LAPL – Light Aircraft Pilot Licence for NPPL pilots

The choice of NPPL and LAPL One of the potential upsides of the transition to EASA pilot licensing is the new LAPL or Light Aircraft Pilot Licence. A LAPL (Light Aircraft Pilot Licence) confers most of the privileges of a full PPL (Private Pilot Licence), but is less costly and slightly easier to obtain (30 vs 45 flight training hours required). The medical requirements are less restrictive, so that many

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Sunshine in Salcombe

Bolt Head is a private airstrip close to Salcombe on the south coast. This 620 metre grass strip has been a long time ambition of mine to visit, and with the weather forecast promising sunshine on the May Bank Holiday, it seemed an ideal opportunity. I had called a few days before and spoke to one of the two resident pilots who now manage the airstrip on behalf of the

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Abingdon Airshow

A Sunday Outing Once a year, Abingdon (an RAF airfield just south of Oxford) opens its doors to the public and hosts an airshow with plenty of stalls, attractions and excitement for the whole family. One of our club members runs a hospitality tent there, and offered a free landing and some free tickets through the club. Dave and I agreed to share a flight there in the Arrow, taking

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CAA Aviation House

PPL IR Theory Exams

Yippee! Passed the (laborious) IR Theory Exams Today I received a big white envelope from the CAA with the results of my last set of IR Theory exams. I’ve now passed the lot (all 7) and am qualified through to the next stage, ready to start the IR practical flight training which must be completed within 36 months (or I have to resit them all again). The Instrument Rating is

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Club expedition to Scotland

A Proper Expedition Enough of short bimbles and day trip landaways – this was to be my first longer multi-day outing, grandly titled the Club Expedition to Scotland. Enticed by the long list of free landing vouchers in Flyer Magazine, one of the club instructors advertised a long weekend flyout which attracted strong interest. We ended up with 12 pilots sharing 4 aircraft (3 Warriors and 1 Arrow), departing from

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Rush hour at Coventry

I flew from Kemble to Coventry in the Arrow for a fly-in, attending a meeting of PPL/IR. The flight there and back were both pretty routine (and VFR), but with some 40 aircraft arriving and departing in a short space of time, it did get quite busy. Rusty on some of the full ATC phrases I aimed to arrive around 10:30, one of the last slots, and so there was

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Braving the snow at Leicester

A really cold month It’s been a cold March – one of the coldest on record – with heavy snow affecting many parts of the UK. The forecast for the Easter Weekend at the end of the month looked fairly stable – quite cold, cloudbase of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, little chance of rain (or snow), an Easterly wind of about 10-15 knots. Not ideal, but OK for a short

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South Wales Tour

After a period of prolonged bad weather and cancelled flying opportunities, both Andy and I were keen to find a way to get a good trip in. We both negotiated to be able to take a day off work at short notice and looked for a gap in the weather. Today looked the best day with good visibility and low winds, so the plan was put into effect. After a

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Under the radar to Manchester Barton Airport

Manchester City (Barton) Airport Approaching Manchester City (Barton) airport requires GA pilots to fly between Manchester International and Liverpool commercial airports via the low-level corridor. This is a tunnel of airspace just 1300 feet high and 4 nautical miles wide, funnelling traffic to keep it out of the way of the large passenger jets landing and taking off. It’s an obvious route for me to take if heading further north

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