Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training?

Sport aviation is growing rapidly. But the new sport pilot / light-sport aircraft rules are still a mystery to many flight schools and instructors. To locate a flight school offering sport pilot training and/or light-sport aircraft rentals, click on the "Flight School And Rental Finder" tab above. This is a great place to share ideas on learning to fly, flight schools, costs and anything else related to training.

Moderator: drseti

Post Reply
pjcampbell
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:14 am
Location: 0B7

Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training?

Post by pjcampbell »

2 hours? Assuming the candidate has passed written test, has good background knowledge, etc.
SportPilot
Posts: 1060
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:39 pm

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by SportPilot »

Delete...
Last edited by SportPilot on Fri Aug 07, 2015 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by MrMorden »

I did accelerated training at Lockwood to finish my Sport Pilot Cert. 3-4 hours a day, depending on weather. Any more than 4 a day will wear out a student quickly.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
User avatar
hirschr
Posts: 186
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2011 1:21 pm
Location: Chattanooga, TN

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by hirschr »

1.5 in the morning and another 1.5 in the afternoon worked well for me.
chavycha
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed May 27, 2015 5:11 pm
Location: Eugene, OR, USA

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by chavycha »

Suppose it depends on the amount of ground that you're doing before flying the airplane.

If done correctly, a one-hour flight lesson ends up being a much longer process. Student arrives, talk through XYZ, then go preflight, then actually fly XYZ, put the plane away, debrief, etc.
Scott K. :: A bunch of silly letters
Disclaimer :: Listen to me at your own risk. These are just my opinions...
User avatar
drseti
Posts: 7227
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:42 pm
Location: Lock Haven PA
Contact:

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by drseti »

I'm with Scott. My standard lesson block is three hours. Typically, that's an hour of individualized one-on-one ground instruction, about 1.3 of actual flying, and about 3/4 hour of debrief, which includes outlining the homework assignment for next lesson (every flight lesson has an associated reading assignment, a PowerPoint lesson online, and a worksheet). With that kind of schedule, it's really not possible to get in more than one lesson a day. I realize that's more structure and rigor than some folks will want; my curriculum isn't for everybody.
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
User avatar
deltafox
Posts: 306
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:21 pm

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by deltafox »

As previously stated, it is key to have study material done. I insist that my students have the written successfully completed before I'll solo them. My lesson blocks are also about 3 hours depending on the stage. I also provide video for them to review after key flights. My point being that the headwork takes more time than flying the airplane.

For us older folks stamina is also an issue. 5 or 6 circuits in the landing pattern is about tops on a hot summer day. Two-a-days usually has the student losing focus (airspeed starts to wander) by the end of the second flight.

Reference: http://lsaeronaut.blogspot.com/2015/07/ ... eview.html
Dave
User avatar
drseti
Posts: 7227
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:42 pm
Location: Lock Haven PA
Contact:

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by drseti »

I don't go quite as far as Dave, in that the FAA knowledge test is not a prerequisite to the solo (though of course my own pre-solo written, which is aircraft-specific, is). But as soon as the first solo is completed, the student takes a break from flying. He or she needs to decompress, and then prepare for and pass the written before commencing with post-solo training.
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Cluemeister
Posts: 329
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:20 pm

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by Cluemeister »

MrMorden wrote:I did accelerated training at Lockwood to finish my Sport Pilot Cert. 3-4 hours a day, depending on weather. Any more than 4 a day will wear out a student quickly.
How did you find Lockwood? I talked with them at the Expo.
User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: Good number of flight hours/day for accelerated training

Post by MrMorden »

Cluemeister wrote:
MrMorden wrote:I did accelerated training at Lockwood to finish my Sport Pilot Cert. 3-4 hours a day, depending on weather. Any more than 4 a day will wear out a student quickly.
How did you find Lockwood? I talked with them at the Expo.
Excellent. Some of the staff has changed, but my primary instructor at Lockwood was Jeff Hudson, and he's still there. IIRC he has several thousand flight hours, all in airplanes 1320lb or less. I had been flying for about 25 hours before I started with Jeff, but he taught me how to really fly, mainly because he emphasized proper rudder use.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Post Reply