PPL Training,

[Mr_Glyn]

I have started my PPL, and really enjoying it, it's really a drug. I can't shut up about it!

I just completed my second lesson of circuits, My 9th lesson is tomorrow and again circuits.

It's fascinating how everything you learn in the first few hours, really come together.

[Pilot.Lyons]

Hi Glyn,
Glad you started isnt it the best feeling in the world?!
Circuits got a little boring for me but my instructor was really fussy and i mean ReALLY fussy! If i was half a meter left of center line... No good i said on line! Goo thing is i have taken a few people up and they all said in teir own terms thats the smoothest landings they have ever had... Good job they disnt see a solo one where i kangarood it down the runway and couldnt help but laugh out loud at myself! :o

[Grob Queen]

Hi Glyn,

Didn't see your post when it was "New". Flying is a drug isn't it....my pilot friends said I would find it so when I took it up... the best feeling in the world when you fly solo and then learn something new and it finally clicks, then onto something else new....

You're not alone,I can't shut up about flying either... in fact my flying experiences and cock ups are the butt of my non-flying colleagues humour, think having a student pilot on the corridor drives them mad! one suggestion, if you do something silly, don't admit it to your colleagues...if they are anything like mine, you won't hear the end of it!

I spent 19 lessons on purely circuit bashing and flew 112 ccts in that time before i went solo after 27 hours! As Pilot.Lyons says, does get a little boring and repetitive after a while..but i'm convinced it will make me a better pilot! Glad I didn't have his/her instructor though...I would still not have gone solo...!

Have fun, PM me if you want to talk studenty pilot stuff but don't want to look stupid in front of the experienced community members!
GQ

[Mr_Glyn]

I am quite happy to ask stupid questions, as this is how you learn.

I have done three lessons on circuits now, and just passed my medical.

My third lesson on circuits was a little poor, as there was a lot more going on out side with regards to more traffic then i had been used to before.

Because I was concentrating on what was going on out side, my checks became less fluid then normal.

It's a learning experience.

[BRL]

Hi Glyn and welcome to the forum. Have a look at this thread, gives you an insight what to expect. Keep us updated how your getting on :)

http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/138022-zero-forty-five-my-ppl-diary.html?highlight=ppl+diary

[Grob Queen]

I'm happy to ask stupid questions, I agree, it IS the way to learn and I am willing to (and do) with my pilot friends and the guys in the club who I know will give me a friendly answer! Its just that i'm a little more circumspect in using this forum than I was after reading some comments not only only my post, but others too.

Anyway, don't worry if some sessions in the circuit are poorer than others, I have had days where I had some absolute nightmares in the morning where I seem to have forgotten everything...and then the afternoon session or others where everything clicks and I go solo and wonder how I ever had any problems...

I do find that if there is a lot of traffic in teh circuit and my RT has to be good, then sometimes I find I have lost 100ft or am too far away from the runway on downwind leg, or i don't turn finals abeam the 400ft mark etc. Just like I found with learning to drive...you get one thing right and then something else goes pear shaped!

I'm now learning low level and glide circuits - just to confuse even more!

[Jan Olieslagers]

I am quite happy to ask stupid questions, as this is how you learn.

Sorry if I sound harsh, I really mean well, and kindly. But I cannot see what you could learn from asking questions, except when realising the answer was right before your nose all the while. Which I readily admit has happened to my poor self on several occasions.

You do can learn from the answers to your questions, sometimes. Even then, you may find that the better questions often get the best answers, while stupid questions may appeal to the lowest in some, and they'll respond with stupid answers. Been there, done that.

Above all, do not expect to find absolute reliable truth from any single answer, least of all on the internet. As someone aptly stated "these answers are worth as much as you paid for them" , meaning ZERO.

Do continue, fly and fly and fly again - within the reasonable bounds of budget and other down-to-earth concerns - but always realise that if ever things go bad, there will be you and only your own poor unaided self to work it out. Only rely on answers that you can verify and/or check out for yourself, and DO check them out.

Do continue, flying is an addiction indeed and like any addiction, there is no sensible explanation for it. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

[Mr_Glyn]

I would rather ask questions, if I am not sure about something.

When you don't know a huge amount about GA, or flying, sometimes stupid questions are all you know, you can then build on your knowledge and learn to ask better questions.

I would look at the internet, but then I would also talk to my Instructor, as this is the guy teaching me.

Made a cock up with a radio call, should of asked for taxi, informed the tower I was ready for departure instead!

Lessons booked for this weekend, hours 9 & 10
and I have passed my medical.

Working on circuits. Hoping for some really calm & good visibility.

[Grob Queen]

do not expect to find absolute reliable truth from any single answer, least of all on the internet

I am the last person to believe everything I read on the Internet!! I am a Historian by profession and one thing I never do is use the internet to research (apart from Flight archives etc which are PDFs). Personally I like to use Pprune apart from a bit of light hearted relief(!) but to see if anyone else out there has the same issues or can suggest a remedy to a problem. That way, asking the anonymous pilot world out there gives various ideas to think about, ask others about or throw away.

I do believe as a student pilot that asking serious questions to those who you know and trust is a very helpful part of training/ground study. As mentioned, as well as my instructor(s) I use my two very good and very experienced ex-RAF pilot friends who know more about flying and have had more hours on different types than I ever will! I also chat to fellow club members...it all helps, especially with the ground study when there is no formal teaching.

I don't know if the OP has formal ground school - I would be interested to hear form anyone who does and whether it is better/worse than learning by oneself with input from friends and instructors.

But personally, whether stupid or serious, i'll keep asking those questions!

[AOB9]

I have done lots of studying by correspondence and achieved my chemistry degree through the Open University. I totally recommend this method of study EXCEPT when it comes to my PPL. Initially I thought I would study the ground school material at home and I'm fairly certain I would pass the exams using this method. BUT! (and this is a big but), the potential to tap into the experiences and knowledge of fellow student pilots and particularly instructors is well worth paying for. Fellow students will ask and get answers to questions you may never have thought of asking yourself. Sometimes the best information can come from the informal discussions in a group situation ( moderated by an instructor of course).

[thing]

Odd one this, I just read the books and did the exams, I thought they were all fairly easy, although I did take the full 90 minutes for the nav exam, mostly checking what I had done.

I'm not particularly bright so if I can do it etc. I think there's an element of 'mystery' about flying that certain quarters like to maintain. There's nothing difficult about any of it really, although certain pundits would have you believe so. If it was real superman stuff there wouldn't be so many of us.

I'm a muso by profession and it's just the same. There's no mystery at all about music, none of it is difficult, there's a lot to retain that's for sure but that's all. Yet there are elements who would have you believe that reading the score of Beethoven's fifth requires extreme arcane knowledge and initiation into a mystic brotherhood. Some folk just like to think that they are special I suppose.

That's not to say you shouldn't plug your fellow and more experienced aviators for all they are worth, I'm always asking about stuff.

Mr Glyn, it is indeed a fascinating and worthwhile pastime, enjoy! I sometimes sit in the cockpit for a while before I start up just absorbing the fact that I'm a pilot and I'm soon going to be making this collection of sheet aluminium and rivets dance through the air. Wonderful stuff.

[AOB9]

I think there's an element of 'mystery' about flying that certain quarters like to maintain. There's nothing difficult about any of it really, although certain pundits would have you believe so. If it was real superman stuff there wouldn't be so many of us.

Agree with all of that!!!!


I'm soon going to be making this collection of sheet aluminium and rivets dance through the air. Wonderful stuff.

That's the bit most people have a problem with :ok:

[thing]

Depends on your definition of dance through the air. Perhaps I should have said maintaining a height higher than the ground and flying in a direction....:}

[Grob Queen]

Perhaps I should have said maintaining a height higher than the ground and flying in a direction.

At least learning in Lincolnshire thats pretty easy to maintain!!


I think with the private study or ground school study it comes down to personal choice. Think i'll carry on burning the midnight oil after work and asking my fellow aviators when I don't understand anything (and with Nav, thats most of it!)

[mixsfour]

I am quite happy to ask stupid questions

There's no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers.

[Mr_Glyn]

First SOLO! On my 9th lesson, and after landing very nicely from a simulated engine failure, My instructor gave my my prize of a solo! Just can't explain how I feel right now, Just wow.

[Genghis the Engineer]

First SOLO! On my 9th lesson, and after landing very nicely from a simulated engine failure, My instructor gave my my prize of a solo! Just can't explain how I feel right now, Just wow.


You don't need to explain, we all either know - or will know soon. :ok:

Congratulations, that's pretty fast - you're doing well and ahead of the game so far.

G

[AOB9]

Excellent, well done. I'm 17hrs in training but going solo is oh so close now. Terrified and excited at the same time.

[thing]

Well done captain!!

[Grob Queen]

FANTASTIC! Many congratulations, best feeling in the world isn't it!:ok::)

[Mr_Glyn]

Flying today was a learning experience, done my dual and solo circuits today, all went rather well, got back to the club house, they informed me that the c152 is not booked out, and the weathers perfect, fancy going up again for your hours solo circuits. Yes please lol.

2 house logged today, one and a half solo!

Fantastic day. Bring on next weekend!

Cheers for your replays guys,