Drop Out Rates post PPL
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This forum, like any other, will never be representative of the GA population.
It will be even less representative of the potential GA population; those that would like to fly but walk away.
Lots of people can have fun flying like you are. It's just a dead end for keeping GA afloat. About as useful as all those extra rebuilt Spitfires that are coming onto the market now. Microlighting between farm strips also serves a large number of pilots very well, but if that's all there was (and this IS a distinctly possible scenario in years to come, due to the knife-edge finances of a "proper" airfield) then GA will become all but useless to those like me who want to at least sometimes fly for a purpose.
I think Permit planes, with their 130kt speeds on say 4GPH in a reasonable 2-seater with room for all the avionics plus room in the back for junk, will gradually squeeze out most of certified GA. They won't be able to do overt IFR (departures/arrivals) but it's unenforceable when en-route. The question is who will be flying them. If PPL training collapses (as it has been busy trying to do the last few years) because the training scene is operating crappy old junk and teaching a largely dead-end syllabus, there won't be any pilots. I bet that most microlight pilots are doing that because that represents the limit of their budget, so this will never keep the main GA airfields open.
And instrument navigation and control capability is essential for going anywhere, regardless of the flight rules one has to fly under.
This forum, like any other, will never be representative of the GA population.
It will be even less representative of the potential GA population; those that would like to fly but walk away.
Lots of people can have fun flying like you are. It's just a dead end for keeping GA afloat. About as useful as all those extra rebuilt Spitfires that are coming onto the market now. Microlighting between farm strips also serves a large number of pilots very well, but if that's all there was (and this IS a distinctly possible scenario in years to come, due to the knife-edge finances of a "proper" airfield) then GA will become all but useless to those like me who want to at least sometimes fly for a purpose.
I think Permit planes, with their 130kt speeds on say 4GPH in a reasonable 2-seater with room for all the avionics plus room in the back for junk, will gradually squeeze out most of certified GA. They won't be able to do overt IFR (departures/arrivals) but it's unenforceable when en-route. The question is who will be flying them. If PPL training collapses (as it has been busy trying to do the last few years) because the training scene is operating crappy old junk and teaching a largely dead-end syllabus, there won't be any pilots. I bet that most microlight pilots are doing that because that represents the limit of their budget, so this will never keep the main GA airfields open.
And instrument navigation and control capability is essential for going anywhere, regardless of the flight rules one has to fly under.
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The cost is the killer
I think the cost of flying is very high, the 152 I fly is £79 an hour!! , breaking it down:
fuel= £25
Engine= £10
Fixed costs= £35
in the kitty= £9
To hirer a da40 from Gamston is 135 an hour!! that burns less than £5 an hour!!
£130 on keeping the aircraft airworthey!!
fuel= £25
Engine= £10
Fixed costs= £35
in the kitty= £9
To hirer a da40 from Gamston is 135 an hour!! that burns less than £5 an hour!!
£130 on keeping the aircraft airworthey!!
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The very first post in this thread struck a chord with me - particularly the now unavailability of intermediate stages between Private and Commercial.
I'm 60 hrs PPL(H) but when I started (5 years ago) the PPL Instructor option was still available. It became unavailable just as I got my PPL(H).
I am in a position to give my flying school more money for self fly hire, and I have the time available to cope with weather setbacks, but are reluctant to do so because I always intended my PPL(H) to be dual purpose. a) for pleasure flying and b) a step towards Instructor rating.
I have spoken to others (middle aged like me) who also would 'pursue' their flying with more vigour (thus more schools trade and perhaps less drop out) if the paid PPL instructor step was still available.
I'm 60 hrs PPL(H) but when I started (5 years ago) the PPL Instructor option was still available. It became unavailable just as I got my PPL(H).
I am in a position to give my flying school more money for self fly hire, and I have the time available to cope with weather setbacks, but are reluctant to do so because I always intended my PPL(H) to be dual purpose. a) for pleasure flying and b) a step towards Instructor rating.
I have spoken to others (middle aged like me) who also would 'pursue' their flying with more vigour (thus more schools trade and perhaps less drop out) if the paid PPL instructor step was still available.
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It's not £130 an hour keeping it airworthy, but the cost of the finance for buying an aircraft worth £150,000.
When we did the figures for a DA40 there is a trade off between the finance and fuel costs, that allows you to put the a/c out for around the same as a 'normal' hire machine since the fuel cost is so much smaller.
If you went out and bought something that cost the same, but still had such a ridiculous fuel burn, you would not only be paying for the finance, but the fuel aswell.
£120-130/hr isn't too bad for a machine that cruises at 140kts and is fully IFR equipped. That is only a comparison to similar capability machines however, it is still far too much overall.
When we did the figures for a DA40 there is a trade off between the finance and fuel costs, that allows you to put the a/c out for around the same as a 'normal' hire machine since the fuel cost is so much smaller.
If you went out and bought something that cost the same, but still had such a ridiculous fuel burn, you would not only be paying for the finance, but the fuel aswell.
£120-130/hr isn't too bad for a machine that cruises at 140kts and is fully IFR equipped. That is only a comparison to similar capability machines however, it is still far too much overall.
This has to be one of the most interesting threads for a very long time. I believe that the figures that I've seen quoted are 70% of new PPLs never make it to the first re-validation and after six years 95% aren’t flying anymore.
On the face of it - after all that time, effort and money – that seems absolutely crazy. Though, perhaps it’s understandable – lives move on, flying moves down the priority list; I’ve been part of the 95%, so I know. However, I am now determined not to let that happen again.
At the age of seventeen, I was lucky enough to get a flying scholarship and learn to fly with the Cambrian Aero Club under their great CFI, Cliff Hubbard on the PA-38.
In those days nobody had yet found out that if you spin a Tomahawk you’ll die so we spun it all day long and didn’t. I’ve read a lot since about what a horrible aeroplane it is, an ogre of the skies – dull and cumbersome but ready to snap your neck given half a chance. I hadn’t read any of that at the time and I loved it, we were seventeen and completely free; we threw the Tomahawks around the Welsh skies with all the skill and finesse of the John Prescott Ballet Troupe; dog-fighting rather than practicing PFLs and swooping down low along the coast instead of perfecting our steep turns. I was hooked and I’d never give this up, ever.
Honest.
I then begged and borrowed the money required to do the extra hours needed for the licence which I completed at Air Navigation and Trading at Blackpool on the PA-28. A few extra hours of instrument practice and a couple of cross-countries and there we were – 38 hours all I needed for a PPL.
Then, guess what I did, not a damn thing for three and a half years until I borrowed some more and handed it over to COMED at Blackpool for a few hours in the T-67, I had wanted to fly the Cherokee but the instructor had a new toy that he wanted to play with and I was going to be the one to pay for it – it was fun, though.
Having done that I then took a fifteen year break, yes, that’s right, fifteen years, before scraping together enough to visit a flying club nearer to my new home and meet the C152 for the first time in my life. I was amazed how much I remembered – I could take-off, climb, descend, turn in balance, fly a circuit, get onto final and… Oh my God, all that green stuff is getting very big and quick… ‘You have control.’ Well, I couldn’t remember how to land but even that came back to me, after a fashion and I did most of what I needed for the licence before swapping schools, again.
I eventually completed my licence a year ago.
I went for the NPPL, the reason pure and simple was to keep it all pure and simple. I had no wish to go through clouds, at night, to Ulan Bator with eight on board; so why spend more than I need to? The amount that I’d spend on a medical pays for my hour with an instructor. I might change my mind, but that’s allowed. For now the NPPL suits me down to the ground – and up again; so, why not?
In the last year I’ve managed to fit in - around work, family, finances and the weather – about a dozen hours, far less than I'd hoped and for all of the reasons given by the posts above.
I’ve sampled the C172 and got to know the Cherokee, again, I even scrounged a little bit of time in a little Jodel which was lovely but didn’t really fit a 6’1” ex-rugby playing type. I’ve dipped my toe in the water of farmstrip flying and I’ve flown with my wife, my kids and a couple of friends.
But what of the future?
When I was in training each flight was carefully planned for me, I knew the purpose of the flight, what I wanted to achieve and where it would lead but now that I have the most expensive piece of paper that I’ve ever owned, I don’t have the faintest idea what to do with it.
I want to fly, I want to fly as much as I can, I want to feel that I'm getting somewhere (in terms of improving my skills) but I do have to fit this around family and work and I don't have unlimited funds.
I'm thinking about getting back into motor-floating or buying into a group but I'd like to find a club like SAS's.
It's very easy to fall into the trap of no time, no money, poor weather, poor availabilty, lack of currency, lack of confidence, make excuses, give up. I'm determined to do all that I can to stop that happening, I just don't quite know how to achieve it, yet.
On the face of it - after all that time, effort and money – that seems absolutely crazy. Though, perhaps it’s understandable – lives move on, flying moves down the priority list; I’ve been part of the 95%, so I know. However, I am now determined not to let that happen again.
At the age of seventeen, I was lucky enough to get a flying scholarship and learn to fly with the Cambrian Aero Club under their great CFI, Cliff Hubbard on the PA-38.
In those days nobody had yet found out that if you spin a Tomahawk you’ll die so we spun it all day long and didn’t. I’ve read a lot since about what a horrible aeroplane it is, an ogre of the skies – dull and cumbersome but ready to snap your neck given half a chance. I hadn’t read any of that at the time and I loved it, we were seventeen and completely free; we threw the Tomahawks around the Welsh skies with all the skill and finesse of the John Prescott Ballet Troupe; dog-fighting rather than practicing PFLs and swooping down low along the coast instead of perfecting our steep turns. I was hooked and I’d never give this up, ever.
Honest.
I then begged and borrowed the money required to do the extra hours needed for the licence which I completed at Air Navigation and Trading at Blackpool on the PA-28. A few extra hours of instrument practice and a couple of cross-countries and there we were – 38 hours all I needed for a PPL.
Then, guess what I did, not a damn thing for three and a half years until I borrowed some more and handed it over to COMED at Blackpool for a few hours in the T-67, I had wanted to fly the Cherokee but the instructor had a new toy that he wanted to play with and I was going to be the one to pay for it – it was fun, though.
Having done that I then took a fifteen year break, yes, that’s right, fifteen years, before scraping together enough to visit a flying club nearer to my new home and meet the C152 for the first time in my life. I was amazed how much I remembered – I could take-off, climb, descend, turn in balance, fly a circuit, get onto final and… Oh my God, all that green stuff is getting very big and quick… ‘You have control.’ Well, I couldn’t remember how to land but even that came back to me, after a fashion and I did most of what I needed for the licence before swapping schools, again.
I eventually completed my licence a year ago.
I went for the NPPL, the reason pure and simple was to keep it all pure and simple. I had no wish to go through clouds, at night, to Ulan Bator with eight on board; so why spend more than I need to? The amount that I’d spend on a medical pays for my hour with an instructor. I might change my mind, but that’s allowed. For now the NPPL suits me down to the ground – and up again; so, why not?
In the last year I’ve managed to fit in - around work, family, finances and the weather – about a dozen hours, far less than I'd hoped and for all of the reasons given by the posts above.
I’ve sampled the C172 and got to know the Cherokee, again, I even scrounged a little bit of time in a little Jodel which was lovely but didn’t really fit a 6’1” ex-rugby playing type. I’ve dipped my toe in the water of farmstrip flying and I’ve flown with my wife, my kids and a couple of friends.
But what of the future?
When I was in training each flight was carefully planned for me, I knew the purpose of the flight, what I wanted to achieve and where it would lead but now that I have the most expensive piece of paper that I’ve ever owned, I don’t have the faintest idea what to do with it.
I want to fly, I want to fly as much as I can, I want to feel that I'm getting somewhere (in terms of improving my skills) but I do have to fit this around family and work and I don't have unlimited funds.
I'm thinking about getting back into motor-floating or buying into a group but I'd like to find a club like SAS's.
It's very easy to fall into the trap of no time, no money, poor weather, poor availabilty, lack of currency, lack of confidence, make excuses, give up. I'm determined to do all that I can to stop that happening, I just don't quite know how to achieve it, yet.
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What is clear from this thread is that there are plenty of reasons for failing to keep up a licence. The problem is that as far as we can see at the moment no one has enough interest to work out a way of keeping the 90% in the club.
If you look at the flying scene between the wars it was roaring hot. Firstly, flying was exciting, it made the news all the time. Second, it was all about clubs. It was a scene and people were happy to be there. Thirdly, there were people around who were happy to just to be involved (and of course there still are.) To be fair there were less distractions, but then there were less people with spendable money.
If we are lucky someone will soon recognize a new paradigm. Maybe a combination of modern aircraft, flying as a group to interesting places, a progression of skills and qualifications and a club atmosphere.
If you look at the flying scene between the wars it was roaring hot. Firstly, flying was exciting, it made the news all the time. Second, it was all about clubs. It was a scene and people were happy to be there. Thirdly, there were people around who were happy to just to be involved (and of course there still are.) To be fair there were less distractions, but then there were less people with spendable money.
If we are lucky someone will soon recognize a new paradigm. Maybe a combination of modern aircraft, flying as a group to interesting places, a progression of skills and qualifications and a club atmosphere.
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My $0.02:
I got my PPL earlier this year. Working towards it, I had a goal (the licence issue, of course). Once I got it, I moved so I had to find and get checked out at a new club. This gave me another goal to work towards... new airfield was a controlled field (I was used to uncontrolled), so something to get used to.
Got checked out (which took a while cos I forgot how to land, long story that one), good, another goal achieved.
Now I'm taking friends up for a spin every now and then... yep, the novelty of that will wear off shortly so I've set myself another goal: taildragger!
After that, aerobatics
After that, NVFR.
After that..... who knows??
So I have various goals to work towards for a while yet - which will give me the motivation to stick with it.
I reckon it's the lack of any clear goals that does so many people in - as soon as you have something to work towards, an end result to achieve, that's all the motivation you need.
I got my PPL earlier this year. Working towards it, I had a goal (the licence issue, of course). Once I got it, I moved so I had to find and get checked out at a new club. This gave me another goal to work towards... new airfield was a controlled field (I was used to uncontrolled), so something to get used to.
Got checked out (which took a while cos I forgot how to land, long story that one), good, another goal achieved.
Now I'm taking friends up for a spin every now and then... yep, the novelty of that will wear off shortly so I've set myself another goal: taildragger!
After that, aerobatics
After that, NVFR.
After that..... who knows??
So I have various goals to work towards for a while yet - which will give me the motivation to stick with it.
I reckon it's the lack of any clear goals that does so many people in - as soon as you have something to work towards, an end result to achieve, that's all the motivation you need.
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I am only pushing 50 so wasn't around between the wars 
but I bet that flying cost as much then as it does now, relative to wages. Very possibly it costs less today; most material things cost less today than back then.
It's the social factors that have changed. People (certainly those with the budget to fly) are much more focussed on what they do in their rather more limited leisure time.
By ignoring this, today's training industry is attracting mainly (MAINLY) those that don't have the above constraint. And who are they? Those without the budget!!
but I bet that flying cost as much then as it does now, relative to wages. Very possibly it costs less today; most material things cost less today than back then.It's the social factors that have changed. People (certainly those with the budget to fly) are much more focussed on what they do in their rather more limited leisure time.
By ignoring this, today's training industry is attracting mainly (MAINLY) those that don't have the above constraint. And who are they? Those without the budget!!
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This is an intersting thread simply because I am thinking of packing in and yet I am at the other end of the scale. I have been flying for nearly 30 years and have hundreds of hours of experience in "relatively sophisticated types". I tend to use the aeroplane as a means of transport to get from A to B instead of using a car or the airlines. I have lost the interest in the "joy of flying" and I feel guilty because many people would kill to have that experiance. I can afford to fly often, but cannot afford the time and be able to justify the expenditure of flying. I am an "Air Trafficker" so flying in my spare time seems like doing work related issues. I do not like the poseurs associated with some of the flying club scenes and do my best to avoid them and their social activities. In short I am bored with the whole thing. Ironically in the past few years I have taking up angling and I am never happier when I am spending hours by the river or lake doing nothing.
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J.A.F.O and others bored and looking for new thrills and skills.
Have any of you been to a Precision Flying event where you do accurate navigation and spot landings? Improves skills and gives confidence in navigation and ability to handle forced landings.
All good fun and a cheap way of maintaing skills .
Check out their web-site for details and calendar of events
www.bppa.info
Have any of you been to a Precision Flying event where you do accurate navigation and spot landings? Improves skills and gives confidence in navigation and ability to handle forced landings.
All good fun and a cheap way of maintaing skills .
Check out their web-site for details and calendar of events
www.bppa.info
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Obviously different people find different things that "float their boat" as they say; however it seems to me that a common denominator is that flying somewhere "useful" is going to keep more people in the activity than just bimbling about.
(Please, those that like to just bimble, don't get angry at me, read what I said carefully)
Personally, I never do landaway flights shorter than about 100nm - one can usually drive there quicker, all the hassle considered. Most of my serious flying is abroad, usually well south of the UK. Then, one ends up in exciting interesting places which would be pretty well impossible to drive to (unless one likes to arrive like a zombie, after 2 days' solid driving) and Ryanair/etc isn't much better by the time one has spent half a day getting to Luton/Stansted, parking, dragging the bags around... So, there is a lot of airfields close to where I am based which I've never been to, and some of the really popular ones I don't even know where they are... People find this a bit hilarious but I know for sure that if I was flying locally I would get sick of it really fast.
I DO lots of local flights, just for currency and to make sure I fly at least once a week even if the weather is poor, but on those I don't bother to land away. I like to take a passenger, someone who either can't afford to go up much, or someone I can learn good safety procedures from (an airline pilot if poss).
Flying does involve considerable hassle on the ground, and the objective is to maximise the reward/hassle ratio.
But this is all very well for the owner-pilot, or for someone in a small group with good access. The trick is how to make flying interesting for people who rent. That's a real challenge. Schools make it very hard by insisting (unsuprisingly, for economic reasons) on minimum daily billing, and this makes say a 1 week takeaway trip massively expensive.
(Please, those that like to just bimble, don't get angry at me, read what I said carefully)
Personally, I never do landaway flights shorter than about 100nm - one can usually drive there quicker, all the hassle considered. Most of my serious flying is abroad, usually well south of the UK. Then, one ends up in exciting interesting places which would be pretty well impossible to drive to (unless one likes to arrive like a zombie, after 2 days' solid driving) and Ryanair/etc isn't much better by the time one has spent half a day getting to Luton/Stansted, parking, dragging the bags around... So, there is a lot of airfields close to where I am based which I've never been to, and some of the really popular ones I don't even know where they are... People find this a bit hilarious but I know for sure that if I was flying locally I would get sick of it really fast.
I DO lots of local flights, just for currency and to make sure I fly at least once a week even if the weather is poor, but on those I don't bother to land away. I like to take a passenger, someone who either can't afford to go up much, or someone I can learn good safety procedures from (an airline pilot if poss).
Flying does involve considerable hassle on the ground, and the objective is to maximise the reward/hassle ratio.
But this is all very well for the owner-pilot, or for someone in a small group with good access. The trick is how to make flying interesting for people who rent. That's a real challenge. Schools make it very hard by insisting (unsuprisingly, for economic reasons) on minimum daily billing, and this makes say a 1 week takeaway trip massively expensive.
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I'm in the process at the moment, of trying to organise a club trip to Spain next year.
The basic plan is to fill the airplane(s) as full as we can with club pilots, and slowly hop our way down to Spain, changing pilots for each hop. We will be met in Spain by some more club pilots who will have taken the RyanAir flight.
Once there we will have a couple of days to in the area, where people can stay on the ground and explore, or explore by air if they wish. Then the pilots who fly the airplane(s) over will get the RyanAir flight home, and those who got the RyanAir flight over, will take the club aircraft home. As a result this trip will involve only about 3 & 1/2 hours flying time per pilot, helping to ensure the costs aren't prohibitive.
My motivation for organising this is to simply show some of the other club members what they can do with a club airplane, and actually how easy it is.
I would consider myself a pilot of relatively little experience. I have less than 200 hours, and just a just a 'plain vanilla PPL'. But having done a trip well down into France last year, I couldn't believe how easy it all was, and want to share it with my club members.
So why don't some of you who feel they need more challenges, try something similar? By only flying one direction, and sharing that direction with fellow club pilots you seriously cut down your costs, and get a lot further, to much more interesting places.
I suppose we could organise a Pprune trip next summer, and if some of the more experienced pilots here got involved, we could use their experience to be more adventurous about where we went. But I suspect that trying to do it through pprune would result in too many people not being able to band together. ie. their club will naturally only let pilots who have been checked out by that club fly their airplane.
Or am I being too pesimestic about pprune? Would you guys be able to fill your club aircraft with two sets of crew, and take the airplane for a week?
The basic plan is to fill the airplane(s) as full as we can with club pilots, and slowly hop our way down to Spain, changing pilots for each hop. We will be met in Spain by some more club pilots who will have taken the RyanAir flight.
Once there we will have a couple of days to in the area, where people can stay on the ground and explore, or explore by air if they wish. Then the pilots who fly the airplane(s) over will get the RyanAir flight home, and those who got the RyanAir flight over, will take the club aircraft home. As a result this trip will involve only about 3 & 1/2 hours flying time per pilot, helping to ensure the costs aren't prohibitive.
My motivation for organising this is to simply show some of the other club members what they can do with a club airplane, and actually how easy it is.
I would consider myself a pilot of relatively little experience. I have less than 200 hours, and just a just a 'plain vanilla PPL'. But having done a trip well down into France last year, I couldn't believe how easy it all was, and want to share it with my club members.
So why don't some of you who feel they need more challenges, try something similar? By only flying one direction, and sharing that direction with fellow club pilots you seriously cut down your costs, and get a lot further, to much more interesting places.
I suppose we could organise a Pprune trip next summer, and if some of the more experienced pilots here got involved, we could use their experience to be more adventurous about where we went. But I suspect that trying to do it through pprune would result in too many people not being able to band together. ie. their club will naturally only let pilots who have been checked out by that club fly their airplane.
Or am I being too pesimestic about pprune? Would you guys be able to fill your club aircraft with two sets of crew, and take the airplane for a week?
PPruNaholic!
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I think people need three things post-PPL: confidence, information and ideas! All of these work together to generate the motivation to make the time (versus the pressures of business, family, etc) and money available to keep on flying:[list=a][*]Confidence - partly comes with experience in the air, and in go/no-go decision making[*]Information - all those little things about air-law weather, bureaucracy / filing for foreign flights, etc. - many of which have been touched-upon during the PPL but now that you're really planning and flying can find that you are generating more questions than answers, and this can make the whole thing seem such a palaver![*]Ideas - where to go, what to do: I am bored in the local area; should I do try more touring, if so where to? Should I try aeros? etc. New challenges means new excitement and new learning.[/list=a]I have three suggestions that I think help with all of these:[list=1][*]Find a "flying-buddy" - find some bloke (or sheila!) who lives nearby and/or flies from the same club and is similarly qualified and expereinced, e.g. got his PPL around the same time as you / has similar hours... Then plan trips together; safely extend each others envelopes beyond your default comfort-zones; enjoy twice the flying at half the price; and do some trips away overnight which are otherwise lonely on your own, etc.[*]Attend one of Irv Lee's excellent PPL Masterclass Seminars - see http://www.higherplane.flyer.co.uk/seminars.htm - these are an excellent way to go over and clear up confusion which will have arisen re- air-law, met, bureaucracy, going foreign etc - ideal for say 6~12mths or so post-PPL... and you may even meet that flying buddy on the seminar![*]Socialise through PPRuNe, Flyer Forums, Fly-Ins etc - the enthusiasm of others is infectious and will generate new ideas, and reasons to fly-in to new airfields![/list=1]
What do others think of this "recipe"?
Andy
What do others think of this "recipe"?
Andy
AA
Sounds great, in fact perhaps we could have a FLYING BUDDY thread, along the lines of the spare seats sticky; get people in touch with their flying friend.
Sounds great, in fact perhaps we could have a FLYING BUDDY thread, along the lines of the spare seats sticky; get people in touch with their flying friend.
)A little less conversation,
a little more aviation...
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The real PPL is the PPL/IMC, the basic PPL is effectively a recreational pilots licence for sunny sunday afternoons rather than for using an aircraft as serious transport.
Some would say the real PPL never leaves the traffic pattern as he is still trying to master landing a Pitts. Horses for courses, I find flying more than 100 miles to be exceedingly boring, telling people they aren't a real PPL because they don't fly cross country is a good way to alienate them and make them spend their money elsewhere.
Some would say the real PPL never leaves the traffic pattern as he is still trying to master landing a Pitts. Horses for courses, I find flying more than 100 miles to be exceedingly boring, telling people they aren't a real PPL because they don't fly cross country is a good way to alienate them and make them spend their money elsewhere.
Alan Cassidy sums it all up, really....
"The air is a three dimensional environment. Flying is to aerobatics as swimming is to scuba diving. To explore the latter, you need first to learn the former. Expand this analogy to develop a scale of involvement and passion. The progression is exponential.
Flying a circuit is a length of an indoor pool. A cross-country flight to Spain is swimming a kilometer out to sea. Aerobatics is diving the coral reef and cavorting with dolphins"
Last Sunday was almost spiritual - flying aerobatics in gin-clear air, the fog stretching out to the horizon to the west, just the towers at Didcot showing, then slow-rolling back home to the club - log fires burning in the bar, the club dog ambling around, a beer, good company. It just doesn't get any better than that.
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A buddy system is a very useful tool, again we have one through our club website and forum. It has been a bit slow in taking off, but is now starting to really become well used.
Again not rocket science, it just takes a bit of thought.
Again not rocket science, it just takes a bit of thought.
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Quite right eharding, which sort of proves the point. What one person gets out of private flying is different from another. So to say that you are not a real ppl unless you fly cross country, or you are not a real ppl if you only want to land a pitts (which isn't my opinion, just what others say) shows a basic misunderstanding.
People should be able to do what they want, and in the UK that means reducing the level of burden on the private flyer, both regulatory and tax. If you then make it easier for joe bloggs to fly light aircraft it will change the whole culture of flying in the UK, which is another issue I see here. It's shown on this thread too, a sort of 'you aren't a real PPL', that would drive me away pretty quick.
A post on the instructor's forum led to CAA stats. In 2000 there were 27661 PPLs with medicals, in 2004 there were 22955. So a loss of 17%. There are figures for PPL issuances and IMC issuances in each year in between, but I don't have the time to make sense of them.
People should be able to do what they want, and in the UK that means reducing the level of burden on the private flyer, both regulatory and tax. If you then make it easier for joe bloggs to fly light aircraft it will change the whole culture of flying in the UK, which is another issue I see here. It's shown on this thread too, a sort of 'you aren't a real PPL', that would drive me away pretty quick.
A post on the instructor's forum led to CAA stats. In 2000 there were 27661 PPLs with medicals, in 2004 there were 22955. So a loss of 17%. There are figures for PPL issuances and IMC issuances in each year in between, but I don't have the time to make sense of them.