Hour Building on a PPL
 

Does anyone have any knowledge on what you can and can't do on a PPL. I know that you can build hours by doing Para Dropping and glider towing on a PPL (Para dropping was my bag for a while hence DiverDriver) however as this avenue is closed for a while I'm looking for other oportunities and I may have a chance to get involved in banner towing in the none to distant. First question can I, as with para dropping, do this on a PPL and if so does anyone have any experience that they can impart. Cheers DD :)

How did you get involved in para dropping. was it purely on a volentry basis.

Is there much demand in banner towing as i only ever see a few during the hieght of summer cruising along the see front. I would be interested to know.

I believe that you can fly for charity (ie pleasure flghts) on a PPL with a minimum numbrer of hours which I think is about 200. Although this tends to be just on he odd occasion

Mint :cool:

You can do anything listed in your licence privileges.

You cannot be remunerated.

Noggin – thought as much shouldn’t be a problem provided I don’t get paid.

Mintflavour – got involved with para dropping some time ago by making a nuisance of myself at the local parachute centre shortly after completing my PPL. At first (actually on a number of occasions) they told me to go forth and multiply until I had gain a lot more air time. Any way to cut a long story short I obtained the minimum hrs required for their insurance 100hrs P1 and 10 on type, and continued pestering them until they gave me a check ride. Unfortunately as I had to give up flying for a few years I lost my slot. I revalidated my licence last year but the centre currently has more pilots than they need so there’s not much chance me getting back into that for a while.
The banner towing may come of as once again I’ve made a nuisance of my self at my local airport (big ifs and buts though it’s a half chance which I have to chase) – I’ll let you know if I get a crack at it. Bottom line though is that opportunities for free flying don’t come to you you’ve got to do your best to make them happen + luck + hussle + networking ( i.e. propping up the club house bar, visiting sites where you know aerial activity takes place etc etc).

DD, I seem to recall my PPL Air Law book stating that banner towing needs a specific rating in the same manner that night flying does. I'm willing to stand corrected though.

MB :)