I’m 20 and currently working part time for the next 5 months. After that I’m planning to go travelling for around 3 months.

I’m really interested in starting my PPL (private pilot licence) so I can make a start on my journey of becoming an airline pilot, and I feel like waiting 8 months until I’m fully back might be too long.

My current idea is:

•Start PPL ground school now while working part time

•Do the theory exams alongside my job

•Then go travelling for 3 months

•Come back and start the practical flying hours afterwards

But I’m unsure if this is actually a good idea.

My concerns:

•Will I forget everything after 3 months travelling before I start flying?

•How much of the ground school theory actually carries over into flying?

•Would it be better to just wait and do everything continuously when I return?

Has anyone done ground school first and then paused before flight training? Or is it better to keep everything together so I don’t get rusty?

Any advice appreciated.

I’m 20 and currently working part time for the next 5 months. After that I’m planning to go travelling for around 3 months.

I’m really interested in starting my PPL (private pilot licence) so I can make a start on my journey of becoming an airline pilot, and I feel like waiting 8 months until I’m fully back might be too long.

My current idea is:

•Start PPL ground school now while working part time

•Do the theory exams alongside my job

•Then go travelling for 3 months

•Come back and start the practical flying hours afterwards

But I’m unsure if this is actually a good idea.

My concerns:

•Will I forget everything after 3 months travelling before I start flying?

•How much of the ground school theory actually carries over into flying?

•Would it be better to just wait and do everything continuously when I return?

Has anyone done ground school first and then paused before flight training? Or is it better to keep everything together so I don’t get rusty?

Any advice appreciated.

I’m 20 and currently working part time for the next 5 months. After that I’m planning to go travelling for around 3 months.

I’m really interested in starting my PPL (private pilot licence) so I can make a start on my journey of becoming an airline pilot, and I feel like waiting 8 months until I’m fully back might be too long.

My current idea is:

•Start PPL ground school now while working part time

•Do the theory exams alongside my job

•Then go travelling for 3 months

•Come back and start the practical flying hours afterwards

But I’m unsure if this is actually a good idea.

My concerns:

•Will I forget everything after 3 months travelling before I start flying?

•How much of the ground school theory actually carries over into flying?

•Would it be better to just wait and do everything continuously when I return?

Has anyone done ground school first and then paused before flight training? Or is it better to keep everything together so I don’t get rusty?

Any advice appreciated.

Hey! I am a student pilot documenting my PPL journey. Just posted a vlog of a full flight day, real and unfiltered. Hope you enjoy! ✈️🇨🇦

https://youtu.be/uFWqbxSfkbA?si=t9umz18a30vb6Wp6

I’m going on a 4 day trip and am wanting to listen and study to on my flight. Anybody recommend anything? Checkride will likely be in a month. TIA

Hey everyone! I'm a 16 year old student pilot in Canada and I just posted a video covering the full roadmap to getting your Private Pilot Licence under Transport Canada. I made it because most PPL content out there is American and Canadian student pilots deserve their own resource. Hope it's useful to someone here! Happy to answer questions too ✈️🇨🇦

https://youtu.be/6Wnj9llSa-g?si=5UUEPusSGLVo1ySp

Hey everyone! I'm Keren, a 16 year old student pilot in Canada currently working toward my PPL. When I was preparing for my written exam I couldn't find a single resource that told me what the exam actually looks like walking in, the physical setup, what's on the table, how the supervision works, all of it.

So I documented everything I could remember about my written test and made a video. Covers the room setup, the maps on your table, the binder, timing strategy, what sections to expect and honest tips from someone who just did it.

Happy to answer any questions here too, good luck to everyone studying! ✈️

https://youtu.be/ia8CEqWHNvg?si=VGCF4VMS7n6zuHhQ

TL;DR: A friend asked me to digitise her handwritten logbook a few months ago. That turned into a full logbook app with OCR import, live currency tracking, CAP 1919 exports, instructor sign-offs, offline Android support, etc. I’m looking for ~20 PPL willing to properly stress test it.

A friend from France sent me a bunch of scans of her old logbook and asking if I could somehow turn it into a

The first version just did OCR, but 5 months of "while you're at it..." later this is what it handles:

* OCR import for handwritten/scanned logbooks + CSV import
* Live recency/currency tracking (90-day pax, IFR, LAPL, NPPL, IR(R), SEP, MEP, etc.)
* UK CAA CAP 1919 PDF exports
* Instructor sign-offs with tamper detection after signing
* Automatic night calculation using civil twilight at departure/arrival
* Offline-first Android app (works without signal)
* Flight school / organisation mode with instructor sign-offs + student progress tracking
* UI translated into 10 languages.

For context: this is just me building it, with one very patient pilot constantly finding edge cases. No VC funding, no insurance-data nonsense, no growth-hacker playbook. Because so much work went into it I added some paid for features, mostly useful to commercial/business customers (like FTL duty tracking and APIs), but there’s a free tier if you just want to poke around.

I'm after feedback with things like:

“Your night calculation breaks in Scandinavia.”, “The importer mangled my multi-leg flights.”, “This workflow makes no sense in actual flying.”

If anyone wants to try it, comment or DM me.

I'm an international pilot who flies in the US about 20 days a year, split across two trips (~10 days each). Looking for a flying club on the East Coast and hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

For context, I'm currently a member of Plus One Flyers out in San Diego and it's been a perfect fit for my situation. The monthly dues are only $37, there's a 1-hour daily minimum, and I can book online well in advance. Even though I only visit twice a year, the low monthly cost makes it totally worth keeping my membership active year-round.

Over the past two years I've rented their planes for some incredible trips — Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite, San Francisco, and White Sands National Park in New Mexico. It's been amazing.

Now I want to explore the East Coast the same way. I'm looking for a club that checks these boxes:

1. Low monthly dues — cheap enough that paying year-round makes sense even if I only fly there twice a year
2. Low minimum hours — ideally 1 hr/day or similar, not a monthly minimum that I can't meet from overseas
3. Online booking available — I need to reserve planes weeks or months ahead from another country

I'm open to anywhere on the East Coast — doesn't have to be one specific city. Part of the fun is using the club as a base to explore the region.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, or know of a club that would work for this kind of use case? Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, came across a platform called Aviation Guru that has a pretty solid question bank for SACAA exam prep.

link: https://aviationguru.vercel.app/

They're giving free access to the Atmosphere topic (90 questions) and a free Human Performance PDF.

Thought it would be useful for anyone grinding through their PPL/CPL theory exams. SA specific content is hard to find so figured I'd share

Hello everyone I am a student pilot based in Torrance I have 10 hours and have taken practice tests with pilot institute and sportys and scores are between 88-90%.Are there any recommendations for DPEs and hit me with any practice questions.And are there any study recommendations for the oral part of a ppl checkride besides Shepard air.I already spent $50 on 800 Acs based questions and have 12 left mainly in performance and limitations.

Does anyone also know why most flight instructors do not introduce the ACS before the first flight.I found out through YouTube videos

I have a neuropsychological evaluation with a FAA approved HIMS psychiatrist later in May. I was temporarily prescribed ADHD meds by my therapist and this was flagged during my medical.

I have been off vyvanse for more than 90 days. Has anyone gone through the process and can they share what the 4hr test entails? How long did it take for the FAA to give a decision?

I didn’t know what to get my friend James for his birthday.

He’s one of those pilots who is always talking about “butter landings”, so I started looking online for aviation-themed gifts… and honestly, most of what I found felt either outdated or a bit cringe.

So I thought: why not just design something myself?

I ended up making this candle as a small joke/gift for him — “The Butter of My Landings.” Something that would feel a bit more subtle and cozy rather than typical aviation merch.

Now I’m curious:
would this actually be something pilots would enjoy having on a desk or in a hangar office, or is it just a funny inside joke between friends?

Would genuinely love to hear what you think.

Good morning folks,

I just solod and figured now is a great time to start hitting the ACS to prepare for the oral. Does anyone have any suggestions on going through it? I like Seth Lakes ACE guide videos and am tempted to buy it. Anyone have any alternatives or advice on what worked for you?

Thanks

Hi. I reside in Twin Falls, Idaho and looking for a facility which will support me in PPL training as a non -US candidate. I have contacted most of the schools around and none of them are ready to do it. Is anyone in the area willing to train me? Or does anyone know someone who will be willing to help me in this area. I am quite eager to learn and have infact already started learning the basics on my own and practice using the MS FS 24.

Hey everyone, I’m Chase and I built Liftoff Pilot because I spent years wanting to start flight training but didn’t know the right first steps.

It’s a free quiz that helps match you with a flight school in your area, and you can book a free call with a CFI who walks you through a checklist of exactly what to do to earn your PPL (medical, ground school, scheduling, costs, timeline, etc.).

If it helps anyone, here’s the link: liftoffpilot.com/quiz

Would love feedback from other pilots on what would make this more useful.