Can you help me read this Aerodrome guide please?
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Can you help me read this Aerodrome guide please?
I'm starting flying lessons in a few weeks so am practicing on FSX flight sim at Denham Aerodrome, where I'll be learning. Can you help me interpret some of the information on the Denham guide here please?
Flying into Denham - EGLD
Specifically, the map with its rules. I've googled some of the terms but it would be useful if someone could point out the really key things that I need to know to practice e.g. 'don't fly right after takeoff from 24 or you will be shot down'
Flying into Denham - EGLD
Specifically, the map with its rules. I've googled some of the terms but it would be useful if someone could point out the really key things that I need to know to practice e.g. 'don't fly right after takeoff from 24 or you will be shot down'
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I'm starting flying lessons in a few weeks so am practicing on FSX flight sim
The early part of the PPL syllabus is all about aircraft handling. A flight sim (and in particular that one) just doesn't come close enough to the way a real aircraft behaves and feels for it to be of any use to you. In fact it will make things harder for you.
I hate it when a keen student turns up saying they've done lots on a flight sim - I just know that they will have bad habits already established that will take time (and their money) to correct.
If you want to get ahead then I'd suggest you start to read up on some of the theory. And ask the flight school what they suggest you can do to prepare.
Best of luck and enjoy your flying!
Learning to fly an aeroplane and flying a simulator (game) are two totally different things, it is unlikely that the simulator will contribute anything useful to your flying lessons and may actually be detrimental. Your instructor will tell you what you need to know, when you need to know it. Maybe a book on the basic flying exercises would be more useful to you at this stage.
Absolutely - self teaching on a PC based sim, without the re-inforcement of proper instruction beforehand, is going to introduce and solidify incorrect habits. The odds are that you will end up spending more on your flying lessons as a result, not less.
Yes, read up on the theory - it's sometimes dull, but very necessary as there will be exams to pass through the course. Getting hold of the CAA chart for the area (the one you want is called 1:500,000 South) and trying to understand that won't do you any harm either. It doesn't matter too much if the chart is out of date at the moment: although the current one is edition 42 and came out last month so should be good for the next year.
If you want to scratch the itch by doing things more specific to your lessons - read through the manual for the aircraft you'll be learning on. If it's Denham, it'll either be a Cessna C152 or a Piper PA28-161 I imagine - there are copies of the official manuals for both all over the web (if you're learning on the Cessna 172, ditto).
But really, really - stay away from PC based simulators. They may have value later - especially for navigation, but not early on when you still need to learn handling and basic airmanship skills.
G
N.B. I don't go there often at present, but did my instructor's course at Denham. Lovely spot and a well run school - you'll enjoy it. Don't forget to also learn about how good the cooking is next door in The Crewroom - I have a particular soft spot for their freshly made pizzas.
Yes, read up on the theory - it's sometimes dull, but very necessary as there will be exams to pass through the course. Getting hold of the CAA chart for the area (the one you want is called 1:500,000 South) and trying to understand that won't do you any harm either. It doesn't matter too much if the chart is out of date at the moment: although the current one is edition 42 and came out last month so should be good for the next year.
If you want to scratch the itch by doing things more specific to your lessons - read through the manual for the aircraft you'll be learning on. If it's Denham, it'll either be a Cessna C152 or a Piper PA28-161 I imagine - there are copies of the official manuals for both all over the web (if you're learning on the Cessna 172, ditto).
But really, really - stay away from PC based simulators. They may have value later - especially for navigation, but not early on when you still need to learn handling and basic airmanship skills.
G
N.B. I don't go there often at present, but did my instructor's course at Denham. Lovely spot and a well run school - you'll enjoy it. Don't forget to also learn about how good the cooking is next door in The Crewroom - I have a particular soft spot for their freshly made pizzas.
Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 3rd Mar 2016 at 18:57.
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I found RANT quite useful for the SA and procedural aspects of instrument flying (but not, of course, for the somewhat more basic task of keeping the aircraft the right way up).
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've spent a lot of time reading about whether or not FSX can help before getting a PPL. There are conflicting views online. There are a lot of people who said they did use FSX beforehand and that, overall, it definitely helped them.
I am going to try it because I reckon I will fall in the camp of people who it helped. I will not be telling my instructor that I have 'learned to fly' on a sim so he can just hand me the keys. I am well aware that I still need to learn to actually fly. I just believe that FSX will help me, based on some of the experiences I've read. Of course, I could be proven wrong, I'll have to see.
I am going to try it because I reckon I will fall in the camp of people who it helped. I will not be telling my instructor that I have 'learned to fly' on a sim so he can just hand me the keys. I am well aware that I still need to learn to actually fly. I just believe that FSX will help me, based on some of the experiences I've read. Of course, I could be proven wrong, I'll have to see.
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I just believe that FSX will help me
You asked, you've been told, so carry on, just remember all mistakes in the air cannot be undone with a "reset" button.
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When I was training for PPL I used to use Flight Sim to 'keep current' when weather cancelled lessons
Anyway, coming up to first solo decided I'd show the family what a great pilot I was, put it on the big TV screen, 'flying' the school C152 from the real life scenary option of the 'actual aerodrome.'
Crashing on final for the fifth consecutive time my then seven year old says, in a very worried voice, "Daddy, you do know that you can't just press restart tomorrow don't you ?'
Some years later she's the nervous one about coming flying with me. Maybe I've caused long term trauma !
Anyway, coming up to first solo decided I'd show the family what a great pilot I was, put it on the big TV screen, 'flying' the school C152 from the real life scenary option of the 'actual aerodrome.'
Crashing on final for the fifth consecutive time my then seven year old says, in a very worried voice, "Daddy, you do know that you can't just press restart tomorrow don't you ?'
Some years later she's the nervous one about coming flying with me. Maybe I've caused long term trauma !
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Neither playing with a flight sim, nor acquiring others opinions will make you anything near an airmen.
Manual hand flying the thing, listening to your butt, reading and understanding ancient analog tablets called "books", using your most valuable last frontier against current beyond Orwell degradation, your brain in connection to your biological sensors, that will make you a pilot.
There is one application for a flight sim, train instruments flights and learn the push buttonry of awkward avionics without killing yourself in flight, but that is training for let flying, not flying. Once you have a pilot license and collected several hundred manual flight hours, you could search for the On switch of the autopilot, just to find out there is none fitted and in the evening at the hotel flight sim will be better than TV watching.
Fleeing reality with a sim may cause delusional mind
, go have a real life.
Disclaimer: Frequently traing with a flight sim will condition your brain to let the computer take over your life. While this will lull you into a nice and cozy comfortable half-awake state, it does degrade your awareness and may kills you quickly in case of an electronic malfunction. Automation dependency will bring you into dangerous situations, but try to stay clear as long as you possibly can!
Manual hand flying the thing, listening to your butt, reading and understanding ancient analog tablets called "books", using your most valuable last frontier against current beyond Orwell degradation, your brain in connection to your biological sensors, that will make you a pilot.
There is one application for a flight sim, train instruments flights and learn the push buttonry of awkward avionics without killing yourself in flight, but that is training for let flying, not flying. Once you have a pilot license and collected several hundred manual flight hours, you could search for the On switch of the autopilot, just to find out there is none fitted and in the evening at the hotel flight sim will be better than TV watching.
Fleeing reality with a sim may cause delusional mind
, go have a real life.Disclaimer: Frequently traing with a flight sim will condition your brain to let the computer take over your life. While this will lull you into a nice and cozy comfortable half-awake state, it does degrade your awareness and may kills you quickly in case of an electronic malfunction. Automation dependency will bring you into dangerous situations, but try to stay clear as long as you possibly can!
I played a great deal of flight sim when I was young. Once I started the PPL I found that it had been very useful as I was already very familiar with the cockpit, what everything did, and a lot of other basics. I got my PPL in minimum hours so it doesn't seem that it did any harm.
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Whenever I have seen anyone at the club - you know who has been using a flight simulator and know who haven't. They often get the same reflexion from the instructor which is "stop looking at the dials, and start looking out of the window". That is repeated constantly with the flight simulator students - which I think is reason enough to at least be "cautious".
With regards to "reading the plate" that is actually a really good thing to learn, you should definitely buy a series of PPL books, and start learning some of the theory. I believe that this part is explained in the "navigation & planning".
Good luck with your learning!
With regards to "reading the plate" that is actually a really good thing to learn, you should definitely buy a series of PPL books, and start learning some of the theory. I believe that this part is explained in the "navigation & planning".
Good luck with your learning!
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I haver mixed feelings on this as I was involved with a third party MSFS company developing FS models and trying to get more realistic flight dynamics.
If you go to RealAir simulations you will get the best flight dynamic models around as the bog standard MSFS models were very much puppet on a string and useless.
Where they will help is that some of the photorealistic scenery is very good and you can practice flying the pattern and familiarising yourself with landmarks which some of the scenery and airport add ons will give you.
For IFR flying they are good so you can practice NDB tracking with crosswinds or arrival procedures before you do it in the real thing and they will help you a lot.
Flight dynamics were always the let down but do look at RealAir simulations for the best in a poor bunch
Pace
If you go to RealAir simulations you will get the best flight dynamic models around as the bog standard MSFS models were very much puppet on a string and useless.
Where they will help is that some of the photorealistic scenery is very good and you can practice flying the pattern and familiarising yourself with landmarks which some of the scenery and airport add ons will give you.
For IFR flying they are good so you can practice NDB tracking with crosswinds or arrival procedures before you do it in the real thing and they will help you a lot.
Flight dynamics were always the let down but do look at RealAir simulations for the best in a poor bunch
Pace
There is a very simple solution to a student who stares at the instruments, cover them all up with a chart or cloth, then they can either stare at the cloth or start learning to fly by looking at the very large, real attitude indicator situated ouside the aeroplane!
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Computer based simulators are useful for procedural work but not for learning to fly by visual reference.
I would, in addition to the suggestions above regarding the study of the applicable Pilots Operating Handbook and school checklist, learn as much as you can about the two VRP's 'St. Giles' and 'Maple Cross'; the images in your link are useful but Google Earth them both and become familiar with what the actual reference points are - they may become very welcome sights returning to the aerodrome on a day with fading light or worsening weather. Also know how to reach both from the disused Bovingdon airfield (also pictured). I would get a copy of CAP413 the Radio Telephony manual, and start absorbing that as well.
Good Luck and don't start an exciting and challenging PPL course by exposing yourself to practices that lead to bad habits.
I would, in addition to the suggestions above regarding the study of the applicable Pilots Operating Handbook and school checklist, learn as much as you can about the two VRP's 'St. Giles' and 'Maple Cross'; the images in your link are useful but Google Earth them both and become familiar with what the actual reference points are - they may become very welcome sights returning to the aerodrome on a day with fading light or worsening weather. Also know how to reach both from the disused Bovingdon airfield (also pictured). I would get a copy of CAP413 the Radio Telephony manual, and start absorbing that as well.
Good Luck and don't start an exciting and challenging PPL course by exposing yourself to practices that lead to bad habits.
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Funny, I can fly a plane, but have never managed a simulator flight without crashing. They bare almost no resemblance to the real thing. The only way to make them seem more realistic is to spend a lot of money on a yoke and pedals, and about 3-4 extra screens. These will cost you about 4-5 lesson's worth.
I guess they would help with learning where everything is in a plane, but that's about it as far as I can see, and that doesn't take all that long to get used to anyway.
I think the worst thing about them is that I found I was getting zero feedback through my nice comfortable ergonomic seat with wheels in my study. It also didn't matter what the AI said, I was always sitting straight!
I guess they would help with learning where everything is in a plane, but that's about it as far as I can see, and that doesn't take all that long to get used to anyway.
I think the worst thing about them is that I found I was getting zero feedback through my nice comfortable ergonomic seat with wheels in my study. It also didn't matter what the AI said, I was always sitting straight!
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In answer to your original question I would read down the Aerodrome Plate top to bottom and think about each entry.
Its 249ft (moderately high for a UK aerodrome) its a thought if you fly QNH
Its only 7.5nm from Heathrow - That should, and seems already has grabbed your attention.
Its an A/G Radio facility - What does that give you? Are you used to it? Do you know the R/T from Cap 413 that goes along with that.
Runway dimensions- what do you fly? are the lengths good enough for that aircraft, see the CAA safety leaflet to expand on this. Only the tarmac has APAPI are you practiced in judging descent path without out them on the grass.
PPR number - always call and ask them what is special about Denham.
There are a lot of instructions for this place, I would spend some time with a 1:500 000 VFR chart and slowly walk through how your going to join this aerodrome. Think about each bit of info for a second or two as above and see what picture you build up.
I currently fly red twin otters in a far away place and would not treat any busy GA aerodrome lightly if I was unfamiliar with it.
As for the sim debate which I doubt you expected would attract so much attention from. I grew up with flight simulators until I got my first commercial job, then only touched it 3 times in 8 years. Yes I did have bad habits, stared at instruments to much and over controlled in pitch and roll due to the sensitivity of flight simulator yokes. But it helped me tie in all the text book material to a flying environment which I had immediate access to and could explore what the text books were describing.
Enjoy the flying and the journey to your licence.
Its 249ft (moderately high for a UK aerodrome) its a thought if you fly QNH
Its only 7.5nm from Heathrow - That should, and seems already has grabbed your attention.
Its an A/G Radio facility - What does that give you? Are you used to it? Do you know the R/T from Cap 413 that goes along with that.
Runway dimensions- what do you fly? are the lengths good enough for that aircraft, see the CAA safety leaflet to expand on this. Only the tarmac has APAPI are you practiced in judging descent path without out them on the grass.
PPR number - always call and ask them what is special about Denham.
There are a lot of instructions for this place, I would spend some time with a 1:500 000 VFR chart and slowly walk through how your going to join this aerodrome. Think about each bit of info for a second or two as above and see what picture you build up.
I currently fly red twin otters in a far away place and would not treat any busy GA aerodrome lightly if I was unfamiliar with it.
As for the sim debate which I doubt you expected would attract so much attention from. I grew up with flight simulators until I got my first commercial job, then only touched it 3 times in 8 years. Yes I did have bad habits, stared at instruments to much and over controlled in pitch and roll due to the sensitivity of flight simulator yokes. But it helped me tie in all the text book material to a flying environment which I had immediate access to and could explore what the text books were describing.
Enjoy the flying and the journey to your licence.
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Them's all easy - it's the backwards reading magnetic compass that I have trouble getting my head around. Maybe it's easier for sailors? - though last time I helped drive a yacht we mostly just dialled the required course into the autopilot and/or told it to follow the magenta line, so the compass was just for monitoring and sanity checking.