How to get a Pilot's License in (just about) a week
I spent more money than i should getting my license north of Seattle, and i don't regret it. it was a confidence builder and something i really recommend to hacker types - learning to fly is such a perfect combination of the technical and aesthetic, satisfying the need for beauty, freedom, and aventure and challenging your mind at the same time.<p><i>Flying</i>, after a while, can become routine and at a certain point the marginal value is low - it's expensive and if you're not going to be a professional pilot, it begins to seem like a <i>very</i> expensive and pointless hobby. but the experience of learning to fly is worth it.<p>At the time i got my license it was a minimum of 40 hours so the sport pilot rating makes it a lot easier. however, i'm not sure that at 22 hours it's very safe to go up with someone else - it's easy to get overconfident in the pattern, make a turn a little too tight, and stall, and at 1000 feet above the ground, it's generally not recoverable. i didn't feel super confident in pretty much any situation (crosswind, busy airport, low clouds, etc) until around 80 hours.<p>edit: pattern is the nice little box you make when you're flying around an airport, preparing to land... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airfield_traffic_pattern" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airfield_traffic_pattern</a>