New student pilot

[Say Cheese]

Hi all,

Just wanted to say that I have finally after much waiting for stuff (mainly finances) to sort themselves out arranged to go tomorrow and sign up to learn to fly :)

I know it's been done on here before but I am also writing a blog about my experiences. As you would suspect at the moment there is not much there but as of tomorrow I will be posting more on there.

For some reason I can't post the address on here so I will (until I find a way to do so) copy the posts on to here.

All comments and opinions appreciated.

Regards,

Mark

[Say Cheese]

Welcome and thanks for reading.

The aim of this blog is to document and record my experiences and feelings from the start of my journey as a student pilot right through to the day I get my license.

I am sure that there are going to be many trials and tribulations along the way. I am in no doubt that at some point I will be delighted, come home on a high and love every minute of my journey. Other times I am expecting to be pulling my hair out (what's left of it) and wanting to throw in the towel.

Stick with me and keep checking back to find out how I get on on this exciting journey.

[stickandrudderman]

Congratulations!:D:D:D
Since you're in HW I presume you're flying out of Booker or WW, both of which are in my view excellent places to learn to fly due to their proximity to LHR and the airpace issues that go wih it. Once you've got your PPL your confidence will be a lot higher than someone who went off to the USA and did it in two weeks (although you won't realise it).
I look forward to reading of your progress.
One bit of advice I can give is don't expect girls to be impressed!

[Say Cheese]

Thanks stickandrudderman.
You're right I am going to be learning from Wycombe.

However instead of learning on a Cessna or Piper for a PPL I am going to be learning with Light Sport Flying Club (LSFC) in a Eurostar EV97.

After much research this aircraft will suit my needs - cheaper to fly per hour than a C152/PA28 & capable of the fun flying I want to do.
I have no interest in getting an instrument rating or going the CPL route.

[Say Cheese]

Also should have added that other than the type of aircraft another consideration of learning to fly at Wycombe was as stickandrudderman says, the type of airspace over these areas. Also the full ATC that operates at Wycombe can only be a good thing to get used to.

[Say Cheese]

This morning I woke up to the text I had been hoping for. The confirmation that I could meet the CFI at Wycombe Air Park at 14:00. Then ensued one of the longest mornings in history, tick tock, tick tock. A quick trip into town to buy a new notebook (figured I would be making lots of notes over the next few months) helped the time pass. Eventually it was time to head for the airfield.

Right on time, I headed inside and was warmly greeted by the CFI, Steve. A couple of forms later and I was officially signed up to both Airways Flying Club (for the use of the facilities) and the LSFC. Next it was on to exercises 1&2.

This was a discussion only today as the weather was absolutely awful. We ran through the legalities of the aircraft, looked at the documentation and discussed the standing orders, booking in & out procedure, fuel storage and health and safety rules. We then went through METAR's and TAF's. This is something that I had been looking at for the last few months as and when I got a chance, so I had a bit of an idea what was what.

I was also given (sold) a pack containing loads of information. Checklists, a wipe clean laminated PLOG, a copy of the microlight pilots handbook, the NPPL syllabus and a DVD with files and videos of checklists and procedures. The only thing that wasn't in the pack was a knee board (currently out of stock).

After that it was time to head for home.

Well, currently my head is spinning with loads of information. Checklists to learn & understand (what the hell are T's & P's?) and a book to read.

Well I am now off to go watch the DVD and read the book and see how much of it I still remember in the morning.

[Miken100]

Good luck and enjoy yourself :)

.... btw.... T's & P's = Temperatures and Pressures...

[Say Cheese]

Ah, T's & P's, temperatures and pressures.
Makes sense now.
Thanks.

[b2vulcan]

Welcome to the quickest and easiest way to deplete your bank balance Say Cheese :)

Not sure I would agree with g-dunx about the exams.

I am doing mine as I go along except for the Air Law exam which my school expect to be done at an early stage of training, your school may have similar requirements.

There will be days of joy and days of frustration but flying is a great experience, enjoy it.

[avi8.5]

Re the exams.

Although its a long long time since I did my PPL exams (CAA not JAR) there was a requirement for Air Law to be passed before being allowed solo. May still be the same requirement under JAR

[mary meagher]

Hello, Cheese! Good school, there, at Wycombe Air Park, and also you will learn to look out for gliders as well as Boeings! As well as handling radio, which can be intimidating. Good idea to buy an airband, and listen to the chatter so as to get used to it; amusing to hear the various accents heading for LHR! and the crisp tones of London Control.

Another good idea is to visit the tower at Wycombe, they should alway be glad to welcome a new pilot; though one must be respectfully silent when they are handling aircraft....

Very good idea to get exams done while it is lousy weather. Good days will come.

By the way, do you have a medical? may as well be sure that is OK at an early stage.

Happy landings!

Mary

[southport]

Hi Cheese,

If you are going to post each lesson you may be best to start a new threadeach time with the lesson number as this thread will get very long by the timeyou finish. I will be following your progression as probably a few others will& also make it easier to follow & remind people what stage you are upto.

Everybody is different on exams & learn at different paces, i needed todo mine as i went along so i could relate to what i was doing at that time.

You will find your own pace but keep on top of the exams as you don’t wantto get to a point where you can’t fly any more until you catch up.

When i was training for my ppl there were plenty of people who fell for thatas most clubs want passes in air law to solo & also you’re met & navpassed before you can go cross country solo. So try keeping a level balance offlying & reading in proportion.

Good luck don’t be afraid to ask anything asthere is a lot of experianced people on here who will help & guide youalong with your instructor.

You are joining the best club in the world. :ok:

[Say Cheese]

Hi all and thanks for the welcome.

I am not afraid to ask questions if I don't know something. I just have a desire to learn how things work the way they do and if I don't know then I will ask. I am a firm believer that you never stop learning :)

With reference to the exams, I am not sure if I need to pass Air Law before solo or not. I have my first lesson booked for this Friday (weather dependent, lets all hope for CAVOK!) and will ask then.

In regard of a medical, I can see no reason why I shouldn't get signed off. As it's an NPPL for microlights that I am going for I believe it's a medical that I declare I am fit then get the Dr to sign to say he agrees, rather than he has to examine me. My job also means I have to be pretty fit so that should help.

Having the different categories of airspace around Wycombe was a reason for choosing there, not just that it's my most local airfield. I was also hoping at some point I would be allowed in the tower to see how things work, as hopefully it'll provide a good experience.

On the subject of airband radios, as I just want to listen in, not transmit (no licence so would be illegal), what do people recommend?

Also, I will look at posting different threads for each lesson but thought that it might be easier to keep all info contained in just this one thread?

Thanks all for the advice. Please keep them coming as it's all helpful stuff.

Regards,

[flyinkiwi]

Wow your first lesson, congratulations and welcome to the aviation fellowship that is PPRUNE! Some pointers:


Relax! The sensations of flying will feel alien to you, but by relaxing you'll learn better.
Prepare! Read up as much as you can about the lesson at hand. It will help you understand the concepts your instructor is trying to teach you.
Debrief! After the flight, write down what you learned, and try to think of elements you didn't quite understand or things you would like to try again and make a point of discussing them with your instructor prior to the next lesson.
Enjoy! That is what flying is all about!

[thing]

Good luck cheese, with your attitude so far you won't go far wrong. I kept a diary of my PPL too and it's interesting to look back on.

[madgav]

All the best with your PPL and with your blog!
This blog (http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/138022-zero-forty-five-my-ppl-diary.html) helped me greatly when I was doing my PPL (I read all 90 pages or so), so much so that I wrote my own (http://madgav.org/ppl.htm). This helped me even more as it made me review each lesson, the things that went wrong, how I could improve, etc. Believe me there will be bad days as well as good and by no means will you come away feeling great after every lesson :}
But enjoy it where ever possible!:ok:
I didn't continue my blog for the NQ & IMCR, not sure if anyone has done this?

One bit of advice I can give is don't expect girls to be impressed! Haha my experience was/is that (some) girls are impressed! I was very surprised at this (I consider it an unexpected bonus :)) and certainly didn't do a PPL for that reason :ok::}

[mary meagher]

Say Cheese, regarding that question of the medical, it may surprise you that your friendly family GP suddenly gets all coy when you ask him/her to sign a statement that you are fit to fly an aeroplane! If you havn't seen your doctor in three or four years, would you really expect him to sign such a blank check without at least checking your blood pressure?

Truly, doesn't hurt to have this box ticked before you spend big bucks on aviation training.

[Grob Queen]

Welcome to the best (if arguably!) the most expensive hobby in the world!

I wish i had kept a PPL diary now, but more than over half way through training its not really worth starting. As I always say, the instructor in my view is the key. Find a good 'un and you'll love your flying. You'll have days where you want to forget all about this idea of being a pilot, and other days when you feel like Top Gun! A good club is also beneficial...nothing better than stepping out of the aircraft to refuel and finding a row of friendly faces asking you how your flight went!

Above all, enjoy it, you obviously have oodles of enthusiasm and that, adn (hopefully) the faith which your instructor has in you will get you through any sticky patches and make you feel 10feet high in the (Many) good patches.

Good Luck!
GQ

[riverrock83]

Enjoy the start of the never ending learning that is flying!

RE airband radios- technically its illegal to listen in on transmissions in the UK but it doesn't bother anyone and every spotter is doing it. No one will come after you unless you start posting recordings online.
I understand you get what you pay for. Digital is better than analogue as frequencies can be very close together so with analogue it can be hard to stay on one specific one. The more specific ones (so airband only) are better as the aerial will be designed for airband, rather than a much large frequency range.

My school has a CD containing all the normal phrases which helped me alot so worth an ask as yours. Also see CAP 413 Radiotelephony Supplement 3: A Reference Guide to UK Radiotelephony Phraseology for General Aviation Pilots | Publications | About the CAA (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=3749) which includes examples of the standard phrases.

[Say Cheese]

Well, a few days have passed since the last post and I've been using that time wisely.

Firstly, I've signed up or the free Met Office aviation weather service. This I've found pretty useful as I've been able to sit and decode TAF's and METAR's and get used to reading aviation weather. Also, it appears to be an awful lot more accurate than what gets broadcast on the news!

Secondly I've been reading the Microlight Pilots Handbook. This is the book I was sold and it seems pretty in depth. However the first chapter on the first two read throughs confused the life out of me. I always thought that lift on a plane was generated by air going under the wing. Now while this appears to be correct in part the bit that threw me and I just couldn't seem to grasp was that you need air to travel over the top of the wing too.

My theory was that any air travelling over the top of a wing would provide pressure on the wing and thus create weight that the air underneath would have to exceed to generate lift.

I now know I'm wrong. What I hadn't banked on was Bernoulli's principle, and boy did it take some understanding. Apparently this is why I didn't do Physics at school. However with much thought, reasoning and communication with a pilot (via my mum as she happens to work with one) I now pretty much understand it. Phew!

The next hurdle however is drag. I assumed that drag was just drag. But again oh no, there are according to the book 2 types. Induced and Parasite. Looks like I've some more reading to do yet as I still don't quite understand it all.

I never thought that this would be an easy ride but I didn't think the theory would be this hard. All this and I haven't even taken off for the first lesson yet!!

Talking of lessons, the weather is looking good for Friday at the moment so I should hopefully get up in the air. I did text the instructor yesterday and confirm which syllabus exercise I'd be covering so I could read up before hand. I've read the info and it's just made me even more keen to go flying.

Is it always this addictive??

[vabsie]

Well done Say Cheese ..

Now that you know about the Bernoulli's principle you will never look at a frisbee in the same way again :)

[mad_jock]

What I hadn't banked on was Bernoulli's principle, and boy did it take some understanding

Drive around in a car with your hand out the window making shapes with the palm of your hand. Then you can feel the principle at work.

This also works for drag as well.

[thing]

This also works for drag as well. Don't worry Cheese, you don't have to dress up.

[Say Cheese]

Today has been frustrating.

Got up this morning and one of the first things I did was look at the TAF's for the local area. Apparently there was supposed to be low level cloud until about midday after which it was going to be clearing up a bit. Lets just say it hasn't happened.

The cloud base has risen but not enough for me to be going and doing any flying.
I suspect that this is the first of many frustrations with the british weather.

On a positive note the forecast for tomorrow looks a bit better and I have booked in for 1400 tomorrow. Hopefully then I can get my first lesson underway.

[Miroku]

I'm afraid you'll have to get used to being frustrated by weather!


However, as your lessons progress consider going to the airfield and chatting with the instructors. I found this very useful, especially as one instructor could sometimes explain things in a different way which was easier to understand.

Very best of luck and keep the updates coming.

[Say Cheese]

Woo hoo!
Finally today the weather gods smiled upon me and I got airborne!!

The day started well when I awoke to a text from my instructor that unlike yesterday, the weather was looking good and the flight was likely to go ahead. Additionally I had an invitation to join him on a flight to the Popham microlight show. After a small discussion where I confirmed that I would indeed be back in time for my evening plans it was decided that I would be able to accompany him to Popham.

I turned up at the airfield early (ever the keen student) and met my instructor for the pre-flight briefing. We went through a few bits about the controls of the aircraft as this is what I would be practicing and discussed Bernoulli’s principle as I had been struggling on this.

Then it was out to the aircraft. A quick discussion ensued about how to check the engine when it had already been flown that day (oil and coolant). A demonstration on how to dip the fuel to find out how much we had and then in we got.

Once onboard, we ran through a few checks in accordance with the pre-issued checklist I had been given and then we started her up. On with the headsets, the switches, a press of the ignition and then she fired up like the graceful machine she is.

Once the radio had been switched on the tower was contacted, the request placed and clearance given. At this point I was allowed to begin the taxi with the rudder pedals (while the instructor controlled the power and covered the brakes) to the hold for some power checks. With these completed we were instructed to follow two cessna’s on a backtrack down the active runway before turning around to be number one for departure. This instruction was acknowledged and carried out.

Once we had done an about turn, full throttle was applied and we proceeded down the runway. The speed increased, the stick came back slightly and that was it, we were airborne and I was speechless. Finally after days of daydreaming, hoping and wishing my dream had been realised, I was in a plane that was climbing steadily and I had a hand on the controls (admittedly at this time only following the instructors inputs lightly). A left turn at the end of the runway for noise abatement procedures and a quick communication with the tower and we left the circuit.

The height continued to climb and we leveled off at 2500ft, set a rough heading for Popham, then it was over to me. It was the beginning of exercise 4. Exercise 4 is all about the effects of controls and getting used to the aircraft.

First up was pitch. Nose up and nose down. What happens when you push the stick forward. The nose drops, but what about the secondary effect? Well the speed increases. Pull the stick back and the nose rises but the speed then drops off. Once I had had a few goes at this it was on to roll. Push the stick one way and watch and feel the wings roll. Then the other way too. Again there is the secondary effect to think of. With this covered it was on to yaw. A push with one rudder pedal and feel the aircraft yaw one way followed by letting off to feel the effects of stability. A push with the rudder pedal the other way and feel the same effect.

A few more attempts at this and before I knew it we were calling up Popham to tell them we were inbound. At this point it was over to the instructor for the approach and landing.

Once landed we spent a good hour and a bit wandering around the show, chatting to various people that my instructor knew (everyone I met was so friendly) and drinking cups of coffee. Then it was back to the aircraft for departure, or so I thought…….

Just as we were about to get in the aircraft, another of the club members who had taken a different plane down to Popham came running up asking for help in mending a puncture he had just noticed on his plane. We then went and assisted for about 20 minutes with the changing of an inner tube and mending of his puncture. With this mended we went back to our aircraft, went through all the checks again and then taxied to the hold of the active runway. Did a few more power checks here before lining up for takeoff and commencing our run down the grass.

Once in the air we set a heading back towards Wycombe got to altitude and then it was back over to me. This time it was getting used to getting the aircraft in trim. Well this is not as easy as it seems at first. When my instructor had done this on the way down it seemed like a quick touch of the trim lever and all was well. When I was doing it, the nose was pitching up and down all over the place, we may had well have been on a rollercoaster. Eventually however after much patient encouragement from my instructor I just about managed to get the hang of getting the aircraft in trim so I could ‘hands off’ fly.

At this point we were within sight of Wycombe so a quick call to the tower and we were cleared for straight in to 06. Again I was to follow through with the controls and get a feel for what was going on. We lined up with 06, confirmed we were number one for landing and she was gently eased down onto the tarmac. Pretty much as soon as we touched she started to veer rather violently off to the side and we ended up coming to a rapid stop on the runway. A quick call to ATC and the aircraft behind us was heard to be told to ‘go around’. The aircraft was shut down and then we got out, the plane still on the runway. My instructor suggested that it felt like we had a flat tyre and a quick look on exiting the aircraft proved him right. The right side main tyre was as flat as a pancake.

The duty crew were dispatched and with their assistance the aircraft was moved a good distance off of the tarmac onto the grass (I’m sure I was told we had to be at least 30m off). At this point as we were already behind schedule (due to fixing a puncture at Popham) my instructor suggested that I leave him and the duty crew to sort the issue while I went off to my plans for the evening. A quick sign of my log book and I was off. I did feel very guilty about leaving a stranded plane with just my instructor and the duty crew to fix it but also I did need to be elsewhere.

On reflection:
Today I have learnt a lot. Effects of controls, trim and how to fix a puncture on a plane tyre. I’ve already visited another airfield, met a few people and have cemented my desire to fly. All this and I have only had my first lesson. Oh, and I’ve also realized how tiring it is to learn new things. I’m sitting here typing this and I’m practically asleep. I think that tonight I will be dreaming very much of flying (helped by hearing Typhoon’s on exercise echoing across the South Bucks valley).

[Miken100]

Congratulations on getting airborne and getting flying - just about all of us on here know what that feeling is like..... Just wait until the 'headiness' of your first solo!!

The reflecting you are doing on what you are learning could be the most valuable thing you will ever do... it is a worthwhile habit to get into and every time you fly whether 5 hours or 500+ the habit of continual reflection, discussion and learning can make you a much safer and better pilot.

I can see you are getting to grips about just how much knowledge is required... this is what the exams are all about really... a good example of this is interpreting the weather beyond "reading the TAFs" - a good knowledge of air masses, fronts, cloud formation and being able to read the synoptic charts will give you a much better ability to plan well and fly safely than a quick scan of a few TAFs will ever tell you. The same goes for all of the other exam subjects....

Good luck with the lessons and as others have said - "Welcome to the Club" :)

Mike

[jencom7]

Hi everyone! I am a new student as well, flying out of Buttonville near Toronto, Canada. I was really looking forward to reading about this person's experiences... did he give up?

Just took my first (Familiarization) flight yesterday and ground school starts in a couple of weeks. This is a lifelong dream for me and finally I have the resources and time to dedicate. Looking forward to reading these boards!

[pudoc]

Good read this thread.

That puncture you experienced just shows you how things can go wrong without expecting it. On one of my PPL lessons we had engines problems after take-off, watching my instructor take over and handle the situation was a very good experience for me and one I won't forget. It's all good being told how, but when I saw him take over I feel I could handle it well if it ever happend to me.

I done my PPL over 6 weeks with a bunch of friends and it was the best time of my life. Enjoy the sleep!

After my skills test we were taxying back and the examiner said I passed. Not ashamed to admit I cried. It's such hard work and so rewarding.

Good luck.

[Say Cheese]

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. They mean a lot.

Right the next post is here even if it's a few days late.

Well, I can't sleep. Mainly because it's too warm this morning but also because I am just a little excited. Today is lesson number 2.

What am I doing with this extra 45 mins to my day? I'm reading the TAF's and re-reading all about todays lesson which is 'Straight & Level Flight'.

Oh and in case you are wondering, the TAF this morning is as follows.
EGGW 130458Z 1306/1406 27003KT 9999 FEW040 BECMG 1311/1314 24013KT

Pretty good I think.

Check back later for a summary of todays lesson.

[Say Cheese]

A bit of a late entry this one, mainly due to being very busy. Anyway on with the post.

Finally the morning look at the TAF showed what was pretty much CAVOK! (see previous post.)
So off to the airfield it was for lesson number 2. Today I was to practice straight and level flight. How hard could it be? Apparently more difficult than I thought.

We started with a brief on the exercise, what I'd be looking to do and how best to achieve it. The aim was to achieve flight in a straight line towards an obvious landmark whilst maintaining an altitude of 2000ft plus or minus 10%. What the instructor described as quite generous but it was a thermally day.

Then we headed for the plane. A quick untie of the tie-downs (the plane had already been pre-flighted) and then into the cockpit we got. This time it was my turn to go through the pre-takeoff checks. I had to refer to the knee board checklist but we spent the time going through each item in turn to ensure I understood them all. I set the radio to the correct frequencies and then I was told to taxi over to the hold (after clearing it with ATC first).

This was the first hurdle. Apparently trying to taxi in a straight line is not as easy at it seems at first. To any bystander it must have looked like I had spent the previous night on the beers as I zig zagged my way across the grass. Eventually however I got there and we came to a stop for a few power checks. An increase of the power then a turn off of each mag in turn to make sure they were responding as appropriate and a few other checks later we were ready to go.

A call to ATC by my instructor and we were cleared for immediate departure. I taxied us onto the runway and lined up (sort of) on the centreline before the instructor took over for the takeoff. As we accelerated down the runway I followed the controls and we were soon airborne. A turn for noise abatement and we soon left the circuit.

The instructor then set the aircraft up for straight and level flight at 2000ft and told me to aim for a local landmark whilst trying to keep it within the 1800-2200ft range. This I did and we arrived there at a height of 2050ft. Then it was a turn to the right for a different heading. Slightly more difficult this time as the nose wanted to drop in the turn and we lost about 150 ft before I noticed. This I managed to recover back to the 2000ft though and we continued on. Another turn to the right and this time I didn't let the nose drop and we maintained height through the turn.

Obviously I was getting good at this because my instructor then took over briefly, got the plane out of shape and out of trim and then asked me to get it back to straight and level. I managed to do this a couple of times and still maintained the height most of the time. A couple of times I drifted up and down a bit before noticing but generally stayed within the range given.

Obviously my instructor wanted to make it a bit more difficult still as this time he produced a map and used it to cover the instruments before asking me to turn and maintain height back onto a heading. Unfortunately I let the nose drift up a bit this time as when the map was taken away I had gained 100ft over my previous altitude.

We then turned to head back towards Wycombe and I practised a few more times at straight and level flight. Then came the shock I wasn't expecting my instructor asked me to talk to ATC. He told me what to say and I repeated it to ATC (can't remember now what I said). I'm sure I spoke too fast, mainly as I was trying to concentrate on where I was going and controlling the plane at the same time. Anyway ATC came back with some more information and my instructor answered them. Then before I knew it we were turning onto finals.

It was my job to try and lose some height whilst aiming at the centreline. It's really counterintuitive as I thought the ground was coming up too fast and I wanted to apply power and pull back on the stick but I was told to keep the nose where it was. At one point it didn't seem like we were going to make the runway but I was working on the basis that the instructor wasn't going to do or let me do anything that would hurt us or the plane.

We landed smoothly and left the runway. Then it was my turn to taxi to the stand. This time I was determined to do better than previously and was getting on a bit better by controlling the power more accurately than the first time. However trying to get into the middle of the stand wasn't particularly successful. Regardless we stopped without hitting anything and went through the shut down procedure.

We then went back to the clubhouse for coffee, debrief and log book signing. the debrief revealed that I was at about 90% of expected achievement during the lesson so I'm happy with that at the moment.

I can't wait for the next lesson.

[I Love Flying]

Sounds like a great lesson! :D
Well done and enjoy every minute of your training :ok:

[sje1976]

Hi Cheese, have just passed my skills test on Saturday and what a feeling. Trust me it is well worth while as it gets better everytime. I think it sinks in on Cross country but before you get there you think to yourself...." im never going to be able to do it all on my own especially with the radio calls!!"

It is also amazing how everyone thinks it is easy to fly and yes when you are in the air basic controls are straight forward but they tend to forget about going up, coming down airmanship and a 1000 other things!

Take care

sje1976

[Say Cheese]

Just thought i'd post an update here as this thread hadn't been seen for a couple of weeks. Due largely to me having been out of the country.

My trip out the country involved 5 different flights and I think I must have spent most of the take offs and landings watching the wings, the flap positions and listening to the engine note to figure out exactly what was happening. Think this flying is beginning to become an obsession.....

Next lesson is tomorrow and is climbing and descending. Hopefully I haven't forgotten what i've done so far and will get back into the swing of things without too much of an issue.

I shall update tomorrow once i've had the lesson (assuming the weather plays ball).

[Jude098]

One of the things very useful to do is "armchair" flying while training for your ppl.....I think because reactions get inbedded into the brains subconscious. The number of times I tried to trim using the hand mic, lol. But I know when I came to take my GST reacting to the stall warner for stall recovery was instinctive = very little loss of height.

Also very good when you start doing the RT.....bit like learning lines for a play!

Have great fun learning, don't worry about how long or quickly you're doing it....if long just think of it as hourbuilding before and not after getting that magic bit of paper from the caa.

Jude