How late can you leave learning to fly?

Obviously, you learn faster when you are younger, but I don't know that 20s-30s will make a huge difference. Some will tell you that your hand/eye coordination and concentration will diminish, blah blah...I doubt that, though. I know people learning in their 40's, 50's, and 60's and they're doing just fine.

It may actually be a good thing -- if you end up having more time and money to train, your exposure will be more consistent and things will tend to stay in your head better than when you have to take breaks and re-learn everything.

Downside -- that's a long time to wait to enjoy flying!

Just my 2 cents...

 

I got my PPL in 5 weeks. IFR in 2. Multi in 2.

I did it all at 31. I'm 37 now. I fly 300 hours a year which is a lot.

It'd be nice for you to at least knock out the PPl because then you have it for the rest of your life. You don't need to redo it. You'd just need to get a checkout.

But, if you're not ready to buy an airplane, having a PPL is going to do you no good anyways.

 

Yeah, you're really talking about 2 different things. Do you need a PPL to fly a glider?

If I were gonna do recreational flying, I'd buy one of those parachute things with the motor on the back. Paraglider?

 

It's never too late to learn to fly unless you are as old as I am and then I think there are some who could do it even then. It might take a bit longer but if you are interested and motivated , I think you could do it. When I got my instruction 66 years ago flying was much different and attuned to more demanding flight maneuvers than it is now. Airplanes were more difficult to handle but much more fun and the CAA wasn't breathing down your neck every five minutes and you could still make your way to your destination after you turned off the radio (if you had one).
Go for it when you can.

 

I will say my response in just three little words that got me started after I raised my family...it is "NEVER too late."

 

400km? That's almost 250 miles, right?? Wow...unless you have a Mr. Fusion, any money saved by going motorless would go directly into your car's tank! Considering the time and money involved, I'd say just start working on the PPL! I'd never tell anyone not to get into gliding, though...

 

Relax and do it when you're ready. There seems to be a lot of "hurry up" in the aviation industry these days. Don't fall into the trap of the Aviation Academies or the one week instrument rating. These programs, and the pressure to get your rating as quick as possible, are meant for people who want to fly for a career. If it's something you want to do, there's no reason to rush it. If you're not having fun flying, you're definitely not doing it right. As far as age goes, it makes no difference. You will be humbled at 35 just as much as any 20-something year old, trust me

 

Never too late!