Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:06 am
#1577273
Hello everyone,
I couldn't easily find a section for new members to introduce themselves and hope posting here doesn't constitute my 'first strike'. I just joined-up today although have been hovering on the forum and checking some opinions (yes, there are plenty) over the past few months.
I left my job in April this year, prior to which I had been working without a break for 23 years. I decided to take the summer off and get my private pilot's licence, a dream I've been harbouring since childhood. I'd had two previous brushes with flying, the first when I applied to the BA training program shortly after University and the second when I got a few hours in a 152 at RAF Benson.
The BA program didn't work out when I discovered there was no kind of pay during the 70 week course and, having just got married, it was a non-starter. Yes, I was that naive. The Benson opportunity was great since my neighbour was an Air Loadmaster in the RAF and a few of his colleagues were training as instructors to give themselves a career in civvy street. In 2003 I was paying £60 ph in total, for plane, fuel, instruction, landing fees, which was impressive even back then. Then there was a job and house move and
Benson became too far away.
So this May, I took a big bag of cash and a willingness to learn and knocked on all the doors of the flying clubs at my local airport, Shoreham-by-Sea; good old EGKA. I got the distinct impression they had seen many people like me before and there was little enthusiasm from any of them, other than giving me a few photocopied handouts and assuring me that the PPL(A) could be achieved in three months for around £7-8k. I was skeptical, to say the least, and had budgeted £12k over four months.
One of the schools was shutting down and their CFI was working for a long-established club that I was invited to join. I have to say, their set-up is great and although not as affordable as my Benson days, came in at around £200 ph for a PA28, instruction and landing fee. I could have trained in their 152 but fancied a bit more decadence in my advancing years.
I tackled this project as though it were my full-time job and my wife commented that she'd never seen me read so much or study so hard. I had all the Pooley's manuals (that's a story for another day), charts, my whizz-wheel and a thirst for not only learning facts and figures but understanding how and why they are what they are. My first flight was June 12th, my first solo was July 25th and I felt I was making good progress. I took and passed five of the nine written exams in just one morning, with the other four a couple of weeks later and was hammering the circuit with 16 touch-and-gos in one session alone. Then August came, my instructor took three weeks' holiday and in September the weather was less predictable. It was November 8th before my Skill Test came around and I was eager to pass.
I got a partial fail. It was my PFL that I failed on and the examiner seemed as disappointed as me as he was otherwise very impressed with my flying as well as my attitude. The examiner had wanted to see a different technique (high key-low key) compared with the apparently more 'military' approach of the left wing down, circling the field method I had been taught. He also took me way lower than my instructor ever had and I was uncomfortable (and nervous) but realised he was the only other person I'd ever flown with so what did I know about right or wrong. I was prescribed another hour of instruction on the PFL and looked at this as a real bonus. I would far rather get something wrong in the Skill Test and have to learn a different technique, than pass the test and run the risk of getting it wrong in the real world.
On November 19th I took and passed the retest and skipped over to the CAA office in nearby Gatwick to hand over my application pack in person. I am happy to say my licence arrived just over a week later and now I am eager to learn as much as I can about safe, enjoyable and adventurous flying. I'm doing my night rating at the moment and should have that complete next week and am taking the obligatory trip to Le Touquet tomorrow in order to get my cross-channel check done. I will also do the check-ride in the 152, which gives me a lower per hour cost, especially as I'll mostly be flying solo or with just one passenger.
In all, the PPL took me five months to complete at a cost of £14,500, not including equipment and books etc. of around £1,800, some of which I could recoup by selling if I needed to. I was very fortunate that I could fly at pretty much any time during the week when most other people were at work. My instructor would call me up if she had a cancellation or the plane became available and I was no more than half an hour from the airport so would jump at the chance to take to the air. I also had the benefit of a sizeable check-book, which is a significant advantage to those who are paying for lessons out of their wage packet. A touch-and-go at EGKA is £10.80 so when you're in the circuit the costs soon add-up. The total cost breakdown is quite sobering:
Landing Fees( including T&G, go-arounds etc.): £3,034.80
Aircraft Hours (including fuel, insurance etc.): £7,393.15
Tuition Fees (including ground school etc.): £2,687.00
Exams & Fees (incuding medical, CAA etc.): £1,080.00
Club membership subs (£45 pcm): £270.00
You could probably spend the same on golf or other expensive hobbies but I can't think of anything I would have enjoyed quite so much. I promised my wife I'd go back to (serious) work in October and have been doing some consultancy, part-time, since November. I was offered a job last September for a firm who were very keen for me to join them as soon as I could. I insisted on meeting the two co-founders of the business over dinner, to make sure this was a firm I wanted to work with. One of the first questions the COO asked me was: "so how come you haven't done anything for the past four months?" When I replied that I was getting my PPL she rolled her eyes and said "Huh, well anybody could do that!" So I decided this was not the firm for me and turned them down.
It's absolutely not true that "anybody could do it" and I have been impressed and humbled in equal measure by the people I have seen flying and their generosity to share their time, experience and expertise with me. I may get a plane, I probably will at some point but perhaps when my daughter has left university and I've replenished the family coffers. It's amazing to feel part of a cohesive and collegiate community of people who I know have had to go through many of the same experience as me, it makes me feel safe and quite proud. Thanks for reading this, if you got this far(!) and I look forward to taking part and seeing you in the air at some point soon - preferably from a safe distance.
I couldn't easily find a section for new members to introduce themselves and hope posting here doesn't constitute my 'first strike'. I just joined-up today although have been hovering on the forum and checking some opinions (yes, there are plenty) over the past few months.
I left my job in April this year, prior to which I had been working without a break for 23 years. I decided to take the summer off and get my private pilot's licence, a dream I've been harbouring since childhood. I'd had two previous brushes with flying, the first when I applied to the BA training program shortly after University and the second when I got a few hours in a 152 at RAF Benson.
The BA program didn't work out when I discovered there was no kind of pay during the 70 week course and, having just got married, it was a non-starter. Yes, I was that naive. The Benson opportunity was great since my neighbour was an Air Loadmaster in the RAF and a few of his colleagues were training as instructors to give themselves a career in civvy street. In 2003 I was paying £60 ph in total, for plane, fuel, instruction, landing fees, which was impressive even back then. Then there was a job and house move and
Benson became too far away.
So this May, I took a big bag of cash and a willingness to learn and knocked on all the doors of the flying clubs at my local airport, Shoreham-by-Sea; good old EGKA. I got the distinct impression they had seen many people like me before and there was little enthusiasm from any of them, other than giving me a few photocopied handouts and assuring me that the PPL(A) could be achieved in three months for around £7-8k. I was skeptical, to say the least, and had budgeted £12k over four months.
One of the schools was shutting down and their CFI was working for a long-established club that I was invited to join. I have to say, their set-up is great and although not as affordable as my Benson days, came in at around £200 ph for a PA28, instruction and landing fee. I could have trained in their 152 but fancied a bit more decadence in my advancing years.
I tackled this project as though it were my full-time job and my wife commented that she'd never seen me read so much or study so hard. I had all the Pooley's manuals (that's a story for another day), charts, my whizz-wheel and a thirst for not only learning facts and figures but understanding how and why they are what they are. My first flight was June 12th, my first solo was July 25th and I felt I was making good progress. I took and passed five of the nine written exams in just one morning, with the other four a couple of weeks later and was hammering the circuit with 16 touch-and-gos in one session alone. Then August came, my instructor took three weeks' holiday and in September the weather was less predictable. It was November 8th before my Skill Test came around and I was eager to pass.
I got a partial fail. It was my PFL that I failed on and the examiner seemed as disappointed as me as he was otherwise very impressed with my flying as well as my attitude. The examiner had wanted to see a different technique (high key-low key) compared with the apparently more 'military' approach of the left wing down, circling the field method I had been taught. He also took me way lower than my instructor ever had and I was uncomfortable (and nervous) but realised he was the only other person I'd ever flown with so what did I know about right or wrong. I was prescribed another hour of instruction on the PFL and looked at this as a real bonus. I would far rather get something wrong in the Skill Test and have to learn a different technique, than pass the test and run the risk of getting it wrong in the real world.
On November 19th I took and passed the retest and skipped over to the CAA office in nearby Gatwick to hand over my application pack in person. I am happy to say my licence arrived just over a week later and now I am eager to learn as much as I can about safe, enjoyable and adventurous flying. I'm doing my night rating at the moment and should have that complete next week and am taking the obligatory trip to Le Touquet tomorrow in order to get my cross-channel check done. I will also do the check-ride in the 152, which gives me a lower per hour cost, especially as I'll mostly be flying solo or with just one passenger.
In all, the PPL took me five months to complete at a cost of £14,500, not including equipment and books etc. of around £1,800, some of which I could recoup by selling if I needed to. I was very fortunate that I could fly at pretty much any time during the week when most other people were at work. My instructor would call me up if she had a cancellation or the plane became available and I was no more than half an hour from the airport so would jump at the chance to take to the air. I also had the benefit of a sizeable check-book, which is a significant advantage to those who are paying for lessons out of their wage packet. A touch-and-go at EGKA is £10.80 so when you're in the circuit the costs soon add-up. The total cost breakdown is quite sobering:
Landing Fees( including T&G, go-arounds etc.): £3,034.80
Aircraft Hours (including fuel, insurance etc.): £7,393.15
Tuition Fees (including ground school etc.): £2,687.00
Exams & Fees (incuding medical, CAA etc.): £1,080.00
Club membership subs (£45 pcm): £270.00
You could probably spend the same on golf or other expensive hobbies but I can't think of anything I would have enjoyed quite so much. I promised my wife I'd go back to (serious) work in October and have been doing some consultancy, part-time, since November. I was offered a job last September for a firm who were very keen for me to join them as soon as I could. I insisted on meeting the two co-founders of the business over dinner, to make sure this was a firm I wanted to work with. One of the first questions the COO asked me was: "so how come you haven't done anything for the past four months?" When I replied that I was getting my PPL she rolled her eyes and said "Huh, well anybody could do that!" So I decided this was not the firm for me and turned them down.
It's absolutely not true that "anybody could do it" and I have been impressed and humbled in equal measure by the people I have seen flying and their generosity to share their time, experience and expertise with me. I may get a plane, I probably will at some point but perhaps when my daughter has left university and I've replenished the family coffers. It's amazing to feel part of a cohesive and collegiate community of people who I know have had to go through many of the same experience as me, it makes me feel safe and quite proud. Thanks for reading this, if you got this far(!) and I look forward to taking part and seeing you in the air at some point soon - preferably from a safe distance.