Reply With QuoteNice one!
May I ask what sort of time/cost did it involve to get to this point?.
After nearly 5 years and 60 hours of flight training, I had my skills test yesterday at Cambridge Aeroclub and finally gained my PPL.
I'm over the moon. A massive undertaking, far harder than I realised it would be to start with.
I'm guessing there will be a few others who've achieved their PPLs on TZ.
What do I do next? Farm strip and night qualifications are tempting, once I've built up a few hours flying alone with just a map and compass. I intend to try and live without relying on Sky Demon for a while.
I also plan to treat myself to a Bose headset.
Nice one!
May I ask what sort of time/cost did it involve to get to this point?.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Congratulations mr noble!
I passed my final skills test in April 2012 and enjoyed flying most months up until recently. I fly out of Barton (EGCB) although I'm taking this year off to concentrate on some other things and I'm also getting married in Dec. so funds are needed elsewhere!
I joined a non-equitity aircraft group. It was a good way to do some (slightly) discounted flying and meet some like minded people. Check your local airfield and ask around, they sometimes advertise or use word of mouth. My most memorable flight was over the lakedistrict in winter, it was a stunning day and the veiws were amazing.
Other than that, just get out there and enjoy it! I never stopped learning and took the opportunity to fly with other group members and always learnt something. You'll also be looking forward to taking friends and family up?
More importantly, which watch do you wear to navigate by!? My trusty Fortis b-42 never let me down :)
Congratulations and enjoy,
Jon
Congratulations, great achievement enjoy the freedom that it brings. I fly Helicopters for work and still love it.
When I kept my PPL current the two most enjoyable things I did were gaining a British Aerobatic Association certificate (in a Cessna Aerobat) and then flying a Pitts Special; and flying Piper J3 Cubs (fitted with floats) at Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in Florida.
Apart from that I always enjoyed taking a Cessna or a Warrior (from Lulsgate or Staverton) with a mate for a summer evening jaunt over Bath, Wells, Glastonbury Tor, the Severn Bridge, etc. Happy days.
I picked up my PPL (D) about 30 yrs ago and loved every moment flying my microlight. Long time gone now though - Marriage, Nest building, Kids and other aspects of life interfered !
That's fantastic! I stopped logging hours after about 18,000, but I still remember tooling around in a Cub on a warm evening with the door open as my favourite flying.
I'll never forget my first solo...daunting at the best of times, but at 18 I'd not even been driving that long.
Congratulations Greg, must be immensely satisfying.
Cheers..
Jase
I did my PPL young too. 6 years before I got my driving license.Originally Posted by dougair
Congratulations. I fly from Conington and have just started my instructor (M) rating training. Nice club if you ever fancy a short hop for a coffee
When I was stationed at Larkhill in the late 1960s, I could have had flying lessons at Netheravon for 30 shillings a lesson. Should have done it.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Staying with the 'should have done it' aviation theme, my Grandpa had the chance to buy a Spitfire from the Air Force at the end of the war for £500. 😀
Cheers..
Jase
^^ Indeed you should have Eddie! Not far off £200 an hour in a Cessna 172 these days!
My QXC was to Connington and Sywell. Did enjoy the conington circuit and club house but the runway was a bit rough!
Think I'll do a farm strip and a night qualification next. That is after the G1000 course I have to do before the club will let me rent their G1000 equipped 172.
Great hobby to have!
It's still fun even when it's been work for 21 years!
Yes, but not for winged aircraft. In my case it's balloons. Took 4 years to get my licence, way back in 1986. (In most countries, a balloon pilot's license has a similar status as a PPL.) Now up to about 1200 flight hours. No aeroclubs with fixed installations for us where one can get lessons. Balloons are weird. Technically very simple machines but flying them is quite complicated. At least if you want to do any real piloting and not just float helplessly... It's a bit like Sully and the Hudson every time... And it leads to interesting adventures and meeting interesting people and animals.
Taking to the air in any kind of contraption is a great adventure and widens your horizons in the most literal sense.
My 'flight watch' is a Broadarrow PRS-4 from our host. Has been for many years. The timing (diving) bezel is its most useful feature. After that, my most important 'instrument' is probably a can of shaving cream. Guess why. :-)
Congratulations, I'd thoroughly recommend getting into group ownership as soon as posible. Over the time I was an active PPL holder I was a member of three different groups, two of them based on farm strips. It can be an excellent way to continue developing your skills under the eye of more experienced pilots and you'll also become actively involved in the whole business of managing an airplane.
For ages I put off buying a decent headset before gritting my teeth and purchasing a pair of DCs. My only regret turned out to be that I hadn't done it much earlier.
How do you 'fly' a balloon? I'm thinking you are pretty much at the mercy of the wind with a little input on direction by changing height and reading the landscape?
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