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We get many aspiring pilots that ask us about getting current but other commitments often result in a packed schedule. The thought of taking on flight lessons while maintaining a 40+ hour work week can be daunting. Do not be deterred! There is a path to knocking the rust off while still paying the bills. We’ve seen many success stories and here is the insight on how to get it done.

Tip #1. Open up your schedule. 

Obviously you need to make time for lessons. For those of us with 9 to 5 jobs, it’s a little more difficult. If you can sacrifice a little sleep or less time at the gym, fly early morning. There are even some hidden benefits to the dawn flight hours – smooth air, cool temps and better aircraft availability. Before the sun has had time to warm up the ground and cause some afternoon bumps is my favorite time to fly. It’s peaceful and quiet. If you’re lucky, you’ll have the airport to yourself too. If you’re flying in the evening, you usually can get in two to three hours before the sun goes down depending on time of year. Both early in the day and late in the evening you’re likely to have less traffic in the pattern to slow you down so better efficiency when it comes to getting more takeoffs and landings in each lesson.

Tip #2. Make the most of your weekends.

If you can free up your Saturdays and/or Sundays you’ll be much better off. The weekend is where we see students get the most training requirements knocked out. If you can fly 4-8 hours in a weekend plus a couple mornings and evenings during the week, it is possible to log 12+ hours in a week. While the minimum number of flight hours for your Private pilot is 40 hours, most pilots exceed the minimum by up to 50%. Let’s say it will take you 60 hours of training, that’s really only five weeks of calendar time to meet the requirements. Sounds a little manageable, doesn’t it?

Tip #3. Use a home study course for ground lessons.

Getting current is like any other type of school these days, you can study online at your own speed. With the Sporty’s Learn to Fly Course or Sporty’s Flight Review Course you can complete all your ground training at home or wherever you are, online or in the app. It’s a great way to save time with the instructor on ground lessons and learn the material needed for flying. This online course takes you step-by-step through all of the material you’ll need to know to be a competent pilot. 

Tip #4. Find an instructor that can work with your schedule and an airplane that does too!

Finding the right flight school is one of the more difficult steps in this process. You can use our online database to locate the nearest one to you but that’s only half the battle. More than anything, a flight school needs to be a good fit for you – your schedule, your goals, and your personality. Meet with the staff and tour the facilities and airplanes. Ask any questions you may have about the flight training process, flight school policies, scheduling, rates, and instructors. Your personal opinion counts here. Do the airplanes look clean and well-maintained? Are the instructors friendly and helpful? What is your general feeling about the school as a whole?

Flight schools vary from large training facilities to one airplane flight schools with part-time instructors. But bigger doesn’t always mean better, so look for some signs of a well-run flight school.

Tip #5. Once you start, don’t stop.

If you’re tempted to take a week off, don’t. It’s too easy to let life get in the way of your currency. And it’s difficult to retain all of the knowledge if you let time pass without studying. Learning to fly is like any other skill, practice makes perfect. You’re going to have to remain dedicated to learning to fly if you want to make this dream a reality.

Set aside some time to find a flight school that will work with your schedule. Dedicate your time to this goal and have an expected timeline for completion. Having a full-time job and learning to fly is 100% possible, so what’s holding you back? You never know what doors that may open for you.

You’ve heard the cliche: flying isn’t dangerous, it’s just unforgiving. This may be a tired saying, but it’s very true, and if we’re honest with ourselves, this challenge is part of what makes flying so rewarding. If we can master such a complex and demanding skill, we can rightly feel proud.

The unforgiving nature of aviation has serious consequences, though, consequences we should remember every time we enter the cockpit. If we’re unrealistic about our new year’s resolution, it probably won’t hurt us. Flying is a different story. There aren’t many second chances.

Be realistic – if the fuel gauges show almost empty, it’s time to land.

In this unforgiving environment, one of the most critical skills is the ability to be realistic. The point is, whether we’re dealing with aircraft performance, weather, or avionics, we have to be constantly readjusting our sense of the situation: What’s going on now? How does that compare to my expectations? Do I need to adjust my plan? What else might have changed given this new information?

A pilot who becomes lazy, or hangs onto old information because it’s comforting, sets himself up for all kinds of mistakes. Consider these common accident scenarios:

• VFR into IMC. This might be the ultimate lack of realism, as a pilot continues into deteriorating weather even though he most likely knows the weather stinks. Instead of admitting that Plan A won’t work, he continues on because it’s more convenient than changing plans. It doesn’t matter what the forecast said; “what you see is what you get.”

Continued VFR flight into IMC conditions is a dangerous trap.

• Fuel exhaustion. Most airplanes that run out of gas have fully functional fuel gauges. The pilot comes up short not because of a mechanical problem, but because he ignored reality. A realistic pilot continually updates the fuel on board and changes plans when the math no longer works, even if it seems unbelievable based on preflight calculations.
• Takeoff accidents. Max gross weight is not just a suggestion, as dozens of pilots discover every year. No matter how nice it would be to carry full fuel and four adults in a Cessna 172, it just won’t happen. Be realistic and leave something behind.
• Crosswind landing mishaps. There are no regulations against landing in a 35 knot crosswind; in fact, airline pilots do it every day. That doesn’t mean it’s safe for a 100-hour private pilot to attempt it. Part of being a safe pilot means understanding your own limitations and never exceeding them.

There aren’t regulations against strong crosswinds, but it’s not a good idea to exceed max demonstrated.

Confirmation bias is at work in a big way here, because we all lie to ourselves when it makes life easier. We embrace the one METAR that shows VFR conditions, since it matches our plan, even while we ignore the 20 other METARs showing IFR. One way to fight this urge is to imagine you are giving advice to someone in your situation. Taking this outside view has been shown to improve decision-making in all kinds of activities, including flying. Or as one of my early flight instructors said, “start writing your own NTSB report and see how it sounds.” That’s usually enough to make me reconsider a 50/50 decision.

It’s not all bad news. One trend that suggests pilots are becoming more realistic in their approach to risk management involves Cirrus airplanes and their built-in parachute systems. There are now more parachute pulls and yet fewer fatal accidents in SR22 and SR20 airplanes. It seems Cirrus pilots are becoming more realistic about their ability to save the airplane when something goes wrong (engine failure, severe ice, loss of control). Instead of trying to be a hero and save the airplane, they are pulling the red handle and saving their lives. That takes guts to admit, but it’s most definitely progress.

When we’re told to “be realistic,” it sometimes gets interpreted as “be conservative.” That attitude will probably keep you safe, but a truly sharp pilot knows the difference between conservative and realistic. The latter means continually evaluating current conditions and pilot skill, and never allowing them to get out of sync.