Learn To Fly | Private Pilot's Licence - Learn To Fly

The world's your oyster

In Part I we covered the study, training and medical requirements for obtaining your Private Pilot's licence in the UK. Here in Part II we'll go into more detail about structuring your studies to make the best use of your time, effort, and money.

Keeping Down the Cost

You'll see many schools offering to bring you up to the required standard for a fixed price based on the minimum number of flying hours in the syllabus, but it's rare for student pilots to become ready for the Skills Test just when they've logged only these flying hours. Most people need more time to practice, to build up confidence and to convince themselves and their flying instructors that they are ready for the CAA Examiner.

One way of keep down the cost of learning to fly is to schedule your training so that you make the best use of the continuity of practice. The ideal way is to book continuous lessons throughout several consecutive weeks so that there are never more than one or two days between lessons. In this way you will undertake each lesson with the previous instructions fresh in your mind and overall you'll need less practice.

If you are in full time employment you could use some of your annual leave to do this, but if that's not possible try instead to book lessons over many continuous weekends and evenings, and keep up with your groundschool studies when you're not flying. Taking into account the UK weather and daylight hours most flying is done during the summer months but this means that the flying clubs are at their busiest from March to September, so book early and be prepared to jump in if any slots suddenly become available.

British Weather or Sunnier Skies

What could be more pleasant than learning to fly in the Sunshine State of Florida with its wide open runways, clear blue skies, and uncluttered airspace? Wouldn't it be less expensive and quicker? Before you reach for your credit card you have to factor in the cost of getting there and back and the cost of your accommodation and food while you're there. You could treat it as a holiday but you might not want your partner or family with you while you're trying to study so it will probably be a solo break away from home for a few weeks.

Also, some pilots have found that on their return to the UK they find the comparatively congested airspace intimidating and they lack the confidence to make decisions about whether or not to fly when the weather is so changeable here. So any money they saved learning to fly abroad is spent on additional training in the UK, which they feel is necessary in order to bring their confidence level back up to a point where they can confidently fly in UK airspace and weather. In the end those cheap lessons in the States can cost a whole lot more than you expect.

However, there are advantages to flying abroad. It's a great way to build up the hours in your log book and of course it's great fun to fly where the skies go on for ever and the overall attitude to general aviation is much more hospitable and friendly. So if you feel the urge and can afford to fly where you please then take advantage of the opportunity.

The First Solo

The major milestone in your journey to becoming a pilot is your first solo. The experience of being alone in an aircraft for the first time is one that you will remember for the rest of your life even if you go on to be a senior Captain flying airliners around the world.

After you've learnt the basic maneuvering schools and aircraft handling techniques i.e. straight and level flight, turns, climbing and descending to name but a few, you will then spend many lessons in and around your home airfield flying circuits. Circuits are rectangular patterns oriented on the runway in use and taking into account any local flying restrictions and procedures.

You'll be circuit bashing for some time, perfecting your climb outs, downwind checks, approaches, and landings. There'll be days in which you seem to land reasonably well and others when you make a complete hash of it. Now and again you'll land like a veteran, but then your instructor will take you round again to check to see if it was fluke.

After a while you'll start to become bored of these repetitive lessons and at some point your instructor will ask you to taxi to a halt while he/she vacates the aircraft. Before you have time to complain you'll be on your way back to the runway for your first solo and within 15-20 minutes you'll be back in the clubhouse feeling as if you've just passed through a barrier into another world.

Radiotelephony

One the skills you will need to develop is the ability to use to ask for information and respond to requests and instructions over the aircraft radio. Many people feel self conscious about this and are reluctant to speak. You must overcome these misgivings as being confident in the use of the radio will not only make flying more enjoyable it will also make it safer for you and your passengers.

Invest in some training software or CDs with which you can interact. Practice the vocabulary of aviation wherever and whenever you can. Start with the phonetic alphabet and proceed from there. One good tip is to learn all the usual requests and responses that relate to your home airfield, and practice using them until you can reply to the Tower without hesitation.

Radiotelephony for aviators follows certain rules and procedures so that information can be passed quickly and accurately. At a busy airfield you need be able to fly the aircraft, keep a good lookout, listen out for your call sign and respond to it when called.

Keep Going - Don't Stop!

By the time you've reached first solo stage you will have spent quite a lot of time, energy and money on your ambition. The important thing now is to keep going. Don't give up and don't let all that expenditure go to waste. Once you've recovered from your first solo celebrations go back to your studies and continue with your lessons.

The next major milestone is your first solo landing away from your home airfield. Find out all you can about the airfield before you fly there. You could even drive to it and have a look around if you think that would help. These days you can make use of Google Earth to examine landmarks that will help you obtain a fix of your position.

The secret to success is planning. It's easy for the novice flyer to stray into the airspace of another airfield (and therefore into the path of other aircraft) if they were aiming for it but had reached it sooner than expected. If you have planned your journey well there should not be any surprises and you will have made your radio call to the airfield when you were several miles away. During the last few miles you will need to identify your position accurately so that your approach and landing is on the correct side follows the procedures for that airfield.

Last Lap

Once you have completed two thirds of the syllabus and you have completed all your written PPL exams it's time to start focusing on the final hurdle - the Skills Test. During this practical exam the Examiner will ask you demonstrate your ability to be a pilot in command of an aircraft. The Examiner will not be expecting perfection but they will be hoping to see a certain degree of confidence, proficiency, and the ability to make quick decisions. All this comes with practice.

It's perfectly understandable that you might be a little nervous before your test (or more than a little!), but try to relax the evening before, get a good night's sleep, and approach the task with as much confidence as you can muster based on the many hours you will by now have added to your logbook. Your Flying Instructor will only put your forward for this final challenge when he/she thinks you are ready, so trust the judgement of your tutor.

Imagine yourself holding your new licence in your hands and very soon it will become a reality.

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