- Flights per week = flights ÷ weeks since your first flight, counting the weeks you didn't fly.
- Days per flight = 7 ÷ flights per week.
- Average gap = the mean of the days between each flight and the one before.
- Median gap = the middle of those gaps, which one long break can't skew.
Flights per week
Count your flights, then count the weeks from the week of your first flight to this week, including the weeks you didn't fly. Divide one by the other.
Example: you've flown 30 times, and your first flight was 12 weeks ago. 30 ÷ 12 = 2.5 flights a week, or one flight every 7 ÷ 2.5 = 2.8 days.
Leaving out the empty weeks is the most common mistake: it makes your pace look better than it is, and it's exactly the quiet weeks you want to see.
What counts as a flight?
Count lessons, not legs. A landaway with two legs is one lesson. PilotMetrics counts legs you've linked together as one flight, and leaves cancelled flights out.
Average and median gap
For each flight, count the days since the one before. Then take the average (mean), and the median (the middle value once they're sorted).
Example: your last eight flights had gaps of 2, 3, 2, 4, 3, 21 and 2 days.
- Average gap: 37 ÷ 7 = 5.3 days
- Median gap: sorted, that's 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 21, so the middle is 3 days
The median says your usual rhythm is a flight every three days. The average says one break (the 21 days) pulled you down. You need both: the median for your normal rhythm, the average and your longest gaps for the breaks.
Recent pace against the whole course
An average since your first lesson changes slowly, so it can hide a recent slowdown, or a recent improvement. Look at your recent weeks too. PilotMetrics' Pace Planner uses your last 8 weeks (or since you started, if that's sooner) as your current pace when it projects your finish date.
Weekly flying ratio
One more number shows how steady you are: the weeks with at least one flight, against all the weeks since you started. Flying in 10 of the last 12 weeks is a ratio of 83%. Two students can both average two flights a week, with one flying every week and the other flying in bursts; this is the number that tells them apart.
In a spreadsheet
With your flight dates in column A, sorted oldest first, from A2 down:
- Flights:
=COUNT(A:A) - Weeks:
=(TODAY()-MIN(A:A))/7, rounded up - Flights per week: flights ÷ weeks
- Gap in column B, from B3 down:
=A3-A2 - Average and median gap:
=AVERAGE(B:B)and=MEDIAN(B:B)
That counts weeks from your first flight's date rather than Monday to Sunday, so it's a close approximation. PilotMetrics counts calendar weeks, Monday to Sunday.
What's a good result?
For a PPL, many schools suggest two or three lessons a week. See what a good number of flights per week is for what each pace means for your training.