I’m now back to France and I had some time to think about what happened during these 24 days of flight.

Status by the numbers

First some numbers to get a better understanding about what happen. I’ve done 29 sessions mixing ground and flight over a period of 6 weeks. My flight log shows a total of 125 landings including 8 at night and 1 instrument approach.

The CPC (aka. Cessna Pilot Center) training includes a total of 20 labs. I have completed 15 of them.

So how far am I from getting the license? Well it is hard to predict but I think I’m about 15 hours from being able to ask for a check ride. I definitely needs to perform at least another 5 hours of solo flight including a cross country flight by myself and go practice some of the advanced maneuvers. I do feel less confident in my capabilities to perform steep turns.  I ‘m sure I can do them properly but the last ones were not very good and I need to practice again to make sure that I know how to them properly. One thing for sure is that I’m not looking forward doing power on stalls by myself. It is really a maneuver that I don’t like to perform.

So is piloting really what it’s all crack up to be?

Overall the experience of piloting has been fun and for the most part has been fairly straightforward but I have to admit that my patience started to run pretty thin when I kept performing bad landings after bad landings. I do not have the patience to be bad at something, especially when it is part of the basics. I was about ready to give up, not definitely but, to take an extended break for some time and to restart later. The unblocking of the situation finally came and I was able to start working on the more advanced landings like cross winds and soft/short landing techniques. And it’s not that I was getting better at them but at least I knew they are more advanced and I was accepting a little more to not perform it properly. I find terribly fun to make the approach of a large airport or to descend on a new airport and discover the site, more so than discovering new landscape.

I do like the idea that we will be able to travel without having to deal with large airline companies, lost luggage, security procedures and all the other hassles of today’s travel. For example, my last discovery was that on my way to Arkansas from France, I was able to to bring 2 suitcases but on the way back, I could have only 1 suitcase and the right to pay $50 extra for the second one! I love you so much Delta! What is the next fee you will manage to create?

What is the right pace for training?

At the end, it is up to each person but the rhythm that I have put was a little high. I was going for 5 sessions per week where I think 3 sessions would have been more appropriate. On the other hand, knowing myself, anything below 3 would not have worked for me. I like to be fully engage in something. Moreover, my past experience showed me that anything that keeps me tied up to a location should be done as fast as possible. You never know where you can end up…

Was the initial plan reasonable?

I think it is possible to achieve the Private Pilot License in 6 weeks but in my case, having the issues around landing as delayed so much the other labs that I could not have completed all of them and be ready on time. Since it was awish more than a goal to get the PPL in that timeframe, I feel Ok to not have reach that point. Safety is more important than the number of hours used to get a license. The most important element was to get the Solo done. It would prove that I can one day be a pilot. That goal, I've accomplished.