Lapl
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Lapl
Hello, I have done 2 hours of flying and have recently committed to my Lapl although it's not confirmed yet. I have bought somethings from the Internet including a map of the local area (from Pooleys in 1/500000 scale) a flying experience book (second hand also from Pooleys) a logbook I was actually given at the end of my last trial lesson as with a checklist for the Piper Tomahawk. I am wondering what else I should purchase (bearing in mind I'm only 14 and don't have vaults full of cash), thank you Liam King
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Hi
Suggest you see if you can hire the relevant books for the exams from a library. If they don't have them, they will find someone that does.
Probably ebay best place to get basic kit like the whirly wheel etc. Don't buy new!
Headset will be biggest outlay but hang fire. you are young so good hearing so I expect the club headsets sound fine to you
Consult websites for various grants/scholarships available. i know for a fact many go unclaimed? Use good old google and type it in. Check out LAA education section and also Guild of Air Pilots.
T
Suggest you see if you can hire the relevant books for the exams from a library. If they don't have them, they will find someone that does.
Probably ebay best place to get basic kit like the whirly wheel etc. Don't buy new!
Headset will be biggest outlay but hang fire. you are young so good hearing so I expect the club headsets sound fine to you
Consult websites for various grants/scholarships available. i know for a fact many go unclaimed? Use good old google and type it in. Check out LAA education section and also Guild of Air Pilots.
T
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Thank you for the advice
I personally do not have any problem hearing ATC or my instructor during my trial lessons although I have seen several forums saying they are dirty old etc but the ones at Inverness seem fine. Also I live in the far north of Scotland, believe it or not 115 miles from Inverness airport where my course would be conducted. Because of this I would probalary have to go once a month or so by taking the train which would take 4 hours or by bus which would be at least 3 assuming it doesn't break down! If my parents couldn't take me when my dads working offshore
I personally do not have any problem hearing ATC or my instructor during my trial lessons although I have seen several forums saying they are dirty old etc but the ones at Inverness seem fine. Also I live in the far north of Scotland, believe it or not 115 miles from Inverness airport where my course would be conducted. Because of this I would probalary have to go once a month or so by taking the train which would take 4 hours or by bus which would be at least 3 assuming it doesn't break down! If my parents couldn't take me when my dads working offshore
Last edited by littleboylime; 21st Oct 2015 at 20:28.
You're doing it right.
The chart is a good idea. Check the checklist you have is the same as the flying school prefer - if it's not, stick it on eBay and get/copy one from the school.
Some kind of flight bag is a good idea, but anything kicking around the house is fine - "real" pilots don't buy expensive flight bags, trust me on this. [Ditto watches!]
Look online for a copy of the aircraft flight manual, or ask if there's an electronic copy at the club you can scrounge.
Some kind of kneeboard is a good idea - but an A5 clipboard with an elastic strap on the back will do fine. Some sheets of A5 paper on it - in time you'll need a PLOG pad, but for now just some paper, and something to write with that's either in a pen holder, or tied on.
Having your own headset is nice eventually, but there's no need to hurry. When you get to that point, eBay or a company in Edinburgh called Harry Mendelsson will do nicely - their cheap HM40 budget headsets are as good as branded stuff that costs three times as much. Then main reason to have a good headset, incidentally, is to protect your hearing from the background noise, rather than to hear clearly - although that's obviously a bonus.
Stick a baseball cap in the flight bag. As good as aviator sunglasses for blocking glare out in the sort of low level flying you're doing for now. Also add in a couple of CD pens for writing on the chart.
That'll keep you going for the time being, for minimal cost.
The first extra thing you're likely to need is a ruler and protractor with a 1:500,000 scale. But, you'll have done at-least another 10 hours flying before you need those.
G
The chart is a good idea. Check the checklist you have is the same as the flying school prefer - if it's not, stick it on eBay and get/copy one from the school.
Some kind of flight bag is a good idea, but anything kicking around the house is fine - "real" pilots don't buy expensive flight bags, trust me on this. [Ditto watches!]
Look online for a copy of the aircraft flight manual, or ask if there's an electronic copy at the club you can scrounge.
Some kind of kneeboard is a good idea - but an A5 clipboard with an elastic strap on the back will do fine. Some sheets of A5 paper on it - in time you'll need a PLOG pad, but for now just some paper, and something to write with that's either in a pen holder, or tied on.
Having your own headset is nice eventually, but there's no need to hurry. When you get to that point, eBay or a company in Edinburgh called Harry Mendelsson will do nicely - their cheap HM40 budget headsets are as good as branded stuff that costs three times as much. Then main reason to have a good headset, incidentally, is to protect your hearing from the background noise, rather than to hear clearly - although that's obviously a bonus.
Stick a baseball cap in the flight bag. As good as aviator sunglasses for blocking glare out in the sort of low level flying you're doing for now. Also add in a couple of CD pens for writing on the chart.
That'll keep you going for the time being, for minimal cost.
The first extra thing you're likely to need is a ruler and protractor with a 1:500,000 scale. But, you'll have done at-least another 10 hours flying before you need those.
G
Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 21st Oct 2015 at 21:54.
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Thank you Genghis the engineer I had heard of this particular brand of headset in an aviation magazine and thought these looked competively priced compared to the rest of them.When I start my course I will ask my instructor for advice on what he thinks would be necessary
Helicopter driver guy Inverness is the closest flying school although somebody used to do it slightly closer (in Wick) but that has since stopped,Liam
Helicopter driver guy Inverness is the closest flying school although somebody used to do it slightly closer (in Wick) but that has since stopped
,Liam
Hey, good luck there. I learned to fly there and had a wonderful time and good training.
Stick to the club headsets for the time being. They're fine. Even when I was renting for a while, I generally borrowed headsets. A decent headset will cost as much as everything you really do need, all put together.
I disagree with the idea of borrowing books from the library. There's a fair amount of ground school work to do for the exams, and you will want to refer back to them over time. Even today, I always take the air law one with me on the train and revise weather and air law - my 2 unfavourite subjects happily combined into a single book!
I'd get a subscription to airquiz.com. They do single subjects for 3 pounds. Get the aviation law book - they'll want you to have done this exam before sending you solo.
In due course you will also need a protractor, ruler, whizz wheel, set of coloured pens and a kneeboard and a cheap watch. I think that's about it.
Stick to the club headsets for the time being. They're fine. Even when I was renting for a while, I generally borrowed headsets. A decent headset will cost as much as everything you really do need, all put together.
I disagree with the idea of borrowing books from the library. There's a fair amount of ground school work to do for the exams, and you will want to refer back to them over time. Even today, I always take the air law one with me on the train and revise weather and air law - my 2 unfavourite subjects happily combined into a single book!
I'd get a subscription to airquiz.com. They do single subjects for 3 pounds. Get the aviation law book - they'll want you to have done this exam before sending you solo.
In due course you will also need a protractor, ruler, whizz wheel, set of coloured pens and a kneeboard and a cheap watch. I think that's about it.
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Welcome to the world of learning to fly in Scotland ! Inverness is a
great part of the world, plenty of really interesting places to fly over and lots of flat ground to land in ! Be prepared to set off for lessons then have the weather cancel it, don't be put off you have plenty of time, you'll get a pilots handbook for your aircraft off of the internet as a PDF
All the advice you've had is good about not rushing to buy, the headsets you're using will do fine for now, it'll be a while before you're doing nav so don't buy the whizwheel, ruler, etc.
just be prepared for it to take a while - it took me 3 years flying out of OBAN and I passed four weeks ago. Keep at it, you'll love it !
cheers
Ian
great part of the world, plenty of really interesting places to fly over and lots of flat ground to land in ! Be prepared to set off for lessons then have the weather cancel it, don't be put off you have plenty of time, you'll get a pilots handbook for your aircraft off of the internet as a PDF
All the advice you've had is good about not rushing to buy, the headsets you're using will do fine for now, it'll be a while before you're doing nav so don't buy the whizwheel, ruler, etc.
just be prepared for it to take a while - it took me 3 years flying out of OBAN and I passed four weeks ago. Keep at it, you'll love it !
cheers
Ian
If you're a true Scot, you won't want to part with your bawbees without a very good reason - which in the case of learning to fly is a very wise policy!
Log book and checklist are wise investments, but you don't really need much else at this stage - does the club not have its own headsets?
Your commitment is admirable; perhaps consider applying for one of the scholarships on offer in a couple of years time? You can find the details in any copy of Flight Training News; your flying club will probably have the odd copy lying about.
Log book and checklist are wise investments, but you don't really need much else at this stage - does the club not have its own headsets?
Your commitment is admirable; perhaps consider applying for one of the scholarships on offer in a couple of years time? You can find the details in any copy of Flight Training News; your flying club will probably have the odd copy lying about.
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Liam,
I have numbers 1, 2 and 5 of the Trevor Thom books which you are welcome to have. A bit dog-eared and not sure if they are the current editions but, hey, they're free and where I live would be on your route from home to Dalcross so you could collect, or I could drop at the flight school for you.
I may also have an unused logbook which, at my age, I will never use.
D
I have numbers 1, 2 and 5 of the Trevor Thom books which you are welcome to have. A bit dog-eared and not sure if they are the current editions but, hey, they're free and where I live would be on your route from home to Dalcross so you could collect, or I could drop at the flight school for you.
I may also have an unused logbook which, at my age, I will never use.
D
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I'm assuming it's Highland Aviation you're with. Great outfit - I did some training and my skills test with them a few years ago. Met David B at Oban a couple of weeks ago!
Pretty good advice on here - save your cash for air time, until you really need to spend on the 'extras', and stick in at the groundschool - I didn't, and took me seven years to get my PPL.
Watch out for Neil's dodgy poems - nuff said!!!
JC
Pretty good advice on here - save your cash for air time, until you really need to spend on the 'extras', and stick in at the groundschool - I didn't, and took me seven years to get my PPL.
Watch out for Neil's dodgy poems - nuff said!!!
JC
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Thank you for the offer deltav I've got the first of these books and if the rest are like the first they are good reference material. Thanks again,Liam
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You're welcome. They're sitting on my bookshelf doing nothing so it's good that someone can make use of them.
You already have volume 1.
Volume 2, Aviation law and Meteorology that I have is the second edition, 1987.
Volume 5, Radio navigation and Instrument flying is first edition, 1989.
I also have 'Human Factors for Pilots', 1992 which may also be of use to you. Not Trevor Thom but it did the job for me. All that plus an unmarked AFE logbook. You say you have one but it's here if you want it.
I'll pm you about how I get this stuff to you.
You already have volume 1.
Volume 2, Aviation law and Meteorology that I have is the second edition, 1987.
Volume 5, Radio navigation and Instrument flying is first edition, 1989.
I also have 'Human Factors for Pilots', 1992 which may also be of use to you. Not Trevor Thom but it did the job for me. All that plus an unmarked AFE logbook. You say you have one but it's here if you want it.
I'll pm you about how I get this stuff to you.
It is worth having the latest air law book - that's the only thing that changes at a measurable rate.
The rest is perfectly learnable from 1980s or 1990s books.
G
The rest is perfectly learnable from 1980s or 1990s books.
G
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Hi Liam, Not sure exactly where you live but being 115 miles from Inverness are you by any chance near Thurso? I have a headset, kneeboard, bag and a couple of protractors that you can have if you want, I used these when I also did my training at Inverness although that was with the previous flying school (HFS). If you do want them and are not nearby I can always drop these bits off at Highland Aviation next time I'm down that neck of the woods. You have been given some good advice here and all I can say is stick at it, there will be times when you will be disappointed with your performance and with all the travelling involved your enthusiasm may waiver, please don't give up as the reward at the end far out ways any temporary disappointment. Lastly and this is not directed at Highland Aviation in particular, DO NOT PAY UP FRONT FOR BLOCK BOOKINGS OF HOURS unless at the very least it is done with a credit card and NEVER WITH A DEBIT CARD. I was caught out with the previous school (No connection whatsoever with Highland Aviation) but was fortunate that I had paid with a credit card and managed to get a refund.
Cheers, Richard
Cheers, Richard