25 Stones and wanting a PPL
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: LONDON
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
25 Stones and wanting a PPL
If anybody can help?
I'm 25 stones and would love to start flying but most lessons accept people up to about 16/17 stones, anybody know of anywhere that acccepts a big guy like me. I live in London.
thanks
I'm 25 stones and would love to start flying but most lessons accept people up to about 16/17 stones, anybody know of anywhere that acccepts a big guy like me. I live in London.
thanks
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 2,410
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Darul,
Have you been to any of the schools and had a look around and sit in one of the aircraft they use for PPL training?
Not skinny myself I know that you would unlikely to fit in a 150/152 may struggle with a PA28 but may be successful with a TB9/10.
Not many schools use those but there are some around that use them.
If you are not too stuck on the London area you may want to try Enstone Flying School they have some.
Best of luck
FD
Have you been to any of the schools and had a look around and sit in one of the aircraft they use for PPL training?
Not skinny myself I know that you would unlikely to fit in a 150/152 may struggle with a PA28 but may be successful with a TB9/10.
Not many schools use those but there are some around that use them.
If you are not too stuck on the London area you may want to try Enstone Flying School they have some.
Best of luck
FD
Hovering AND talking
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Propping up bars in the Lands of D H Lawrence and Bishop Bonner
Age: 59
Posts: 5,705
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
darul,
Have you passed your Class 2 medical? I believe the CAA has a BMI limit of 33.
BMI is calculated as weight in kg divided my height in metres squared.
Cheers
Whirlygig
Have you passed your Class 2 medical? I believe the CAA has a BMI limit of 33.
BMI is calculated as weight in kg divided my height in metres squared.
Cheers
Whirlygig
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: UK
Posts: 3,325
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't think there's a BMI limit for the PPL medical.
Darul, you may be OK in a 172 if the instructor isn't too big. A friend of mine did his PPL in a 172 for this reason.
Hope you get sorted out. Let us know.
Cheers
SSD
Darul, you may be OK in a 172 if the instructor isn't too big. A friend of mine did his PPL in a 172 for this reason.
Hope you get sorted out. Let us know.
Cheers
SSD
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Manchester
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Daryl, I agree with SSD, the best a/c is probably the 172. I learned in a 172 and at 6' 5" and 20 stone had no problems at all, my instructor was not a small chap either.
The TB10 is a bit limited for headroom but is certainly quite wide in comparison to the Pipers.
Tiny.
The TB10 is a bit limited for headroom but is certainly quite wide in comparison to the Pipers.
Tiny.
Hovering AND talking
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Propping up bars in the Lands of D H Lawrence and Bishop Bonner
Age: 59
Posts: 5,705
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
All I can say is that to get my Class 2, I had to lose a couple of stone to get under that limit irrespective of blood pressure and ECG (which were fine). I did and more! The AME said that it was something that the CAA had only recently brought in and that previously he would have passed me.
Cheers
Whirlygig
Cheers
Whirlygig
Flies for fun
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Wishing it was somewhere sunny!
Posts: 789
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
darul, You would be best to use your desire to learn to fly as an incentive to lose weight.
I think in your position darul I would first of all find somebody who will just let you sit in the seat of their Cessna 172 for a trial lesson which I think is the best airplane for getting out of. Getting out of an aircraft is always more difficult than getting in. You need to see if the instructor can achieve “full and free control” of the yoke and that you can operate the pedals at the same time! If an instructor cannot achieve full and free control then it is certain that he will refuse to fly with you. I think that a TB9/10 is going to be a nightmare for a big chap to get out of without damaging the aircraft. Once you have achieved a trial lesson, you will be able to phone around flying schools- ones with old airplanes since school owners with new airplanes are the unlikeliest to let you cause possible/probable damage to their airplanes. You will be able to use the argument that you have already had a satisfactory trial flight and that you can operate the yoke and controls satisfactorily. I would suggest that you get a Class 2 medical at a very early stage which you will need before your first solo anyway.
I have to say that a lot of people struggle to get through their Class 3 medical and it may well be that you will have a limited number of years in the air due to medical restrictions.
Personally, I wouldn’t fly with a big chap since I would be concerned about obstruction of the yoke and subsequent loss of directional control let alone the probable damage to the somewhat fragile aircraft seats.
You need to lose weight that is without a doubt since even if you did find somebody to initially train you, you will have an ongoing problem in finding the next airplane to fly.
I think in your position darul I would first of all find somebody who will just let you sit in the seat of their Cessna 172 for a trial lesson which I think is the best airplane for getting out of. Getting out of an aircraft is always more difficult than getting in. You need to see if the instructor can achieve “full and free control” of the yoke and that you can operate the pedals at the same time! If an instructor cannot achieve full and free control then it is certain that he will refuse to fly with you. I think that a TB9/10 is going to be a nightmare for a big chap to get out of without damaging the aircraft. Once you have achieved a trial lesson, you will be able to phone around flying schools- ones with old airplanes since school owners with new airplanes are the unlikeliest to let you cause possible/probable damage to their airplanes. You will be able to use the argument that you have already had a satisfactory trial flight and that you can operate the yoke and controls satisfactorily. I would suggest that you get a Class 2 medical at a very early stage which you will need before your first solo anyway.
I have to say that a lot of people struggle to get through their Class 3 medical and it may well be that you will have a limited number of years in the air due to medical restrictions.
Personally, I wouldn’t fly with a big chap since I would be concerned about obstruction of the yoke and subsequent loss of directional control let alone the probable damage to the somewhat fragile aircraft seats.
You need to lose weight that is without a doubt since even if you did find somebody to initially train you, you will have an ongoing problem in finding the next airplane to fly.
PPRuNe Handmaiden
darul,
I don't know what your height is but if you're the correct weight for your height then you shouldn't have too much trouble. You (as you've found out) will just have to look around some more. It will be a tight squeeze but you'll cope.
If, and I hope you don't mind me saying, you've been dodging the salads, use this as an impetus to shed a couple of stone.
Generally, there seems to be a bit of a world wide trend to being a bit stricter with the BMI.
(I know someone who was nearly refused his Class 1 because his BMI was 34.5%. He already held a full Class 1 medical from Australia. He weighed in at 125kg, 6' 4" tall)
I don't know what your height is but if you're the correct weight for your height then you shouldn't have too much trouble. You (as you've found out) will just have to look around some more. It will be a tight squeeze but you'll cope.
If, and I hope you don't mind me saying, you've been dodging the salads, use this as an impetus to shed a couple of stone.
Generally, there seems to be a bit of a world wide trend to being a bit stricter with the BMI.
(I know someone who was nearly refused his Class 1 because his BMI was 34.5%. He already held a full Class 1 medical from Australia. He weighed in at 125kg, 6' 4" tall)
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Isle of Man
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Body mass
That limit of 33 would seem to rule out anyone who's ever done any weight training......I'm still playing hockey every week and I grind the winches on a raceboat in the summer, but when I did your calculation I came out dead on 33.
God help the couchpotatoes.
I actually train in a 172 and find it surprisingly roomy, compared to say a Landrover Discovery where my shoulder rubs annoyingly against the window all the time.
I'd better not drink too many pints at the Aeroclub bar, seems if I put on a kilo or too in the next two years (or shrink) I might not get my next Class 2.
God help the couchpotatoes.
I actually train in a 172 and find it surprisingly roomy, compared to say a Landrover Discovery where my shoulder rubs annoyingly against the window all the time.
I'd better not drink too many pints at the Aeroclub bar, seems if I put on a kilo or too in the next two years (or shrink) I might not get my next Class 2.
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 2,410
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have seen this upper limit of the BMI being bandied around before but can not find any specific reference on the CAA site. Can anyone post a link if they do.
I know for a fact that the FAA do not have a BMI limit.
FD
I know for a fact that the FAA do not have a BMI limit.
FD
Join Date: May 2001
Location: 75N 16E
Age: 54
Posts: 4,729
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BMI is a load of c*ap! And not used for medical issue (at least class 2). The AME makes an assesment of you physical appearance at the time of the medical.
If I work out my BMI, I'm classified as being overweight (185cm / 100Kg, 29 BMI). Unfortunately the BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass and bone structure, I have both large muscle mass due to cycling / wakeboarding, and big bones. According to the BMI calculations I should weigh 66Kg, the lightest I've ever been was 78Kg, and everyone said that I was ill.
Of course the other side of the coin is whether the plane will fly and you'll fit in
Still, I flew with a fat instructor in the states once, who's BMI was at least 33, in a 152 and we were fine. He did have to put his arm around me though to actually fit in the plane 
Find an AME and get your medical. If you get that ok, there is no reason you can't learn to fly (saw this really fat AA captain at LAX a while back, so there is definitely hope!).
EA
If I work out my BMI, I'm classified as being overweight (185cm / 100Kg, 29 BMI). Unfortunately the BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass and bone structure, I have both large muscle mass due to cycling / wakeboarding, and big bones. According to the BMI calculations I should weigh 66Kg, the lightest I've ever been was 78Kg, and everyone said that I was ill.
Of course the other side of the coin is whether the plane will fly and you'll fit in
Still, I flew with a fat instructor in the states once, who's BMI was at least 33, in a 152 and we were fine. He did have to put his arm around me though to actually fit in the plane Find an AME and get your medical. If you get that ok, there is no reason you can't learn to fly (saw this really fat AA captain at LAX a while back, so there is definitely hope!).
EA
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 10,815
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
25 stone is nothing compared to some FAA PPL's i met in FL.
One guy used to fly a 150 he had to sit in the middle and I don't know what he did with the rudder pedals.
God knows what the m&B was like with full fuel and a hot humid day in FL.
Shouldn't be a problem with a 172 or possibly even a tommahawk depending on the the size of your arse (the trim wheel is in the middle next to the seat). I have had some heafty trial flights in and we have always managed. And with the ladys its mostly makes me blush. "Err I am just going to alter a control next to you I am not feeling you up" reply is usually along the lines " why not? feel all you like there is enough of it".
The joys of highland women
And with regard to the PPL medical if they are a bit funny about your weight there should be no problems with a NPPL. There are enough lorry drivers i have worked with with nicknames like sumo, jabba etc which make 25 stone look anorexic.
MJ ( who is no skinny either)
One guy used to fly a 150 he had to sit in the middle and I don't know what he did with the rudder pedals.
God knows what the m&B was like with full fuel and a hot humid day in FL.
Shouldn't be a problem with a 172 or possibly even a tommahawk depending on the the size of your arse (the trim wheel is in the middle next to the seat). I have had some heafty trial flights in and we have always managed. And with the ladys its mostly makes me blush. "Err I am just going to alter a control next to you I am not feeling you up" reply is usually along the lines " why not? feel all you like there is enough of it".
The joys of highland women
And with regard to the PPL medical if they are a bit funny about your weight there should be no problems with a NPPL. There are enough lorry drivers i have worked with with nicknames like sumo, jabba etc which make 25 stone look anorexic.
MJ ( who is no skinny either)