Originally Posted by
IO540
I am not sure whether the objective here is to do any private flying at all or whether the original poster is purely working towards an ATPL.
The latter case I cannot comment on; I am sure there are thousands on the commercial pilot sections of pprune that can help. My simple understanding is that the JAA PPL/IR is not worth doing alone if there is the slightest possibility of wanting to go commercial; the full ATPL exams are only a bit more work. A CPL/IR is almost worthless; any commercial (airline) career will eventually require an ATPL.
On the former case, it would be pretty hard to do an IR very soon after the PPL. An IR is very hard work. One needs to get a decent bit of situational awareness into one's head beforehand. One needs to be able to fly VFR to a very high standard, holding headings and altitudes etc. Accurate flying and aircraft control has to be second nature. Even then the IR is very hard. This stage usually takes many post-PPL hours.
The NQ is trivial; you can knock it off within the PPL training. It's just a bit of night VMC flying with an instructor, in the local area. When I did mine, we got totally lost, and thought it was quite funny. Unsuprising really.
To anybody starting on the PPL route, I would also suggest that they tell their instructor(s) to meet the FAA training requirements at the same time. This is very easy to do and - particularly in the night flying department - saves scratching around for FAA-required logbook entries [much] later on.
Hi there.
It is my full intention to do as much private flying as possible. I would
like to "go commercial" but that very much depends on 1. If I can afford it, or if someone will pay for my training (Ha! Fat chance!); 2. The job market; 3. Whether it's a viable change from my current career (I am in my 3rd year of a 4 year Engineering apprenticeship). My view is that the PPL is a start; if I don't do any further training, then at least I can fly privately.
Thanks for the advice.
Captain S