First Forays...

[SQUAWKIDENT]

I learnt to fly before FS2000/2002/2004 but find FS2004 useful for brushing up on instrument flying and those days when "real" flying is out of the question (FS2004 with UK VFR Photographic Scenery is also an excellent fun basic VFR navigation training aid).

http://www.aromadome.com/FLIGHTPIX/images/fsscr224.jpg

(looks nice too and excellent viz 24/7;-)

[Capt. Manuvar]

V1R,
I trained at Leicester, and fly out there once in a while. It a nice relaxed airfield. If you have any questons you can PM me. EMA is good to if you like the busy atmosphere, but a lot of aircraft from there end up coming to leicester to do circuits.
FS2000/2/4 can be good for certain areas of training e.g. nav and getting to kno what instruments do. But are of no use when it comes to areas like landing. I also found it helpful with circuit rejoins and departures which can be confusing at first.
Good luck with the flying.
Capt. M

[Vee One...Rotate]

That's just the kind of little snippets of advice I was after - I know my experience of the PPL will be just that - my experience, but with over a month before I can realistically get started I got impatient hence the query

I'm going to do it at Leicester Aero Club as it looks like a good place with a good background...and there aren't hulking 737s jockeying with you for position...like East Midlands I'd imagine. For this reason it should be a little more cost-effective as well.

KCDW,

I've always loved aircraft and love airshows, Discovery Wings, flight sim software and the like - no enthusiam increase required here I'm hoping to get the PPL and then apply for ab-initio ATPL sponsorship as my A-levels and degree, along with a PPL, should at least get me a look in - chances are still stacked up waaaaay against me but worst they can say is no, right? Otherwise, a self-funded ATPL course (full-time) - though financing that will be character-building I'm sure

FNG,

Despite my aspirations (and user name) I will not be uttering "V1, V2, V2+10 V<insert number or abbreviation here>" etc. during the PPL...such outbursts are reserved for my at my desk when I'm mucking around with X-Plane - great sim BTW, better flight modelling than MSFS and it comes with design software.

I'm not actually very new to PPRuNe - I'm a veteran of something like 60 posts (wow) but my account recently went awry. I love this place.

CZ,

I understand your point about spin recovery making you more confident with the aircraft and its performance - a good point I think.

I'll certainly do my utmost to wangle seats with other (bribable) pilots - "Can I carry your bags?", "Lunch in Nottingham?", "Dodgy centre of gravity? Need some ballast?" spring to mind...

Cheers again,

V1R

[FNG]

The only flight sim worth having in my opinion is "IL-2 Sturmovik". Love the patriotic Stalinist music after successful defence of the Motherland from the Fascist hordes. Great RT in Russian. "Got one: he's going to hell!" Beats the stuffing out of Microsoft Combat Flight Sim for flight modelling, looks and difficulty.



PS: another successful mission, and Mladshiy Leitenant Petrovich Pruneski has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On the other side, Leutnant Parsifal Von Prune has been shot down by a Yak 3, again.

[Kolibear]

One more thing - look at maps, read them, examine them. Use them to get familiar with your local area. draw lines on them, find the airfields on them, look at the road and rail network. See where contolled airspace boundaries are. If you don't want to buy aviation charts just yet, ask on here for an old copy.

The more time you spent absorbing the relationships between places, the easier you will find your navigation. Looking at charts will help you with Air Law too.

[Vee One...Rotate]

Thanks again,

V1R

[FNG]

Oh no! Flight Sim Nimbies!

Thanks, Cofabulous, the upgrades are on their way from Amazon, but I may have a nimby problem.

After a hard's day arguing with Mr Justice Nutter the other day I trued to unwind by breaking up a Ju 88 formation in a Yak 3, but my neighbour across the corridor in my chambers came in to complain about the noise...

[Keef]

Someone mentioned blagging rides whenever you can.

I'd recommend that highly. Sit in the right hand seat with an experienced old lag in the left, and get some (unloggable but still very useful) "sole manipulator of controls" time.

It just so happens there's a "student fly-out" to Old Buckenham on 24th July, with lots of aeroplanes going, and a lot of empty seats. Details are here: http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=6463

A good chance for anyone on the way to a PPL (or considering one) who fancies a day out and some flying.

[Vee One...Rotate]

Robbing, lieing, bribing and stealing my way into other aircraft it is...!

V1R

[mad_jock]

As an instructor i would recomend you don't go near any flight simulator until you can fly the thing properly by looking out the window.

I have seen it may times, all you will be doing is getting yourself fixated with the dials.

And as you have so much time before starting why not get some of the theory out the way.

If you can turn up with airlaw and say HP or coms ready to be sat it will make your life a whole lot easier. If you can keep ahead with the exams its alot less stress. I would suggest leaving Nav and Met until you start the Navigation exercises they make alot more sense then.

As your numerical the trevor Thom books would proberly suit. If not the AFE Pratt books are more of a lighter read. Both have the same info in them just some people find one easier to read than the other. Personally as an engineer I don't have a problem with Thom but some find the syle very hard to study.

Good luck and enjoy



MJ

[Vee One...Rotate]

Thanks mad_jock. I was going to go for the Thom books - I understand there are 7 in total - one for each exam (with an oral examination on the specific aircraft type used in training - C152 in my case thrown in).

V1R

[gliderman69]

V1R

I never found the Thoms books easy going and I am a ex RAF aircraft engineer they are too technical and while the idea is good they cover more detail than you really need for starting out.

The Pratt ones are definatly easier to read and give the same information that you need to pass the exams.

Why buy the Thoms when you may struggle and end up going for the pratts like I did after and spend more money?

I find now that I reading the Thoms after I got my licence to increase my knowledge in the areas I was not trained in while in the RAF.

I never got an oral on the plane did anyone else? I know I should have, Maybe thats just an examiner preference.

But good luck with the flying!

[FlyingForFun]

I understand there are 7 in total - one for each exam

There are 7 in total... but not one for each exam, no.

Book one is not for an exam, it covers the flying syllabus - the exercises you will fly and the briefing which should preceed each exercise. Book 5 is for the IMC rating, and is not relevant for a PPL student. A couple of the books cover two exams, though, which is how you get all the exams into less than 7 books.

Book 7, which covers the R/T, is a waste of money. Instead, buy CAP413 - in fact, you can download this free from the CAA's website and print it if you don't fancy buying it (sorry, don't have the link to hand). This covers the same stuff, but is more definitive (there are a couple of areas where it differs slightly from Thom).

So, if you're going for Thom, you should be looking to buy books 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

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

[Vee One...Rotate]

FFF,

Thanks for the input. Money (and the weather) is going to determine how quickly I progress through the course so your advice is v. helpful.

I'll probably go for:

Thom:-

1. Flight Training
2. Aviation Law And Meteorology
3. Air Navigation
4. The Aeroplane: Technical
6. Flight Planning And Performance (think thats the title?)

&

CAP413 for R/T.

Does book 6 cover Human Performance and Limitations - I could have sworn there's an exam on that subject (though I hear it's considerered the easiest)?

I intend to attempt to get some work done on Air Law (and maybe Human Factors & R/T) before I start training so I can get two exams over with fairly quickly...leaving the other ones until I have some practical experience to consolidate things with.

Cheers,

A soon to be (more) broke,

V1R

[FNG]

When I did the exams I was recommended to use a slim volume called something like "Human Factors for Pilots" (it's in a box somewhere so I can't check), which was fine. HPL is a very easy exam (indeed all of the exams are easy) but the book was reasonably interesting. The Thom books have a truly leaden style, but are useful enough. FFF's suggestion of using Cap 413 instead of any RT book is a good one. The RT training tapes are in my opinion not very good, but RT is easily learned in practice by, er...talking on the radio from lesson one.

[Vee One...Rotate]

And of course, I nearly forgot, a copy of the indispensable and worryingly-named "PPL Confuser". Sorted.

V1R

[eharding]

Before you go flying....eat something!.....seriously, I found
early on in PPL training that skipping breakfast because
you're running late for a morning lesson is a false economy.
It's hard work, mentally and physically (at least at first) and
you need the energy.