Not just US PPL, with the exams out of the way. I know of couple of cases where the JAA PPL flight training was done in two weeks (in one case it was done in two one week stints IIRC). But that’s rather extreme. Three to four weeks seems normal for an intensive course.
Peter wrote:
In good wx, and with a bright young motivated student who is focused on the job, and flying 7 days a week, there is no reason why one could not do the US PPL (40hrs) in 3 weeks. 2 flights a day…
Which is exactly how I did it (well, perhaps minus the ‘bright young’ part…. 
)
Peter wrote:
It assumes the exams, the medical, etc have all been done beforehand,
Exactly. Did my written on one of the first days and then went flying. Heck, that’s what I had come for!
Jojo wrote:
Two days after these flights (i.e. on Monday) I received an email from my head CFI, accusing me ofoverloading my student
demotivating my student
blasting holes in his flying budget
Very important that you provide a written answer to these complaints. You need to make clear that the student asked for it. You might (in a careful way) ask the student whether he felt overloaded. Also important that you phrase your answer in a way that does not challenge the judgment of the head CFI. Sort of like, “Dear ___, one of the things I like about teaching at this school is that we really care about the student & I think your concern reflects that impulse. I was worried about this myself, but 1) the student asked for it; 2) the lessons went well; 3) he insists they made him happy; 4) as regards his budget, he seems more concerned by scheduling issues than cost.” Or something like that. Then you conclude that “each student is different,” and that you really appreciate his focus on quality instruction.
(Of course, there are probably other issues here unrelated to this particular student…but being agreeable and non-confrontational is often the best policy when you don’t have power.)
I was doing this in my 40s. Loved it.
I got my FAA PPL like this (twice daily) when I was allready 40 years old in the very demanding environment of Van Nuys CA. I just wanted it badly and time was in shortage.Still had enough time to stroll the area highlights.
In good wx, and with a bright young motivated student who is focused on the job, and flying 7 days a week, there is no reason why one could not do the US PPL (40hrs) in 3 weeks. 2 flights a day…
It assumes the exams, the medical, etc have all been done beforehand, otherwise the whole project gets a bit risky. The schools here in the UK don’t normally like the exams being done all up front, but some years ago I helped one young guy to do that (did some ground school with him) and he had all 7 exams in the bag before starting flying. I also flew with him, planned a few trips, etc, and he did the PPL in the min time of 45hrs. He was done really quickly and saved a load of money. I suggested to him that he doesn’t tell anybody about the informal training until he is finished
The normal UK PPL takes a year…..
Blasting holes in his flying budget.
How so? Chances are, the total number of required hours is less than if you spread out the course over years (with frequent “refresher” type lessons).
That reminds me in the States you can do a PPL in three weeks. Overloading the student, maybe, but they still succeed. Demotivating the student, don’t think so. Blasting holes in his flying budget. Well obviously there is a market for it!
I’m currently training 5 overseas students on an intensive PPL course, they are trying to do it in a month/5 weeks. The aim is to fly them twice a day every day if possible. There have been a couple of three times a day occasions. They are young and absorb info well, but we are now running into inadequate standard of English for R/T.
Jojo wrote:
student in his thirties … professional commitments … He decided he wanted to give it a try…. My student was delighted. …Can anyone see a problem with this?
The only problem I can see is if he can’t keep up with the theory side of things on his non-flying days. If two flights gives him too much to process during the rest of his already busy week. Then it could become counter productive. But a happy student is a good student. Perhaps you can ask the student to provide feedback to the CFI about how he wants his training to happen.
