I know this is an old thread but I wanted to bump it up because of its importance. I have found that stalls are nothing to be afraid of, just as the original poster said. At first I felt very uncomfortable during slow flight; therefore my instructor and I made sure to do some slow flight during every lesson so I could get used to it. The more comfortable you become with slow flight and stall recovery, the better you'll do with flaring and landing. I found with stall recoveries I was always afraid of doing something wrong and going into a spin. So I asked my instructor to go ahead and cover spins with me. He did. Trust me, spins are not as scarey as you might think. In fact they are pretty exciting and fascinating. Almost unreal. Well maybe for the first one you'll be scared. But then afterward, when doing stalls, you will not be afraid of spinning because it will not be some unknown mystery to you.
Also, as was mentioned in this thread, get the book STICK AND RUDDER, by Wolfgang Langewiesche. That book helped save my life already, because it helped me train my reflex NOT to pitch up when I messed up on an approach. His son William wrote a book INSIDE THE SKY which I plan to read also.
Getting back to the original topic....yes, you might feel uncomfortable or even afraid of stalls, slow flight, and spins, at first. But, trust me, once you do them you will find they are no big deal. And practicing them will help you with flaring and landing. Once you do stalls and slow flight, the rest of our training will progress much faster.

Hi Sherry. Welcome to the group. Sounds like your husband already has A LOT of valuable experience. I would imagine he has quite a bit of hours logged, too. Since he has an instructor rating that means he already has a commercial rating too. All this is to his advantage.
I am not an expert - in fact I am "only" a student pilot - but I'm pretty sure his first step would be to go to a flight school to get "refreshed". He may need only one lesson, I don't really know. But of course he'd need to do 3 takeoffs and landings in those types of aircraft to be current again. If that goes well then maybe he can go right ahead and apply for commercial pilot jobs. If while doing the "refresher" he finds he has become a little rusty in his skills, well, he can bring himself back up to par, perhaps working as a flight instructor for a short while...this way he'd be getting paid to fly and build hours. And that could give him leads to other jobs.

By the way, my flight instructor is in his late 50's, maybe 60. My previous instructor was 64.

Matt, how are you doing? Good to see you posting again. I should be soloing very soon...any day now. I can feel it...

Thought I'd get a conversation started here...
What obstacles have you faced (or are now facing) in your flight training? What helped you to overcome them?Perhaps by posting them here we can help each other. I'll start...
One obstacle was, finding the right instructor. In 14 hours of training I tried 4 different instructors. Then I switched again and saw a big difference in just one lesson. I really cannot identify any particular thing; I just have been progressing much faster with this instructor.
The other obstacle was, finding a plane where I could reach the pedals comfortably. I am 5'5". In the older Skyhawks the seats do not move up as much as they do in the newer ones. So I had to switch to a school that has newer planes, a 2003 model and a 2005. The aircraft rental per hour is higher at schools that have newer aircraft, but since I'm progressing faster it'll cost me less in the long run.

Hey Matt, good to see you posting. How's everything going? I came to this group as a beginner and now I have 23 hours! I enjoy learning from other pilots and students, and I am able to share my experience with other students.

This is such a nice forum. I can't think of any way to improve it. Maybe we just need to attract more memebers. Perhaps those of us who belong to other sites can tell our friends there to check this site out.

Hi Matt. Good to see you posting. Things seem to have slowed down here. I think many others live in areas where the weather has disrupted their training. Use this non-flying time to do ground school.  It'll keep you motivated and focused. I speak from experience. I now have 23 hours and I'm having a blast!

Michael, have you looked into the AOPA Project Pilot Mentor Program? It's a great program where pilots can be "matched" with students to mentor them.

Michael, welcome to the group! I look forward to your posts. I'm sure all of us can learn a lot from you.

Congratulations Ryan!

Congratulations!

Hi Luke. I'm not familiar with the Sims but I want to say "Welcome!" I've heard from several differnet sources that those who have jumped usually do better in their pilot training than those who have not jumped.

Wow $40 IS CHEAP! Where are you? Here in Florida intro flights are about $70-$110. The cost for a regular lesson would be between $75 - $125/hour for the plane, PLUS $30 - $55 for the instructor. PLUS ground shcool which is usually the same as the instructor's fee. Based on what I have researched IN MY OWN AREA (Tampa, FL) the more expensive schools have newer, more modern aircraft. The cheaper schools usually have older planes. That doesn't necessarily mean the cheaper schools are not as good. The schools that are "Authorized Cessa Pilot Centers" are rquired to have newer planes and therefore cost more. You can go to the cessna.com site and follow links to search for a Cessna school in your area. Also the AOPA site, aopa.org, under Training & Testing, has linbks where you can search for shcools in your area. I highly recommend joining AOPA and participating in the free Project Pilot Mentor Program.

My own experience was, I went to a cheaper school and they had old planes. The instructor wasn't that good. I tried a different instructor but he told me he had been fired from one of the other (more expensive)schools. Hmmm...I ened up at one of the more expensive schools, with a GREAT instructor and a modern plane. With this instructor, I never feel "forced" yet he keeps things progressive. We add a new skill each lesson, and review the other skills.

As for the cost of flight training, you can take out a student loan thru Sallie Mae or thru Pilot Finance.  Your school most likely has applications/brochures on hand. Some schools work with only one of these companies but not the other, so check with your school. Let's say it'll cost you $7,000 to get your PPL. ($100 plane rental, $50 intrsutor, for 40 hours, plus books etc.) Well you can get a $7,000 loan, fly three times a week and pay the loan off over 5 years. Your payments could be about $149/month. If you plan to go on for an Instrument rating right after you get the PPL, the school can prepare the necessary paperwork to come up with an estimated/projected cost and timeframe, and you can take out the loan for that entire amount (both the PPL and the Instrument) all at once, so that you won't have to apply for a second loan later on for the second certificate. That's what I just did with Sallie Mae. They approved me for the total of both certificates. But they sent me the money only for the PPL. Once I earn the PPL Sallie Mae will send me the money for the Instrument rating. It is very convenient.

Matt, have you done stalls on the sim? I had a lesson at 7:30 AM and I asked my instructor to demonstrate a stall. Man did that wake me up! It was kind of what I expected but still the descent rate was kind of alarming. It happens so quickly, I was wondering if practing them on a sim would help.

As far as I know, you need the college degree to be an airline pilot. But if you're getting a pilot lecense to fly just for pleasure, then no college is needed.