Having recently completed my PPL in Florida I am slowly but surely getting used to the English way of doing things. Whilst I agree that flying the UK has it's plus points and that the restricted and congested airspace does help to sharpen the flying skills, I have to say that I think the many bad points outweigh the good stuff.
My local airfield is Shoreham, and I have had a number of flights there now with instructors to help build my confidence of flying in the UK, and during these flights I have had a few touch & go's and have had to stomach the £8.72 each time I put my wheels on the tarmac, or indeed grass.
In the US I could do as many tough & go's as I liked and didn't have pay any extra costs for this. In a a 2 hour lesson I could nail 15 landings easily and this is partcularly good at perfecting the all imporatnt landing phase of the flight. Also, if my approach looked unstable or I wanted to practice very important go arounds I could do this too and wouldn't have to worry about extra costs.
Whilst thinking about this, I decided tha instead of doing touch and go's I would merely do circuit practive at Shoreham and instead substitute the touch and go for go arounds each time and avoid the extra cost. However, having looked at the Shoreham airport website I've realised that even a go around is subject to the £8.72 charge. Staggering!!
I question how many unstable approahces and consequently how mnay bad and potentially dangerous landings occur in the UK becuase of not wanting to pay the 'approach charge'. I argue that this does not allow a pilot to fly safely and relaxed, and I was taught that if any part of the approach is not right you should instigate a go around. I believe this is good and safe airmanship and that people should not be forced into making landings.
It also means that during the training phase you are restricted on your approach and landing practice because of the additional costs associated with this. Take my 2 hour, 15 landing scenario: 15 x 8.72 = £130.8 just for landing. Lot's of dosh!!
I'm sure some of you will find someway to criticise this thread, but in summary I think this SUCKS giant ASS. Personally I do not feel that UK aviation is as good as that in the US. Bring on the flames....
