Ben's PPL Diary

[i.dingbat]

Hours to solo

Ben

Just to up the average a bit, I'd flown 22 hours before my first solo - it took me a long time to keep a tailwheeler straight on take-off.

Marginal vision? Just wear glasses, or a monocle .

I'm also officially a Flying Scotsman, by the way.

Iain

[Hampshire Hog]

Ben - my time to solo - about 20 hours. Don't worry about how long it takes to do that. An ex-instructor I know who now captains an A320 told me he always found those who went solo later ended up as better 'all round' pilots. Don't think he was talking about their waistlines!

Eyesight - I have a squint which was inadequately corrected when I was about 4 years old. Also, I am short sighted in one eye and long sighted in the other. My medical examiner had to refer to the CAA, but no problem - they issued my certificate. Renewal is a simpler process, unless your sight has deteriorated below renewal limits. I was told if the CAA were worried they might call you to Gatwick so their expert can take a look at you. They do their best to issue a certificate - wherever it's safe to do so. Failing that, the NPPL demands are less restrictive still - but wait and see what happens before going down that route. You want a CAA medical certificate if possible.

HH

[Mad Girl]

Hi Ben

I took up flying this year after getting hooked on Aero's. 14 1/2 hours (3 are Aero's) and in the circuit.

My Instructor is also an examiner.
For your information you don't have to do Air Law before your solo, but you do need to have an aviation medical for PPL but I believe you can get a GP medical for NPPL. Flying schools say that you have to pass Air Law before soloing to encourage students to take it as it's a pig.

I also have to say that it is beneficial for a soloist to know what to do if they come into conflict with other aircraft - my instructer posts in some of these forums and I don't want a clip around the ear!!!

So far I've passed Air Law(79%), Human performance and limitations(100%), Flight performance and planning (90%) and Aircraft technical (90%) in 7 weeks. So they can be done quickly with a little effort. I'm using the Thom books.

Word of warning (courtesy of my instructor) the rules are as follows:-
You have 18 months from the date of passing your first exam to get them all. You then have a further 24 month's to get all your flying done.

I'm planning to do another 2 exams before the summer (RT & NAV) and then sit back for the next 12 months or so before doing Meteorology as I don't want the flying clock ticking too soon.

As for circuits - the actual circuit isn't too bad now, approach is dodgy and as for getting the wheels on the runway - aaagh!!!!

Good Luck with your lessons - keep us informed.

[bencoulthard]

Running PPL expenses
£28 2 1-500k charts

£1289.37 Total so far

To be continued

[cessna l plate]

Just a word of advice Ben. Money, those who say it isn't everything (David Cameron) generally have cart loads of it. There is old saying, "how do you make a small fortune in aviation? Start with a large one!"

I don't want to put you off, but on occasion I will have the "how much have you spent so far" discussion with she who must be obeyed. I stopped couting a long time ago. We learn to fly for one of two reasons.

We either A love it to bits, do it for the thrill, excitement and acheivment
or B to become an airline pilot.

If you are doing this for the ppl alone to go and fly with your freinds on nice days, or make business trips that little more quicker and exciting then do it for that. The money is insignificant because you are hooked and will fly whatever. Until you look at what you've spent and then a little bell goes off in the back of your head thinking of other things that a large amount of money can buy. (New kitchen at the last heart to heart me and the missus had!) If you can afford it, don't budget and dont really count it. Yes have a rough idea, but don't add up every penny. You may get to a point, say waiting for QXC, and wait months for a good day. You will want to do some flying in that period, maybe a circuit or 10 to keep your hand in, but you may not budget for that. The average time to ppl is about 60 hours, so don't base it on the 45 minimum anyway. Do it for the love of it!

As for becoming an airline pilot, the bills associated with that are there for all to see in the back pages of pilot, flyer and the others every month. That cost is enough to make Alan Sugar sweat, but ambition can drive you through it if that is what you want to do.

Whatever you do in flying, enjoy it. I find thinking of the money does numb the enjoyment a little.

That's my opinion anyway

Now dons tin helmet, crouches down and waits for the incoming.....

[bencoulthard]

Thanks for the wise words cp, I'm not too concerned with the costs I have a reasonable salary.
I'm doing the running total for people who maybe are stretching the budget a bit.
I know I'd be pissed, if in my excitement of starting to fly, had I added up the costs and came up with 45 X £110 only then to realise this is the tip of the iceberg.

[cessna l plate]

"Stretching the budget"
That would be me then!!!!!!

[SkyHawk-N]

Originally Posted by bencoulthard

Thanks for the wise words cp, I'm not too concerned with the costs I have a reasonable salary.

Is that taking into account the amount that someone of your age should be setting aside for your pension?

[Lister Noble]

Originally Posted by bencoulthard

Thanks for the wise words cp, I'm not too concerned with the costs I have a reasonable salary.
.

Ben,always be concerned about costs however large your salary.
I bet Alan Sugar is concerned about costs!
you never know what's round the corner.
Lister

[bencoulthard]

I don't waste money but I wouldn't need to panic if I'd budgeted £6k for ppl and it came to 10.
All of you need to cross your fingers for me, 2 reasons, firstly i'm going to the dentist in the morning and no sir i dont like it, secondly im going for my eye examination for my pilot's medical. I'm hoping to reach class 1 medical standards so i can get that just in case.
You never know what's just around the corner ;-) right Lister?

[Lister Noble]

Medical cost

That's certainly something to factor in.
I was going for a NPPL then half way through course changed to a JAR/PPL.
Initial examination £140,then needed extra stuff,stress ECG,echocardiagram and 24 Holter test.That was another £648!
Eye test was free I think because of my venerable age.

Good news - it was all OK
Lister

[cessna l plate]

Just an interesting note here. Very very good advice about pensions and saving for the future.
The idea is right, but the practical is a different issue. My accountant has for the last 5 years advised me against joining in a pension scheme, as the rewards at the end of it, based on current figures, have a more than even chance of not being worth what I paid in!!!!!
The insurance companies went through a period of mis-selling in the late 80's and early 90's. They are still paying off the fines and compensation awards, so if you plough your hard earned into a pension scheme then a lot of it goes in admin fees to pay these. Why the hell should I pay for someone elses screw up???
My accountant's current advice, and it is good, is invest in property. Buy a house, do it up, rent it out (not dss, the rate is too low). Do this over a period of time, buying more along the way, and end up with 10 or so houses, all paying for themselves. Although the price of property does goes up and down, over a long period, say 20 years, it will go up. When you retire, sell the lot at a huge profit and retire to the Costa Del Sol, simple!
Tin Hat on again!!!

[bencoulthard]

I was just revising with the AFE law book and it says you can have up to 5 hours towards your 45 in "an approved flight simulator"

Anyone used one of these? if so where? Does MFFS2004 count
Could be a 2nd class solution for crappy weather days.
Ben

[cessna l plate]

FS 2004 DOES NOT count. Sorry.
What we are looking at here is what is known as a Flight Navigation Procedures Trainer or FNPT device.

At our end of the aviation spectrum whilst the overall cost can seem , and indeed is expensive, flight simulation costs either the same or sometimes more. Even if there is little difference in price, because the difference is so small, you are better just doing your flying in a real plane.

At the airline end of things, the simulators are a lot cheaper, and can reproduce emergiencies that you really wouldn't want to carry out in $30million of plane, at our end of things a small trainer can be bought for about £20K. Small fry in comparison. Thta's why we really don't use simulators in general aviation

[bencoulthard]

Today's lesson went well. My first time in and around cloud, we spent half the lesson aiming for the sunny bits, which was fun.
I'm now at 5:15 flying time, I still want to let go of the throttle every time after I adjust it. Also FI covered the AI to keep my eyes outside a bit more.
After my lesson today I did my aviation law exam, 90% and passed I'm pleased to say. When I first did the confuser I got about 67% but after I reviewed my wrong answers I seemed to do better. When I checked the ones I got wrong there was nothing too serious, but still wrong nonetheless

Running PPL expenses
£180.25 today's lesson
£ 10.00 law exam

£1479.62 Total so far

Ben

[MyData]

Ben

Congratulations on the Air Law pass. One down, more to go.

Agree 100% with Cessna's comments. You will probably find that 'sim' hours for GA training are at least as expensive as regular flying - and these aren't the full motion video machines that you see on TV.

[cessna l plate]

Congratulations on passing the exam. Air law is seen as the nasty one for some reason, maybe I am weird in actually liking the subject of law, I dunno! It is proably viewed as the worst, as for a lot of people, for me certainly, it was the first proper exam I had taken in the 15 years since I left school, and that may be a part of it.

What you touched on here is method of learning. As a trainee driving instructor I have studied these things to a point!( that is why I am still training) There are some people who can memorise vast chunks of information, and those like me that can't. My method of learning is to see what I actually know first, then read up on the subject, then have a go of a mock exam such as the confuser, and then learn about what I got wrong. This is my method, it works for me, but might not work for everyone, just a thought though!

A good point to also remember is that there are no trick questions in these exams, the idea of them is not to see what you can remember, but to see if you can apply some basic principles and rules to your flying. With that in mind you can actually apply common sense to SOME of the questions to get them right. Just as a for instance, QFE. If you are asked a question about it, then it probably be along the lines of what does it mean, and there will be a couple of red herrings in the possible answers. Ever wondered where it came from? Well the "Q" code came out of the second world war, and maybe the "FE" stands for "Field Elevation". See what I mean. Also worth remembering that we have multiple choice answers. so the correct answer is actually infront of you, so my advice, more than any other is RTFQ! Read The Flipping Question! (You can think it means something else if you want)

[JHM]

Virgin flyer

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to this and looking to start my PPL soon which has been a life long dream. Can anyone give me an answer as to how much it costs to keep a PPL, after completing the training. Also for anyone based around London, can you recommend Cabair based at Elstree or Stapleford flight centre.

Thanks

PS. enjoyed reading some of the entries for a first time visit.

[drauk]

JHM,

There is nothing wrong with the instruction you'll get from Cabair, nor anything wrong with learning to fly at Elstree. The quality of the instruction, their ground school materials and their facilities, in my experience, is pretty high.

You should know that it certainly isn't the cheapest option though. The planes they use tend to be more modern than most places, plus they charge extra for everything. For example, they charge you landing fees at Elstree when in reality landing at Elstree is free for planes based there. If pushed on it they'll tell you that it's not a landing fee but their handling fee, which frankly I feel is a bit of a scam. Being a larger school means they've plenty of planes in case one is out of service on any given day, ditto lots of instructors. They are unlikely to disappear overnight which might be a concern with a small school. They don't have much of a club atmosphere, so if that is important to you then you should look elsewhere.

If you want to take a free trip from Elstree send me a PM.

Keeping a PPL current - extremely variable, depending on what you want to fly and how much. Basic hiring is going to cost you about 100+VAT an hour. If you only do it once a month you'll find you have to keep getting checked out (i.e. 'mini flight test') by an instructor, so you probably want to aim for every three weeks or so. So, approximately £2,000 for the flying, say £200 for landing fees, £100ish for revalidating your type rating (200 every 2 years), £100 for charts and flight guides and stuff: about £2,500 a year. If you've a few thousand pounds to put down you could join a group and pay perhaps £75 per hour and £50 per month fixed fee. Or fly a microlight or PFA type and pay much less. There will be people who say that flying only 20 hours a year is barely enough to keep you current, but it's down to the individual, both in terms of their own abilities and desires, and what they feel comfortable with.

[bencoulthard]

Blind testing the blind

Eye site requirements, has anyone else had hitches getting a medical due to this?

I have an astigmatism, my left eye equals the class 2 med requirements my right eyes is outside them. I wear glasses and contacts(not usually at the same time) with them I have great vision and I can read the bottom line on the opticians chart with both eyes. However my correction for astigmatism is where I fail.

I don't really understand these rules as I can't figure out what difference it makes whether my lense is a 3.00 correction or a 69875429378.89 correction, it is still in my eye and I have 20/20 vision with it. bloody twice.

So anyway, I spoke to CAA eyesite guy who was very helpful but promised me there is a slim to none chance of getting a class 1 medical, I can get a class 2 medical but it will have a restriction on it, as far as I can gather I won't actually go solo, I will have a safety pilot with me.

I'd just like to say at this point its put a real downer on things and i'm pretty pi**ed off.

Ben (taking it out on everyone) Coulthard

And on a final note I paid for a title last night from PPRUNE and i havent got it yet, how long is it normally to sort this out?