Recommendations for flying lessons nr Southampton
 

Hello, I hope it's all right to post here... I wasn't sure where was best so sorry if I'm in the way.

My son is 20 and studying aerospace engineering at university. He would very much like to have a go at flying, and though we've found several options on the internet, I wondered if anyone knows which are the best places/tutors in the area as we don't know which to opt for, or even whether to go for half an hour or an hour initially.

I'd appreciate any guidance/tips/recommendations if anyone has a moment.

Very best,
Susier

Hi Susier, I am sure that you ARE in the right place, and certainly not "in the way" at all.

I am on the airline side of flying, so cannot make any recommendations for your son in the Southampton area, but I am sure that other Ppruners will be along soon to help.

One thing I will say is that flying in a Cessna 152/172 might seem very very basic, almost toy like, no offence to Cessna. They are capable craft, (and I first learned to fly in one), but are built very light, and are cramped and, well, basic. Piper PA28s, (Cherokee or Warrior), are a little more like an aeroplane, if I can put it like that, and have four seats, although unlike the Cessnas, the PA28 has a low wing, impeding views of the ground.

30 mins is probably best for someone's very first flight in a light aircraft - there is a possibility they won't enjoy it, or feel sick etc.

Hope he enjoys it though !

Welcome
[email protected]
Aircraft used are Ikarus C42

Hullo @susier,
just for what it is worth I concur with earlier:
* your message is quite appropriate
* first flight had better not be too long
And I would add the advice to go to the airfield well in time, and watch what goes on, so as to already get a feel for what is done, and how.

I also agree with the suggestion for the C42, or similar. It is an excellent craft for a beginner and quite affordable. It is a high winger with two seats side by side, you could call it a miniature C152. Be warned though that it is even more basic than a Cessna - but I think that should not deter a person who goes into engineering, probably at the contrary.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your kindness and for this very helpful advice. I'm going to send my father a link to this thread as he has flown before and will understand well the different planes you mention. I'm not sure which he has flown though probably one or the other at some point (and I think he would quite like another go too!)

Sounds like we are best to go with a half-hour slot to start with then.

Chevvron, thanks for the link!

SR

With a little over 5000 hours in various single engine Cessnas I would also recommend the C42, unless your ultimate aim is a commercial pilot’s licence.
The C42 is roomier than a Cessna 152, the cabin heater works better, and a microlight licence is simpler and more attainable, at least in the UK. And with the rising cost of fuel and undoubted “Green issues” for private flying in the future 15 litres an hour of Mogas against 22 litres an hour of leaded avgas has to be better.

A friendly no nonsense place to learn or just have an experience flight is operating from a grass strip just to the West of Salisbury.
https://www.airsportuk.co.uk/

Then he's doing Aeronautics and Astronautics, at the University of Southampton would be my guess. That's where I did both my degrees, and I also started learning to fly whilst I was there - I'm still learning both engineering and flying 30 years later, although thankfully have largely got the hang of both (and made a thoroughly enjoyable living).

For the experience to support what he's doing as an aeronautical engineer, he doesn't really need it to be standard (and relatively expensive) light aircraft flying. So my suggestions would be in descending order of priority:-

- He's probably too old at 20, but see if he's eligible to join Southampton University Air Squadron
- Southampton University Gliding Club https://sugc.net/
- Up the road at Popham airfield, learn to fly on microlights. https://www.flymac.co.uk/ who also use C42s, plus the other suggestions of schools using C42s above. Modern microlight aeroplanes are in many ways better and more modern to learn on than the 40+ year old "spamcans" that are more common on the light aircraft schools.
- If all else fails, I'm a big fan of Lee on Solent Airfield (when I was there it was HMS Daedalus and I started learning to fly there with SUAS, but it's still a superb spot which I visit regularly), and there's nothing actually wrong with learning on light aircraft - it's just more expensive.

G

Genghis, yes, he's at Soton, doing aerospace and electrical for some reason (courses/modules set-up passes me by these days!) and seems very happy. It's good to hear from an alumnus of the place! He's about to do an internship at the AEA I think, or somewhere like that... weapons side rather than energy production.
I didn't know about the Air Squadron and will definitely suggest it.
I know he had a go on a glider through the club last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We will check out Lee on Solent and also your suggestion Sandringham 1.

Very useful to know Excrab.

Thanks again all.

I'll pass all this on.

Sorry for side-stepping. But I am intrigued (sp?) that the C42 is so omnipresent in UK. It is only one of several very similar machines, yet the others seem to be scarcely present. Examples: the French Guepard, Eurofox from Slovakia, Italian Tecnam P92 (though I found this latter one rather unpleasant to fly, it felt like a truck), and the much copied Zenith C701. Has the C42 good support, perhaps, from an active importer/distributor?

Hi susier

This briefing might be helpful if your son is thinking of a trial lesson:

How Do We Fly The Plane?

The C42 was one of the first 450kg microlights to be approved in the UK for training, and along with the other aeroplane very much in that space - the EV97 Eurostar, rather captured the market when the UK manufacturers failed to exploit the new rules in the late 90s quickly and well. C42 now has excellent product support from The Light Aeroplane Company, alongside their own British designed aeroplanes. The Zenair family are approved in the UK, but not for training (the difference is mainly about the manufacturing approvals rather than the aeroplane itself). The Eurofox is also approved, and can be used for training, but it came along many years after the C42 so missed its opportunity to capture the market. So far as I know, nobody has ever tried to get the Guepard approved in the UK.

G

A well written document, but I'd rather hope that anybody who's already done a year of an aeronautical engineering degree knows most of that already!

G

A pretty sensible combination in 2023. Electric aircraft are in the ascendancy, and even in conventionally powered aeroplanes, there's an increasing move to replace hydraulic systems with lighter electrical systems, particularly on airliners - thus there's an increasing need for the sort of skills combination your son is doing, and I imagine he'll be in demand once he's graduated.

G

Southampton University Aviation Society own their own aircraft & can train for the NPPL(A) SSEA at Popham. Even including the Society's membership fee (£120 pa) & the airfield's membership fee (£170 pa) training at £40 per hour will be much cheaper tham anywhere else, although I'm not sure if that includes instructor fees.

The NPPL is a UK only licence but the CAA are working towards an upgrade path to a full PPL. The information on the Aviation Society's website that says that the NPPL limits pilots to certain categories of aircraft is outdated. An NPPL(A) holder with SSEA can fly Cessnas, Pipers & most of the common single engined aircraft.

Compton Abbas, just south of Shaftesbury have a C42 and instructors. Lovely airfield and brand new restaurant. ‘Tis where my Tiger resides.

Mog