those is nearly an impossible hole to dig yourself out of. That's how credit card companies can offer skymiles and stuff, they are making so much money off of interest they can easily afford to buy some plane tickets once in a while. The deal works out pretty good for somebody like me that pays their bill off every month though!
 
It depends what else you're doing in life. Some people can. Some people can't. A lot of students at my school I have seen really struggled when they don't fly at least once a week. However, there were times in my training where I went a whole month between my final review flight and my instrument EOC (End Of Course (part 141 version of a checkride)), and I still passed. It was probably a dumb idea though, but it can be done. It's very sobering to read people's thoughts on debt. I have my own stack of debt from going to college. It's all federal loans though. I am very blessed my debt is not as extreme as some colleagues I know graduating with $150,000 or more in debt!! It is daunting, and there are all sorts of different ways to become a pilot.
 
I soloed. Again. This afternoon. 2 years after I got my PPL, I started flying about April, and have logged 4 or 5 hours since then. Went up with a local instructor in the C-150, did 3 landings with him on board. He then jumped out, and I went around the pattern twice. Felt good. Now, that I got the confidence back (somewhat) - looking to build that PIC XC time, and work on that instrument rating.

The point being - best to fly regularly. And if you cannot; save that money and get it done in one shot. Your wallet (and credit rating) will be thankful.
 
Bi-weekly was close to normal for me working through PPL. Did that, stopped for the better part of a year to save a bundle of bucks, pushed through IR over the course of a summer, then went back to bi-weekly-ish for the remainder of the grind. Never once flew with borrowed money - I was scared of debt collectors before it was cool. A steadier schedule would have been nice, but between school and work, it just wasn't an option unless I decided to opt out for a matter of years.

And as much as it sounds like a non-answer, that kind of schedule needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis. If Student X flies once every two weeks, stays in the books, hangs around the airport looking for opportunities to keep his head in the game, honest-to-God sits his ass down and does some chair flying... he's probably going to do better than Student Y, who spends the two week interim entirely on other pursuits. Every time I've had to sit out for months or more at a time, be it broke college student woes or airline furlough, my instructors have always complimented me on how little rust I seemed to have picked up. I'd say do a couple of rides with the student on his new schedule, evaluate the progression (or lack thereof), and go from there. There's a chance it might work, but it will require a lot of hard work on the part of the student and brutal honesty on the part of the CFI.
 
Now I have two credit cards that are nearly maxed out and I have to choose between continuing to ruin my credit or stop flying and spend a bunch of money in the future getting back to where I am now. I'm still looking for full-time work, and what I make is just enough to pay the bills and fly once in a while.

My advice, having been where you are at is to stop flying and pay off your credit cards. Maybe take a lesson once a month or two to keep the dream. I was in your position before making just enough money to live fairly comfortably. But I didn't have the saved up cash to train. My credit cards got ran up, for other reasons also. It took me a long time to get out from under them.

I have started and stopped flight training twice now, mostly because I didn't have the resources to fly more than once a week. Flying at that frequency didn't allow me to progress as I should. I was always having to spend time reviewing previous lessons and getting canceled lessons due to weather. Of course throw in 9/11 and an instructor loss on the second go round.

Now I have enough money saved for a PPL, working on enough to make it through instrument. It also helps to marry well. :)). Hoping to start in the fall.
 
Thanks for the knowledgeable advice, everyone. I'll take everything into consideration and make a decision on how to proceed.
 
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