From Zero to Forty Five - my PPL Diary
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Shoreham
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Hi all
Just got back from doing steep turns to try and improve on the left handers that did not go well in the GST earlier in the week. Only managed 45 mins because of low cloud on the South Coast and some sea fog rolling in. So much for weather forecasting ! Slight improvement I think, but not great. Right handers still far better.
Lee, I will certainly contact you when I get the confidence to get as far as Liverpool. Mortgage - Flying - Mortgage - Flying. No brainer ! I'm sure your other half can get as much pleasure out of it as you do. It's all so well worth the struggle.
My penance is now to do gardening for the rest of the weekend. Hey ho.
Lysander
Just got back from doing steep turns to try and improve on the left handers that did not go well in the GST earlier in the week. Only managed 45 mins because of low cloud on the South Coast and some sea fog rolling in. So much for weather forecasting ! Slight improvement I think, but not great. Right handers still far better.
Lee, I will certainly contact you when I get the confidence to get as far as Liverpool. Mortgage - Flying - Mortgage - Flying. No brainer ! I'm sure your other half can get as much pleasure out of it as you do. It's all so well worth the struggle.
My penance is now to do gardening for the rest of the weekend. Hey ho.
Lysander
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
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Mazzy - cheers for the words of encouragement mate, and I will be sure to keep posting progress.
Had to cancel tomorrow's lesson sadly, so due back up next Saturday. Trying to nail the Air Law book in the meantime. I'm buggered if I can remember all those bits of ICAO terminology!
Cheers
Mark
Had to cancel tomorrow's lesson sadly, so due back up next Saturday. Trying to nail the Air Law book in the meantime. I'm buggered if I can remember all those bits of ICAO terminology!
Cheers
Mark
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Norfolk UK
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I've had a great 50 mins in the air today , practising VOR and instrument flying in cloud at 5000 ft,ending with correcting steep spiral dives.
If weather OK tomorrow I'm off on my own to find my weak points for us to work on for the skills test,so could be up there for some time
Lister
If weather OK tomorrow I'm off on my own to find my weak points for us to work on for the skills test,so could be up there for some time
Lister
Last edited by Lister Noble; 15th Apr 2006 at 07:10.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Northampton Sywell
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Hello All...been a while since Ive posted on here
Congrats to all of those who have joined the class of 2006, today I took another leap to joining you.
A year and a week ago today I did my 1st solo...and today I did my 1st solo cross country from Sibson to Leicester and what gorgous weather for it!!
I did very well didnt get lost and my r/t was pretty good! Was anyone else flying in these areas...Sibson-->Sywell-->Leicester?
I look forward to being able to fly in and meet some of you guys in the future!
Keep safe in the skies
Captain Karl
Congrats to all of those who have joined the class of 2006, today I took another leap to joining you.
A year and a week ago today I did my 1st solo...and today I did my 1st solo cross country from Sibson to Leicester and what gorgous weather for it!!
I did very well didnt get lost and my r/t was pretty good! Was anyone else flying in these areas...Sibson-->Sywell-->Leicester? I look forward to being able to fly in and meet some of you guys in the future!
Keep safe in the skies
Captain Karl
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Great day,good vis most of the morning and later this afternooon.
Spent 55 mins solo this morning doing clean and flapped stalls,30 and 45 deg banked 360 deg turns at 4000 ft,some standard touch and go's,and glide touch and go's.
Bit of a crosswind but all went well apart from first glide touch and go was a bit tight,so next one thought I'll leave it a bit later before descent and was too high,another couple were OK so I left it there.
Was going to do some more this afternoon but was told by CFI not to waste money,anyway weather looks good so I'm going to do some more stuff tomorrow just to make sure I'm happy and then it's the skills test next weekend.
Out of interest I counted my total hours today and it's 51 hrs including 2 half hour trial lessons,I think it took me around 18 hrs to go solo,so it just goes to prove that how long it takes to solo does not reflect at all on the length of the course.
Lister
Spent 55 mins solo this morning doing clean and flapped stalls,30 and 45 deg banked 360 deg turns at 4000 ft,some standard touch and go's,and glide touch and go's.
Bit of a crosswind but all went well apart from first glide touch and go was a bit tight,so next one thought I'll leave it a bit later before descent and was too high,another couple were OK so I left it there.
Was going to do some more this afternoon but was told by CFI not to waste money,anyway weather looks good so I'm going to do some more stuff tomorrow just to make sure I'm happy and then it's the skills test next weekend.
Out of interest I counted my total hours today and it's 51 hrs including 2 half hour trial lessons,I think it took me around 18 hrs to go solo,so it just goes to prove that how long it takes to solo does not reflect at all on the length of the course.
Lister
Spicy Meatball
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Liverpool UK
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Andy RR - welcome aboard mate (sorry if I have already said that, I am amazed at the amount of posts recently and have well and truly lost track of all new comers!)
Lysander - when doing steep turns, remember the off-set seating problem. If your in the left hand seat and you do a steep turn to the right, you will be above your instructor and will see a lot of ground over the nose. When you turn to the left however, your instructor is well above you and you will see hardly any horizon over the nose, and mostly sky. This was difficult at first to understand, but after a while it sunk in and helped me a lot
There's a lot of stuff to remember for Air Law, some of which is useless to know in the air, and as said before - I agree with the statement that if I need to know what colour the AIC papers are, I will just look it up on the ground! Best advice is to learn it as much as possible for the exam, and then the bits that matter more in the air (such as airspace restrictions and MATZ distances etc) will all start to fit into place as you experience them in your flying.
Cheers all,
Lee
P.S Loads more photo's on my photobucket account:
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/mazzy1026/
The flight with Robbie was my first passenger (he is crap with a camera as you will see!). One of my favorite pictures is the close up of runway 27 on short final - superb.
Lysander - when doing steep turns, remember the off-set seating problem. If your in the left hand seat and you do a steep turn to the right, you will be above your instructor and will see a lot of ground over the nose. When you turn to the left however, your instructor is well above you and you will see hardly any horizon over the nose, and mostly sky. This was difficult at first to understand, but after a while it sunk in and helped me a lot
I'm buggered if I can remember all those bits of ICAO terminology!
Cheers all,
Lee
P.S Loads more photo's on my photobucket account:
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/mazzy1026/
The flight with Robbie was my first passenger (he is crap with a camera as you will see!). One of my favorite pictures is the close up of runway 27 on short final - superb.
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Sadly,since Mazzy passed his skills test we don't have too much on here, so thought I would bring it to the top again.
All ready for my skills test booked for this morning and the weather is rubbish,so will book a slot for next weekend.
Very frustrating but I'm nearly there!
Lister
All ready for my skills test booked for this morning and the weather is rubbish,so will book a slot for next weekend.
Very frustrating but I'm nearly there!
Lister
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Mr Kookabat,
A very adroit observation
I waited three months for my QXC so am used to it,also sailed all my life so know the effect of the vagaries of weather on our hobbies,but it can still be frustrating!
Lister
A very adroit observation
I waited three months for my QXC so am used to it,also sailed all my life so know the effect of the vagaries of weather on our hobbies,but it can still be frustrating!
Lister
Spicy Meatball
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I flew my skills test on the very first booking, and I didn't even have enough solo hours on the day 
Makes up for all the cancellations in the past !
Makes up for all the cancellations in the past !
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Lee,
I have four skills test slots booked from Friday to Monday next weekend so reckon one of those should be OK!
I'm not that wound up about it as there have been so many cancellations throughout my course due to weather,and after all this is what we have to cope with once we have our tickets.
Lister
I have four skills test slots booked from Friday to Monday next weekend so reckon one of those should be OK!
I'm not that wound up about it as there have been so many cancellations throughout my course due to weather,and after all this is what we have to cope with once we have our tickets.
Lister
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Wide Brown Land
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Once booked five days solid to go flying and finish off some annoying navs that I kept having to cancel due wx..... in those five days I got just *one* hour in the circuit 
Great fun that!
(oh, and good luck when eventually you do the test mate! )
Great fun that!
(oh, and good luck when eventually you do the test mate!
)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Australia
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The dangers of reading a thread with 70 pages of posts
Aargh, I discovered this thread last night and read till 3am and still haven't read it all. 
I'm with you all in spirit, though a long way away (Australia). I did a pre-solo check flight on Saturday in a Citabria with a hugely-experienced tailwheel pilot, and I'm hoping that this coming Saturday I might manage a first solo.
So I was looking for stories of others' experiences when I found Mazza's diary. Wow. Just what I was looking for.
I also found references to Stick and Rudder so I've just ordered a copy through Amazon. It's still relevant to me as 21 of my 22 hours so far have been on tailwheelers (I took a single C172 trip for perspective).
I see there are a couple of other's from Australia here, so hi from Sydney.
I'm with you all in spirit, though a long way away (Australia). I did a pre-solo check flight on Saturday in a Citabria with a hugely-experienced tailwheel pilot, and I'm hoping that this coming Saturday I might manage a first solo.
So I was looking for stories of others' experiences when I found Mazza's diary. Wow. Just what I was looking for.
I also found references to Stick and Rudder so I've just ordered a copy through Amazon. It's still relevant to me as 21 of my 22 hours so far have been on tailwheelers (I took a single C172 trip for perspective).
I see there are a couple of other's from Australia here, so hi from Sydney.
Join Date: May 2003
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i.Dingbat: Curtis at Camden?
Planning on heading that way shortly once I aquire the necessary $$$ for a tailie conversion... gotta love (almost) brand new Citabrias!
Planning on heading that way shortly once I aquire the necessary $$$ for a tailie conversion... gotta love (almost) brand new Citabrias!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Australia
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Citabrias at Camden
Kookabat
Yes, Curtis Aviation at Camden. They have three Citabrias, all in beautiful condition. I've enjoyed every minute of the training, but I did find it very hard at first keeping the aircraft straight on the runway, especially on take-off.
Anyone else out there doing their ab initio on a tailwheeler?
Iain
P.S. I've also kept a record of every lesson, but I hesitate to inflict it on the general public...
Yes, Curtis Aviation at Camden. They have three Citabrias, all in beautiful condition. I've enjoyed every minute of the training, but I did find it very hard at first keeping the aircraft straight on the runway, especially on take-off.
Anyone else out there doing their ab initio on a tailwheeler?
Iain
P.S. I've also kept a record of every lesson, but I hesitate to inflict it on the general public...
Last edited by i.dingbat; 27th Apr 2006 at 23:36.
Join Date: Aug 2000
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thoughts ...
My thoughts are with Lister tomorrow .. or saturday .. sunday .. or monday.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow is great I should go up for a while at lunch also
Hopefully the weather tomorrow is great
I should go up for a while at lunch also
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Thanks FlyFreeWbe,
I had my final revision flight this morning and am ready for the skills test tomorrow.
Weather looks good,so a light repast and early to bed for me tonight!
Lister
I had my final revision flight this morning and am ready for the skills test tomorrow.
Weather looks good,so a light repast and early to bed for me tonight!
Lister
Join Date: Mar 2006
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AND, if I were you, I'd be drinking plenty of pure water (no tea or coffee) & breakfasting on porridge/Weetabix, toast & bananas!
But whatever satisfies the inner man. Good luck, Lister!
Kev.
But whatever satisfies the inner man.
Good luck, Lister! Kev.
Join Date: Sep 2005
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GRUB
Normal Saturday/Sunday breakfast is coffee,half a grapefruit and either a kipper or egg and bacon on toast,weekdays it's just All-Bran and orange juice,so think I will stay with the standard weekend one!
I report at 10.00 for test briefing, plannning etc and the flight is planned for high noon!
There is a big barbecue at Old Buck tomorrow lunchtime, so I may try a celebratory Mustang burger and beer after landing if all is successful.
Lister
And no, the Mustang burger is not horse meat!
I report at 10.00 for test briefing, plannning etc and the flight is planned for high noon!
There is a big barbecue at Old Buck tomorrow lunchtime, so I may try a celebratory Mustang burger and beer after landing if all is successful.
Lister
And no, the Mustang burger is not horse meat!