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What to do when waiting for PPL?

no licence yet, and already bored?
Start golfing (and stop sex)

Dan
ain't the Destination, but the Journey
LSZF, Switzerland

Firstly, congratulations IO390. A great place to be
A few ideas:

  • Do a triangle, square, pentagon etc with an airfield at each point. A bit like doing circuits, but each touch and go at a different airfield. I think my record is 8 airfields in a 2h flight. Might not be so easy in the UK with the hassle of PPR and landing fees.
  • Try a few new airfields. The UK magazines usually give free landings to a certain number each month. Places I would go back to: Bembridge, Compton Abbas, Duxford, Old Warden.
  • Have a think about anything you didn’t do in the PPL. Near the end of my training the instructor and I went to Chambéry just to fly in the mountains, and were planning to go to Switzerland (unfortunately never happened). Maybe spin recovery, or flying to a farm strip?
  • Go to Le Touquet on your own: bike, lunch, bring back some wine and the most horrific-smelling cheese you can find (Maroilles, ideally artisanal, is a good bet)
  • Are there any planes in the school you haven’t flown? Or any other planes at Shoreham that can be hired? Go fly a tailwheel: it’s what real pilots do
  • Does the school organise anything? My aéroclub has an annual trip to Corsica and a tour of either northern France or Brittany.
  • If you’ve flown with Peter you’ve probably got more of an idea than most recent-PPLs, and probably have a turtle-pac bladder too
EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

Found this article which might be useful

https://airfactsjournal.com/2021/05/wolfgang-langewiesche-on-pilot-proficiency/

It is quite dated and not quite on topic, but practising zone transits and visiting busy ATC airfields (Bournemouth, Shoreham, Oxford, Biggin Hill) might be useful.

Last Edited by RobertL18C at 24 Jul 10:55
Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

@IO390 I meant the Needles

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

Thank you all for the detailed responses. This has given me a lot to think about.

As it happens, a box was left empty on my PPL application form so this will delay things by a few weeks or a month. I still intend on 3-4 hrs per week flying though.

My long term plan is CPL/IR, and my current job affords me a lot of free time so I should be able to do this debt free over the next couple of years. I’m considering the IR(R) and would likely start this soon. I’ve been lucky to do some trips with Peter in his TB20 so I have had a good taste of instrument flying operations and IMC/Wx etc which is hugely valuable, and I can see how even a few hours of instrument practice would go a long way.

This week I’ll look at landing somewhere else, though I will be constrained on time so Sandown looks like a good option since the flight time is very short. My PFLs were not my strong point during training so I’ll try this too, along with holding heading/altitudes more accurately.

I’ve had a look through the POH regarding leaning and done some research, this looks easy enough on the PA28-161 provided I’m below 75% power. No EGT or CHT so I will have to lean by RPM only.

Despite this school being fairly cheap for Shoreham, it’s still £165/hr +vat wet to rent, adding a £30 landing fee (£15 for t&g) means most of my flights are £400+. That buys a lot of avgas in your own plane, so ownership is an obvious goal. Prices are insane and unlikely to come down, the only PA-28s remotely within my budget have timed out engines. Reading Euroga has taught me that buying a plane cheaply with the intention of doing it up is almost always a false economy… Something like a Jodel D120 would likely fit my needs (given budget of 30k) for the next couple years, with the obvious running cost advantages associated with a permit aircraft. Serious EU touring is likely to be problematic for the next couple of years anyway…

United Kingdom

Great photo of the Spires!

Perhaps explore flying a sailplane? It will teach energy management and Lasham is not too far away.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

Congrats !
What are your goals after you join a syndicate ?

I would say :
- land at the most airfields possible
- try shorter/narrower/slope/grass runways
- try a long climb (like to FL105 or higher if possible)
- try night/twilight flying if possible
- try to cross a border, or flying overwater (like the channel Islands).
- train simulated IMC. Ask your instructor/buddy to “vector” you to a final somewhere. Learn to fly numbers accurately.

Enjoy !
Of course, when you won’t have time anymore, you will get plenty of ideas of what you should have done

LFOU, France

Firstly, congratulations! I hope you really get to enjoy your new privlidiges.

Secondly if your first solo was less than a year ago, and you’ve not already done so, then you should apply for your free 1 year copy of EasyVFR4.
First Solo – Free 1 Year Subscription EasyVFR4

In terms of what to do while waiting on your licence, I was going to suggest you do a trip to France with your instructor. This would probably clear the path for you to bring the aircraft abroad in the future without further formality with your school/club. But I think there are restrictions for UK citizens returning home so this probably isn’t a runner at present.

So instead I’ve two suggestions for you.

The first one is to take a look at what Capitaine did here.
A tour of the white horses and chalk figures could make some lovely photos. It also means that having your instructor onboard isn’t necessarily a drag! They now becomes a useful tool to you! They can help find the figures (which will no doubt be tricky to find even with gps) and also help fly the aircraft around the figure while you try to get the perfect photo (take plenty of photos…the perfect one never comes out perfect, so get plenty!). Getting good photos, while low level, and still flying the aircraft is tricky even for an experienced pilot, so having the instructor along to fly while orbitting the figure is actually useful!

If your instructor has to be onboard, then you might as well use them. So my second suggestion is seek out the strongest cross winds that you can find. Many newly qualified pilots quickly learn to fear cross winds. Their instructors limit them to mild cross winds, and then the pilot restricts themselves further, until eventually they aren’t happy landing in any crosswind that requires using crosswind technique. So instead, I suggest that you go out and find the worst cross winds that you can find, and practice them until you really aren’t bothered by them anymore. This will do you a world of good for later flying. It will mean that the aircraft will be available on days when others are afraid to fly, and you’ll cancel far fewer flights. Seek out 20-25kt full crosswinds (initially with your instructor) and master them. It will transform the utility of your flying.

EIWT Weston, Ireland

Practice simulated engine loss landings.

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

Congratulations, and welcome to the club!
A great achievement especially given the restrictions you have had to endure these past 16 months+
I truly believe flying is one of the few remaining human achievements left where we are pretty much in control of our fate and allowed to exercise that responsibility.

In terms of what you should do whilst waiting and beyond… remember you have been granted a license to learn and I would strongly advocate you arrange some basic instrument training, 5 hours or so of getting used to trusting and flying by the basic instruments, head in the cockpit/ under the hood. Not for any rating per say at this stage, but just as a practical addition to your existing toolkit. In reality you will be facing marginal VFR more than you think, marine haze springs to mind, and it would be very useful for you to be prepared to deal with it.

Later on you can use that knowledge towards a full IR which is going to be a necessary rating for any serious cross country travel.

In addition, go out flying to as many different style of runways as you can to practice the sight picture of varying runway lengths, widths and slopes. That will stand you in very good stead when traveling to unfamiliar airports/airfields with no approach lights or nav aids.

Above all appreciate and celebrate what you have just achieved. :-)

Chokdee! – Good luck.

Cheers – E

Last Edited by eal at 23 Jul 00:24
eal
Lovin' it
VTCY VTCC VTBD
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