All,

This is a flying forum, not a political forum. You are welcome to discuss the relative merits of US vs. UK airport police etc. in Jet Blast.

Back on topic, please.

Thanks

SD

If you are serious about doing your CPL, why waste time and effort on PPL studies?

PPL is a pre requisite to CPL....
 

At least in Canada its is...you cant become a Commercial Pilot without being a Private one first.

Train for your Pilots Licence where it best suits you! and where your finances allow.
If you would like to know about trainning in the Canadian Prairies let me know and I will give you as much info as I can.
Where I trainned at CYBW there was a Brit fellow and the reason he was here was obvious...savings over Europe and also weather.

Cheers

Hi all thanks for the replys have taken my first two lessons this week and due to start ground school next week. First lesson got cancelled due to bad weather (a sign of things to come?) so i had to reschedule for later in the week all went ok in the air but when we landed and i tried to taxi on the runway i realised that there was a fault with the plane and it was steering with the pedals instead of the steering wheel :bored: hopefully they will fix this before the next lesson as my instructor wasnt best pleased about our shortcut across the grass:=.

Steering wheel problems
 

I also had this problem,there was a definite lack of connection between the wheel and direction.
I got round it by asking if I could taxi the aircraft around the runway when they were not busy.
They let me have 30 mins or so and didn't charge me,but that's Norfolk for you;);)
Lister:)

Dont think i will be lucky enough to get the plane to practice with as runway is shared between school and commercial flights, might try and get a flight simulator game with a steering yoke and pedals to practise on, not sure how this would compare to the real thing though. Are brakes worked independently of each other? Top of left rudder pedal for left wheel? Thanks all.

I'm not sure a sim equipped with pedals will give you the required feel but could be worth a try. Yes each toe pedal controls the corresponding brake. Spending some time getting used to differential braking as an aid to ground handling is a useful exercise to do early in your training.

Hi all starting to understand what you all meant about training in Ireland had three flights booked this week and each one cancelled due to poor weather :(. On a plus note though i have started ground school this week did not realise there would be so much bookwork involved, i think airlaw and meteorology are going to prove very difficult. Still determined to complete it in four months.

If you think there's lots of bookwork for the PPL, you ain't seen nothing yet if you're going CPL/ATPL!

You really need to focus on what you are looking for. If it's an airline job, then your target should be a school which shares this goal and grooms you from day one. Mightn't be as homely or fun as a club, but it's quicker and will get you through in a shorter timeframe. Pricey though but, to be honest, if you're setting out to get qualifications to get an airline job, you really need a war chest (not necessarily endless) set aside to dip into rather than making a provision of a few hundred a week and flying as you earn.

Use a convenient airfield - if you're in Dublin, pick a flight training organisation at an airfield with a hard runway (I'd recommend Weston) and compare the options there.

From my experience, students who hadn't flown for two or three weeks showed deterioration and spent half a lesson getting back to where they left off on the previous lesson. Those flying 2 or 3 times a week progress better and with fewer flying hours (and cost) to reach the milestones. For many, this is not a problem as they just like flying - many of my students looked forward to their lesson just to get into the air and didn't mind the extra cost of getting a PPL in 70/80 hours over three years.

If you want to do a PPL quickly, you need a school with daily instructor availabilty and to make yourself available for windows of weather. With a financial war chest, book as many lessons as you can each week. some will not work out, but if they do, you may be making up for ones scrubbed the next week. I do not subscribe to the "write off the winter" theory, provided you make yourself available and plan to fly often. Today in the Dublin area was a no- go according to forecasts, but fine for flying up to 1pm. I suspect many students could have flown today but were stood down.

Finally, get good reference for whatever school you choose and make sure their methods suit your way of working.

A few pointers:
- budget correctly. The last thing you need is to spend ten grand and discover you can't afford the step up to the next rating, be it 40 hours for IR or five in a twin. Don't plan to fly only when you can afford it - if at the outset your finances will be stretched, wait until you are more financially confident - unless you just want to fly for fun at first and progress at a slower pace.
- plan your exams. they are only held every couple of months so plan to fail a few and re-sit. The PPL exams are easy relative to the CPL/ATPL both in content and volume - the study commitment is hugely different also but these are all on the critical path to success and a delay in passing will delay your licensing;
- be certain of your medical condition: you will need a Class 1 medical to progress to commercial. It is expensive for the initial test (i suspect close on a thousand) but this could save you tens of thousand if it reveals something which prevents you getting a licence. A lazy eye, some hitherto hidden heart condition or suchlike may restrict you to a lower licence or none at all. Many starting out do not want to think of this but I witnessed a pilot with a foreign medical who had spent a lot abroad getting qualified fail his Irish medical on eye grounds.

Good luck!.

Some advice
 

Irish Guy

Some advice for you.

1. Get your medical early. Everyone says it. I ignored it. My personal circumstances changed within a week of getting my very delayed medicial. I was ready for solo for several hours but delayed my medical because I was worried about failing. I passed and have only flow 2 hours in 2 years.

2. Spend your money on flying. Don't waste money on gadgets or expensive books. I spent £1000 on a Garmin 496 in 2007. I had the money at the time, but I regret spending that much rather than flying. I can lend you some books/video's if you promise to send them back!

3. I don't know you location, but consider Weston. I have done 29 of my 31 hours there. Great airport. I had a great instructor (PM me for details). There is a nice mix of GA and coporate traffic. I even had a "caution wake turblance" call from ATC on a couple of occassion. Weston allows good practice of RT. Can be quite daunting contacting Dublin on 129.175mhz. I managed to screw it up a couple of times. :ugh:

4. Listen to podcasts during your spare time. Best for me are uncontrolledairspace and airspeed. Both these podcasts and many others provide me inspiration and dreams.

Me - I have managed a total of 31 hours in 10 years. 29hrs were at Weston. I am going for one of the longest PPL's ever. Circumstances will soon allow me to complete my PPL next year. I have started revision for my gorund school exams. Still have not selected a school. I will either head back to Ireland for 2-3 weeks or select a school in the north east of england.

Wish you good luck.

Starting my PPL too
 

Good to see there is alot of advise on this site, and honest advise too.

I am starting my PPL, did nearly 4 hours back in 2007, and only had my 5th hour last week, it was great that i didn't forget much at all, not that one has a lot to forget. My instructor said it was strange for someone doing their first lesson again to ask so many questions. Best way in my opinion to learn.

I am doing my training in Skytrace. Any suggestions to speed things up?

Any suggestion to speed things up? Yeah, find a nice outfit like Clacton on the east side of England, book 2 solid weeks of flying, and bring your family to the seaside at the same time! The rain comes from the Atlantic Ocean and drops most of it on the Emerald Isle, the rest is dumped on the Lake District and Scotland. At Clacton, you can learn in a taildragger, now that is real flying!

Or pay no attention to all these poor people who are still smarting from the delightful experience of going through customs - in Orlando they have to be nice to people, and Orlando Executive has a nice little airport, your family might enjoy that idea as well.

Rather than dragging out the training over 18 months of the occasional decent weekend, get a couple of weeks intensive work and you will make a lot more progress. But do not pay a lot of money up front. Sus out the operation of the flight school first. The Yanks always want you to commit to the whole package.

I've got a son living in Orlando, if you want to know more, PM and I'll ask him to check out some places.