'Down Time'

[Adam1919]

Hi everyone,

I wondered what your thoughts were on getting through the unvaoidable down time at this time of year due to the weather.

For example I started in August this year and up to now have amassed 20 hrs and went solo at 16 hrs, the rest have been solo circuits. I have now hit a brick wall as my last 5 lessons have been cancelled due to the weather which I of course understand. However flying on weekends due to working full time means a baron spell due to the weather can often mean 2-3 weeks, sometimes more with no lessons.

I knew this time would come as had been more than lucky getting to 20 hrs up to now (I had aimed to just get nicely into double figures by Xmas just as a point to aim for). So I am ahead of schedule.

I raise this as wondered if any one had comments on the following:

1) Given I have passed RT practical/written and air law I still have 4 'exams' to do should I just focus on getting these done now ad have to accept I wont get many hours in between now and the spring? It has been suggested to me that my focus next ( I am just about to take Met) should be the nav exam as not only will that prep me for the next part of the flying training syllabus but I have to pass that before I do the qual X-country?

2) Can anyone comment on the impact of large unavoidable weather related flying gaps as far as impact on continuity? As in can you loose some of your new found skills because you simply dont get to practise them as often?

3) Anyones experiences on the up's and downs of lesson bookings who like me wanted to achieve their PPL within 12-14 months?

All comments welcome. My instructor has said a few times my flying is very good so full of confidence but worried I could inadvertantly take a few steps back in my progress as Dec-Mar will prob be a write off!

cheers
Adam

[vancouv]

I'm sure you'll get a lot of different views, but this is what I found when I was learning. It's easy to have a month without flying during the winter, and personally I found that after such a long gap my flying had definitely suffered. So it was sometimes hard to do anything except catch up. This seemed like a bit of a waste of money.

So, I concentrated on doing my written exams, and hung around the club as much as possible. I spent the time talking flying, and tried to hitch a lift with anyone who might be able to get out. Often the weather was not good enough for me to do anything useful, but OK for more experienced pilots.

If you've been circuit bashing solo then I assume you'll be off navigating soon. There's a lot to learn about this, so make the most of instructors who are hanging around and absorb everything they have to tell you.

I also booked longer slots, say 2 hours rather than 1, so if the weather was OK I could make the most of it. However, depending on what I was doing 2 hours could turn out to be too long - I used to find it very tiring, so it paid to know what I was going to be doing. My club only charges if you fly, so 2 hours watching the rain cost the same as 1 hour!

Good luck!

[Redbird72]

Depending, of course, on where in the country you are and what kind of airfield you fly from, you may be surprised at how much flying you can get done in winter.

I find the mixed weather in Autumn and Spring cost me more hours than mid-winter itself; all of my milestone flights (first solo, QXC & test) were in the winter months so I must have been flying enough to keep momentum up.
I would make plenty of bookings, accept that some will be lost, and push on. That said, it does no harm to keep up with the exams too, keep you busy during the dark evenings

[mur007]

In general I booked twice as many lessons as I needed on the assumption that roughly 50% of would be cancelled. As you get nearer your PPL try and get your instructor to take you up in more marginal weather as it will show you how horrible it can be. Good learning that - much more effective than simply being told it will be horrible!!

[steveking]

I think I was able to catch the odd days during the week as well but I just had a look in my logbook and I done most of my stuff during the winter.

first solo was 23 october
x country was 5 janurary
skills test was 22 janurary

[Johnm]

As you are in England, I would keep booking and accept cancellation and in the meantime concentrate on getting the exams done. Also try to make friends with someone who has a IMCR or IR and get some right hand seat time on the poor days, an observer for practice approaches is always appreciated, even if you can't see anything until you are at 250ft on final :-)

[W2k]

When I started flying I deliberately waited until the midst of winter to ensure that I would get my PPL(A) while there was still a bit of summer left .. lo and behold, it worked! Took me six months from start to finish. Most of the flying between april and july, obviously.

That being said, it wasn't that hard finding flyable weather during winter. My logbook tells that I got 21 hours in january-march. That's nearly half the course (or about a third if you're like me and a slow learner ) and in any case, very far from being "down-time".

[Ryan5252]

Try not to forget that you will get bad weather in the UK at any time of the year. I have found Winter to be ok for flying. You can come across some beautifully still crisp days with no haze, so don't give up hope yet! Also, you should absolutely be cracking on with the exams. Get them out of the way sooner rather than later.

In terms of keeping current, you mention that you work full time and only the weekends suit you. What about evenings either during the week or at weekends? Sometimes the weather can improve and you get some nice night flying. A night rating is 5 hours and AFAIK this 5 hours can be included in the 45 required for PPL issue so its not wasted. Obvious advantage is that when you do get your licence it will not have the Daytime only restriction. Downsides could be more expensive rates for Instructor or paying extra to keep the airport running after dark. Food for thought.

Ryan

[Big Pistons Forever]

I tell my students that if they have not flown for 2 weeks they should take 30 min and chair fly their last flight. By that I mean sit alone in a quiet area with your checklists and go through your last flight from start up to shut down, including verbalizing all the major points. so for example for take off
You would say

OK I am cleared for takeoff, throttle goes in slowly and smoothly with the stick slightly aft, good engine check done I am concentrating on maintaining centre line, rotate at XX kn climb out at YYkn keep ball in the centre etc etc.

it will seem a little bit silly at first but it can be a very effective way to retain knowledge.

The other thing worth reviewing during down times is emeregency procedures.

[mmgreve]

it will seem a little bit silly at first but it can be a very effective way to retain knowledge.

It can seem a bit silly but it is very effective. In the Air Force we did a lot of hours rehearsing at night with an empty coke bottle and a buddy to check everything you went through. It was the only way to get everything bang-on the next morning.

Also, you'll see display pilots and racing drivers doing it all the time

[IO540]

as Dec-Mar will prob be a write off!

No reason why it should be - unless we get a winter which is just a load of warm fronts hanging in one place, for a week after week.

Winters have loads of nice days.

One needs to keep one's working week flexible... hard to do for many people, I know.

[Sciolistes]

You will loose a few lessons, but not that many. On the plus side you get a more rounded experience and also learn lots about ice and de-icing. There are some stunning flying days in the depths if the nether months too

So long as you armchair fly regularly, your skills won't degrade significantly during any downtime.

[FleetFlyer]

Get a job that allows you to 'work' from home.

Also, use simlutors to practice procedures to keep you current with at least some aspects of your flying. It won't help maintain your 'feel' for flying the plane but it will give you the work load you need to tax your brain whilst running through your radio calls and checks. This in turn means you will find returning to flying after a break less taxing as you're still fresh with the non-handling aspects of flying.

I realise there are many people out there who will disagree with this POV but I have found its worked for me very well.

[Slopey]

The work flexibility is the key as IO says.

Winter is a fantastic time to fly, there's usually a good few crisp, clear blue sky days with an excellent winter wonderland to fly over - can't beat it for scenery imho.

However those days do tend to occur midweek!

(Thankfully I can vanish from the office at short notice )

[steveking]

Today being one of them. Looks lovely outside.

[Miroku]

I learnt a huge amount just by going to the airfield and chatting to the instructors on any point that was puzzleing me. That seemed to take care of most bad weather days.

Also I would sit in the aircraft and go through the check list. It all seemed to help.

[I Love Flying]

Here's my twopenneth worth:

Definitely get those exams out of the way as soon as you can. But, be positive. As has been said already, it is possible to get some lovely flying days in the winter.

I had my first lesson on 3rd October 2009. I passed my Skills Test on 24th April 2010. So it can be done. OK, I was able to be a little more flexible than you with times, but I quickly learnt to book way more lessons than I needed, knowing that a fair few would be cancelled. If they weren't, then I cancelled them instead if I thought I was getting 'overloaded'. I would suggest that if you are able, you pre-book the days and times you can do now for the next four weeks and keep this rolling week by week.

Congratulations on your progress so far, and fingers crossed for lovely winter weekends for all of us......