Ed Rowe, chief flight instructor at Yingling, says new computer-based flight education programs are making a difference. Now they can learn wherever and whenever they want to. But the basics still remain, he says. That includes factors such as the weather and if conditions, such as a night flight, are beyond a pilot's skills. How long it takes to learn to fly, Rowe says, most often depends on how high a priority getting a license is.
Most students take four to six months, although others are on track to take two years or more.
Flying for business Pat Garboden, first vice president and financial consultant at the stock brokerage of Saloman Smith Barney, says he signed up for lessons three months ago. Now 18 flight hours later, Garboden says he's looking forward to getting his private pilot's license and moving up the ladder to instrument and even multi-engine ratings. Garboden, who is paying for his own flight lessons, says he plans to use his pilot training to do business in a three-state region. I guess I'm just using business as an excuse to learn to fly. Garboden says a computer-based learning system makes his training easier.