How long a gap between flights
 

Hi all,

I passed my ppl in june this year and flew my wife about and then my grandad for his 80 th birthday (which he absolutely loved)
My question is this: i havnt flown since august due to my business folding and was wondering what sort of time gap do schools allow before needing to go back up with an instructor or does this sort of rule not exist?
Dont get me wrong i am more than confident and capable of getting in but woudl schools be funny about gaps or even still is there a rule that mentions time gaps?
Please dont be funny with the aips and law books i was just wondering this evening and thought id ask here rather than taking another route

Each school have their own in-house currency requirements in addition to the statutory requirements. So you will have to go ask the School.
You may even have it already documented in the material they probably gave you when you first signed up with them.

Ok thanks, ill check with them tomorrow thanks for the fast reply

Typically something like 6 weeks and then you'll probably need a check flight. It should be documented somewhere at the club or school.

Ok thanks, just when i thought i was over all that "student - instructor" feeling im back there again!
I guess a few circuits will prove im ok

To be honest, you shouldn't be. I'm guessing you have 60 hours? Maybe 25 of those as PiC? By any standard, you're still very inexperienced and should recognise that.


You can earn yourself some significant brownie points at your club by not even asking what the rules are - just go in and say that as you've not flown for 2+ months and are still very inexperienced, you'd like to go up with an instructor. Particularly if you've shown that sort of attitude, they should work with you to keep that as short and inexpensive as possible.

G

Or even more by not having to ask because you've actually bothered to read the flying order book.

I 100% agree with Genghis.

(please take the following in a positive, mentoring spirit - to motivate you to a conservatively safe approach)

It's way too easy to get over confident. NEVER turn down the opportunity (or requirement) for a check ride. If you're that sharp a pilot, one circuit will tell the check pilot. If a pilot who has not flown recently resists paying a check pilot for a half hour of their time, that's a big red flag to me. In my opinion, a cocky (no personal insult intended) pilot, who tells me they don't need a check ride, gets an extra thorough one, with some tricky stuff thrown in just to humle them.

If you have to ask if you need a check ride, you do! When you have a few thousand hours, and fly weekly, you'll rethink this, and that'll be okay then...

Ok thanks, just when i thought i was over all that "student - instructor" feeling im back there again!
I guess a few circuits will prove im ok

Hi,
Dont get me wrong im ok with a check ride and the instructors and examiners in my club are extremely nice guys.
Financially times are hard and i was trying to get the money together for an hour and was really just trying to get up there on my own (for that personal achievement feeling) without having to spend more money with an instructor... Im wise enough to know my safety, public safty and the safety of the schools plane is much more important than money. Guess i just proven to myself and others who may read this how easy it is to let personal circumstances get in the way of rational thinking!
Thanks guys

Hi G

Yeah 55 hours and yes i will go in and say that, makes a lot more sense and feels right to do it that way if i had ample funds i wouldnt have even questioned it!

Money... The route of all evil

Our pleasure Lyons,

Sometimes hearing something other than what you want to hear, is still the better thing for safety. Trust me, I've been there. When I had 500 hours, I thought I had planes all figured out. When I had a thousand hours, I scared myself with complacency a few times. Now that I have a lot more that that, I think I'm safe, and apparently the insurers do too, but I still take check rides, and get checked out on new types whenever I can.

Please do your part to keep all of us pilots looking as humble and well self disciplined as anyone could wish for. It's worth the cost of the check pilot every time.... (and you'll be amazed at the new things they'll teach you!)

Thanks, ive had a thought.. I wanted to get differences training in our clubs piper so i think ill go straight into that (save a bit more first) that way im learning more for my money and getting more experience in a different aircraft :)
I hope some people can relate to this... I came from a very poor background with people laughing at me when i told them my dream of flying. Its taken me many years to save and prove them all wrong. Its been a long hard road and the gap in flying has made me feel more like a failure (what with business failing too) and it feels like i have gone from Everything back to Nothing :*
I think thats where all this has come from im normally a sensible rational guy (honest :bored:)

I can relate, trust me....

You have - you're done that. From now on, prove it only to yourself, and your check pilot, no one else matters! A type conversion is a great idea! That will let you show your skill!

On a brighter side, if you're in my part of Canada, we'll do some flying....

Thanks guys i really appreciate it.

Dar im in uk mate but thanks very much for the offer i appreciate that too

You guys have helped me pick myself up, dust off and im ready to go again!

Thanks again

Fly safe people and ill be back up there soon :ok:

Yeah, sorry, my not typing what I meant... I had figured that out! You might travel west one day....

When i do i would love to fly with you.

Thanks Dar

Yes, absolutely.

G

The club I'm a member of enforces a 28 day currency rule. I have gone in and booked to fly a circuit with an instructor in the past and flown, more recently they have said that it is up to the CFI and he was more than happy to let me go without the check ride. Play by the rules and if they are happy with your abilities, it tends to work in your favour :8

I'm glad that you've changed your mind about the checkride ;)


The first time that I had a reasonable gap between flying, I too thought that this won't be a problem at all. I did however have to do a check flight with an instructor (didn't mind doing so, as I thought it would be a formality) I was really surprised at how rusty I had gotten.

The instructor was happy with my flying, but I was really surprised at how much extra mental effort it took me to so that had previously been automatic.

As you get more experienced, you'll find that you can take longer gaps and still be competient, but at your early stages I think you'll surprise yourself at how much skill you have lost in the gap inbetween.

dp

I`m a year past my PPL now and had 25 hours flying after getting the licence, I found myself with an 8 week gap during the summer (due to holidays, bad weather etc).

There was no way after that 8 week gap that I`d have gone up without an instructor, I just wanted to be sure that there were no bad habits that had crept in.

My solution turned out to be to start IMC training. In reality, there were no issues at all with my flying after the gap, everything fitted into place fine.

What I have found though that with 5 hours IMC training so far that my skill and confidence have come on leaps and bounds, its really given me a whole new view on it all.

During my IMCr training there were a couple of points where I was "current" according to club rules, because I'd been flying quite recently ... but actually this was all in crap weather, eg way beyond my crosswind limit or at night, and the instructor had done all the landings!

Normally being club current (at my club) guarantees compliance with the 90 day rule for taking passengers, but on these occasions I was club current but waaay outside the 90 day rule.

Also consider that there are different types of check rides. Ive known some schools/clubs do the absolute minimum, no EFATO or mention of emergency procedures or airmanship, they just want to establish you wont break the nosewheel.

In aviation some of the best and most valuable lessons are learnt away from the aircraft so dont forget to revist the text books occasionaly too.