The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours of flight time to earn your Private Pilot License. It is absolutely possible to earn your license in the minimum time, but there are a variety of factors that affect the amount of time it will take.
Increased training time very rarely has to do with flying ability or aptitude. Certainly, natural ability plays a role, but extended training times are usually related to scheduling and studying habits. So much of learning to fly, especially at the beginning of training, is “muscle memory”. Because of this, it is highly recommended that you fly at a minimum of once a week, but 2-3 flights a week is ideal. The more often you fly, the more forward progress you’ll make each lesson. Extended periods of time away from the cockpit may require that a lesson or concept be re-introduced and practiced again.
If flying that often isn’t possible, don’t worry! We’ve had plenty of people over the years that were only able to fly once or twice a month. They all got their licenses too, but in those cases it took a little extra time to complete the training.
Getting your pilot’s license also requires some home studying on your part. None of the material is overly difficult or time-consuming, provided you keep at it a little every day. A few pages of reading each night goes a long way in saving you time and money! JB Aviation has a full Private Pilot syllabus with everything you’ll need to read and know throughout your flight training. The syllabus is available online so you can track your progress, prepare for your next lesson, and be ready for each flight. If you take the time to keep up, you’ll stay right on pace.
