Post skills test, GPS and things!!

[Currymonster]

I have flown locally around eight times since getting PPL, taking friends etc... today was faced with crappy weather which meant not recognising normal landmarks etc.. However although the common consensus being not using GPS as a primary aid, I was very appreciative of it..
Anyone any advice about how I should be progressing as I have pretty much stuck locally and feel maybe I should be venturing further afield (when summer comes of course!!)

[kabz]

I just got my ppl, and just did a checkout to rent planes from a school nearer my home.

I am hoping to do some xc this summer (maybe one every coupla weeks) and start working on some instrument stuff.

[Fuji Abound]

Go and find another pilot with plenty of experience touring, preferably with an IMC or IR, and do a flight together somewhere further a field. If possible try and select a day like the one you describe. You will learn a lot and feel more comfortable going by yourself. Yes, you could take an instructor, but you will gain a different insight with a pilot who flys regulalry for pleasure.

[bcfc]

Fujis right. Hook up with another PPL and do a few xc's. I did far too many locals in the first 6 months and my flying brain started to atrophy.

A to A is OK during these balmy summer evenings:rolleyes: A to B is why you fly.

[FlyingForFun]

Hooking up with another PPL is excellent advice. My only comment would be to make sure you don't do that every flight, or you'll risk loosing the confidence in your ability to fly without another pilot sat next to you. But having someone take half the workload off of you makes flying even more pleasant than it usually is - not to mention that you'll have someone to talk to! :)

Apart from that, try to go further afield by yourself. A landaway at an airfield you already know from your PPL training would be a good start. Once you've done that, a landaway at an airport that you don't know. No need to go too far - just pick somewhere you've flown past a few times but never actually landed. You could also find some interesting landmarks to fly over, without actually needing to land. And start taking non-flying passengers as soon as you feel confident enough to be able to do so - they'll no doubt have ideas of where they'd like to go, and the additional challenge of having to answer their questions will make things more interesting.

Also, practice all the things you did for your PPL from time to time - PFLs, stalls, steep turns and so on. It's fun, and it's also vital to keep current at those skills. Probably best not to do this with a first-time passenger, though.

I wouldn't recommend doing more training immediately - the most important thing now is to gain the confidence in yourself to be able to go flying without it being a major ordeal. But once you've done a few flights with passengers, to new places, and so on, there's a whole load of new things to learn. You could do an IMC course, a night course (probably easier in winter when nights are longer), a tail-dragger conversion (this would be my personal recommendation - it'll improve your flying, it's great fun, and it opens up a whole new world of interesting aircraft!), aerobatics, get an instructor to check you out on cross-channel operations - the list is endless.

Well done on your PPL, now go and have some fun! :D

FFF
-------------

[Who has control?]

FFF - I think that you have summed up the post-PPL period perfectly. Agree with all you say.

I'd like to add - And start saving for your own share in an aircraft.

[tomcs]

Yeah i have to agree....i got my PPL last december. And i have only done 1 or 2 local flights. All of my other flights have been to other aerodromes. It definitely brings up your confidence levels tackling controlled airspace and the like!

Good luck

Tom

[a pilot]

whats an aerodrome???

[tacpot]

It's a quaint English word for airfield.

You get bikes at a velodrome and aeroplanes at an aerodrome.

[Keef]

Horses at a hippodrome (see, not hippos!).

And what at a palindrome?

[DOME]

Friends!

[DB6]

Look in Flyer or Pilot for fly-ins and try going to some of them. Tip: phone the place before you set off, even if you don't have to, and ask for any arrival advice they may have. I know you will find out what runway is in use over the radio but it's easier if you know well in advance and can think about it without a handful of aircraft to look after (NB it may change of course if the wind moves).
GPS is a great tool but if you find yourself not recognising anything out the window and relying completely on the little box then you are vulnerable.

[stick&rudder]

palindrome?
you find the inspiration that is one sixth of monthy python-

AHAHAHAHA- thankyou, i'll be here next week!

[paulo]

I do way too little a to b. One little tip that has worked for me was to keep 'current' on radio nav by playing sim.

I walked away from my PPL pass with almost no instinctive ability to nav by VORs etc, but after a few weeks zero pressure evenings messing around with MS flight sim, I was quite happy to make a trip to somewhere I'd never been and fly off the navaids.

Added to that, correlating the radio nav with the mark one eyeball is very reassuring, and I got a sense of achievement and situational control that I know I wouldn't get from a single source of nav.

There's better Radio nav sims than MS, but it gets you 90% of the way there, and unlike the 'pure' radio nav trainers you can give yourself some simulated extra workload of flying the plane. (it's nothing like real flying obviously, but gives you the idea of juggling a few things in your mind at once.)

(I'm not a purist - I love my Pilot III - but despite my reservations about my nav skills, I've never had to use it as a primary and feel quite proud about that.)

Sorry. Strayed off topic somewhat. ;) Why is palindrome not spelt the same backwards?

[RotorHorn]

Agree with whats been said above.

Pick your local fields and go to each in turn. Start moving further afield as your confidence increases.

Flying with another PPL is a VERY good idea if you want to give yourself a helping hand. (Fly to 'B' with him/her, then next time fly on your own)

Don't start going around controlled airspace just because its easier.

Try asking for RIS if your used to asking for FIS (and assuming your plank has a transponder).

Might caution the fly-ins - if its popular it'll be busy and your workload might be a little too much for one to handle!!

Anyway, I'm off this evening to completely ignore my own advice and take some colleagues up to my favourite helipad/restaurant in the lake district in nice Class G airspace...

As my dear old dad used to say "Do as I say, not as I do"

[Grim Reaper 14]

My plank hasn't got a transponder, should it have?:(