i have almost 2 hours in a DA20 that's in our club. i like it, but it is very slippery on final......by that, i mean, that you cannot let your pitch be off be even a couple degrees, or she's gonna keep her speed.
I hate to tell you but compared to the 152 and 172 you've been flying just about everything else you ever fly is going to feel really slippery on final, but its a good thing. I remember the first time I landed a Mooney, took me about 3 approaches to get it on the ground. Literally 5 mph too fast across the threshold and you will float 1000 feet down the runway.
I THINK IT'S MIN. 40 HOURS TO EARN YOUR PPL.
i'm told most average around 60 hours, but not sure.
don't know the upkeep, as i rent.
it's MORE than worth the time and effort to get your PPL though.
good luck
Its 40 hours total time, including 20 hours with instructor and 10 hours solo, IF you fly in a part 61 school. If you go to a part 141 school its 35 hours, 20 hours dual and only requires 5 hours solo. The 141 schools have more strict curriculum and also in some cases can use sim time in place of actual (sorry not AH, an actual certified sim at the school
).
For a ppl I've heard of people paying anywhere from $4000 to $10,000. A ppl really doesn't offer the amount of experience people give it credit for, and should be looked at as a license to learn. Honestly I did not feel really safe flying long cross country flights until I had more time and an instrument rating. I didn't feel 100% good about carrying friends until I got to about the 250 hour mark and around the time I got my commercial. The amount of true precision flying and decision making skills needed to pass the commercial really installs a lot of confidence (and makes you realize how crappy of a pilot you were before).
However I will say this, if you are looking to get into flying as a pure recreational sport, there are probably better ways to spend your money than getting a traditional private pilots license. For example consider you get your ppl in 50 hours which is reasonable for a gifted student, looking at fuel prices and average rental rates that's going to cost you about $6000. Great now you have your ppl, but what can you do? Buying is pretty much not an option unless you are somewhat wealthy. The maintenance cost and insurance alone for a low airtime pilot will likely be more than the planes monthly payments. So you are still stuck renting the crappy 172, and it doesn't get any cheaper now that you are certified. That means the typical 200-500 mile cross country flight is hardly cheaper than flying commercial and hardly faster than driving. Just buzzing around the airport and sight seeing is fun, but again is just way too expensive to justify unless you have some money.
Now if you take that same $6000 and go do something like hang gliding, you'll get top level instruction AND you'll have enough money left over to buy a glider and all the gear you need to fly. The price per hour is not even comparable, and even with a modest budget you can set yourself up to fly an almost unlimited amount of time (only the real life stuff like work will get in the way).
So if your main goal is to simply fly for fun, there are much better alternatives than the standard private pilots license. If your goal is to load your family up in the plane and fly 500 miles cross country for a holiday, then the ppl is the way to go, just get ready to spend a LOT of money. Also note that these 'weekend' pilots account for the majority of general aviation accidents, so please be safe and stay current. The worst thing to see is the 50 hour fresh private stop flying for 6 months, save up his money, bring out his entire family, cram them in the Cessna so its loaded to its max weight (something he's probably never done before), and take off in marginal VFR conditions to fly to the nearest destination type airport. There is nothing illegal with this so people think its ok. I saw this happen once at my flight school, unfortunately I was in the pattern and saw everything, and the result was, well, lets just say nobody was rushing over to the wreckage to look for survivors.
My point is to be honest to yourself. If you can hardly afford to get a ppl in the first place its unlikely you will be able to afford the continued training and flying required to stay safe and current.
