Pretty windy but in the right direction Strong winds this weekend, especially over the north parts of Britain, didn’t sound promising. However, the south of England was clear with good visibility and the stronger winds from WNW didn’t mean too much of a crosswind. I’d arranged to take an old friend up for a flight with his young lad, who has always been keen on airplanes. It was very much
Continue readingFrance for Lunch
Pea Soup for Breakfast Perhaps this weekend’s flight was just too ambitous.The intention was to reward my family for indulging me in my hobby by flying them to France. Being so close to the shortest day in the year, and not operating from an airfield with lights meant that it would be much more enjoyable to stay overnight. We originally intended to go to Le Touquet, but very few hotel
Continue readingNovember sunshine in Pembrey and the Gower
The plan for today was to take a friend and two of his teenage lads up for a landaway from our club’s Kemble base. Simon had asked to fly over Carmarthen in Wales, where a friend has a house in Ferrybridge nearby. This is only a few miles away from Pembrey airport, which has been on my list of places to visit for a while, so the destination was quickly
Continue readingCoventry Club Flyout
Club Flyouts As a relatively new PPL, I’ve enjoyed the “buddy flying” at the club over the last year, where I’ve shared flights with other pilots in the Lyneham club. With a view to increasing this and also putting something back into the club itself, I’ve been trying to start off a more regular club flyout program with the full support of the Lyneham club committee. With the club having
Continue readingSolo to Popham
Change of plan Andy had kindly offered to take me for a flight on the club’s Arrow – an aircraft that I’m not qualified to pilot myself. This is a faster version of the PA28 range, with retractable undercarriage and a “wobbly prop”. Andy had completed two hours of differences training and so was keen to consolidate this with a few flights. I don’t believe it’s worthwhile for me to
Continue readingHow EASA FCL affects a UK Private Pilot
UK Private Pilot licensing changed on 8 April 2012 when EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) FCL (Flight Crew Licence) regulations came into force. The intention has been to standardise the rules across Europe, where previously there were many national variations. After a five year transition period, the majority of European private pilots now operate on EASA PPL licences issued by their own country authority. Qualifications/ratings, training courses, exams and skill
Continue readingHaverfordwest
Great weather for a landaway We had been enjoying an “Indian Summer” of warm weather at the end of September, and I was looking skywards during the week hoping it would last for the weekend. I’d arranged to take a friend, James, for a flight and hoped to go west to Cornwall or South Wales. Andy Hawkins was also planning a flight on Saturday, so we agreed to share a
Continue readingPassed the IMC Skills Test
After 6 months of training and having completed the full IMC syllabus twice (at different flying schools), I was getting to the stage where I just wanted to finish this off. Weather initially looked dubious The weather at home wasn’t good – dark clouds and impending rain. A quick look at the weather report for Oxford showed winds from the North – giving me some concern that the airport would
Continue readingIMC Training Day #16: Exam prep and ILS approach
The plan for today was to finish it all off. I’d booked a lesson with EB first, followed by a slot after lunchbreak with an examiner to conduct the IMC skills test. To say I was apprehensive at this stage would be putting it mildly. The weather forecast indicated winds of 15 gusting 25 from the south west – a crosswind for the normal runway which would be outside aircraft
Continue readingAnother couple of willing victims
Although I’ve been spending a lot of time and effort on my IMC training, I also wanted to enjoy the benefits of my PPL through landaways and sharing these with passengers. I’d discussed taking a friend up for a trip some months back, and we had settled on a date – today was to be the day. Dave asked if his 14 year old daughter could come along too –
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