Hi Tinsparrow,
There is a formal course of training to obtain a Private Pilots Licence. I gather you are looking to obtain a JAR-FCL Private Pilots Licence which the UK CAA issue.
This licence can be studied for at any PPL training organisation that is approved by the CAA. There is a list on the CAA website (
http://www.caa.co.uk/) of these approved schools. But rest assured the average flying club at your local field will be on that list! You'll also find that the UK CAA also approve a few schools in the USA to train and test people for the JAR-FCL PPL.
Anyway the course is as follows.
45 Hours Minimum Flying time.
Straight and Level
Climbing
Descending
Climbing Turns
Descending Turns
Slow Flight
Stalls
Spin Awareness (you can also opt to learn spins)
Take offs
Landings (normal, glide, flapless)
Circuits
Practice Forced Landings
Precautionary Landings
Low Level Navigation
Navigation
Instrument Appreciation (This will NOT mean you can fly on instruments it is basically to show you how to do a 180 degree turn to get out of cloud if you happen to get into one).
Most of the above will be Dual (ie, with an instructor). However you will also do at least 10 hours of solo work (ie just you in the aeroplane). This will be:
First Solo (1 take off and 1 landing with a flight in the circuit)
Solo Circuits (Take offs and landings - generally around 3 hours)
Solo Navigation
Qualifying Cross Country (Solo - 2 land aways at airports other than your base airport)
Once the above has been completed and your instructor is satisfied you can navigate and fly a plane you will be put forward to the Examiner for your Skills Test. This takes around 2 hours and is a flying test to test your navigation skills, general flying handling etc.
However before you can do the skills test you need to have passed the following written exams:
Aviation Law
Meteorology
Navigation (I think that is called Flight Plotting now)
Human Factors and Pilot Performance
Radiotelephony
Aircraft General
Weight and Balance
There is also a practical Radiotelephony test that you need to pass. Also on the skills test the examiner will probably ask a few questions about the aeroplane itself in an oral exam. However this oral test is now where near as grilling as an FAA (American) PPL!!!
All the best.
Charlie Zulu.