I want a PPL - cui bono?

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Twenty Rothmans
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I want a PPL - cui bono?

#1 Post by Twenty Rothmans » Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:08 pm

It's rather barren in here, so I hope that my tale of woe will pad things out a little.

Growing up, a few of my father's colleagues had their own aircraft. One of them actually gave up his lucrative day job to become a full time pilot, flying floatplanes for a living. He took me up a few times in conventional aircraft and I was hooked.

But then Life got in the way. Study, then love and then a career. One day, I was waiting for my flight back to Sydney when someone came over in the lounge and told me they had very few smoking seats in Business, would I consider a non-smoking seat in First instead? I acquiesced. Rather later the captain came around and asked if I'd like to sit in the jumpseat for takeoff and landing.

So these three aircrew came around to collect me. One of the FOs and I had a quick fag on the way to the aircraft and then we were off. I was hooked again. As I flew a fair bit for work at that time, I knew that I could ask for the junpseat and my request would be granted.

By this time I'd acquired a yacht and was trying to pay my mortgage so private flying was not in scope. The GA airfields in Sydney were a long way from where I lived.

Fast forward a few years to a different country. I was given a flight from a well-known airfield NNE of London. When I arrived, the lady at reception took one look at me and said I'd need something bigger than a 152 and it would be £20 extra. Well, the £20 didn't bother me but I did wonder if I looked fat (I'm not). Off we went and I was hooked.

So I sat down with the facts and figures. I knew I'd need more than 45 hours - I reckoned with 90. With bits and pieces I decided that it would cost around £20,000. Fine. I can afford that, I thought. So I located a flight school nearer me with a good reputation and paid for my first three lessons up front (being wary of the misfortunes of others seeking to save money by paying for the lot at once).

I started in Winter, scraping ice off the wing with a credit card, but at least the skies weren't too busy. Because of my sailing, I was very apprehensive of a collision - in fact I was a panic merchant. Any reflection from the ground (e.g., the Sun reflecting from a conservatory) made me call out traffic. Dumb.

Anyway, I settled down with one instructor for a while. He's a tremendously nice chap, but he's as tall as I am (6' 2") and heavier than I. The cockpit of a 152 is cosy enough but this was rather limiting. Also, I tried to do the figures. So if I'm 16 stone, that's 224 lb, and if he's 17 stone that's 238 lb, so that's 462 lb. This made me a little nervous when we topped up before flying (although I did ask if it was strictly necessary).

I was an extremely poor pilot. Because I was so terrified of missing traffic I didn't scan properly and drifted off altitude. That was probably because I wasn't trimming properly as well. My landings were dreadful. No situational awareness whatsoever, I was just aiming at the tarmac but not trying to put the bloody thing down. The only things I managed to get right were the preflight and 'fingertip' as opposed to 'white-knuckle' yoke control. These were techniques drummed into me by my father's colleague all those years ago.

There were a few assumptions I made before I started out that were wrong.
1: I can do this on Sundays (the only day available to me) How many consecutive CAVOK Sundays can you count? Towards the end I couldn't sleep on Saturday nights having not drunk anything, done as much reading as possible and worrying about the weather.
2: It will 'click' and I'll be a natural
3: I've been with this instructor for some time and I don't want to insult him by asking for someone else. He missed one day and I went with a different FI. He said "You do the radio calls". "Who, me?" "Sure. I'll help if you get stuck". I really enjoyed that flight.
4: I can use a PPL. See point 1.

So that's it. I've asked about flying in Australia when I'm back there but there's a lot of paperwork (and it's only a holiday) If my next career move takes me to the USA, things might move on. Until then, I'll just whore myself around looking for right-seat rides where I can.

20R

MoreAviation

Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#2 Post by MoreAviation » Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:26 pm

A good instructor is worth his/her weight in gold particularly if you have not being invested with the ab initio flying skills of Hans-Joachim Marseille. I take it that you have not completed your PPL? While continuity is important it might be well worth swapping your instructor. Any instructor worth his/her salt won't take it amiss particularly if their student doesn't seem to be making progress. Continuity in flying time is tremendously important as well and can make the difference between soloing at +-7 hours and doing the same at 20 hrs. I know this can be tough here in the UK but focussing your flying on the summer months will be a big step forward.

You seem to have a bit of a down on your innate skills. I would suggest that if you really anticipate needing to get to 90 hours before obtaining your licence then maybe you should look at taking up another hobby as I am sure any good instructor would tell you as this is a long and expensive time to get a licence.

Persevere though and it will come (well before 90 hours) and happy flying...

Sisemen

Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#3 Post by Sisemen » Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:55 pm

I am not an innate flyer. In fact, doing a staff visit to the RAF Aircrew Selection Centre at Biggin Hill many years ago and playing on the practical tests the corporal in charge said, "Sir, I hate to say it, but you'll never be a pilot as long as you've got a hole in your bum" !!!

Well, he wasn't quite right as I did eventually get my licence - and the company that I worked for at the time paid for it! However, during training there were many moments when I genuinely thought of giving up because I didn't feel that I had the 'right stuff'. Thankfully I persevered.

I was fortunate in that I did my flying training in the clear skies (traffic and weather) of Western Australia. So, if you have the ability to train somewhere like that rather than Elstree or the like, grab the opportunity with both hands. You can catch up on crap weather and crowded skies once you've got the basics .....and that precious licence!

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Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#4 Post by Alisoncc » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:12 pm

20R, by time I kicked off my ppl at 26 I had already spent ten years playing with aeroplanes. First in the RAF as a radio liney, then as an avionics LAME. Emigrated to Oz as a £10 POM ending up in Port Moresby when it was TPNG. Earning good money and no where else to spend it, poured it into the coffers of the South Pacific Aero Club. Absolutely loved flying, couldn't get enough of it.

CFI reckoned I did some of the best student landings he had ever seen, and that I was a natural. Perhaps it was because I treated it similar to driving a car in that when driving you rarely actually look at the road immediately ahead, or consciously think about adjusting the steering or the pressure you are placing on the accelerator. It's almost as if your brain takes care of all of these things without bothering you. Often felt that if you got everything right at the start of your approach then the aircraft would land itself, leaving you free to check all the other things that may be happening outside.

Went on to bigger and better things but never racked up enough hours in command to move up the ladder from a CPL. Too many young kids prepared to fly for no pay just to get their hours up, and by this time I was used to getting a good pay packet as an avionics manager. But God I would love to get back into that left hand seat again. Still dream, just take a good lottery win to make it happen.

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Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#5 Post by Twenty Rothmans » Sun Jan 03, 2016 1:33 pm

@MoreAviation - my PPL is still in the distance. I think you're right about instructors - thinking carefully about the (few) lessons I had, it would have been wiser to insist on sticking with the one who made me feel the most comfortable. I made the guess of 90 hours as the worst case scenario and to ensure that I knew how much it would cost.
@Sisemen - Flying in Australia is a much more straightforward option (despite the paperwork) - and WA must be even better than NSW. Where I am now, I'm hemmed in by Heathrow, London, Luton and Lord knows what else, even if I did get my ticket it would be the same routine of squeezing through a narrow corridor to get anywhere. On CAVOK Sundays.
@Alison - TPNG - I can only vaguely remember those days! I read Stick and Rudder more than once and tried to 'work from the picture'.
I'm reminded of what happened when my former squeeze hired a motorcycle for me as a treat. I'd ridden for ten years, a lot of it on slippery German autobahns, but had been out of the saddle for about three years. I was all over the place. Another motorcyclist pulled up alongside me at some traffic lights and said "Mate, are you all right?".

So I'm afraid any further instruction will have to wait until my lifestyle changes.

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Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#6 Post by Ex-Ascot » Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:16 am

20R I would recommend a concentated course of one month where and when the sun shines every day. One hour every other Sunday or so doesn't work. This is what I did in the UK (summer) actually and PPL in 30 days. You certainly will not need 90 hrs doing it this way.
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Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#7 Post by unifoxos » Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:01 am

What Ex-Ascot said. At least use a couple of weeks holiday, or as much as you can spare, in the summer and get in as many hours as you can. Each time you get in the a/c it takes a little while to become comfortable with it, and the odd hour every couple of weeks or so is only going to be worth half or less. Especially as you may be using a different plane each time. When I learned I used whatever a/c was allocated, two or three different 150's and a couple of 152's. As well as slightly different controls even apparently identical planes felt different in the air. If you can get 3 or 4 sessions in a day you can probably get the same a/c each time. Where I learned, one young lad got his PPL in a fortnight.

BTW I remember acquiring a motorbike after 20 years without one and within a minute or two was feeling in total command, so maybe you don't have whatever it is that allows a pilot/rider/driver to feel part of a machine, which will make it even worse to keep up with only sporadic lessons.
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Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#8 Post by Twenty Rothmans » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:49 am

Ex-Ascot and unifoxos
Thank you for replying.
You're right, trying to learn something when it can be interrupted by weather once every week is a fool's errand. Trying to practise it after you've qualified under the same circumstances is just asking for trouble. I'm sure we've all read the horror stories of people who've taken a PPL and just let it sit.

I looked at a place in Australia close to my parents' home but it's 30 miles away and more expensive than my school here - inside the M25! And contrary to what people think, the weather there does get rather tasty when you least expect it.

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Re: I want a PPL - cui bono?

#9 Post by Ex-Ascot » Sun Jan 10, 2016 10:06 am

20M it's a pleasure and good luck. I have been lucky to fly practically everything from 152 to heavy four jet and fighters. I still get great pleasure in flying single pistons in the bush.
'Yes, Madam, I am drunk, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly.' Sir Winston Churchill.

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