Equipment for PPL
 

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be starting my PPL in a couple of week and need to know what sort of equipment (books, nav equipment etc...) I will need to complete the entire course. Has anyone got a comprehensive lift and any advice on flight computers for my?

Thank you,

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Places like Transair and AFE do "packs" which, I believe work out cheaper than buying the individual items one by one but they are usually a fair amount to stump up for in one go - I think about £200.

Your instructor will be able to advise on what you need and what will best suit.

Also bear in mind that some items are more expensive in the pilot/aviation shops and catalogues and with a bit of lateral thinking, you could source the items much cheaper. To that end, I am thinking of hi-vis vests (I've never paid for one - I seem to acquire them) and stopwatches (go to a sports shop). If you want gloves, go to a golf shop and chinagraph pencils and map pens are much cheaper from a stationers.

Cheers

Whirls

Try Ebay. Everything you need is on there, even ex-russian helicopters at the moment!:ok:

I was actually looking at a value pack from Flightstore but it seems that there are somes bits that I either wouldn't need or could get cheaper elsewhere.

I bought things as I needed them and that helped spread the cost. Looking at the value packs there is a lot of stuff in them that I personally didn't need or use. However, do get an up to date PPL Confuser, it will help consolidate the ground studies and is well worth it.

You will need the following:

ARC-1 flight computer & manual (Whizz wheel)
CAA Southern England 1:500 000 chart (for the nav exam)
5" navigation protractor
16" navigation scale rule
chinagraph marker
PPL Logbook
PPL textbook series (AFE or Trevor Thoms)

Don't bother with an electronic flight computer as you will not be allowed to use it, especially in the exams. You might need a CAA Northern England 1:500 000 chart if you are training in the north although the southern chart is required for the exam.

It might be nice to get yourself a knee board and a bag to carry everything in as well. One peice of advice on knee boards, if you are training in a PA28 then dont bother as they snagg up on the yoke

Exam charts are supplied by the examiner because they are a specific version that is matched to the questions.

That depends where you do the exam:hmm:

When I did my JAA PPL, one was supplied with a special out of date VFR chart, whose magnetic variation matched that for which the nav questions were written.

As if the mag variation mattered. Not even the best autopilot can hold a heading that accurately :ugh:

Thanks for the advice everyone it has made it alot clearer :)

It matters in some other parts of the world (as I'm sure you're aware). When I was in the USA, magnetic variation was about 13 degrees. Runway headings on the map really confused me until I realised what was going on. What with that and all the weather forecasts in UTC, which was 8 hours different from California time..... Arggghhhhh. I started to realise just how easy we have it in the UK, relatively speaking.

You're probably right. I shouldn't post late at night after a long day!