Learning to fly, only at weekends? (+ first post)

[Adam_]

Hi all. My first post here I believe .

I'm currently learning to fly with a flying club based at Shoreham airport. Due to work committments (self employed) I can only fly at weekends. I also live a good 45 miles from the airport.

While the lessons I've had have been great, I keep having them cancelled due to weather despite it being the height of summer which, as I'm sure you can imagine, is very frustrating when you're just starting out and are itching to get in the air!

Obviously if I have a lesson booked for a Sunday and the weather is no good I have to wait until the following weekend to fly again. I can only imagine this getting worse as we head into Autumn/Winter and I would assume I'm going to spend a lot of time in my future lessons backtracking due to the 2 week gap. At £140/hour + landing fees I want to make the most efficient use of my time and also get my license ASAP so I can take to the skies properly!

Essentially I just wanted to vent my frustration and possibly ask the advice of anyone in a similar position. Short of moving next door to the airfield and flying after work during the week, is there any better way to manage my flying time to best effect? If I can't fly every week due to the weather, would it be worth switching from 1 hour to 2 hour lessons? I don't really want to fly Saturday *and* Sunday as it's a 90 mile round trip to Shoreham for me and that's a lot of time wasted in the car!

Finally I'd just like to say I've been reading this forum for the past month or so and I'm finding it a fantastic resource to learn about the real world of flying. Everyone seems knowledgeable and friendly with no sign of the trolls, troublemakers and charlatans you see on other (non aviation) forums. I hope I can contribute in some way as I start gaining my own experience.

[Adam_]

Thanks Emma (assuming that's your name and not really your plane reg)

It's nice to know other people are in the same position with work getting in the way of hobbies... fact of life unfortunately .

I did take my trial lesson on a Monday morning (we flew to the isle of wight) and I did notice how quiet it was at Shoreham and especially Sandown compared to the weekends. Unfortunately taking time off during the week other than that particular occasion is totally out of the question .

Are 2 hour lessons out of the ordinary, guys? I think I'll speak to my instructor about it next week. I'm used to working 12 hour days so 2 hours having fun shouldn't be too draining!

[WildDart]

I was as well doing 1 lesson a week for about a year, half of them got cancelled due to for circuits it needs to be near perfect.

If a lesson is cancelled use it wisely and revise for your airlaw and other 5 exams. Alternative stick with it and as your self employeed be generious on your time, maybe when a good week of weather is in sight try to book as much flying as possible, do it after work ect??

[chris 68]

hi adam,

i am a low hours ppl also, and very much in the same boat as you, except i only get to slot lessons into one afternoon a weekend ,saturdays normaly busy but i like it that way as i think if you learn when quite then suddenly its busy and you have suddenly incressed your work load purley as your not used to it, saying that some schools are cheaper during the week, which is a bonus in a expensive hobby.

any way you said about doing 2 hour lessons, is good idea but make sure you have a break, say one hour before lunch have lunch then a hour after,just gives you time to recope and gather your compshure again.

i am just started in the circuit , and i cant believe how draining it can be,you dont feel to bad while doing them but once you stop close down you realise your drained.

sorry was my instruters advice about the break by the way,he gave lots of reasons,all made good sense.

any way hope that helps, havnt said the reason i posted was to actuly say i dont get to fly every weekend either and i dont think it realy has caused me problems or cost me any extra money yet,
and i also have changed school fro one that was on my door step within a mile to one 50 miles away, much better value for money in my opion, more aeroplanes no landing fees extra, bit of a drive but much happier there,

not much of a writter so hope that helps and makes a little scence to you.

cheers
chris

[sternone]

Hi, my lessons are booked for 2 hours each time, but i end up with acutal flying time of about 1h30min or 1h45min due to getting the plane out, checklists etc...

I have no experience in having lessons of 1 hour but i can tell you that i'm quite exhausted after my 2 hours lessons. I choose for 2 hour lessons because i do not wan't to rush things and do it step by step without having to look at the watch all the time.

Happy landings

[Gertrude the Wombat]

If you can get the slots, you could try booking one each Saturday and one each Sunday. You'll only fly half of them, as you have observed, but you'll still get in the average one lesson per week ... and you'll get most value out of the Sunday lessons where you have managed to fly the day before.

Oh, and about the self employed bit ... I thought one of the main points of being self employed was being able to take time off work whenever you feel like it! - that's why I do it, anyway.

[michaelthewannabe]

yeah, what the others say. I've currently clocked up six consecutive lesson cancellations, and the forecast suggests there will be more before I next get in the sky again! So frustrating. I was apparently close to solo at the end of my last lesson two-and-a-half weeks ago, but since it might be the week after next before I next fly, the delay has probably added an entire lesson to recover the skills I've lost.

When I was at Fly-in-Spain in Jerez, the lessons were notionally two hours, but I found that I reached the limit of my concentration at about 1h20, resulting in a maximum block time for a lesson of about 1h40. So the best bet is to organise two (or three if you're feeling brave!) lessons for a day each weekend, and assume that you've got at a 50-75% chance of it being randomly cancelled. Provided that the rest of your life is flexible enough to work around this, it should make the best use of your available flying time.

Best of luck!

[BRAIN66]

Chill out mucker you have roughly 2-years to get your ticket according to reg,s.Just get your NPL first at 35 hours then worry about the rest the only thing you might want to consider the longer the time between lesson adds to the refresher and practise training which will add an additional 2000 at least on to your flight training.Maybe after your xcountry trip take time off work to finish off the rest and book your flight test.
Good Luck

[1d2d3d4d]

Hi Adam

I was in much the same position during my PPL training. I'd book 2 1 1/2 hour slots every other Saturday with at least a one slot break. Some weeks I would fly both slots, some weeks just one slot, rarely both slots would be weathered off. During the breaks I would talk to other pilots and instructors, ask about flight plans, even had a free ground school on radiation fog (one fog bound day) and if there was no one about I would sit out airside with the radio scanner listening to the RT. During training no time at the airfield need be wasted even if the weather is bad (there will be at least one bored instructor about to explain about flight plans, NOTAMs, TAFs, METARS, etc).

Regards Chris

[michaelthewannabe]

take time off work to finish off the rest

yeah, the problem with this is that there's only a small to middling chance that any time booked off will actually be flyable! Need a flexible boss. My current ratio for lessons booked/lessons flown is 4/18.

Anyway, Adam said he can only fly weekends because he's self-employed, so maybe it's not an option anyway.

1d2d3d4d's comment is most sensible. I've learned a hell of a lot from hanging out with instructors and other students, or just whiling away the odd half-hour with a receiver.

[Adam_]

You've all made very good points, especially the one about hanging around the airfield, listening to the R/T, talking to the instructors. Thanks, it's certainly food for thought .

I'm not exaggerating though when I say that I can only fly at weekends. I can't take a week off for some intensive training either, at least not this year.

I guess I just need to learn some patience.

[PompeyPaul]

Funny, summer seems to suck for flying

My log book shows that winter has been excellent for flying, whilst summer has been non stop cancelled lessons. Funny the number of people coming into the flight school enquiring about learning to fly thinking summer is better. I'd actually start around October \ November time and get your night rating into the bargain.

I do what other's here suggest. I tend to book 4 lessons, 2 either side of lunch on a Saturday, and the same on the Sunday. If I get all 4 then I make up for lost time elsewhere, if I don't then you may get _some_ flying.

I also make sure though, that if the lesson is cancelled that you sit down with your instructor for an hour or so and get through the books. I've generally passed an exam when I couldn't fly.

Don't underestimate how quickly you'll get to the test. I know it seems a long way off now but it will come quicker than you think. You don't want to get there and have to wait a month or so because you don't have your 7 exam passes (exactly where I am now). So if you can't fly, crunch through the books and get another exam done.

[Whirlybird]

Don't book two hour lessons. I've never yet met a student who could concentrate for more than an hour and a half in the early days of training, and some can't manage an hour. I teach on helicopters, which is perhaps slightly more intensive, but I have a PPL(A) too, so I know it's not all that different. If your instructor is any good, he'll be pushing you pretty much to your limit all the time, and you can't keep that up. I've abandoned lessons before now as the student obviously couldn't cope with any more - that's not a criticism; everyone is different, but there's no point in my wasting someone's money and time.

However, two one-hour lessons on the same day is a good idea. Or even three, but I tried that in my early days of training and found it too much...I simply couldn't take it in. If your instructor's good with people, he'll start to know when you're reaching your limit, but a lot of instructors are young and inexperienced...and anyway, you've got to learn this sort of thing yourself someday, so it might as well be now. Flying is all about learning about yourself, more than about manipulating the controls.

As has been said, when you can't fly, do other flying-related stuff. Study for the exams. Learn all you possibly can about navigation and weather - you can never know too much. Go down to the airfield, borrow the POH (pilot's operating handbook) for the aircraft you're flying, and read it thoroughly. You can never know too much about the aircraft you're flying either. Listen to the radio, chat to instructors, listen to more experienced pilots' conversations and join in if you can; overall, simply immerse yourself in the flying world. You'll pick up more than you realise.

In summary, don't make the mistake that many of us make in the beginning in assuming that flying hours are what count. The more study and preparation you do, the better you'll be able to make use of your flying time - so the less it'll cost you overall. You don't fly a certain number of hours and then miraculously get a licence...you get it when you're good enough. That often relates to the preparation and study you've done. And if it doesn't....well, then you're in real trouble, because you won't know enough from just scraping through the exams to cope when you're out there on your own anyway.

Above all, quit panicking. Unpredictable weather is normal in the UK. You're going to be going through this scenario for the rest of your flying life. And you can get lovely weather in the autumn and winter...like we had a wonderful spring this year. Or you might not. You have to get used to it, so you may as well start now.

Or....you could move to Australia or Los Angeles instead.

Good luck,

Whirly (instructor grounded due to weather, so lots of time to post on threads I've never even looked at before)

[michaelthewannabe]

Whirlybird is, unsurprisingly, right on the money.

Reminds me of the lesson I had with an optimistic instructor in Spain, who filed for for a two hour lesson...

After about 1h30 of intense tuition, I was in a descent aiming for 75 knots, and it was getting more rapid. "Pull back!", says the instructor. I am! Airspeed nudges 100 knots. "Pull back!", he says more urgently. But I am! What the hell is wrong... airspeed is approaching 110 knots, I'm pulling back...

"OK, you're confused, we go home, I have control..." as he pulls the yoke back from the forwards position I was pushing it into.

That was quite a shock, and I learned something rather valuable about myself. I think every student should be taken on a 2-hour lesson until their brain fails, just once.

[Whirlybird]

I think every student should be taken on a 2-hour lesson until their brain fails, just once.

A good point (though not necessarily practical). Far, far better that you find out about overload when you're with an instructor rather than when you're out there alone.

I have a rule. When a student starts to push the controls the wrong way after previously getting it right, or simply can't hear what I say when I've said the same thing about three times, or hears but can't send the messages to his/her hands and feet....

It's time to stop. Back we go for a coffee, even if we come out again later. And often a little chat about stress and fatigue. And if it's happened after less than three-quarters of an hour, a chat about individual differences, recognising one's own limitations, and not getting competitive or trying to be superman/woman.

You see, you can learn an awful lot without actually doing any flying...or paying for it.

Michael, I bet your instructor learned something that day too.

[grat]

Late this May I re-soloed again at my new club after a years break in my PPL training. It was not a good solo and my first landing attempt I aborted and did a go around. Second attempt was fine. Basically I am trying to get more solo hours and finding the weather very frustrating. I had not flown for three weeks and the rust seemed to set in quite quickly. I had a lesson yesterday and with the cross wind (it was small but enough for me) I felt I had gone backwards. Everything seemed a lot more busy. Base was of short duration because of the tail wind and the crabbing I did not find very natural. Took a few attempts to start to get the hang of it but on the last landing it all came together and I got her centrally down on the numbers. I am just hoping the weather can be a little kinder and let me get a couple of straight weekends in a row in. Hopefully I will feel some personal progress has been made. It is very frustrating like everybody here has said but I guess that is the nature of flying in the British climate.

[effortless]

You say that you are 45 miles away from Shoreham. The must be somwhere close. I love Shoreham but I would rather increase my flying opportunities. Also what has been said about winter flying is true. I don't get up a huge amount but most of it is in bright cold conditions. This is really much more comfortable if you are flying a spam can as well.

[High Wing Drifter]

It doesn't get much better with an aircraft share. I seem to be just going from one re-currency checkout to the next over the last few months.

[foxmoth]

I would go along with booking 2 separate hour lessons and allow yourself a reasonable interval between so you can relax - maybe one in the morning and another after lunch, it is worth trying 3 lessons in the day, I did my PPL on a flying scholarship and 3 trips a day were the norm, but try it and see how you go - I did do 4 hours one day and that was definitely too much. As far as the wx getting worse, I think you will find the best weather in August and early September (It is always bad for Wimbledon and why do you think Glastonbury is known for its mud!) and it may be worth looking at taking a bit of holiday at that time and getting some intensive flying in then.

[sternone]

Auch, after reading these posts i maybe switch from 1x 2 hours to 2x 1 hour!! i guess my flying instructor won't like that!!!