Very good inputs, thanks. I'll take up the point to my school and discuss what can be done.
There are a lot of valuable skills to acquire when learning at a busy aerodrome. It's a little daunting at first, esp. radio calls and keeping a good listening watch but that's good experience that pays off in the long run.
For what it's worth, here's what I learned to minimise ground time (@MS: tell me this didn't make you smile when you read it
):
0. Get the ATIS before starting your engine. That's especially useful early in the training when you need to listen to it three times to get all those nitty-gritty details. That might sound obvious to many, but consider this: the whole ATIS is around 30 seconds. Some kids will need to listen to it up to three times. If you're in the run-up bays, that's 1.5 min that your aircraft is occupying space unnecessarily. At my aerodrome, there can be up to 5 light aircraft in the bay, so that's anywhere between 7.5 and 10 min saved when done beforehand.
1. Still before starting your engine, take a good look at the run-up bays to ensure that you'll get room or else you might well end up waiting with propellers on on a taxiway while others carry out their checks (or get the ATIS).
2. Don't get yourself stuck in the middle of a run-up bay (actually not so obvious until it happens). Do your run-ups where you can leave without obstruction when done.
3. Know your run-up checks by rote. As long as you do them correctly, there's no extra value to be slow.
4. Take-off and safety briefing while taxiing to the holding point.
5. If your aerodrome operates multiple runways simultaneously, and if you're anyway departing, don't be shy to request take-off clearance from a less popular runway. There's no point being 4th for takeoff with three blokes before you doing circuits.
6. Ditto when inbound, think about which circuit to join to minimise taxi time and holding short of other runways while others are on approach. Listening to tower communications also gives indications of just how busy one circuit or the other might be. To that end, this is where it pays off to have a good mental map of your aerodrome taxiways and runway exits. This may also be an incentive to work on those tight short field landings. At my aerodrome for instance, if you miss the first two exits, you're in for a
lot of taxi. You can also request taxi via specific taxiways
7. When inbound, if the busy side won't let you taxi to the apron without delay, just request to join circuits. It's still more valuable to spend those 6 minutes in the air than on the ground holding short of a runway.