Please read (about my trail lesson)

[g_conaty]

First of all i had my trial lesson yesterday at Newcastle Internatiojnal Airport and all i can say is..................WOW ABSOLOTELY FANTASTIC.

The instructor let me taxi the plane to the holding point and then after takeoff i flew the plane for 45minutes up past Blyth, Morpeth, Rothbury and back towards newcastle. I didnt realise how good the experience would be when sharing a runway with big airliners. Im definately starting the course next month.

Anyway, we were cruising at 3,500 and once we were beginning to descend the instructor adjusted the altimeter manually to 2,400 feet. I was just wondering what the point of this was because it didnt cross my mind until i got back home.

Also, not related to the lesson, i was wondering if anyone could tell me where i can get second hand headsets without being 18 or over. Tried e-bay but thats no good and tried local ad papers.

Thanks

[Evo7]

Congratulations ... now the hard thing is dealing with the addiction :)

When adjusting the altimeter he was changing from QNH (the height above sea level, used for local area flights because that's how the chart spot heights etc. are marked) to QFE (the height above the ground at the airfield datum). It's normal :)

Strictly speaking, the reading using QNH is called altitude while the one using QFE is called height. There's a third, Flight Level, using a pressure setting of 1013.25mb.

(The instructor would have made a radio call for rejoin instructions just before the adjustment, during which they would have told him things like runway in use, circuit direction and QFE)

[MikeSamuel]

Congrats, glad you enjoyed it!

In terms of headsets, you may as well wait a while, unless your school requires you to have your own. The money is better spent on actual flying and bits and bobs you need for navigation etc... Also, the club's headsets are (generally) going to be better than anything you will pick up now in a hurry.

If you are stuck on getting one though, might be worth putting an ad up at the school instead of trawling the net all day.

Enjoy the next few lessons!

Regards,

MS:cool:

[tacpot]

There will be losts of things that the instructor does that you don't see the point of immediately. Best option is to ask at the time, while it's relevant and the instructor can put it into context. Your aim should be to understand the instructors reasoning behind a decision to do something.

Try the Misc section of

www.afors.com (http://www.afors.com)

or www.thehanger.co.uk (http://www.thehanger.co.uk/main.php)

(The TheHanger link may not work - I always have trouble with this site, but it is very good if you can get to it!)

[Evo7]

It helps if you can spell Hangar ;)

www.thehangar.co.uk

[GoneWest]

Congrats on joining the club!!

Another course sold by an instructor doing a good job of letting the student ENJOY the trial lesson.

Question for you UK people.....genuine question......

Anyway, we were cruising at 3,500 and once we were beginning to descend the instructor adjusted the altimeter manually to 2,400 feet.

response was.....

he was changing from QNH (the height above sea level, used for local area flights because that's how the chart spot heights etc. are marked) to QFE

is Newcastle at 1,100 feet??

[g_conaty]

it was something like that. maybe not exactly those heights but the principle of the question was why did he change the altimeter in mid flight. Thanks for the answer

lol

[Evo7]

Yeah, I wondered, but I figured that the numbers were wrong... :)

[tacpot]

:o Deep Embarrassment.

I often grimace at the spelling seen on PPRune, there vs their, your vs you're etc. But now I've been well and truly caught out myself, and on an aviation word too! The shame of it. Well done EVo7.

I trust g_conaty will be able to find the site, now it is spelt correctly!

[AerBabe]

Glad you enjoyed it.
Sounds like you've got the bug... so prepare to be very poor for a very long time ;)

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

g_conaty,

Well Done!

Hope you have many great flights and enjoy the passion for aviation we all share.

Happy Flying,

Capt Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.