I started two years ago, in December 2004.

The most important thing about learning how to fly is to make sure that you have no reason to stop your training along the way. So make sure that you have enough time to fly at least once a week, and that money won’t be the reason for you to stop. Putting a budget aside for it ahead of time might help.

Also, it’s not a bad idea to know why you want a license to begin with, and what type of mission you will use it for. If all you want to do is be in the air, the kind of ultra-light aircraft you mentioned might be plenty enough. But if you want to go somewhere, or take someone with you, you might want to consider going for the private pilot license from the get go, for what you’ll have to learn for it is quite different. Past the first couple hours of training, you’ll know how to handle the plane, and you will spend most of your training learning navigation and emergency handling, and these are quite different on an ultra-light aircraft compared to a regular plane.

Good luck for your training!

Best regards
-Ismael

I need to change jobs so I can afford to upgrade from my bottom-dwelling 152 flights. I had my discovery flight 10 years ago in a 182T, and the idiot instructor took me to KHAF on a day pretty much identical to the one you described — “because it is so pretty there.” Predictably, I puked out of the window, and he hated me for having to clean his bird afterwards. Thanks to the higher powers that this episode didn’t keep me from getting my license!

I’m impressed, how much time did it take you to get this far? I was thinking of starting training myself in April, but on an ultra-light aircraft called FK9. Any advice or suggestions?

Thanks! Saturday evening was a lot calmer than in the morning, when several pilots reported severe turbulence. It was quite a bit of work nonetheless, especially doing some pretty steep slips for teardrop landings after simulated engine failures. I had a lot of fun though.

-Matt