Well, Thanks for all the tips and advice!! it seems everyone is a bit 50/50 with the weight 'n' balance factor as a lot of you highly discourage the idea of 4-up in a 172 however a few on here and a Lot of pilots / instructors that i know say its perfectly fine so long as the aircraft is within limits! I also think some people have missed the point too with regard to my intentions of the le Touquet trip! The idea was that
I take my girlfriend and her parents to france for her birthday, I understand quite well that the weather has the last say over whether we can fly or not, but then again so does health, work, etc etc.. Basically what i am getting at is that her 'birthday trip' is whenever all them factors allow for it
not
specifically on that exact day!! I would never compromise safety to hit a deadline in any way.
Fuel wise, i will be flying from rochester or headcorn, which is not far from the SE coast, its going to take roughly 45min to an hour to fly each way (subject to wind obviously) and thats why i suggested re-fuelling in france.
But anyway, I think i will leave the Le-Touquet trip until i have a few hours experience behind me then; i must admit, i flew a nav exercise on Monday, Rochester > Stapleford > Earls colne > Clacton VOR then straight line down the coast back to Rochester, and i did notice how hazy it was when looking out across the channel! i did struggle to find a horizon with the sun shining down on the water but it did look quite amazing tho i have to say
I have to ask tho (little bit off topic), giving how cautious a lot of people are on here, what is there views on schools that offer intensive integrated ATPL training?! surely the thought of 4 people in a Cessna flying a over 25 minutes of water with a PPL pilot of say 60 hours is a lot better than a 250 hour fresh out of training atpl cadet possibly at the controls of a A340 mid Atlantic with 200 people on board whilst the captain is having his nap?? hmmm?