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First flying lesson


eddoakley
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Bit of a busy day today but managed to finally get my first flying lesson done.

Decided to start this a couple of weeks ago and with weather, work and me getting the dates wrong today was eventually the day of the first lesson.

Didn't really know what to expect but have to say I was pretty pleased.

Half an hour chat and then straight out for an hour's flying. 

As we were chatting the instructor asked where I lived and, as it wasn't far from the airport say we could do a fly by. I wasn't sure if he was serious but as soon as we were up he headed that way. 

Conditions were apparently perfect for a first lesson and within minutes he said "you have control"! 

A little bit of a slow start, not wanting to make too big a movement and just trying to get a feel for the controls but after a few minutes I felt pretty comfortable.

I thought it was a lot like driving a digger with movements having the initial reaction that you want but also a secondary reaction which you counteract with other controls. Turn, for example, means that the nose goes down so to stay level means pulling up as you turn.

Its strange to think that I was flying a plane with such a small amount of instruction(obviously the instructor could just take over at any time). Turning, climbing and decending and just trying to stay straight and level.

In truth that's a very small part of what it's all about and takes very little skill, just kind of a feel for the controls. The difficult bits will come much later.

I have a cracking picture of my house which I was really surprised and pleased by.

Pencilled in for next week and already had a chat about shares in a plane that's kept there (more reasonably priced than I thought And would probably surprise people)

Anyway, if anyone fancies it I can thoroughly recommend giving it a go even if it's just for one lesson.

 

Edd

 

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Great feeling being up in a light aircraft, bet you had a smile for the rest of the day.

It's the flying and ongoing costs after buying a share of a plane that mount up. Small light planes burn through 6 to 10 gallon per hour depending on size of engine and weight of plane. If your oy going to fly occasionally you may be better off hiring one.

Out of curiosity what were the costs per lesson?

 

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24 minutes ago, figgy said:

Great feeling being up in a light aircraft, bet you had a smile for the rest of the day.

It's the flying and ongoing costs after buying a share of a plane that mount up. Small light planes burn through 6 to 10 gallon per hour depending on size of engine and weight of plane. If your oy going to fly occasionally you may be better off hiring one.

Out of curiosity what were the costs per lesson?

 

Yeah it's certainly not a cheap hobby!

But I would bet that most people would be surprised and would expect it to cost more.

It was a bit of a manic day so was all a bit of a rush but I certainly enjoyed it, it didn't really sink in and seemed quite surreal, possibly because one minute I was buying a car and the next I was flying a plane (less than an hour apart).

Glad I made the time though and will be out again asap.

Cost of lessons- depends on what plane and how many you pay for at once but today was a 2 seater (I forget the details but will try to post a pic for those in the know) and was the cheapest option at £175 p/h. I think it was somethjng like £220 for the bigger plane and then a saving if you book a course. I will be in the bigger plane next time and will book a course after a few lessons of getting to grips with it.

 

Edd

Edited by eddoakley
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27 minutes ago, figgy said:

I've looked local to me and you can book a course with all your training for your ppl for less than 4k. Don't seem a bad price on the face of it, never went into finer details.

Keep us posted with your progress.

I've been reading up a bit too and pretty much everything I have found says that those sort of deals are very misleading.

£175 p/h seems about right for flying, possibly on the cheaper side, and minimum of 45 hours needed. Then there's various text books and study guides, medicals, tests and other bits.

From what I read and have been told a sensible budget is more like £10k.

There are shares (1/3) available in a plane that's kept at the airport (Cardiff) and it's around £6-7k. £295 pm to keep it there so 1/3 of that too. £25 per week to have to opportunity doesn't seem too bad.

 

Edd

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11 minutes ago, figgy said:

Did they say how much on average per hour to fly and if landing fees apply. Fuel will be £30.00 minimum if on standard petrol. Aviation fuel will be more.

Suppose the good thing with shares is always some advice knowledge and help.

Didn't get too far into specifics but I'm sure the guy said that the £295 included all fees. I didn't check what plane that particular one was so no idea about fuel cost although I wouldn't think (from my little knowledge of types of plane) that it would be aviation fuel. The one today certainly wasn't.

I did ask about hiring too and at the time I didn't think that was particularly cheap, I guess it was based on learning rather than wanting to go somewhere when you have passed.

I will email the school for more details and let you know if you like.

 

Edd

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Did a hop into Biggin Hill late last week and the bloody heaters broke Lol! Could of been worse though, could have been a wing ;)

Physical flying is the easy part. It's the theory that is most difficult, especially if you want your instrument rating so you don't have to fly VFR only. Don't forget you need to be not only a pilot, but also meteorologist! £10k is about what you should expect to pay As mentioned above. 

Fuel costs are not as bad as you may think, and it's cheaper to fly to London from the North than it is to get the train! 

Other costs to consider are renewals, landing fees, de icing, storage (If you are lucky enough to be able to buy your own aircraft) ongoing maintenance etc etc.

Personally, I would only invest in the training if you have a huge chunk of disposable income as renting the aircraft can be costly and generally command huge deposits.

Regardless, flying is awesome and a freedom not many people enjoy, best of luck! 

20180117_145822.jpg

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A friend of mine was asking about this. The advice he received from a former airline pilot was to book a course in Florida. US schools can provide the appropriate training for UK pilots. The benefits of taking the course in Florida is that unless you're very unlucky you'll have perfect flying weather everyday. Rather than the UK where often a lesson can be cancelled because of poor weather conditions.

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On 04/12/2018 at 20:03, eddoakley said:

Bit of a busy day today but managed to finally get my first flying lesson done.

Decided to start this a couple of weeks ago and with weather, work and me getting the dates wrong today was eventually the day of the first lesson.

Didn't really know what to expect but have to say I was pretty pleased.

Half an hour chat and then straight out for an hour's flying. 

As we were chatting the instructor asked where I lived and, as it wasn't far from the airport say we could do a fly by. I wasn't sure if he was serious but as soon as we were up he headed that way. 

Conditions were apparently perfect for a first lesson and within minutes he said "you have control"! 

A little bit of a slow start, not wanting to make too big a movement and just trying to get a feel for the controls but after a few minutes I felt pretty comfortable.

I thought it was a lot like driving a digger with movements having the initial reaction that you want but also a secondary reaction which you counteract with other controls. Turn, for example, means that the nose goes down so to stay level means pulling up as you turn.

Its strange to think that I was flying a plane with such a small amount of instruction(obviously the instructor could just take over at any time). Turning, climbing and decending and just trying to stay straight and level.

In truth that's a very small part of what it's all about and takes very little skill, just kind of a feel for the controls. The difficult bits will come much later.

I have a cracking picture of my house which I was really surprised and pleased by.

Pencilled in for next week and already had a chat about shares in a plane that's kept there (more reasonably priced than I thought And would probably surprise people)

Anyway, if anyone fancies it I can thoroughly recommend giving it a go even if it's just for one lesson.

 

Edd

 

I can see you entering the Top Gun academy at Mirima soon Edd or should we call you Maverick 

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18 hours ago, strimmer_13 said:

I've got glider lessons paid for. I've always wanted to fly but the thought of being up there without a engine or parachute bothers me slightly 😂

you get a parachute in  a glider but no engine.

you get an engine in a light aircraft but no parachute .

your  choice 😂

 

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4 hours ago, wascal said:

you get a parachute in  a glider but no engine.

you get an engine in a light aircraft but no parachute .

your  choice 😂

 

If you look online lots of small light aircraft come with a safety parachute, fired by a small rocket to bring the and down safely.

Edited by figgy
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55 minutes ago, figgy said:

If you look online lots of small light aircraft come with a safety parachute, fired by a small rocket to bring the and down safely.

BRS - Ballistic Recovery System.

Wouldnt say “lots” at all Cirrus has it as an option but not sure about others- then again I’m out of touch with GA

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3 hours ago, Jaymo said:

BRS - Ballistic Recovery System.

Wouldnt say “lots” at all Cirrus has it as an option but not sure about others- then again I’m out of touch with GA

Only a very small percentage actually have this

The neccesary reinforcing  has to be designed in from the start  . you can't just bolt a chute on the roof of a cessna .

And the cost of type approval and  retrofiting  would be "eye watering"

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8 hours ago, Jaymo said:

BRS - Ballistic Recovery System.

Wouldnt say “lots” at all Cirrus has it as an option but not sure about others- then again I’m out of touch with GA

I'm in an SR22 most of the time and it is equipped with ballistic parachute, or BRS. Also full life raft system, but you ditch that most of the time as its just extra weight and a drain on juice. Just make sure you throttle back if you ever need to pull that red lever!!! Chances of ever using it are slim to none, but it's there nevertheless!

Edited by MarcMaxus
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On 06/12/2018 at 13:40, Danger-Mouse said:

A friend of mine was asking about this. The advice he received from a former airline pilot was to book a course in Florida. US schools can provide the appropriate training for UK pilots. The benefits of taking the course in Florida is that unless you're very unlucky you'll have perfect flying weather everyday. Rather than the UK where often a lesson can be cancelled because of poor weather conditions.

True story, I did mine in North Carolina 

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It’s of mixed benefits.

On the one hand the costs are cheaper ( but have been eroded in recent years with the Pound/Dollar collapse) and weather is better for greater continuity.

Other hand there is of course the requirements to address the differences on return and validate your US licence plus ( this will sound silly), the changeable weather here is actually of benefit due to your exposure to it - if you’ve only ever flown in the Floridian sunshine ( stopped each afternoon due to the certain CB’s), then encountering the wind and rain here does cause problems.

Back in the mid 90’s when I was instructing we had quite a few who would go to say ‘Ormond Beach Aviation’ and return with their US PPL , but would then fork out for five or more hours getting used to U.K. preocedures and weather negating some of the cost savings.

Not saying don’t go to the US, but if you do go, then do not think of making it a family holiday as you won’t have a great deal of spare time and ‘spousal pressure’ to do things ‘together’ doesn’t make for great learning.

I spent several weeks ‘hour building’ out there in 91 for the grand sum of around $18 per hour if memory serves me correct.

Which ever way you go, enjoy it and try to keep ‘current’ ( sharing trips is far better than the odd local flight on your own) 

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