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

Moderator: AndyR

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By lobstaboy
#1836477
Rob P wrote:Experience flights are very valuable to a school for two reasons.

Firstly it's frequently where their future ppl trainees come from.

Also the vouchers are a great source of income up front, and 7% will never be redeemed. They are a huge cash flow benefit.

Rob


Experience flights are good money spinners for the school, but it's a myth that voucher flights are where new students come from. The conversion rate is abysmal - less than 5%.
Sure, a potential student will have an experience flight first, but that's not a voucher flight. Actually it's in the school's best interest if the voucher is never redeemed - all profit, no cost!
Not that this helps @T6Harvard with her dilemma. I'm firmly in the "good customers deserve to be well looked after camp" - so as long as the school is clearly doing their best and explain what is happening and why, then I don't think I'd have a problem.
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By MattL
#1836489
It still sounds bizarre to me. When running these setups, most of us will know how many aircraft we have available each day. You just then block off 1 or two for trial lessons all day, smash in all the voucher trips on those. Then leave the other aircraft for lesson bookings. If the voucher aircraft aren’t booked 48hrs before, offer those slots out to other tasks as well. The people to hold off on are PPL renters rather than students.

Unfortunately many PPL (and some commercial schools) have nice facilities, aircraft and good people but the operations management is an absolute shambles.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1837074
Bathman wrote:I'm not sure this CPL TK is really needed to be an FI.


ICAO says it is, and so for teaching for an ICAO compliant licence, it is a box to be ticked. However there's a big difference between FAA CPL TK and Euro-UK CPL TK. What the CAA *should* do is recognise *any* CPL TK to be valid for this requirement, as ICAO would have a hard time saying that, for instance, an instructor with a Canadian ICAO compliant CPL wouldn't have the required knowledge for teaching a UK ICAO PPL if that instructor holds a UK FI rating.
By Crash one
#1837148
@T6Harvard
If you are not yet ready for solo, and a LAPL instructor can’t log the training, you want to get back up to speed as soon as possible, prepared to spend the cost without the time counting.
Why not take an hour or so doing something outside the syllabus, it’s not against the law!
Take an hour of short grass strip practice.
PFLs into difficult places.
Under the hood blind flying on instruments.
Navigation exercise to some non radio gras strip that the “syllabus” won’t take you
Etc, or whatever he can teach, loggable or not.
You might be ahead of the game when the time comes to do it “legally”.
Just a thought.
T6Harvard, leiafee liked this
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1837150
Thanks for the ideas, @Crash one .
I spent this afternoon revising all my prev lessons. I had forgotten how much I've done in a short time*. I made sure I did all the actions to refresh my memory :mrgreen:
* not a record amount just more than I had expected when I started this amazing journey.

I'd love to do some grass strips. Have already done instrument flying but at the time I was supposed to be working on Lookout so I got told off.... but yes, doing it properly would be a good challenge.

I'll update as soon as School confirm the situation. I do believe they are going to sort it out so I have a suitable instructor but I'll be relieved to get the confirmation. I am so looking forward to getting airborne, the next 2 weeks are going to drag.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1837165
Just wondering @JAFO , has your wife got you doing the housework again to earn your afternoon's flying :lol: :thumright:

[I love that you think it's your cunning plan :D ]

PS, When is your book being sent to print? I see Waterstones has it listed for delivery in July so assume you'll get first one in your hands mid June? That's so exciting!
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By JAFO
#1837179
@T6Harvard - it is rather exciting, it's just going through the final proofreading at the moment. I must have read it 473 times over the last month while discussing the placement of commas and capital letters and so on but I'm keen to see it in print.

You'll almost certainly be airborne again before I am but I'm almost as excited about getting back into the sky as I am the book. There's been so much toing and froing with what I can fly with my PMD and whether I can fly certain types on my NPPL and for how long and whether I'm allowed to enjoy it, that I'm looking forward to buying a share in a non-Part 21 aeroplane and, hopefully, starting a whole new adventure there.
#1837188
JAFO wrote:...I'm looking forward to buying a share in a non-Part 21 aeroplane and, hopefully, starting a whole new adventure there.

I anticipate your only regret in buying in to a share of a non Part 21 aircraft will be not doing it sooner. :wink:

I look forward to hearing about your new adventures. :thumright:
lobstaboy, JAFO, Crash one liked this
By Crash one
#1837251
JAFO wrote:You know, it's been so long since I flew, if they said they were sending me up with the flying school cat I'd go.


I’d be careful with that, cats usually land “nosewheels” first!
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