Private Pilot's License

[mrorange]

Well, to make a long story short, I was expecting admission into a professional program after graduation in May. Unfortunately, I was named an alternate and will be admitted only if a couple of people do not accept, and so I'm looking at plans for the next year while I'm sitting out and reapplying.

Anyway, getting my pilot's license has been a dream since I was young (I used to want to be an astronaut). My grandfather and an uncle were both private pilots, and it will be very useful for my future career.

So, that being said, what is the process for becoming a private pilot through OSU? I know I'll need to go through ground school, and get at least 40 hours of flying in a plane before I can even test (and many people require more hours than that before they take the test). Is it something I can feasibly do during the summer (I have a very flexible employer)?

I also understand it is rather costly, any estimates on that?

Basically, I know that from this point on I'll be in school then starting a family and so-on, and I don't know that I will have this opportunity again.

[jakeman]

I would recommend you take ground school first. You will get conflicting advice on that, but I've seen guys do it both ways and for me it worked out better to have the ground school behind me when I started flying. I understood the theory before I got behind the throttle.

When you start to fly. Fly as often as you can, and don't take big breaks in between time in the left seat. I flew often, twice a week at least, and could have passed my check ride at about 35 hours. I actually had to burn up a few hours the morning I took my final check ride to get my 40 in the log book. Fly as many different types as you can get time in, including some taildragger time if you can get it. I took several acrobatic lessons during the time I was getting my ticket, and even had a few hours of glider time. Every minute you spend in the air will be a benefit to you.

I will tell you this, some of the happiest times of my life were spent behind the yoke.

Good luck.

[Stingray]

It is doable over summer. I would stay away from OSU and go with a private company. It will save you some money. It will probably cost you around 6-9k depending on which play and how many hours it takes you. You can pass the ground school pretty easily on your own. Just study the materials and take the practice tests.

[teibbor]

www.hangar1flightcenter.com (http://www.hangar1flightcenter.com)

Here is a site to a private company in Stillwater

[mrorange]

Any recommendations for OKC? I live there currently and have commuted to Stillwater this semester and last. So if it's considerably cheaper to do it at OSU, then I can keep driving there this summer. But I have always been under the impression that OSU was cheaper, although some on here have said that private is cheaper. I'd much rather do it in OKC.

[PlatteCoPoke]

I'm not sure what schools there are in OK anymore, since I've been removed from there for a while now. But I just want to reiterate jakemans post about not taking breaks. That is very important. I did my training during my senior year of high school and would sometimes go 3 or 4 weeks without flying, then i'd go a week and fly 3 times. Be consistent. If you can go every other day, do it. I passed my first checkride about 2 months after my 17th birthday, but had about 60 hours. A lot of that 60 was just trying to refresh me from time off. Compare that to completing my Multi rating in the minimum amount of hours because I was able to fly every 2 or 3 days.

As far as ground school... I did a little different route than most (for private at least). I couldnt fit the ground school sessions into my schedule, so I had an instructor give me one-on-one ground school throughout. It was great, but ended up costing quite a few more $.

330 flight hours later... an instrument rating.. a multi-engine rating.. and a commercial certificate...... and I work in healthcare IT... go figure.

[OrangeSpidey]

http://www.oklahomaaviation.com/

Heard only good things about them. I did a discovery flight and it was awesome. Just don't have the time/money to get a license right now.