After 5 hours...
Congratulations, double_barrel.
Did you glance across at the empty seat? I remember that was a very bizarre experience.
Did you glance across at the empty seat? I remember that was a very bizarre experience.
What really struck was how much lighter and livelier it felt. Especially the rudders, for the 1st time they just did what I wanted immediately - I wonder if the instructors feet not being there was part of that!
Update in case anyone is interested..
First solo cross-country at the weekend. That was fun! Weather was marginal which really put the pressure on, flew through some quite heavy rain with the cloud base closer overhead than I would have liked.
Destination was a dirt airstrip and on the 'inspection' pass, I chased a troop of baboons away. I still have a mountain of theory hanging over me, it's always easier to find time to fly than to study!
First solo cross-country at the weekend. That was fun! Weather was marginal which really put the pressure on, flew through some quite heavy rain with the cloud base closer overhead than I would have liked.
Destination was a dirt airstrip and on the 'inspection' pass, I chased a troop of baboons away. I still have a mountain of theory hanging over me, it's always easier to find time to fly than to study!
double barrel............ Are you in the Rift Valley ??
I thought I would resuscitate this thread thread to say that I finally did it! I passed my GFT and I am now a PPL 
There were times when I was ready to give-up, there were some long interruptions due to work travel and other commitments which disrupted the rhythm. Looking back over the thread is rather strange, I can't actually think of a lot I have actually learned in the last 15 months apart from a bit of theory and some motor skills. But somehow I have gone from yanking the controls all over the place and having no time or bandwidth to take-in anything except one urgent task, to planning ahead and having time to chat about the weather and moan about ATC.
Now, serious question, what next ? I want to try a complex a/c, night flying and instrument flying. Still just for fun, but I want to keep working on my skills and being as safe as possible if I fly with passengers. Should I get a bunch of hours in now? Or reasonably quickly try the next thing?
There were times when I was ready to give-up, there were some long interruptions due to work travel and other commitments which disrupted the rhythm. Looking back over the thread is rather strange, I can't actually think of a lot I have actually learned in the last 15 months apart from a bit of theory and some motor skills. But somehow I have gone from yanking the controls all over the place and having no time or bandwidth to take-in anything except one urgent task, to planning ahead and having time to chat about the weather and moan about ATC.
Now, serious question, what next ? I want to try a complex a/c, night flying and instrument flying. Still just for fun, but I want to keep working on my skills and being as safe as possible if I fly with passengers. Should I get a bunch of hours in now? Or reasonably quickly try the next thing?
Last edited by double_barrel; 23rd Nov 2019 at 12:11.
Moderator
Congratulations DB! Next, find a nice grass runway with a taildragger for rent, and build you basic skills in that, then move on to more complex types!
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
Well done that man.
Hard in the winter months, but if you can, keep flying as regularly as possible even if it's not " complex a/c, night flying and instrument flying", as you will keep your skills level up. You can't get enough practice landing! Try setting targets, like plan a flight to a different airfield every time you go flying, or a route you've never flown to, even if it's starting and finishing at your home field. Small challenges build your confidence incrementally.
SD
Hard in the winter months, but if you can, keep flying as regularly as possible even if it's not " complex a/c, night flying and instrument flying", as you will keep your skills level up. You can't get enough practice landing! Try setting targets, like plan a flight to a different airfield every time you go flying, or a route you've never flown to, even if it's starting and finishing at your home field. Small challenges build your confidence incrementally.
SD
What you have just accomplished, double barrel, I did forty-two years ago. I hope you are filled with the same joy and sense of dream fulfillment that I was all those decades ago! I will assure you of this: you shall never feel the same about the sky or yourself. As Leonardo da Vinci predicted -
- Ed
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
CONGRATULATIONS!- Ed
Thanks all!
In fact the weather is horrible at the moment, low cloud and constant rain and likely to stay like that until Christmas! When the weather settles, I plan to take some leave and bash my way around some of the smaller - but not too dodgy - grass/dirt airstrips.
Pilot Dar, I admit I am a bit nervous about tail draggers, not sure I am ready and it could get expensive if I screw-up.
Thanks again everyone for acting as my therapists over the last year and a half, I think I should now close this thread......
Pilot Dar, I admit I am a bit nervous about tail draggers, not sure I am ready and it could get expensive if I screw-up.
Thanks again everyone for acting as my therapists over the last year and a half, I think I should now close this thread......
DB,
i thoroughly agree with Pilot_DAR’s recommendation - you should definitely move on to taildraggers. You are ready even if you don’t think so. Remember that many people in the past started learning to fly on taildraggers and some even do so now.
With the right aircraft and the right instructor, you will get the hang of it quite quickly and what you learn will stand you in good stead for the rest of your flying career.
More years ago than I care to admit, I was in the same position as you. I had just finished my PPL on a tricycle-gear aircraft (Piper Colt). I had two flights in a Chipmunk, to do the required spinning exercises. I remember at the time thinking that I would never be able to fly one. However, a few months later, I was in a University Air Squadron, being taught to fly one!
I went solo after five hours, probably a bit longer than was necessary, but the RAF system required me to do all the pre-solo exercises.
So go for it, you won’t regret it. Complex aeroplanes, instrument flying, etc. can come later.
i thoroughly agree with Pilot_DAR’s recommendation - you should definitely move on to taildraggers. You are ready even if you don’t think so. Remember that many people in the past started learning to fly on taildraggers and some even do so now.
With the right aircraft and the right instructor, you will get the hang of it quite quickly and what you learn will stand you in good stead for the rest of your flying career.
More years ago than I care to admit, I was in the same position as you. I had just finished my PPL on a tricycle-gear aircraft (Piper Colt). I had two flights in a Chipmunk, to do the required spinning exercises. I remember at the time thinking that I would never be able to fly one. However, a few months later, I was in a University Air Squadron, being taught to fly one!
I went solo after five hours, probably a bit longer than was necessary, but the RAF system required me to do all the pre-solo exercises.
So go for it, you won’t regret it. Complex aeroplanes, instrument flying, etc. can come later.
Thanks all!
In fact the weather is horrible at the moment, low cloud and constant rain and likely to stay like that until Christmas! When the weather settles, I plan to take some leave and bash my way around some of the smaller - but not too dodgy - grass/dirt airstrips.
In fact the weather is horrible at the moment, low cloud and constant rain and likely to stay like that until Christmas! When the weather settles, I plan to take some leave and bash my way around some of the smaller - but not too dodgy - grass/dirt airstrips.
Since early summer here it has been a bit of a struggle just to stay current on gliders LOL (combination of weather and family stuff !)
Hope you have fun doing some strip bashing
