So you want to become a pilot....?

I can remember when it happened to me.

I had reached the fabled 'Mid-life Crisis' and was fully expecting to get the urge to buy the little German sports car and get the blond bimbo. But - as I already had a little German sports car and blond bimbo's drive me mad - I realised that deep down inside there was an itch waiting to be scratched. Something I had flirted with briefly many, many years ago. Something which would take a large part of my disposable income for the next few years.

I decided to get my PPL.

Luckily I have a local flying school about 5 minutes drive from where I am so I headed down there one August afternoon to do the 'trial flight' thing. That's where I hit the first issue: timing. To cut a long story short for various reasons it took my until late September to get the time, the instructor and the weather together to do the flight.

When I did finally strap into the Diamond next to Steve it was a glorious late summer day with blue sky and some small, light, fluffy clouds dotted around the place. Steve - a Sunday instructor only - has thousands of hours flying under his belt and took me up for that initial flight. I flew the plane most of the time, doing the takeoff, the climb, some simple exercises, some sightseeing and even a landing (assisted, somewhat by Steve).

I was hooked. However there was no way I was going to spend the next couple of years of my life at the whim of the British weather which is why I chose to learn in Orlando (More of that can be found at this post). But basically I learned the following key things about earning a PPL.

• You will need a valid, class 2 medical


• You will need a minimum of 45 hours flying time of which 20 hours must be solo


• You will need a qualifying cross country flight of more than 150 nm including stops at 2 airfields other than your departure point


• You will need to pass the 9 different theoretical multi-choice exams


• You will need to have 2 hours of flying time under the 'foggles' (vision restriction equipment designed to practice instrument flying)


• You will need a separate Radio Telephony Operators license

Just to put this in perspective. I did 42 hours flying plus the 9 theoretical exams plus the qualifying cross country flight AND a class 2 medical in 2 weeks in Florida. However it did take me an additional 5 months to complete the rest once I got back to the UK.

So those are the main requirements. Now let me give you some words of advice about how to do this effectively and quickly

• The weather is the key problem with flying in the UK. If you are working 5 days a week you, basically, have 2 days where you pray the weather is good and where you pray the instructors and planes are available. To minimise time wasted, get an accelerated course in somewhere that has a dedicated instructor for you and has good weather (Australia, Florida, Cyprus etc.) Usually a good exchange rate will negate any additional costs through doing accelerated courses.


• For the exams, get the Private Pilots Simplifier and work through the practice exams until you are comfortable with the questions being asked. At the end of the day there are three possible papers for each exam and the same questions do appear to come up time and time again. Learn these questions (and more importantly learn the answers and the reasons behind the answers) and you will be fine.


• The RT license exam is an oral exam with a radio simulator and a specific route and set of conditions. It is difficult to fail this exam for a number of reasons:- a) It can be taken at the end of the course when you have been using the radio in the prescribed way for over 45 hours of flying b) Mistakes are allowed providing you learn from the mistakes during the exam and don't repeat them. For example if you give a position way point with your altitude and forget to give the altimeter pressure reading the 'controller' will ask you for that reading. Just remember to give the reading the next time you state your altitude or you will be marked down. The exception to the mistake rule is the "Mayday" call which should be word perfect


• Try and learn at an airport which has proper air traffic control. Working at a location with A/G radio or even with a Unicomm frequency is better than nothing but doesn't give you the knowledge or experience of flying from somewhere, such as Shoreham, that has both approach control and airfield control. The discipline is different.

The most important thing to remember is that flying as skill to be mastered. it is not impossible to do, it just takes time and dedication. I mean the list of people who can fly gets longer and longer each day, so it can't be rocket science really, can it? Keep working at it and you'll get there in the end