Forty hours? Good grief.

Laura's just had her first "proper" driving lesson this afternoon. The
instructor mentioned in passing that the average for passing the test is
forty hours of instruction. I got my pilot's licence in forty hours, ffs.

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

Maybe you should get her flying lessons instead...

 

That would cost at least five times as much, and she still wouldn't be able
to drive her mother to the shops.

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

platypus says...

My middle one was told that she'd need 30 hours - she did it in 25
because she really couldn't afford to do 30.

 

That's the same line I was spun by the driving instructor looking after
my daughter's lessons. Not the bit about his pilot's license, natch.

 

How much per go?

I only had nine hours first time around. It would appear that was
insufficient.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..87918../..23274.../..31893.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 00 Pts:0000 Miles:0000

 

Last I heard it was 10 to 15 hours up here. She's not with Bloody
Stupid Motoring, is she? AFAIAC they're a rip-off, overcharging and
keeping people learning far longer than they need to.

 

For Laura's lessons, I'm paying twenty quid an hour. See here:

http://www.cubair.demon.co.uk/pages/downloads/pplprice.pdf

for flying lessons. It's very likely that you'd need the 172.

What did you fail on?

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

I started flying before I had a driving licence, but I didn't have enough
money to keep it up, so there was a gap of several years before I got my
licence.

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

"Undue hesitation" - this was in Sutton town centre, 4pm on a Friday.

I got all the Highway code questions right, too.

My instructor said I'd be alright, as long as I didn't get a certain
Miss Billings, who'd been suspended for a month for passing too many
people.

Guess what happened next?
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..87918../..23274.../..31893.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 00 Pts:0000 Miles:0000

 

Monkeys flew out of your butt?

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

platypus says...

No, I think they're still in there.

 

They all say that Sir.

Mind you, it did actually take me 40 hours a year or so back. I had driven
and owned cars as a teenager but had to be trained how to pass the test
IYSWIM

 

They also use very poor methodology.
IMHO it should start in an automatic car and on private ground. Once
machine control has been established and the basic road rules understood
said automatic car should venture onto the public road. Once competence
has been established clutch/gear use should be introduced. 24 hours of
lessons should be enough for anyone who is going to be competent in the
end.

 

35 weeks for me, one lesson a week, apart from a month or so in the
middle where I'd stacked the bike, knackered my leg, couldn't drive, and
pretty much went back to square one when I got back behind the wheel.

On the plus side, I had a bike to **** around on all the time I was a
learner in a car, so who cares

 

Expunging the driving 'style' of her father from her subconscious?

 

I was "given" 40 hours by the Army through BSM, but apparently I was
good to pass my test after 12.

 

The guide-line I was given was one hour per year of your age. 17 hours
for a seventeen-year-old.

 

I had 6 hours of lessons before passing my test, but a lot of practice with
my dad in between lessons. If you're prepared (and patient) enough to sit in
the passenger seat working the "invisible brake pedal", it should be an
awful lot cheaper than £800 of lessons.

 

Well that puts paid to that particular dream, until one of my wealthy
relations pops their clogs at least!

How much time do you have to put in each year to keep your licence current?

I'd *really* love to try my hand at helicopter flight, but I believe (maybe
completely incorrectly), that fixed wing first is a sensible step.