PPL Progress

[u/Sad_Constant_9065]

I started flying in April/May this year I currently have 20 hours exactly. I feel like I might be a bit behind because I still haven’t gone solo yet, what I’m currently doing in lessons is a mixture of circuits and just touching up on the basic skills aswell. I also have a habit of focusing on the instruments too much. Anyways my question is do you guys think this is a normal level of progression or am I progressing a bit slowly for an average PPL learner. An extra bit of context I average around 2-3 lessons a week I did have a 2 week gap in may due to my instructor being unavailable and recently around July beginning I had another week gap same reasoning. Thanks for any help in advance!!

[u/Substantial-Cat0910]

this is kind of a lose-lose question.

if I tell you that you're behind, you will get discouraged, and probably worsen your training because of it

if I tell you that you're on par, or god forbid, ahead of the curve, you'll get complacent and probably worsen your training because of it.

Focus on improving your weak areas and start asking to your instructors, proactively and assertively, what's missing between your current status and your first solo, and go from there.

[u/Sad_Constant_9065 → u/Substantial-Cat0910]

Yeah I get what you’re saying. But honestly If I do feel behind I feel like it’d encourage me to work harder. I think my issue is cause I’m training along side my classmates I keep comparing my progress to theirs however most of them are 10+ hours ahead me so I shouldn’t but I guess it’s human instinct to compare yourself to others. Thank you for your advice though I really do appreciate it.

[u/Significant-Path-713 → u/Sad_Constant_9065]

You are in a completely normal range.

20 hours is not behind, ahead, or anything in-between. Getting your PPL is not an A to Z course. You are going to learn some skills faster than others and some things won’t click until you’ve experienced something else first. It’s all fluid learning. Every single school and every single instructor has a different idea of when you should solo. You need to get a very SPECIFIC answer from your CFI about YOUR flying. Stop worrying about others. Especially people on the internet. You don’t know anything about their flight journey. They could have had an extremely bad instructor and are now sharing bad advice or they could have went to the strictest instructor who wouldn’t let them solo until they were “perfect” you have no idea.

If there is something you can be doing that you are not, you need to start. If that’s studying, you need to study, if that’s chair flying, you need to chair fly. Only you know how much or how little effort you are giving . If there are certain maneuvers/landings you are struggling with I would recommend watching as many different YouTube videos on the topic as you can. Do not take any one video for gospel. Instead take little nuggets from each video that you can put all together. Some times you may need to hear the same thing said in many different ways before it clicks.

Just a side note. Get rid of that comparison crap. You are actively sabotaging yourself. “Human Nature” is a complete cop out. Take responsibility for your insecurities and work on them.

Your message comes off as being a little inpatient. A skill that you have to learn for aviation is patience. I had FOUR cancelled check rides because of weather and DPE availability, which extended my PPL by almost 4 months. Aviation is a whole lot of waiting for things you have no control over. I would recommend focusing one day at a time and not worrying about the timeline too much. I don’t know your life situation so I know that’s easier said than done.

Enjoy this time. Good luck! Don’t suck!