First lesson just completed

[Captain Smithy]

At last it's happened... first lesson has now been done.

Well, I've waited quite a few years, but now I've finally got off my backside and set off down the road to earn a PPL.

Weather was quite fine, initially CAVOK with a bit of a surface wind (11 knots), got a bit cloudier towards the end but that was still fine. Slightly bumpy at times but nothing uncomfortable.

Flew mostly between 1500 and 2500 feet over East Lothian, detail included effects and further effects of controls, slipstream, power settings and trimming. Was very enjoyable. Total flight time was 1:05.

Tomahawk seems a nice enough aeroplane... seems to fly nicely enough, not that I'm an expert or anything however, just seems fine to me. Fine room in the cockpit, excellent visibility.

Can't wait for the next lesson in two weeks' time!

Many thanks to Instructor Jack Simpson at Edinburgh Flying Club for a most excellent lesson!:ok:

Captain S

[ScotsmanCalledPaddy]

Hi Captain S. Welcome to the world of poverty!!!

[Blinkz]

Glad you had a good lesson, I did my PPL with EFC back in 2005. Great bunch of guys, thanks goes to all of them. NU the tomahawk is a nice a/c, FH is also a nice warrior if you get around to flying that. Enjoy learning to fly!

[PompeyPaul]

Flying, nothing else is like it. Some times you have GREAT days and believe you are probably the mosty talented pilot to ever grace the skies, others you wonder if you will EVER get the hang of it. My first FI told me "Just try to keep enjoying your flying". As time went by, I now understand what he meant.

Get ready for a LOT of reading.

I'm 10 hours in now and absolutely LOVE IT!

[jamestkirk]

I am glad you enjoyed that and you think highly of your instructor.

I instruct and one of my students today put him VMC on top of cloud at a treat. he loved it and as a result flew the aircaft like a pro.

The last guy I just flew with about an hour ago, I took on his night familarisation (night rating) he handled the aircraft really well, so again, as a treat i climed on top of cloud at 5000', where the sun was setting in the distance. still a glorious sight for any of us.

All these things you will experience and hopefully never forget.

So I hope you carry on to get the brown booklet and good luck.

[Dysonsphere]

Glad you liked it welcome to flying and poverty (if youre married did you tell your wife the costs I sort of neglected to mention it)

[Cusco]

My wife has no come-back at all as it was she who bought me my first trial lesson 14 years ago.

The rest is history: the house has not been re-decorated, we have the same old cr*p cars and all our savings are gone...............

Who cares?

Flying rocks.

Safe flying

Cusco;) ;)

[tiggermoth]

Captain S,
Well done on your first lesson. The first step is the most important step of any journey! You'll really enjoy it, and hopefully you'll enjoy the challenge of the exams too (they're not too bad, just lots of reading).

Glad you liked it welcome to flying and poverty (if youre married did you tell your wife the costs I sort of neglected to mention it)

I make a point of buying my wife some flowers every time I go flying. Not only does she have to put with me, but the cost of me flying too. A bunch of flowers isn't much, but it's just one of those little things isn't it.. ;)

T.

[Captain Smithy]

Thanks for the comments and encouragement, everyone!

[BigAl's]

I make a point of buying my wife some flowers every time I go flying. Not only does she have to put with me, but the cost of me flying too. A bunch of flowers isn't much, but it's just one of those little things isn't it.. ;)

T.

If I were yong, free, single.. and femail... we could have a future. :}

[tiggermoth]

If I were yong, free, single.. and femail... we could have a future. :}

(I even bought her a bunch today on the way back from the field even though it was too gusty [G30] for me to go up).

As an aside, on my 'trail lesson' (or 'jolly' as it turned out..) the instructor said (as we circled our house) "Have you heard of AIDS?" - for a moment I thought that perhaps he thought I'd missed out on some education in school "Erm, yes.." I replied. "No, not that AIDS, Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome, hee hee hoo hoo"... He then went on to say how men just completely neglect their wives and get totally obsessed with aviation... ....a few days later I heard the very same instructor saying to a student pilot "Not married yet? Great, keep it like that - it will only get in the way". Poor bloke, the instructor, obviously been hit hard in the past.

I rather have great days out with my wife for a lifetime, supporting me in my flying than long lonely hours in the air sorrowful of what could have been when I land.

[Megaton]

My wife bought me a trial lesson in 98. Now fly Airbus from Heathrow for a large, British airline. Be very careful: aviation is highly infectious :-)

[tiggermoth]

Ham Phisted,

Nice one! (I suppose you could buy her a florist now!)

I've decided not to go for it as ATPL - I'm too old, too fat, and I love engineering too much.

T.

[Megaton]

I'm older than you and was an engineer too!

[tiggermoth]

I'm older than you and was an engineer too!

There is hope yet!

Ah, but did you enjoy real ale and curries?

[Megaton]

I have the curry houses of Britain stored on my mobile phone and have just finished a large bottle of Spitfire. Does this count? :)

[tiggermoth]

Captain S - sorry - I seem to have hijacked your thread a bit! Wen's your next lesson?

Ham Phisted -What a man! Yes I suppose so (says me with two numbers for curry houses in my mobile), supping a bottle of "Speckled Hen" (heh, but 'Spitfire' now there is a proper good aviators drink too).

[Captain Smithy]

Captain S - sorry - I seem to have hijacked your thread a bit! Wen's your next lesson?

Ham Phisted -What a man! Yes I suppose so (says me with two numbers for curry houses in my mobile), supping a bottle of "Speckled Hen" (heh, but 'Spitfire' now there is a proper good aviators drink too).

Ah, no problem mate! Next lesson is on Saturday 10th February.

Funny you should mention engineering... I am an apprentice engineer! Currently in my 3rd year (of 4). And I do enjoy the odd Chicken Curry. Ale a no-no, however - but of a sap with drink. Two bottles of Bud and it's steamboats for me.:yuk: Don't mind the odd Corona or Bud, however.

Curry. Must be an engineers' thing...

[christimson]

I had my second lesson on saturday. I'm completely hooked. Good to see another newbie thread going.

I now realise I'm going to live my life like a pauper trying to raise a young family and start a flying hobby. It's a question of priority I suppose. Other hobbies are going to suffer.

The weather on saturday was great. Good visability and clear skies which was amazing.

One thing that struck me was how much pressure you can feel on the controls when out of trim. It was great fun adding flaps and trimming.

I think it will be a while before I get confident with inverted flat spins and cuban eights :cool:

[Lukesdad]

Good luck with your flying. This is a good time of the year to start the course, not too crowded and some lovely crisp flying days.

Just one bit of advice when you get to the part where you have to try and land the thing.

There are three golden rules when learning to land an aeroplane.

But nobody knows what they are!

[Dak Mechanic]

So what's the considered opinion of the collective on (given a perfect world of adequate finance and weather) the cadence of PPL training?

Is it best to cram the basics in early then ease off later or be a little more relaxed (timewise) on the basics and then increase pace towards the skills test to keep sharp?

Not that this will apply to me as:

a/ I will be scavenging for funds (however if it's considered a good idea to have an intense phase I'll ensure that the funds are there to cover it!)

b/ UK weather is not entirely reliable

:)

JC

[tiggermoth]

JC,

From what I read before I did my PPL it seemed that "regular and often" was the concensus, say weekly.

Like you said, the lovely British weather can often give "no flying days".

It could be worth booking say two or three slots per week for learning, and banking on the idea that you may well only go up on one of those slots. On good weather weeks you'd then be going up more often.

I did a bit of learning here in the UK, and learned the rest on an intensive course for three weeks. Intensive courses can be good for some people, but you may find that you forget what is tought after quite a short time - it may only register in your short term memory. You may have encountered a similar experience when cramming for an exam (passing the exam with flying colours then forgetting the subject after a month or so!)

T.

[microlight AV8R]

I did my NPPL(M) on the EV97 Eurostar last year. Started in April and passed my GST on 3 October after getting back from a couple of weeks in the sun. I did it in a fairly concentrated manner by trying to fly two days most weeks and often doing two lessons on each of those days. I'm sure that the momentum gained from flying so regularly was a big help. I also used to rehearse every part of the flying in my mind prior to the flight, that also helped. My instructor did say to me on one occasion that he could tell who had never thought about flying since their last lesson.

SWMBO reckoned I was obsessed with flying, but hey it's been a dream for so many years and I'm savouring every moment up there :cool: