First Ever Lesson

[g_conaty]

Well, the time is near, Tuesday is my first ever flight towards the PPL (generally known as a Trial Flight) . I cant wait. The only thing i was wondering was if anyone knows what i would be doing in the Trial Lesson.

Also what equipment will i need for beginning the PPL course.

Thanks everyone

[paulo]

Firstly, well done. You are about to embark on a great challenge. Not one that is anyway unreachable, but for many the sense of achievement is unbeatable.

So, first lesson. Some much more experience people will no doubt add to this, but here's a rough guide. It can vary, so don't be worried if your instructor does it differently.

- A walk around... Doing some basic 'due diligence' to check some simple things about the aircraft. Basically making sure the moving bits move, and the bits with runny stuff in them have enough runny stuff.

- Internal check list... the right number of CD's in the autochanger, arming the lasers, checking the holodeck... well, ok, more workaday than that, but aside from the safety aspect, a good way of getting to know the cockpit. It takes a few of these to instinctively remember where everything else. I still find myself peering around for the more obscure bits!

- Flying! The good bit! If you've already got Trevor Thom book#1, you can read up to, say, excercise 4e to get an idea of what the first steps are. If not, here's a rough summary...

* Climbing out. Your instructor may get you to do this. Basically it will teach about the effect of the elevator. The steeper you go, the slower the plane goes, which is kind of logical. It's probably one of the first things that teaches you about speed in an aircraft.

In a car you might keep an eye on your speedo to make sure you don't go too fast (say where's a speed limit and you don't want a fine!). In a plane it's the other way round, which isn't instinctive at first. Generally speaking, being too slow is what you've got to keep an eye on.

In the climbout you'll also be reminded about...

* Scanning for Traffic. You're not likely to be finding yourself strafed by Jaguars, but it's reassuring when you spot that Cessna that you heard on the radio.

then there's

* Level flying. My mistake was to look at the instruments too much. It took about five minutes before my instructor insisted on covering them up! Basically trying to fly by looking at the horizon. It's never perfect, but it's your basic skill, which you supplement with the occasional glance at the altimeter.
(In subsequent lessons, expect plenty of pestering from your instructor as you wander up and down a bit)

* Level turns. Turns are quite easy. They will be untidy at first, but they'll get the job done. With practice, they'll get tidier. There's two bits really. Rolling out on the desired heading (not too hard), and maintaining your altitude. The latter comes with practice.

* Climbing and Descending. Like turns, in the basic sense this is quite easy. The finer points is getting to the desired altitude and levelling out not too late or too early.

(Once again, in later lessons, practice and nagging+encouragement will make for steady improvement.)

* Trimming. This makes the aeroplane easier to fly in a given situation. Say you are doing a long long climb. After a few minutes your arm is aching from pulling back on the main control. Your mind is more occupied with doing this consistently than perhaps, say, looking for traffic or doing other jobs. Trimming is the answer.

Trimming increases or decreases pressure on a control, according to how you set it. In our example climb, we can trim away enough pressure such that you could could fly the aeroplane hands off!

At some point you're instructor will demonstrate hands off flying. There's nothing better at showing that an aircraft wants to fly. (Unlike a helicopter say, whose only ambition in life is to be a fiery ball of flame on the ground, and it's only the pilot that stops this. Hats off to our rotorhead friends.)


Well, that's probably enough for now. It sounds like you are intending to do more than just the one lesson. If your school doesn't know this yet, tell them. Rather than it being a jolly, you should ask for and get a proper preflight breifing. If nothing else, it will tell the school you are serious about flying, and they will treat you likewise.

Enjoy the ride. You'll be an ever increasing part of it from now on!

[cjfw]

Sorry, but I just have to waffle about my first lesson that I had last week. I don’t know if it will help you much, but I’m still on a high about it!

I had a trial lesson a couple of months ago, but last Monday I had my first "real" lesson. Lesson started when I met my instructor who seemed very nervous. He said it was his first day at the club. I believe that I was his first ever fee paying student!

Anyway, soon got underway. He had already done the pre flight e.t.c. which I was a little disappointed about, but at my next lesson I’ll ask that I start doing it as soon as possible. Soon after takeoff he let me take control. First off it was to keep the tomahawk pointing in the right general direction until we reached 2500 feet. Then he introduced me to flying straight and level, then gentle turns which I practised for a while (these were turns to particular headings, not turn a bit to the left now a bit to the right). Next up was climbing to a set altitude followed by descending to a set altitude.

After about 40 minutes, it was time for the instructor to figure out where the airfield was (this was a bit of work for him as he said he was not familiar with the area!) and to get me turning the right way to head back. Finally we had visual on the airfield and he let me descend down to circuit height on the dead side of the circuit. Then he had me join the circuit on the cross wind. He was doing all the radio work and getting the join instructions e.t.c. At this stage I was really excited, I mean, he was letting me join the circuit on the first lesson. This was something I was not expecting! We were told we were number 2 to land behind a Cessna. So, when my instructor told me to turn downwind, I just followed the Cessna (who was just about to turn onto base). I got to admit, the turns I made were not very clean and I felt the circuit I was flying was a bit sloppy, but hey, it was my first lesson. Next, my instructor told me to turn onto base, which I did (again, not very tidy) and to start descent. He needed to help a bit getting the engine power right for the descent. Halfway along base I saw the Cessna land and then I asked if he wanted me to turn onto final. He said to go ahead when I felt ready and then asked if I was alright and did I want him to take over. I was thinking, "You're letting me fly this all the way around the circuit! You're damn right I'm alright!". I said I was fine and then turned onto final, again a not very precise turn. The instructor was still helping a lot with the power settings. At this stage, there seemed to be quite a bit of wind and although I was heading in the right direction the aircraft seemed to be yawing all over the place. I was trying to use the rudder to clean this up, but to be quite honest, I was really learning about the rudder and how much to move it e.t.c. to be very effective with it. The instructor asked again if I was all right and did I want him to take over. Again, I said I was fine! And that was it. I flew the aircraft down to the end of the runway, still struggling with the rudder trying to figure it out, but finally I heard the instructor say to flare, so I pulled back a little on the yoke and we met the ground. As I still hadn't got the rudder right, the landing was, by most people standards, bloody awful, what with the aircraft not quite pointing in the right direction e.t.c. But it was near the centreline and the wheels were still attached to the aircraft! However, after landing I was doing a terrible job of keeping things straight so I asked the Instructor to take over, which he did. He taxied off the runway and back to the parking area.

I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and really appreciated the chance to do so much on my first lesson. Also, my Instructor being so nervous may have put some people off, but I felt that technically he was good and just needs to get over some of his nerves which I felt were more to do with dealing with people e.t.c.. So I'm happy to fly with him some more.

Big problem now is convincing my wife that the virtually impossible cost is somehow justified! And also to get lessons to fit in with money, work and worst of all, the weather.

In terms of what equipment is needed on your first lesson, the flying school/club should provided everything you need. I'm sure the Instructor will inform you what you need to get further into your lessons as and when you need them.

Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to have a egoistic, waffling post and have a safe and enjoyable first lesson.

[g_conaty]

Thanks for your help. its been appreciated.

Good luck with your flying as well

[MikeSamuel]

Enjoy it! It's probably the only lesson you will have for a while where you will have a chance to look at the scenery too, so don't worry too much about nailing the turns and stuff, just become aware of how beautiful this country really is from above! (Yup, even Coventry looks OK up there.)
If it's one of your first times in a small cockpit too, you will of course be nervous and it is an experience like no other! A point worth noting if it is a bit wobbly up there in your opinion is that the instructor is never going to do anything to put either of you in danger, so relax...
Try to develop some casual conversation with the instructor, as it's all about having fun at the end of the day, and none of the training I've done so far has been too taxing.
Let us know how you get on!

Regards,

MS :cool:

[Evo7]

Also what equipment will i need for beginning the PPL course.


You seem to have a very short memory, old chap. May I refer you to this thread, started by you...

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41826

There were a number of others, too. You still don't need the Shirt, Tie or Epaulettes ;)

Enjoy the first lesson - there's nothing quite like it. Biggest problem is waiting for the second :) :)

[g_conaty]

Thanks Evo7

Ive been looking for that thread on the equipment in the search but couldnt seem to find it.

Cheers