Learning to fly, or thinking of learning? Post your questions, comments and experiences here

Moderator: AndyR

By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1631204
The physics of how an aircraft flies, are fixed. Likewise the operating principles of engines. There are many oddball engine designs (see the Boeing personal flyer thread and scour youtube! )
But, these are of no concern...at PPL level, you'll be concerned with conventional 4-stroke piston-engines they all look different but all have the same operating-cycle.....a 2-stroke uses the underside of the piston and crankcase to simultaneously perform another of the 4 steps, while the space above is performing another. This means that a 2-stroke can produce a higher power output but at the expense of fuel-efficiency)
Weather still develops in exactly the same way, maybe we understand it a bit better, but it doesn't change the fundamentals.
Airframes can now use exotic glass/carbon/kevlar composites with plastic resin, but they still follow the same laws of physics.

Human performance.....we understand a bit more nowadays, but bodies and minds have not really changed a lot in the last few hundred years :wink:

Air Law....That's the only one that the goalposts are constantly shuffled around in order to keep pen-pushers in employment :twisted:

Navigation, well, you still have to use a chart, compass and a stop-watch (cheap kitchen-timer is fine, you'll probably abandon it after qualifying and just use GPS ) but you have to be able to use the Flintstone technology to pass the test! (GPS is the work of the devil, dontcha know! )

So, sounds like you're there, Download "Skyway Code" for free from the CAA website and you'll find most things are up to date and virtually cover all the basics you need (and don't forget, the exam questions are also often out of date as well, though it seems the current correct answer is just as acceptable as the (wrong) answer if it answers the outdated question correctly.

I'm not a qualified pilot, the information is probably worth what you paid for it. :lol:
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By Sir Morley Steven
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1631833
The TK exams are still the 2014 versions.
They were jigged around for this so earlier versions of the manuals will not have all you need in the right place.
They are also full of errors and later versions correct some, but not all of them.
Your PPL is costing 10 grand. Don’t skip on a few books.
By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1631882
With respect, S,M, It's NOT the cost of his PPL at stake, as all his training will still be valid. The potential loss is down to not having studied properly, such that a marginal pass can be tipped by one wrong answer derived from a text-book mistake.
I totally refute the suggestion that a single,reputable book has so many mistakes that it would have a negative effect on a well-prepared student's result. -so,really, we're talking one exam resit because an ill-prepared stude read an outdated textbook.

I bought a set of Trevor Thoms. I did some online mocks. I got adequate-margin pass-marks. never had a lesson, never been into a flight-school or other tutor. Admittedly, I didn't try Nav. but even the outdated Air-Law got me a pass!

Agreed, it's questionable as to whether it's worth saving around £75, but that would pay for 1/2 hour in the air! :D
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By Sir Morley Steven
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1631905
I am not going to scrap on the student forum so here is a message to the OP.
If you aim for good enough the best you will achieve is good enough.
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By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1631925
Sir Morley Steven wrote:If you aim for good enough the best you will achieve is good enough.

And, more likely, if you aim for 'good enough', the actual you will achieve is 'not good enough'

At risk of sounding like an old fart, the longer I fly, the more convinced I become that mediocrity in flying isn't like mediocrity in a lot of other things, where not being quite good enough is often not particularly consequential.

Whereas with flying, there's no pulling over in a lay-by to sort out where you are; keeping safe is 100% about making consistently good judgements, in sometimes high-workload situations.

The more you know - properly know, I mean, not just being able to tick a box in a multi-choice test - the better placed you'll be to make those judgements.

Cultivating that attitude is worth a lot more than half an hour in the air.