From Zero to Forty Five - my PPL Diary
 

Welcome to my PPL diary. This will be my daily/weekly record of how my PPL is going. Today, 18/07/2004 was my first lesson in a Piper Tomahawk at Ravenair, Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The purpose of this on my behalf, is to record what I think is a great achievement. The reason why I am putting it on PPRUNE is for the benefit of others, whether it be pure enjoyable reading, or a good advice/reference. This isn’t a list of all the social struggles towards getting my PPL, I will not be talking about financial struggles, problems, babysitting, getting to work etc, it is purely a note of my progress. I hope you enjoy reading it, as I am aware that there are a few other posts of this nature.

HOUR 1

Flight time 0915. My new instructor is a real nice guy, he takes me through the membership forms and procedures etc, and before I know it, we are walking to the apron to get in the aircraft. I am a pretty big fella, 17 stone, 6ft 2 etc, so upon looking at the Tomahawk, I am concerned, however, upon getting settled in the seat (it wasn’t as big a struggle getting in as I thought) I actually realised that it is rather roomy, certainly tonnes of space for me, and as there are no back seats, I can move the seat quite far back. This is fear number 1 overcome!

I already like the way he is teaching me, he doesn’t sit around for hours explaining every button and dial, he simply goes through the checks, with a quick explanation of each one, shows me all the basic instruments, starts her up (explaining along the way) and before I know it, he is letting me taxi the aircraft to the holding point. I am feeling great at this point, so much responsibility at such an early stage! (sorry about that)!

I can here him talking to ATC and can understand a few phrases, as I have gone over the RT section of Air Law a few times. He says “Ok you can take off – see the airspeed indicator? When that gets to 60 kts, pull back nice and gently on the controls and the aircraft will smoothly rise off the ground. Keep the airspeed at around 70 kts (or thereabouts) and let her climb”. At this point, was the best feeling so far. Here I am, first lesson and I am taking off !

He went through the basic principles, basic handling, lateral axis etc then power, carburettor icing, mixture control, flaps, air speed, rudder pedals etc. he asked me if I had done any flying before, which I said yes to as I was an air cadet. I had about 10-15 hours on the bulldog and various gliders, so it was very professional of him as he explained to me the needle on the rate of ascent/descent with ease as he assumed I already knew a bit about it, which luckily I did. His level of teaching seemed to fit in perfect with what I already knew/didn’t know. So now I am thinking I have a great instructor whom I will get along well with.

We done a lot of basic handling, south of the airfield (as this is where most of the training takes place) over Wrexham (not directly over) then flew around, North back through Malpas, Tilston etc, where we had a great view of 2 castles (sorry cant remember the names).

Then into the approach phase, another aircraft to our left who was on approach, had given an incorrect position which meant he caused a bit of upset as we nearly had to make an orbit to let him sort himself out. Apart from that, the landing was excellent, very smooth (the instructor landed the aircraft). So at this point I have an overwhelming feeling of happiness, knowing I am one step closer. I even met a chap in the waiting room who has about 35 hours, who was actually another pruner! I gave him my nickname so he can PM me. It is a small world!

So now I am booked in for Saturday and simply cannot wait. This is the start of a beautiful thing! I will write back next week with hour number 2.

[any edits are for typo's]

Keep it coming mazzy, it looks like it could become a very useful reference tool for otheres going through the same experiences.

mazzy, excellent informative detail, I'm sure if you are able to keep the thread updated then it will be very useful to many.

Good luck,

Fuji :ok: :ok:

Brilliant post Mazz, there has been a lack of student issues on the forum lately, this is just what we need.
Best of luck with your training mate. :)
Brl.

Thanks loads guys for your great encouragement! It may take a while to complete, as at the moment I am aiming for a lesson a week, and it may get quite big, but as long as people wanna see it, I will carry on writing it !

Cheers all :ok:

Lee :D :D :D

Now, let me guess, the treatment of the last person to post a student diary couldn't possibly have discouraged others, perhaps?

Go for it mate....

Just don't talk about the colour of your headsets!!

Who cares, you ask. Lots of people. Those thinking of doing their PPL. Those doing it, who may feel very isolated at times. Those who've done it, and just like hearing others' detailed accounts. Instructors, since it may show different ways of teaching things and how students react. And for those who don't like it, there's a simple solution, don't click on it.

mazzy,
I think this is a great idea, and I'm all for it; thankyou. But having done several "live" diary threads myself, there are a few things maybe you should know. Your flying life is about to become public property. That's fine when it's all going well, but what about when you find something really difficult, when the going gets tough, when you screw up and wish you'd never started? Unless you're very lucky, that will happen at some point. Will you share it with the world? How will you feel about that? Also, although a lot of people may like what you're doing, some won't...as has started already. Some will hate you for it, for whatever reason. Do you want that, on top of doing a very difficult course?

This is all worth thinking about. Personally, I found at some point that I was getting too well known, and that as a result there were people who tried to shoot me down the moment I stuck my head above the parapet...they seemed to be just waiting for me to screw up! Which is why I didn't post for a week or so, and have eased off a bit since then (OK, so none of you noticed. :) )

Of course, the other side is that you'll get loads of advice and support. I think PPRuNe is wonderful, and I doubt if I'd have got where I have aviation-wise without it. But once you start getting known - and you will, if you keep up this thread - there is, or can be, this other side to it. Ask pink aviator about that, and ask...well, not for me to say, but quite a few people. And I just felt that you should know about it.

Sorry for using up so much bandwidth on your thread; let me know if you want this deleted and I will...I nearly pm-ed you instead, but I felt that it was worth saying in public too. Especially after QSK's comment, so early on. :(

Whirly

Thankyou for your post - I appreciate your thoughts and advice - of which I will consider dearly. (Absolutely no need to delete it :ok: )

As for those who wish to "shoot" you or me down for trying to do something good then the simple phrase stands, as Whirly correctly stated:

It's as simple as that - there are thousands of threads out there, some which may get on your nerves, and others which make you feel great in the day - if you dont like it just dont read it ! I am not trying to make any enemies, nor am I trying to gain any extra buddies !

As for your comments regarding when something goes wrong. Well I had thought of that possibility but like you said, it is very rare that someone will get through it without problems, and if I can document my problems and hurdles along the way, then it may help others. Whether people read it for; advice, humour, out of sheer boredom or whatever, as long as it is read without spite is all I care about. Whats the point in bringing someone down for making a note of their achievements?

I hope this remains a good thread and thankyou for the 5 star.

Best wishes

Lee

Go for it Mazzy

This is your forum as much as theirs, you have as much right to post here as anyone else, its really good to hear how people are progressing, the trials, the tribulations, the ups and downs etc, ignore them, they'll go away

Keep it up mate

Dean

Mazzy,

In my little world, there is more knowledge in people's heads than you could ever read in books. With this in mind I figure we learn most in one of 3 ways. Firstly by instruction, secondly by personal experience and thirdly from others experience.

Your thread is the latter and so warts and all should make for an informative read, but more importantly you may make some mistakes that other's haven't. The whole joy of flying is that it is so dynamic it can never really be fully mastered and there is always something to learn.

Keep it coming:ok:

Oh, and it can also serve as a form of revision notes for you to reflect on in the stickier stages.

Regards

Obs cop

Refreshing threads
 

GFI Mazzy;

Reminds me of when I did my flying instructors rating in 1986 with Dennis Dickenson at CATS.

The North West and North Wales are some of the most beautiful parts of the UK to fly.

Even though Liverpool Airport is based on an estuary it has one of the best weather records of any airport in the UK, which is why Data Post based their operation there.

Not many Students get to learn at an international Airport, that is minutes away from total uncontrolled airspace.

Enjoy!

Yes they were also some of the reasons which helped me decide to fly from Liverpool :ok:

Is Cheshire Airtraining still there? and at Raven Air

Clare Pollard?
Peter Marsden?


Flew into to RAF Woodvale last month, which is were I intructed for a good many years. It was good to fly around the area again, haven't done that for a long time.

Based DOWN SARF! now.

Good Luck

Havent heard of those names yet i'm afraid but Ravenair is the trading name for Cheshire Flying Services. The hangar next door is Liverpool Flying School too.

I flew lots from Woodvale when I was a cadet in the Bulldog's - what great times !

Cheers

Lee

Looking forwards to reading how you go on mazzy, keep it up.

Nick in cheshire.

GtW My honourable friend...... The lack of student input on our forum stems from before the PA thrad. We used to have, about two years ago quite a few students posting all kinds on here all the time but hardly anything since.

Pinks thread came and was massive. We all know that, you just had to look at the 'hits' it got, constantly a few hundred a day, easy. Since then your comment may be valid but I would like to see much more of students posting questions here, not only for their benefit, but for others in the same boat too. The amount of people who just read her thread and have never posted on pprune is amazing, PA has had numerous e-mails etc from people spurred on by her thread.

Overall though, I would like to see much more input from students than there is now and Mazzys post is a great start. Again, as Whirly stated, you(!) dont have to read it so why bother clicking on it then moaning about it..!!

For those who don't like this kind of thread, take the advice just given. I am right behind this thread all the way and as soon as someone posts something negative like what was posted this morning, then it will be deleted so don't bother wasting your time.

Keep posting Mazz' and best of luck with it. :ok:

Regarding the last major thread (say nor more) of this nature - I didnt read it, nor get a chance to. It was in full flow roughly just after I registered.

I understand that my post may trigger some reincarnation (however that may be) but this is by no intention. I want to show how serious I am about my diary/aviation life/pprune, and I have just bought a personal title which I hope will show soon.

I welcome all opinions here good or bad, but I still stand by the saying "If you dont like it dont click it". This isn't my thread - it is ours.

Lee :ok:

Good to see close control
 

Good to see moderator on the ball, I wish Mazzy all the best and I am sure I will relive my student days though this thread.

The great thing about flying is you never stop learning. Those that think they know it all; inevitably are the most dangerous.

In the air and on the ground!

:ok:

"how serious I am about...pprune"


Just one word of advice from one of the grumpy whinging gits, mazzy: getting serious about pprune is usually regarded as a reliable indicator that one needs to get out more.

I would love to get out more but as I am stuck behind a monitor for 7.23 hours per day I cant !

I actually meant my thread/diary rather than pprune itself - but thankyou for pointing that out.

Lee

PPrune
 

Have to agree with mazzy, don't see anything wrong with wanting to use Pprune for a serious thread for a change

Em.... using the words Pprune and serious in the same post.

Thats what I call serious

Great thread mazzy!!
Glad to see that I got a mention in your post... :D
I also encountered that aviator who messed up their approach,their go-around procedure and several other ATC instructions!!!
They messed up so bad they ended up 10ft behind me as my wheels touched the ground and my sheer happiness of making a near perfect landing turned to horror. Its not often that you take off from a touch and go while a PA28 is about 20ft away from your right wing tip! SCARY!

Keep up the diary and I will no doubt see you in Ravenair soon!

C'mon guys ! Dont biccer about something stupid - OK so I used the wrong set of words to describe what I was trying to say. One disadvantage of text communication is that it is bloody difficult to show tone or attitude etc.

DiscoChocolate - welcome to pprune :cool: ! Glad to see your making posts! For the benefit of everyone else, this is the nice chap I met in Ravenair on Sunday.

That sounds like a nerve wrecking moment - all character/skill building I am sure.

Regards


Lee :ok:

M,

Good thing about Proon is that it caters for all tastes, and that you can choose what you read by looking up those threads which are of interest to you.

I think we see less threads like these as there are less students and some BBs offer a special forum for studes which may give some competition.

Best of luck with your PPL training

FD

Top idea, and good luck mazzy!
And to help, here's a piece of advice. You will shortly begin to (If you haven't already) the groundschool part of the course. If you have a choice (Some schools prefer one book to another), then go for the Trevor Thom series.

I JUST scraped through Human Performance, which is supposed to be the easiest of the lot. Then I discovered the difference between Thom and the Jeremy Pratt books I was using. Thom has a lot more detail and explains items better. For instance, I am currently reading navigation. A whole chapter of Thom is dedicated to time, very little mention of it in Pratt.

Now Jeremy Pratt is a very well respected aviator, and I am not here to rubbish him, and some people do achieve great success with his books, but from my point of view, Thom wins hands down. Sadly, it now costing me an arm and a leg to buy the remaining Thom books having bought the full AFE series!!

And to answer a previous question, CATS is still going strong at Liverpool, but not with the names that were given.

Hi Cessna I Plate - thanks for your post !

With regards to groundschool - I am not actually receiving any tuition - I am going through the books myself and using the confuser to brush up before the exam. I actually bought a pack which had everything in it which I needed about 4 months ago, and hoping not to contradict your good advice, they were actually the AFE (Pratt) books!

To be honest I havent seen the Thom ones, so wouldnt be able to give a good comparison, however, so far I have read the Air Law book thoroughly and seemed to get through it OK with no problems. I have just (tonight!) started the nav/met book, which is more complicated and daunting at first, but on the other hand is far, far more interesting and thereofre I am hoping it will sink in better.

As mentioned in HOUR 1, one of my first fears (petty I know) was the size of the Tomahawk. I have now developed another concern (not a fear really, but a foreseeable hurdle) that is, the use of the ARC-1 flight computer. I am pretty good with numbers and maths etc, so am hoping to get to grips with this as best as possible. I have a friend in the RAF who has completed NAV training so I am hoping to get some tips from him. Also fellow flyers at the flying school who are good with the device.

I am pretty sure, a few hours down the line form this post, I will be writing the fact that I can now use the ARC-1, at least better than I can now. Please correct me anyone who thinks it takes longer! :D

Goodnight all,

Lee :ok:

You can either treat it as a recipe - do what it says in the book and believe the answer - or you can try to understand what's going on, which personally I prefer as I think it'll be easier for me to spot gross errors if I understand the process. All the whizz wheel does is solve vector triangles - to understand how it does this is just a matter of drawing pictures and thinking about it.

Point is, the whizz wheel is supposed to be quicker and easier than either doing the trigonometric calculations with algebra or drawing scale vector triangles on a piece of paper and measuring them; you can use whichever you like for pre-flight planning; in the air, if you have to re-plan a diversion because of weather or something, like I did last Saturday, it's estimating and mental arithmetic (by any of the means discussed here from time to time) and rule-of-thumb (the rule being that a thumb is six miles wide on a half mil chart).

mazzy1026,

The groundschool subjects will fall into place, just like the flying.

There are two ways to study.

You can beat yourself to death trying to understand everything in the books, or you can learn the answers to the questions.

Many of us could not pass the PPL exams if we had to do them tomorrow.

The knowlege gained either way will only become aparent as your flying skills develop.

Try to get some flights with other pilots, and if you can, listen to the radio (ATC, not radio 1) as much as possible.

My first lesson was 30 years ago just last week and I still love just being in the air, it is still one big adventure, we are all just kids with bigger toys.

Many pilots seem to give up after a couple of years, I think some just did not have the passion to begin with.

Flying should be fun, its not normal, its different, so enjoy it.

Continue to post here (you WILL be insulted) there is lots to learn from others and I am sure you have lots to give.

Tony

Thanks GTW, TonyR

It all slowly starts fitting into place. I agree with going up with other pilots - I met DiscoChocolate at the school, and will go up with him when he passes as he is much further ahead of me. Until then, it's just a case of finding someone to fly with who lives near Liverpool.

Its a shame that I will be insulted - I simply cannot see why, as I am not insulting anyone else, making nasty comments or disrupting the forums in any way. It is very sad.

Thank you

Lee

that bit was a joke

hook line and sinker :ok:

Hey Mazzy 1026...

Good luck with your training. I wish I'd kept some sort of diary of my training so far. I've just completed my General Flying Progress Test recently here in OZ and took my wife and daughter flying for the first time (am now allowed to take passengers). That was a huge blast for me...even bigger than the first solo.

Regardless of your ultimate goal in the industry, be it the airlines or just for a bit of fun, get out there and enjoy the flying. I'll keep an eye out for future installments in your diary. ..

Happy Flying,

Cascade
:D

Hi Mazzy,

I'm currently about 30 hours into my PPL at Southampton. I've read the CPL diary in the Prof Pilots Forum and if your's end up anything like that it will be a most valuable input to the forum. Good luck and let us all know how it goes!

Thanks guys, cant show you enough how I appreciate your positive comments. :)

Mazzy, keep up the good work. The forums are a two way affair, you learn from it, and it learns from you.

I found it really useful whilst contemplating training, during training, and now, as a PPL, i continue to learn constantly.

I'm currently working for the health service, (not far from the big bridge), and still enjoy the student contact I have in this field---it always keeps you on your toes. The grumpy so and so's who resist student contact, tend to be the ones who have been doing it "their" way for years at a time. (Usually doing it wrong every year, for 20 years).

Learn from an old medical adage, DLTBGYD....don't let the b:mad: s grind you down ! Good luck, and keep us posted

Good for you Mazzy. And do try and ignore the put-you-downs that you WILL get. I felt very intimidated by this forum for a while, mainly during my training which led to me finding a friendlier forum as I saw it.... but ultimately always keep coming back here. And a recent fly-in proved to me that everyone posting here is only human, they eat, breathe and sleep just like us!!!

Look forward to HOUR 2 :ok:

I just can't beleive there is a friendlier forum.

Something here must bring you back

Tony

Hi Mazzy,

Well, I just booked my first lesson today for the 9th August at 3.30pm. Its a lifetime ambition to fly and I can't wait to get up there. Keep up your diary please, it will be really useful to hear of your experiences as you move along to gaining your PPL.

It should be some experience.

Regards,

Paul