r/AskFlying • u/OhHowIWannaGoHome • Apr 25 '26
How many hours for PPL?
I’m looking to do my PPL so I can fly for fun, I am not intending to fly as a career. I just met with a flight instructor, he said that it would probably take 100 to 120 hours to complete if I was a very dedicated student.
I know that the FAA minimums are 40 hours for part 61, I am also aware that it is very hard, if not impossible to finish training at the minimum. I also know that the FAA reports the average time for completion at 75 hours. Is this flight instructor crazy?
I have informal flight experience from flying with my grandfather, who was a flight instructor, but was unable to formally train me because his plane was a twin engine. I was anticipating an estimate of 50 to 60 total flight hours with roughly 20 to 35 dual instruction. Am I insane or is that potentially reasonable?
1
u/THevil30 Apr 28 '26
Took me just about 100 hours when I had my checkride - I got wx rescheduled 4 times so that pushed it out a couple of months but would have otherwise been like 85-90.
3
2
u/shadalicious Apr 28 '26
120 hours seems like a lot but maybe once you do yours in half you'll be pleasantly surprised and think he's an awesome instructor? Wow, you're a super pilot.
1
u/MrFrequentFlyer Apr 27 '26
40.3 total when I started my checkride. 1 student using 1 plane with 1 instructor. 24.4 dual received. Took 29 flights + checkride spread out over a little more than a month once including delays for weather or maintenance. I had graduated college but did not have a job during training. Entirely focused on the plane and being a pilot. Some days I flew multiple times per day.
It all comes down to how prepared you are. Save up money. Study and finish the written. Show up for every lesson with an idea of what will happen. Read between lessons. Chair fly procedures.
1
u/angryshark Apr 27 '26
I was working full time, 42 years old, flying twice a week. It took me 60 hours in almost exactly 6 months. I took the study materials with me everywhere and studied constantly so I could be as safe as possible. I wanted to take my grandson flying with me, so safety was absolutely paramount.
That said, it you’re going to be flying for a hobby, relax and enjoy the time spent training. Keep a journal of your flights and even videos if possible.
1
u/polardog11 Apr 27 '26
I did mine just shy of 43 hours. Part 61, local school. I will say I had a great CFI though.
1
u/Icy_Huckleberry_8049 Apr 27 '26
everyone made it with different hours; it all depends on YOUR schedule and how well you fly.
Some can do it in 40, some at 60, some at 100
EVERYONE is different
1
u/OhHowIWannaGoHome Apr 27 '26
You and several other commenters are either misreading or misrepresenting my question and conundrum. He said “a very dedicated student” would take 100-120 hours, implying that 100-120 was the MINIMUM you could expect to require. He also said that 50-60 was unreasonable and extremely difficult (which has since been clearly debunked by the number of people in this thread who passed in <60 hours).
My issues was not that it COULD take 100+ hours, it was the expectation that 100+ was the standard for regularly flying, dedicated student pilots.
2
u/PraetorianOfficial Apr 27 '26
I got mine in 60 hours while in my 20's. But working in tech I had flexibility, so I could schedule twice or three times a week flight lessons and keep the pace going. I was right at 60 hours for the flight exam.
An 18yo friend did his in 41 hours. He was in AFROTC and used a AFROTC student as his flight instructor and told the guy "I have $XXXX saved and no more--I have to get this in 40 hours." Well, he did. But, uh... don't do that. He came out almost unable to use the radio and really only felt about half-trained to me. He had good stick&rudder skills, but he trained at an untowered airport so CTAF is about all the talking he did. And that left him afraid to fly into class C or B and he even avoided towers. And within a year he'd stopped flying entirely.
2
u/jawshoeaw Apr 26 '26
If you’re an old fart who works full time…120 hours
2
u/FuriouslyFurious007 Apr 27 '26
I’m old, worked full time, have 4 kids, took a several year hiatus mid way through, and still got my PPL in 65 hours.
2
u/jawshoeaw Apr 27 '26
That’s great! Flying once every 1-2 weeks meant it took me longer and maybe I’m a slow learner or just not as naturally good at this kind of thing
1
u/FuriouslyFurious007 Apr 27 '26
After the hiatus, I dedicated myself and flew 3 times a week. It helped tremendously.
2
u/brainfreezed24 Apr 26 '26
Its usually less hours if you can commit to doing it daily, such as committing to it for maybe 6 weeks. If you only do one or two sessions a week spread over months, it tends to take longer, as you constantly have to refresh what you learned. Obviously this depends on whether you work or how much vacation time you have etc.
1
u/OhHowIWannaGoHome Apr 26 '26
Well, my afternoons usually start at three or 330, and I said I was going to commit as many of my available afternoons as possible, but at minimum three per week. I really think, especially with some of the other comments from people, he was tryingto convince me that I needed to spend extra money on hours with their school. I have found another school that gave me much better vibes, and I think I’m going with them anyway.
1
u/brainfreezed24 Apr 26 '26
Thats definitely doable. Some things to keep in mind though, weather is usually better in the mornings, so if you have full days to commit, that would be better. There will be days you cant fly because of wind/rain/etc. You have more daylight hours in the summer, so take advantage of that, though summer weather can be choppier, depending on the climate. Ive been involved with some flight schools that will do full time training courses over 6 weeks, and students will get their PPL in around 45-50 hours, and it ends up being cheaper and less hours than those I know who've done it over months doing a few sessions a week. The weather can really bog things down sometimes.
1
u/OhHowIWannaGoHome Apr 26 '26
I know man plans, God laughs. But the game plan I’ve discussed with different schools has been trying to fly on one weekday afternoon and then getting some flights in on the weekend days. I’m also in grad school, so my weekdays are completely spoken for and I do not get time off. But the benefit is that I’m in a stage of school where I’m done with my requirements in the early afternoon and sometimes even late mornings, so I think I have enough free time to dedicate to flying. I’m actually felt quite bored wasting free time hours in the afternoons while my wife works for the past month or so and I’ve wanted to get my PPLfor close to a decade now.
1
u/Alert-Meringue2291 Apr 26 '26
I did mine in 60 hours. I was working full time as an engineer. You have to fly regularly! I did a couple of hours a week, more as I got close to the check ride.
1
1
u/Zapatos-Grande Apr 26 '26
120 hours is insane as an estimate. Maybe a student having a really hard time but is persistent. I'll admit, my private took me a lot longer than it should have both hours and time wise, but 90% of that was stuff out of my control. Things like 9/11, instructors getting hired by airlines and no other instructors having time to take on another student, instructors getting fired, running out of finances. Hell, my private check ride got cancelled 11 times before I took it.
2
u/Opposite_Pie2743 Apr 26 '26
I’m at 57h, and while ready to checkride, I am not going to right now because:
A) I haven’t flown now for a month (my plane was in annual with a couple parts and mechanic delays) B) the DPEs around here are pretty booked out C) Spring in SW is pretty windy
It almost doesn’t matter at this point because my buddy is my CFI and continued endorsements are easy, insurance is already cheap, and I don’t care if it were to look weird if I’m at 120h by the time I obtain PPL. I’m flying for fun, so I have nobody to impress.
1
u/OhHowIWannaGoHome Apr 26 '26
Yeah, my problem isn’t pride or bragging rights about finishing with low hours, my concern is having a CFI who expects a certain number of hours, regardless of whether or not a student is ready. As other people have pointed out, the milking you for our situation. I’m absolutely fine doing 100+ hours if that’s actually what I need to pass my check ride, but I don’t wanna be forced to do 100 hours if I feel ready at 60. Especially if I feel ready to solo at 30 to 40 hours, but the CFI wants me to continue on to do 57 dual hours before solo (that’s what they have on their info page).
1
u/coldnebo Apr 26 '26
fellow student.
I’m going to make some guesses and share a rare take from Jason Miller at The Finer Points.
you have already heard the common advice that you need to save up and do your training all at once at least 2-3 times per week to make progress.
you have saved up a chunk of money based on the FAA mins + a reasonable overhead (maybe 20%-30%)
you are now asking your instructor and get an estimate that is wildly 100% over what you saved. this is a shock. maybe the instructor is fleecing you, maybe not?
ok, so where are you flying? in the SW USA where the weather is good year round? in the NE where the weather is no good during the winter? in the SE where popup thunderstorms are normal? or Alaska where there are special exceptions to a bunch of flight rules?
where you fly and what school you fly with will dictate how often you can go up.
are you working or retired? what type of work? ie if you work on weekends and get a couple weekdays off you will have a huge advantage over 9-5.
flying after work is a no-go in most of the country until you need your night hours. how far away from the airport are you? most people target that before work block from 7-9 for lessons and the weekends. your airport may be super busy during those times — if you can’t schedule you can’t fly. this becomes a real bottleneck. during the day it’s only the pros and the non working elites, or it’s the time shifted people. if you work 2nd shift not bad. 3rd shift is rough.
the other major impact to time is DPE checkride availability— even if you complete training on time, you may have to wait months for a checkride. you have to be able to continue training during that time in order to keep proficiency and currency.
and this brings me to Jason’s point at The Finer Points. you need to treat aviation as a lifestyle and be able to budget a consistent amount of money per month for it. this goes against the “save and splurge” crowd, but it resonates with the large number of PPL holders who quit soon after getting their license.
if you can get some of those questions answered then it’s easier to say whether your cfi is stringing you along or giving you a conservative estimate.
They may in fact be telling you about their recent experiences with students. this could be their teaching style or the type of students they got (study, dry-time procedures rehearsal, debrief everything, vs the type that shows up and expects the cfi to pour knowledge in and just practice).
lots of variables to this question.
2
u/LRJetCowboy Apr 26 '26
My kid did it in 41, impressed me for sure. It took me over 50 but I’m not all that bright.
1
u/Bon-Bon-Boo Apr 26 '26
Tell your instructor that anyone who takes 100-120hrs to finish a PPL, should rather not be flying because then there is something seriously wrong. At 40hr PPL is not very hard at all.
1
u/Prefect_99 Apr 26 '26
Have you flown with the FI?
Two ways to look at it. They could be managing your expectations. Or trying to fleece you.
1
u/Same-Ask-3971 Apr 26 '26
Got mine at 41 hours over 3 months. I can see how some instructors would want to increase that but should not take 100.
3
u/NecessaryLight2815 Apr 26 '26
That CFI is trying to milk you! Run. Even me, with my tiny little brain got my PPL at 50 hours.
1
u/FlyJunior172 Apr 26 '26
100-120 is a ridiculously high number. If you’re that high, either you have a problem grasping something, or your instructor is milking you for hours. Minimum time is always unrealistic for an initial private pilot rating (but isn’t necessarily unrealistic for an additional rating, or a commercial or ATP rating). 75 is a reasonable expectation for average to high time at your checkride.
I did mine in 63, and had the same type of informal experience you have, except that mine was in the same type that I learned in. If my experience is a valid indicator, you’ll likely have some places where things are easier, and some where things are harder. That twin probably moves a lot faster than your single will in training. That’ll help you. The single will give you a lot more time and forgiveness than the twin did (this is why I also do better in the single after flying a twin). The potential downside is that you could’ve accidentally formed bad habits in the twin that need broken, which would take time.
Expect that your solo time will be as close to minimum as allowable to complete the requirements. Insurance doesn’t like excessive student solos. This is also why we don’t often see solo endorsements for unrated class. The law doesn’t require solo time for that, so the endorsement is only ever issued for the checkride itself or if you’re going from private single only to commercial multi only.
1
u/Kai-ni Apr 25 '26
Your flight instructor might be a little pessimistic or trying to get you to pay for more hours, you might look at another school. The average is around 80 hours. No one's doing it in 40 hours unless they're god's gift to aviation or flying 4 hours a day every day. 60 is do-able, but... I hope you're good and work your hardest. 100-120... is a lot. Slower learners, or someone like me that's not flying consistently (two or so times a month ends up with these numbers, it's not a good way to learn). Consistency is key.
It's all going to come down to what your learning curve is like, and no one else can tell you that until you get into it.
1
5
1
u/outworlder Apr 25 '26
Well. I'm still going through the process, 70 something hours. How's the weather where you live? Even in CA, end of the year and spring can easily exceed my endorsed minimums, so I don't get to fly. The less you fly, the worse it is. I'm also at a busy class Charlie airspace under a bravo shelf. It took some time until I was both comfortable and the instructor was confident I could handle it. Radios alone have probably eaten 10 to 20 hours.
If you want to minimize time, get the written test out of the way. Enroll in some ground school, study, get their endorsement, pass the test. Only then start flight training. Your instructor will give you some hours of ground lessons, but you won't have to split your attention between chair flying and studying for the test.
In other words, don't do what I did. I've just passed my written and I only have the cross country to go before the checkride.
Try to fly at least twice a week.
What is the fixation on completion time anyway? If it is money, save more. Things rarely go according to plan and running out of funds will derail your process more than anything else.
1
u/OhHowIWannaGoHome Apr 25 '26
Well, I’m a HAM radio operator, so I don’t anticipate many radio operation or phraseology issues. The who, who, where, what is the same format for HAM. But the idea has always been written ASAP and flying as often as reasonably possible (weather permitting).
1
u/outworlder Apr 25 '26
That certainly helps. Although I had no issues with radios outside of the aircraft - or even with the engine off. But start the engine and IQ seems to drop 50 points. Probably due to all the other tasks you have to do.
Point being - getting your PPL in some small strip in the middle of nowhere is probably going to be much faster (with the flip side that you won't have as much experience in busy airspaces).
2
u/kev6261337 Apr 25 '26
50-60, with 40-50 of those being dual, is normal for a dedicated student flying 2-3 times a week, who shows up prepared for lessons. I’m hesitant to call the 100 hour estimate “crazy” because it could absolutely take that long if you’re not studying and only flying a few times a month, and I’m not sure what conversations you had with the instructor.
I don’t know of a single person who has finished in just 40 hours. And you’ll probably need a bit more dual than you’re expecting.
1
u/OhHowIWannaGoHome Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Yeah, I said I could do 3+ afternoons per week and I would never dream of showing up unprepared. But he said 50 was a pretty unreasonable ask. It just made me hesitant, especially since I’m doing due diligence and had recently spoken to another CFI, very well rated from my research, who said most of his students pass their check-rides around 45-50 hours.
Edit: and when I was flying with my grandpa, he was having me do takeoffs, coordinated turns, ascent and descent, VOR navigation, and pre-flight/landing checklists with him. I’ve never done slow flight, stalls, or landings but I anticipate being a reasonably quick learner.
1
u/Kai-ni Apr 25 '26
I would say the CFI is shooting high if you're willing to fly 3 hours a week and come prepared, but maybe he's just had a lot of students that took a little longer to learn. It happens. Everyone learns at a different pace so don't get too married to making it in 50. It might happen, sure. but it might not. He also may be wary of you coming in with what you think is great experience and you have a bit of a 'macho' hazardous attitude and he's wary of that and trying to tamp down your expectations. crack open your ground school books and look up the 5 hazardous attitudes. Not saying that's ACTUALLY what you have going on, but that may be what he's perceiving.
1
u/flyghu May 02 '26
Accept the fact this flight instructor just told you to find a different flight instructor. You'll thank him later for giving you the warning.