How many PPL's are there in the UK?
How many PPL's are there in the UK?
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Do you mean PPLs have ever been issued, or how many PPs still exercise the privileges of their licence?
After all a UK CAA PPL is issued for life, even if you decide to give up, whereas a JAA PPL is only valid for 5 years.
After all a UK CAA PPL is issued for life, even if you decide to give up, whereas a JAA PPL is only valid for 5 years.
The Original Whirly
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The figures for a couple of years ago are somewhere on the CAA's website, and my (admittedly bad) memory seems to recall that it's around 30,000...not at all certain of that though.
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I think you're in the right ballpark Whirlybird. I seem to remember a figure of 25,000 in the GASIL mag but whether that included Microlights and helicopters I'm not sure. What amazes me is that this relatively small number can support all the flying shops such as Transair, Pooleys, AFE and the Flying Shop. The mark-up on our kit must be substantial.
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Somewhere in the depths of the CAA website is data on annual license issue numbers. It is around 3k a year for the PPL.
Nobody knows how many are valid, let alone how many actually fly. However it is well known, and the CAA have occassionally said so, that some 75% of new PPLs expire with less than 10 hours flown after getting the PPL, and about 90% stop flying before their first renewal (i.e. within 2 years). So the attrition rate is pretty high.
Somebody who is clever with stats could work something out based on this.
My guess is that about 10k pilots are hanging in there, but whatever the number, their annual flying hours must cover a wide spectrum.
Nobody knows how many are valid, let alone how many actually fly. However it is well known, and the CAA have occassionally said so, that some 75% of new PPLs expire with less than 10 hours flown after getting the PPL, and about 90% stop flying before their first renewal (i.e. within 2 years). So the attrition rate is pretty high.
Somebody who is clever with stats could work something out based on this.
My guess is that about 10k pilots are hanging in there, but whatever the number, their annual flying hours must cover a wide spectrum.
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The statistics you're after are more or less available here. I say "more or less" because the information seems to be rather dated (in Canada, such statistics are updated on a quarterly basis [see here], but that doesn't seem to be the case in the UK).
It looks like Whirlybird and ozplane were essentially correct about the number of PPL(A)s. Frankly I am surprised that the number is so low; you seem to have roughly the same number as us, yet your total population is twice the size of ours (~61 million vs. ~32 million).
I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the CAA doesn't consider a pilot without a current medical qualification to hold a "valid" license.
It looks like Whirlybird and ozplane were essentially correct about the number of PPL(A)s. Frankly I am surprised that the number is so low; you seem to have roughly the same number as us, yet your total population is twice the size of ours (~61 million vs. ~32 million).
After all a UK CAA PPL is issued for life, even if you decide to give up
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cost of flying in Canada is far lower than over here
So, actually the question is: How come there are so few pilots in Canada?
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So, actually the question is: How come there are so few pilots in Canada?
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some 75% of new PPLs expire with less than 10 hours flown after getting the PPL, and about 90% stop flying before their first renewal (i.e. within 2 years)
Has anyone researched the reasons why PPLs give up so soon, after spending all that money and effort on getting a licence?
I assume that most Ppruners, on the Private Flying forum, are the other 10% who have carried on flying. So is there anything that we can do to encourage new PPLs to continue?
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The NPPL has kept me flying but not for reasons of expense. Having failed a stress ECG, my CAA medical was pulled. However I can fly on an NPPL Class 1 till I get the problem sorted out. I get the feeling I'm not alone with this license-saver and there may be more flyers going down this route than actual newcomers with shiny new NPPLs.
The Original Whirly
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Why do new PPLs give up?
1) They never intended to carry on; getting the PPL was a challenge, and they've done it.
2) They've spent all their dosh getting the PPL; the school convinced them they'd do it in around 45 hours, and it took them 60-70 (national average) and therefore loads more money.
3) The school/club won't let them hire an aircraft for longer than an hour at a time, and the novelty of boring holes in the sky in the local area at £100+ a time wears off quite soon.
4) The family doesn't share their enthusiasm for flying, and would like them to join in family activities on the occasional weekend - the only sunny one of course.
5) They don't like flying alone, and no-one else wants to come.
6) They'd hoped to costshare with family and friends. But for all the prospective passengers it was a one-off, and they don't want to go again.
7) The school/club isn't a particularly good place for social activity, and they can't find other pilots to fly with.
8) They can't afford a share in an aircraft, and anyway, there aren't any going at the moment, espeically as insurance rules probably preclude under-100-hour pilots.
9) They can't afford to buy an aircraft, and wouldn't know where to start looking.
10) As a result of all/some of the above, the new PPL doesn't get enough practice, and doesn't feel safe when he/she actually does get to fly. Two years go by - it's revalidation time. The no-longer-new PPL hasn't flown 12 hours, dreads flying alone, has no-one to fly with, and doesn't want to do another Skills Test for an activity that hasn't turned out to be as expected. So of course he gives up!
I'm sure there are other reasons, but the above makes sense to me. It might have happened to me - but I found another PPL who wanted to fly with me and visit new airfields, the school let us take away an aircraft for a whole day, and I don't have a family to complain about all my flying. And then I discovered helicopters...but that's another story.
1) They never intended to carry on; getting the PPL was a challenge, and they've done it.
2) They've spent all their dosh getting the PPL; the school convinced them they'd do it in around 45 hours, and it took them 60-70 (national average) and therefore loads more money.
3) The school/club won't let them hire an aircraft for longer than an hour at a time, and the novelty of boring holes in the sky in the local area at £100+ a time wears off quite soon.
4) The family doesn't share their enthusiasm for flying, and would like them to join in family activities on the occasional weekend - the only sunny one of course.
5) They don't like flying alone, and no-one else wants to come.
6) They'd hoped to costshare with family and friends. But for all the prospective passengers it was a one-off, and they don't want to go again.
7) The school/club isn't a particularly good place for social activity, and they can't find other pilots to fly with.
8) They can't afford a share in an aircraft, and anyway, there aren't any going at the moment, espeically as insurance rules probably preclude under-100-hour pilots.
9) They can't afford to buy an aircraft, and wouldn't know where to start looking.
10) As a result of all/some of the above, the new PPL doesn't get enough practice, and doesn't feel safe when he/she actually does get to fly. Two years go by - it's revalidation time. The no-longer-new PPL hasn't flown 12 hours, dreads flying alone, has no-one to fly with, and doesn't want to do another Skills Test for an activity that hasn't turned out to be as expected. So of course he gives up!
I'm sure there are other reasons, but the above makes sense to me. It might have happened to me - but I found another PPL who wanted to fly with me and visit new airfields, the school let us take away an aircraft for a whole day, and I don't have a family to complain about all my flying. And then I discovered helicopters...but that's another story.
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Good list Whirly, to which I would add 'they scared themselves even while current and kept it quiet' (sort of like your number 10, but not quite)
Also people do get bored (flying is not all excitement) and like to collect additional ratings to keep their interest up. Some regulatory regimes make it easier to do this than others, and some regimes encourage them to do so more than others.
You also never see some people again after they have first soloed, sort of like your number 1, but without getting the PP rating. Seems fair enough to me.
Finding a good club is important, some places can put one off flying. Clubs in the UK tend to be less egalitarian than in other places.
Also people do get bored (flying is not all excitement) and like to collect additional ratings to keep their interest up. Some regulatory regimes make it easier to do this than others, and some regimes encourage them to do so more than others.
You also never see some people again after they have first soloed, sort of like your number 1, but without getting the PP rating. Seems fair enough to me.
Finding a good club is important, some places can put one off flying. Clubs in the UK tend to be less egalitarian than in other places.
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Excellent list Whirly.
I would also add UK weather - I know many here will disagree but it's pretty hard to fly fixed wing without instrument privileges. If I couldn't I would pack it in right away; there are just too many clouds about
Even if most flights can be done in VMC on the day, the legal need to be VMC is very restrictive.
Many people say "one can fly everywhere VFR" but most of them are people with loads of time on their hands and living close to an airfield.
A recent press report said 65% of NPPL applicants are existing PPLs who can no longer pass their CAA Class 2 medical. If accurate, I am sure this was not the intention.
If one reads between the lines of the list, doesn't most of it come down to most people entering GA not having enough money to pursue this hobby to start with? That's the REAL problem.
There are loads of people with money but most of them don't go anywhere near GA. The anorak nature of the social scene is enough to put them off.
The whole scene is in dire need of modernising, and then somebody could set up a well managed well funded well equipped (ie no Cessnas or Pipers) flying club, attracting people who can actually afford to get their training and still have some beans left to fly somewhere further than they can drive.
There is a need to recognise that there should be two groups of flyers: the vintage types and the modern types. The vintage scene is amply catered for by articles in GASIL showing how to place the tail wheel in a plastic bucket to stop mice climbing up it and eating the seat covers The modern scene isn't catered for much because its membership is too small. Of these two the vintage scene can hardly be expanded; the future lies in focussing on and exploiting the other one.
Sadly, even those few organisations that have got modern planes have failed to point their marketing (if one can call it that) at the more affluent bits of their local population.
There is a lot more one could do...
One thing is that a lot of schools don't like PPLs to hang around, perhaps taking students up and "giving them bad habits". This and other factors means that a new PPL is very much on his own. I was an aircraft owner by then which kept the incentive going but most people just continue to rent. The best thing is to quickly get into a syndicate; the problem is finding one with a half decent aircraft, which takes us right back to there not being enough people with beans.
I would also add UK weather - I know many here will disagree but it's pretty hard to fly fixed wing without instrument privileges. If I couldn't I would pack it in right away; there are just too many clouds about
Even if most flights can be done in VMC on the day, the legal need to be VMC is very restrictive.Many people say "one can fly everywhere VFR" but most of them are people with loads of time on their hands and living close to an airfield.
A recent press report said 65% of NPPL applicants are existing PPLs who can no longer pass their CAA Class 2 medical. If accurate, I am sure this was not the intention.
If one reads between the lines of the list, doesn't most of it come down to most people entering GA not having enough money to pursue this hobby to start with? That's the REAL problem.
There are loads of people with money but most of them don't go anywhere near GA. The anorak nature of the social scene is enough to put them off.
The whole scene is in dire need of modernising, and then somebody could set up a well managed well funded well equipped (ie no Cessnas or Pipers) flying club, attracting people who can actually afford to get their training and still have some beans left to fly somewhere further than they can drive.
There is a need to recognise that there should be two groups of flyers: the vintage types and the modern types. The vintage scene is amply catered for by articles in GASIL showing how to place the tail wheel in a plastic bucket to stop mice climbing up it and eating the seat covers
The modern scene isn't catered for much because its membership is too small. Of these two the vintage scene can hardly be expanded; the future lies in focussing on and exploiting the other one. Sadly, even those few organisations that have got modern planes have failed to point their marketing (if one can call it that) at the more affluent bits of their local population.
There is a lot more one could do...
One thing is that a lot of schools don't like PPLs to hang around, perhaps taking students up and "giving them bad habits". This and other factors means that a new PPL is very much on his own. I was an aircraft owner by then which kept the incentive going but most people just continue to rent. The best thing is to quickly get into a syndicate; the problem is finding one with a half decent aircraft, which takes us right back to there not being enough people with beans.
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IO540
Why does manufacture by Cessan or Piper preclude an aircraft from being well equipped 
Please could you explain what you consider neccessary for an aircraft to be considered well equipped? (I have access to several Cessnas that I consider to have pretty well all the equipment you'd need)
Whirly
Yes I think you've pretty well covered it with your list, and IO540's point about the weather is also valid. Recently at the club I was waiting for my instructor, who was talking to someone who'd just done a trial lesson, and was very interested in doing the full PPL - he explained that it would be useful for business travel! We proceeded to enlighten him
Brooklands
well equipped (ie no Cessnas or Pipers)
Please could you explain what you consider neccessary for an aircraft to be considered well equipped? (I have access to several Cessnas that I consider to have pretty well all the equipment you'd need)Whirly
Yes I think you've pretty well covered it with your list, and IO540's point about the weather is also valid. Recently at the club I was waiting for my instructor, who was talking to someone who'd just done a trial lesson, and was very interested in doing the full PPL - he explained that it would be useful for business travel! We proceeded to enlighten him
Brooklands