What to do with new PPL?!
 

I've just got my PPL(A) (arrived in the post last weekend), and I'm not quite sure what to do next! Seemed obvious to ask you lot for your opinions. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

I want to push myself a little bit, but not so much that I screw up and lose my confidence. I'm flying from Coventry so it's quite a long flight to the Welsh mountains or the coast, for example.

So what did you do when you first got your passport to the freedom of the skies?

[ 16 January 2002: Message edited by: AerBabe ]</p>

Well, you can arrange to take up all those easily impressable friends who've never been in anything smaller than a 737, for starters. Which will aid development of finely honed passenger briefing skills.

"See that, don't touch it."
"Oh, and that one too. Don't touch that."
"No, we're not going to crash. Engines hardly ever stop."

Erm. Then what? Well, definitely go get yourself a night rating pronto. Night flying is beautiful and gives you a whole new appreciation of this wondrous pursuit. And hey, you can do sunsets. That's a nice self contained rating to keep you occupied and extend your flying somewhat.

And then .... hmm, extend your cross countries. Get a channel check and fly to France. Get a VFR-over-the-top rating (do they have those in the UK?). Take a cheap holiday to North America, enjoy some cheap GA there.

All of which postpones the forthcoming crunch decisions on commercial training and all that goes with .....

But, for the time being, enjoy the simple things!

Here's my itinery when I get my PPL back - passed the skill test on Saturday, but didn't notice the CFI forgot to sign my QXC certificate, so haven't sent all the paperwork off to CAA yet <img src="mad.gif" border="0">

Trip to Tollerton to take my dad for a flight.
Trip to Wickenby to take my brother through the Waddington MATZ so we can have a gander at the AWACS and the Red Arrows, if we're lucky.
Tailwheel difference training at Sywell, so I can fly the aircraft I've already bought a share in <img src="eek.gif" border="0"> .
Trip to Conington to prove I can find my way back without becoming 'uncertain of position' like I was on my QXC.
Trip to see my mate in Bristol (If I can get back from Conington, I'd risk going as far as Filton.)

After that, it's jaunts all over the place as time, money and interest allows.

I'd like to visit Cambridge, where I learned to fly first time around. I'd also like to visit the PFA Rally, and hop over to France some time, and visit Scotland and Cornwall by air. So many airfields, so little free time <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[ 16 January 2002: Message edited by: tacpot ]</p>

Getting a night-rating was what I originally intended to do first. I've flown a couple of times at night as a pax, and loved every minute. However, people have been mixed in their opinions as to whether it's worth it.

The idea of doing an over-water trip scares me !!!!less... partly cos I can't swim! Maybe that should be the next rating I do... my 100m freestroke <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> Not that the engine is likely to fail of course.....

Fortunately I've got quite a few friends and relatives who are keen to come up with me. I've just got to find something worth showing them! Coventry isn't exactly famous for it's beautiful scenery and abundance of chalk figures. Rugby aerials have their own special charm though! :)

I had great fun for ages visiting airfields I hadn't been to. There are quite a lot within an hour or less of Coventry, so it won't cost you a fortune. Fly there, with or without a pax, have coffee or lunch, fly back, nice day out and lots of good experience. Don't go too far, especially at this time of year with short days and changeable weather. When I got my PPL(A) I was so determined not to turn into one of these pilots who were scared to go beyond the circuit that I took on much too much and got into all sorts of trouble; nothing serious but I could have done without it. So push yourself a bit, but not too much. If you want to go on longer trips take another pilot, halves the cost and the workload and doubles the fun. And you'll learn a lot that way too. Enjoy!

AerBabe do some flying and expand your horizons by flying to different airfields and extend the distances as your experience and confidence grows. Cost share with a compentent pilot get them to fly one way and you fly back is a good way to build confidence going to places your not sure of. It gives you time to relax and Nav with out flying then you do it all on the way back. Keep expanding those horizons though. The night rating is great fun. I think its the best time to fly. Once you are happy, there is always the IMC rating which is also good fun. Remember you never stop learning. You've put the effort in, got the ticket now go and enjoy it. Its brillllliant.

Just a thought, but certain GA magazines often have vouchers for free landing fees at various random aerodromes around the country. Cut them out and ask someone to "pick a card; any card", then get planning, and see what the place is like (again with someone who's a bit more experienced). Also, I'm probably biased in this, but the thought of finding a good instructor for a bit of spinning and rolling quite appealed to me after I passed!

AB :)

All good advice, but none comes close to taking a trip to Redhill, racing the heavy metal in on finals at Gatwick (OK - not much of a race, but I like to kid myself), pick Hersh up and let's get over somewhere fun like Popham or Compton Abbas for a pricey cuppa and cheeseburger <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Well done! I'm green with envy, see... <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

Congratulations Aerbabe, I'm sure it was worth all the time, effort and money.

Do you intend to progress onto commerical flying, or just stay with a PPL?

Now is the time to start learning, you have been taught to fly but now is the time to put it into practise. Start by simple pleasure flights, take a friend up over their house. Once you are comfortable, then start doing landaways. Don't try and do it all at once.

If I had to give one piece of advice from my own (limited) experience, it would be - fly with a purpose. Don't 'just go flying', make sure you arrive at the airfield with an idea of what you are go to do, even if its only going for a local to the north.

Remember the P's - Pre-flight Planning Prevents Pi$$-Poor Performance.

Oh, and enjoy yourself, but thats three pieces of advice.

I've reached that PPL plus 50 hours stage, where things are beginning to pall, and I need more money to go further afield. Any ideas on how to beat the 50-hours blues?

Congrats also to Aerbabe and tacpot. As people say above, jump into the thing and go visiting. At this stage the £100 cheese sandwich still tastes great. Now is a good time to get used to turning up at an unfamiliar place, joining according to standard practice or local custom, and landing on runways of all sorts of lengths, orientations and degrees of bumpiness, dealing with circuits busy or empty, and ground stations grumpy (rare) or polite (usual).

I would suggest a trip to to France asap. Flying cliche number 947 reads: "the aeroplane doesn't know that it's over water". Plan carefullly, go as high as cloud and airspace permits, and be aware of the "blue-blue" phenomenon even in good VMC. Otherwise, no biggie. Why not make a weekend of it: you could position to (say) Lydd on a Saturday morning, file a flight plan from there, then launch off for the short crossing and go to to Deauville or Amiens as well as or instead of Le Touq. Stay the night, dine in Gallic splendour, then fly back the next day. Whets the appetite for more adventurous trips.

I appreciate that some renters insist on cross channel checks, but my instructors all maintained that a new PPL should have no difficulty in crossing the channel without further training. Why not team up with another newby PPL? I did that with a friend, 3-4 weeks after we got our licences. We did the planning together, then on the way out he flew and I did the nav. We swapped roles on the way back.

After a bit of this sort of thing, you'll probably get an idea of whether you intend to be more into touring, or into going upside down in things with wheels at the back, or a bit of both, and can decide what to rent/what type of gropup to join accordingly. Have fun.

[ 17 January 2002: Message edited by: FNG ]</p>

And don't rule out some more training at some point.

There's IMC, taildraggers, aerobatics...

...if you fancy the latter, you can nip over to Wellesbourne where Avon Flying School can give you an intro in shiny new Robin. Even if you just go and do an hour or two spin practice, you'll be (and feel) safer for it, and the Robins are quite a swish bit of kit if like most of us you've trained on Cessnas or Pipers.

The only downside with getting into aeros is how quickly everyone you know is suddenly busy washing their hair or whatever whenever you are planning a sortie ;-)

Well done.

The ideas are excellent. Skywatch has I think one of the best. Go and find another really competent pilot who flies regularly. You should find that will increase your own confidence no end and will start to open up some of the places to go and other skills to develop. I reckon it is the one thing most clubs are poor at - they get you through your PPL and then you are on your own. Sure you can hire the aircraft but it is great fun to share the flight with another pilot who has more experience that you and from who you will learn a lot.

Highlighting FMG's advice about finding a flying friend. I teamed up with a mate from the flying club, same standard as me, and we fly to places together. When he is P1, I sit in the right-hand seat and look after the radio calls (outside of the cct) to ATC, the navigation and looking out for traffic. We then land at our destination, get refreshments and swop roles. It's great fun and the cost is halved. Also, you have the confidence to go further as a second PPL can hot-plan diversions if the wx goes nasty. Enjoy!

There are some cracking little airfields within an hour of Coventry.
Shobden is only 40-50 minutes.Gloucester,Wolverhampton,Tattenhill.You don`t have to go the straightest route,put some turning points in,all helps with the Nav skills.
Go out and have a play on your own. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Malverns, Ross-on-Wye, down the beautiful Wye valley to Chepstow, over the Severn Bridges, back up the Estuary, into Gloucester for a cuppa and a piece of cake in the new Cafe (I'll buy!!), back to Coventry in time for tea and medals. Dead easy navigation, £10 landing fee if you bring the voucher in the AOPA magazine, nice cakes! <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Wow, thanks for the responses everyone! I was a little overwhelmed when I first sat and looked at the chart, and tried to decide what to do next. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Gloucester is a good option for me, as my Qx/c was to Bristol Filton, requiring passing straight over the top of the former. You're right matspart3, it's a lovely part of the country to fly, and it would be interesting to see the Wye Valley from the air, rather than the water!

Hersh me ol' chum, I thought you were gonna get your PPL and then take me somewhere nice?

Free landing fee vouchers, GREAT idea. I'm off to go window shopping in Smiths tomorrow lunchtime. Just buying a mag will help get my arse in gear.

Now, let's just hope the weather gets back to how it was over Christmas and the New Year! <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

1. Seeing as the weather is likely to be pooh for a while, buy Navbox ProPlan (£35 ish). It's a brilliant bit of kit for doing flight planning on your PC. There are one or two glitches (Rush Green is 1/2 a mile from where it REALLY is) so always check after loading the flight plan into your GPS (Garmin Pilot III, top toy). At the very least it will give you a feel for how long each route will take etc.

2. Try getting a check out on some different kinds of aeroplanes to broaden your experience. Pay the extra to take up a C172 instead of a 152 for example. Talk to the bods in the club bar and see if you can cadge a ride in something different. You'll be surprised how people respond to a bit of interest in their wonderplane. My prof check examiner took me up for an hour in his Tiger Moth. Sheer generosity and utter magic.

3. Do an IMC rating when you have the necessary hours PIC, it'll really sharpen up your flying. The first time you break through cloud is a wonderful experience, plus it's always sunny on top :)

4. Visit Redhill (as suggested above) or an airfield where taildraggers live (you're more than welcome to visit Rush Green) and try one. They are not terrifying as some people would have you believe.

5. Finally, enjoy your flying, there's a whole sky up there.

I think fun things to do would be aerobatics and flying new planes you've never been in before, be it tail draggers or multi engines or whatever interests you.

Aerbabe, if you come up to Halfpenny Green I'll take you for that helicopter flight I promised you way back.

Most of what has been suggested seems good advice, fly to other places including abroad, and try a new aircraft, but I would suggest not forgetting to keep some of the basic skills together, ideally every flight, but at least once a month do a flight where you you do a steep turn, stall and PFL then two or three circuits when you get back, after 6 months or so of doing this you will REALLY have the basics off pat. As has also been suggested an Aeros course will give you good handling skills.

Congrats Aerbabe!!

Go and collect airfields, the £100 cuppa is well worthwhile!!

Sharing a flight with another PPL is a great way to learn.

Do regular DR flights, for fun.

IMC excellent idea, if it only sharpens up your flying.

IMHO you are never better than when you have just completed your PPL, until you complete your IMC or IR training!

E me if u ever drop in to White Waltham -it's only about 30-40 mins from Coventry.

Interesting post-PPL reading for me was Nigel Everetts <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1874783268/026-1509256-7013255" target="_blank">Beyond the PPL</a> which gives some useful advice for the low hour PPL.

Well there`s a little cross country for you.
Out of Coventry...route over Wellesbourne...turn right at Worcester...land at Half Penny...sorry Wolverhampton..quick Heli ride with Whirly and then back to Coventry. <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

bcfc,
Was the book an Xmas pressie? I seem to remember recommending it to you in December. Good, innit?

Aerbabe, suggest you read everything you can lay your hands on, AAIB, CHIRP, GASIL websites and at least one pilot/flyer type mag. a month. And PPRune, of course.

Duxford is a good venue to fly too. Perhaps we should have a PPrune PPL fly-in there.

WHC, yes is was a pressie...to myself. Missus is sick of flying books what with 3 magazines a month! Tks for the recommendation.

Aerbabe, you can do a complete circle around Birmingham if you come up to Halfpenny Green, which is great fun, and makes a good XC. I did that the time I dropped in to see you - except I went to Gloucester first. I had a fun time explaining to Coventry ATC that I wanted to go back to HG the "wrong" way, but I'm sure you're more used to them than I was.

Get across to Caernarfon and do a tour of the big mountains of Wales, maybe get down a wee bit lower at a weekend (preferably).

Or

Get up to Dundee/Glenrothes/Perth, even the west side of the fine land and see some truly epic scenery. If scenery is what floats your boat.

No hassle with airspace either, mostly f or g up there. Might be a bit of a treck in a 152 or similar though without tanker support!

Hi AerBabe!

Everything everyone's said is good advice. Next time you get down to west London to visit me, we'll hopefully get some better weather than last time and I'll take you flying in the Cub - and I guarantee that the tail-wheel checkout will be the next thing you'll want to do after that!

Flying with other pilots is always really cool. You can share duties, so that one of you flies and the other navigates and handles the r/t - then swap over for the return. Also means that one of you can do the after-landing checklists while the other one begins to taxy back, as long as both of you are familiar with the type. A bit like flying airliners! But don't get into the habit of only flying with other pilots, or you'll lose the confidence in your ability to fly by yourself.

And, to give your flying a purpose, I like to arrange to meet someone at an airfield. Could be another pilot from another field - arrange to meet at a field half way between the two of you - or you could visit non-flying friends at their local airfield, and take them for a ride! (Have an idea of where you're going to take them beforehand though - flying without a proper plan of where you're going isn't too hard if you know the area, but once you get out of your local area it takes a lot of work.)


Now, on that last point, I was thinking it might be nice to have a PPRuNe Private Flying fly-in this spring - what do you guys think? I'm sure there's enough of us that any non-pilots on the forum, e.g. those of us still working towards the PPL, could get a ride with the pilots, so there should be no excuse for driving, unless the weather is too bad to fly!

I'm quite happy to arrange something in south-east England if there's enough interest, but I can't start arranging it for 2 weeks, because I'm out of the country at the moment and don't have any UK charts or airfield guides with me... But if more than a couple of people are interested, I'll start a new thread going.

Whatever you do, though - have fun!!!

FFF
-----------

I'm in <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

Count me in for the fly-in if it is in the South of England, FFF, although it will be a drive-in for me unless someone can divert to Goodwood to pick me up. No PPL, yet...

I'm now thinking (dreaming) about an IMC post-PPL. I've just had my first lesson of instrument flying for Ex. 19(a) - enjoyed it a lot, and found that it pointed out more than a few bad habits with my flying. Just got to do the PPL first <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">

[ 20 January 2002: Message edited by: Evo7 ]</p>

I'd love a flyin but please make it between 20th Feb and 20th Mar cos I'll be home then. After that the Auster will be laid up getting it's * annual through April.

Whirly, that would be great! Since you're not coming to CovBash 2002 I'll have to come and catch up with you soon. I've landed at Tatenhill before, so the nav shouldn't create too many problems! When the weather cheers up a bit I'll arrange something with you <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Bervie, flying over the Welsh mountains is on my 'must do this summer' list! I only wish I could afford to go out to the Canadian Rockies and do some mountain flying there... <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

FlyingForFun woooohoooo!!!! Only two weeks until we get you back, which means only three weeks until we get to drink vodka together again <img src="tongue.gif" border="0"> Mind you, after you've been dragged out flying with me, you might wish you were back in the USA <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

I think a fly in is a great idea. I was going to organise one last summer, but ran out of money for the PPL. I was thinking of Sywell. It's pretty central for a lot of people, has a great bar, and a hotel on the airfield. Not much of an adventure for me though, so other suggestions greatfully received!!! :) :) :)

I'm well up for a fly-in - like Evo, though, it'll be a drive-in or ride-in unless it's at Redhill (unlikely after the Worts GA Field thread!) or I cadge a lift.

Hersh

OK, now I know this is a long time away but....

I'm going to Duxford on Friday 12th July, weather permitting. Why that day? Its the day before the Flying Legends airshow, so most of the exhibits will be there, but none of the crowds. I did it last year & it was a really good day out.

Now if we are thinking of making a weekend of it, then Duxford is out, but if we are just aiming to meet for a coffee, then it might be worth considering.

Plus if there are any Duxy Ppruners, I might be able to fulfil lifetime dream No 2 & sit in a Spit.

Up for it FFF -date? time? location? Start the new thread!!

Duxford on the 12th? Sounds a great idea!! But does clash with the Goodwood Festival of Speed....decisions.....decisions........

DOC

Count me in for Duxford. Possibly room for one (smallish) cost sharer in an R22 from Halfpenny...er.. Wolverhampton. Go on, spoil youself. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

FFF, excellent idea - new thread needed!. .Evo7, I'm Gwd based, so you may not have to drive after all....

Slip

Ok - new thread coming up!

Duxford sounds like a good idea, but I think a Saturday or Sunday would suit more people, so I'll probably try to arrange something in addition to Friday 12th July.

The new thread is at <a href="http://www.pprune.org/cgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=53&t=001146&p=" target="_blank">http://www.pprune.org/cgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=53&t=001146&p=</a>

FFF. .------------

[ 22 January 2002: Message edited by: FlyingForFun ]</p>

Slipslider

Sounds good - I'm happy to pay my way.

(Having checked your profile, I think we share an employer and at least one flying club - two if you're a member at Goodwood. Are you going to the AGM on Friday?)

[ 22 January 2002: Message edited by: Evo7 ]</p>

Evo7, affirm, well spotted! :) . .I'll e-mail you off forum, from business id.. .Slip