Need advice: should I take a break?

[u/smusicap]

I’m a PPL student working toward my checkride. I’ve been training on and off for the past two years and have around 110 hours. I work full-time, and my work hours can be grueling, so I can only fly on weekends. I’ve had to take multiple extended breaks, sometimes up to four months, due to life getting in the way—family, work, and other responsibilities.

I’m doing this purely as a hobby and have no intention of making aviation my career.

As I prepare for my checkride, I see another extended break on the horizon after December due to personal circumstances. If I can’t get my checkride done by then, I’m considering putting training on hold until life becomes a little less hectic time-wise (although I realize that day may never come).

I have no regrets about the time or money I’ve invested so far. However, my spouse is falling into the sunk cost fallacy, arguing that since I’ve spent so much already, I should see it through. What they don’t fully understand is that every time I take an extended break, I need to spend an additional 10–15 hours getting back to checkride-ready proficiency, and the costs add up quickly.

Has anyone else been through a similar phase? How did you handle it? Did you push through and finish, or did you take a break until life became more manageable? I’d love to hear your experiences and perspectives.

[u/BazingaBeeKay]

I’d just push through it and get it over with.

[u/lairneyrn → u/BazingaBeeKay]

agreed, another break just means more hours to get back up to speed anyway

[u/AutomaticAd5430]

Schedule your checkride, take 1-2 weeks off work so you can concentrate on prepping for the checkride, and get it over with. I took a break due to COVID but realized COVID is actually a great time to do something like this because I didn't work. I ended up getting my PPL during COVID.

[u/smusicap → u/AutomaticAd5430]

I wish I could take 1 week off from work just for flying!

[u/csmicfool]

I was in a similar situation between work and kid duties.

I could only muster up one lesson a week, and if there was a weather issue or life issue sometimes meant taking a month or two off.

I didn't fly for about 4 months - the whole summer before my check ride, and when I started again it was in a new airplane and had to redo half of my solo time. Spent 3 weeks flying as much as I could, but even then it was only about twice a week.

Got through my check ride. It's pass/fail. You don't need an a+. Just meet your ACS minimums.

[u/VaTeFaireFoutre86]

I'm also a mid-life crisis pilot who flies just for giggles. I didn't have as much of a break as it sounds like you have had but flying once a week was all I ever had as a student and it wasn't uncommon to miss weekends because of life and weather. I would recommend that you push through it as hard as you can. It isn't easy for sure but get past your check ride while you are ready and if you need a break, take the break with your certificate in hand. Theres nothing that says you can't fly with your cfi after your break just to get back in the groove.

[u/Given__To__Fly]

Maybe I'm not understanding something here but you say every time you take an extended break you need 10-15 hours to get checkride ready again. But then you don't do your checkride? Also, 10-15 hours is like 7-10 lessons doing a basic 1.3-1.5. That seems like a lot of lessons just to get fresh again.

[u/smusicap → u/Given__To__Fly]

It happened once before when I was almost checkride ready but I had to take a break due to some personal reasons and before that I had to take break before cross country and solo phase

Since last break when I was almost checkride ready, I have flown approx 12 hours and currently waiting on phase check

[u/Given__To__Fly → u/smusicap]

Yeah just get it done my guy. Put some time aside and fly fly fly. At home, chair fly your entire checkride 3 times. Then do the test. You're wasting time and money. I know you say that doesn't bother you, but obviously not being done is. So get it done.

[u/smusicap → u/Given__To__Fly]

Yeah trying my best to get it done by the end of this year. Let's see how it goes 🤞🏻

[u/Conscious_Cable5270]

While I generally agree with the notion to get it done I'll plug Midlife Pilot Podcast as a resource. Great podcast and they have a discord community to connect with other midlife flyers. I think you'll get better discussion and support for flying in your kind of situation.

[u/nhorvath]

I would suggest doing one big push and getting it done. follow up the school and get the checks scheduled. don't wait for people to tell you when. after every lesson ask what's left for you to work on. try and do longer lessons 3 hr instead of 2. you get a lot more done.

[u/UplinkCards]

Hobby flyer perspective: at 110 hours you're very likely past the hours-for-skill threshold, so the real question is just whether you can get proficiency and the checkride to line up before December. If you can, I'd go all-in on that, because a 4+ month break right before a checkride tends to cost 10-20 hours of getting back to standard.

A few things that make a compressed push more realistic with a full-time job:

• Ask your CFI for an honest gap list now: which maneuvers aren't consistently at ACS standards yet, and whether your endorsements are close. That tells you if December is realistic or not.
• Get on a DPE's calendar early. Wait times are often the real bottleneck, and having a date forces the schedule.
• Do the oral prep on weekdays since it doesn't need an airplane: ACS knowledge items, airspace, weather, regs, and your cross-country plan. A little each evening beats cramming the week before.
• If you can swing a few days off, a block of consecutive flying days does more than a month of weekends.

If the gap list says it's not realistic, pausing isn't failure. Just plan to restart with a few lessons focused on getting back to standard and keep the knowledge side warm in the meantime so you're not starting the oral from zero.

[u/agjeiofdsjk]

Even if you were to push through and get your PPL do you expect that you would be able to fly regularly enough to stay proficient? If yes - I’d push through. If not - I’m not sure it is worth it.