Cross Country Qualifier
 

Absolutely gutted as had to turn back on first leg due to low cloud, in my mind I'm now thinking should I have just continued a bit longer? But I was flying at about 900 ft and couldn't see anything in the distance! Weather at destination airfield was CAVOK before I left, the weather on the way back to my departure airfield was perfect! On checking weather again for destination 1 airfield once I got back cloud base had reduced to 1070 feet right decision to turn back I think? Any thoughts? Booked in and try again soon. English weather grrrrr

Better to be a day late in this world than a day early in the next.
Be happy with your decision, you made the correct choice.

Cross Country Qualifier
 

I also like the phrase. Better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.

Weather in the UK is a pain in the backside. It took me a year to do my ppl but persevere you'll get there. Sounds to me that you made a smart choice. It's very rare that turning back is going to be regretted, pressing on and ending up in cloud or in the side of a hill would be!

For a solo PPL student, this decision should be a no-brainer... You did the right thing! :D

What you just did was being an aircraft commander. When it got a bit sticky you made a call and lived to tell the tale. Well done.

Yes, no question. And as well as exercising your decision making capabilities you've also discovered that you can fly an unplanned diversion and end up in the right place!

You have the makings of a good pilot, indecision can be a killer. You assessed a risky situation made a sensible decision and executed it effectively. Remember that next time you get faced with something iffy:D

If anything I think you pressed on too far. There is a 1000' MSA for a reason :)

Whilst you might not have completed your QXC, you have learnt a valuable lesson regardless. And now it won't be as hard next time you are thinking about turning back.

Best of luck next time.

I turned back on my PPL skills test, clouds were broken and the gaps were big enough but why add more pressure to what is already a tough test to go through.
Did the test three days later and passed. Examiner said after that he might have been happy to continue but said my decision was mine to make, if he had to make it I would have failed.

Good ol' Toon!!

Yes its one of the Instrument Flight Rules Rule 33, but not relevant to VFR flight!

Depending on the club rules - mine say something along the lines of "if at any time you have to descend to below 1,000' AGL you must explain yourself to an instructor on return".

Even when flying VFR you are meant to set an MSA. Which, when I was learning, was to take the height of the highest obstacle in the grid on the CAA chart and add 1000'.

Agreed. I also learned a lot from him!

When flying IFR, it's a legal requirement, unless when on departure or on approach.

When flying VFR, it's a bloody good idea but it's not always practical or possible. For example, in the Netherlands, there is a TV mast near Lopik that extends to 1234', with class A airspace above at 2500', and class A airspace at 1500' just a few nm away. I regularly pass near there at 1200' or so (my destination is under the 1500' shelf), and well within the 5 or 10 nm that people use for MSA calculations. But the thing is: I'm aware that I'm below the grid or leg MSA, and I know exactly what I'm looking for. And as long as you are not closer than 500' to the mast then you're completely legal. (But may I suggest that 500' laterally is too close anyway, particularly since this particular tower is supported by near-invisible guy wires.)

The MSA calculation when flying VFR is important for another reason though. If you happen to enter cloud and cannot regain VMC immediately with, for instance, a 180, then your next priority should be to climb above the MSA, regardless of whatever is above. Squawk 7700 and contact ATC if necessary, but don't fly around blind below the MSA.

When I did my PPL we took an MSA from 1000' or 1300' depending above the highest terrain/spot height within 5nm each side of track.

However! This was not by any means the altitude to be flown, it was a last resort safety net as such if we were to accidentally end up in IMC.

When flying VFR you avoid objects by seeing them and avoiding by either the legal minima or by a figure determined by the school or organisation whose aircraft you are flying. Neither have anything to do with MSA!

And if you do it anywhere near a motorway, you may have to explain it to someone else....... :E :p

You quite likely would round here! - there's only one motorway, and most of that is inside Stansted's airspace from the surface upwards.

I was thinking more in terms of the M6 in, as a random example :hmm:, Lancashire.....

Flying into Redhill from Bough Beech, Skydemon constantly tells me to climb to a minimum of 1700 feet. As I'm under LGWs 1500 foot shelf it wouldn't be a great plan. Probably needs the setup looking at. ;)