Dear All,
Sorry for long post……
I’ve been lurking on forums for some time now and thought it’s time to ‘out’ myself and get more involved, help where I can and hopefully receive some advice from the more experienced. I stumbled across this forum whist reading one of Peter’s trip reports posted on the Flyer Forum, which I think are fantastic by the way Peter. I’m 48 and passed my PPL some 25 years ago. At that time I had mild aspirations at that time to gain my commercial. The only route available to me was the ‘improver route’ where one had to build 700 hours. So with a bit of money took myself off to the States for 3 months and flew a couple of hundred hours. The idea was to get some more money together and do that again until the 700 hours was reached. Well, looking back now with a wiser head on my shoulders, it appears if one wants to succeed at that game you have to be young and have lots of disposable income, not a combination that many of us enjoy and I certainly was not in that category.
Well I never did manage to get back to the States, work, businesses, family and children took over and the last time if flew was 1993. So If I can move you all along now some 21 years to the present day. Last Christmas, my Girlfriend bought me a session in a 737 flight simulator. This was only a fixed base one but wow, I thought it was very realistic. Well, you all know what’s coming next…… yes, it got the old flying juices flowing again. So the following week in early February this year, I went up to my local airport and had a chat with the flight school. I discovered a lot had changed in those 21 years, more CAS, different RT procedures….what’s all this basic service and traffic service about ? and who is this organisation ‘EASA’ and what do the letters stand for? GPS and Sky Demon?
I went up for an hour’s flight with an instructor just to see if I would enjoy it and like to get back into flying. It was a 152, which I probably have 200 hours hour’s on. But that was over 20 years ago, so with my old check list in hand jumped in, it felt a little foreign, but all of a sudden, reading through the check list my hands instinctively knew where to go. The instructor was very complimentary after the flight, obviously touting for business, anyway I was hooked. After some emails to the CAA, It was established what I needed to do to become current again. I think the one positive on my side was that I had the old style ‘valid for life’ CAA PPL. I needed some refresher training as deemed necessary by the CFI, SEP renewal check ride, RT ground school exam and RT practical. After 12 hours of refresher training in 5 weeks I was ready for test which went OK and with the RT exams passed, I took myself off to Gatwick with a mountain of paperwork thinking there must be some errors somewhere. Within 20 mins of seeing the advisor, I walked out with a shiny new EASA PPL. With a big beaming smile still on my face the following day, I flew to the Isle of White, previously some 25 years ago I had not flown further than the crease in the map in the UK.
Very early on in my refresher training, I took my girlfriend up with me to see if she would enjoy the flying. She absolutely loved it, which spurred me on so that we could enjoy a hobby together. Well since February I’ve flown 75 hours, completed my’ complex’ training and now fly the Piper Arrow, completed my IMC (IRR) rating (in the arrow just to make it more challenging) and night rating. Now looking to do the CBM IR next spring. We have flown lots over the summer, my girlfriend and I, including Guernsey, Jersey and St. Malo (dinard). I even flew to Guernsey and back on my night rating course because I couldn’t see the worth in circuit bashing for 5 hours.
I’ve been considering buying my own plane for a while now and the good advice that I have pick up from the forums is to discover your ‘mission profile’ first. I know this sound a bit ‘Buck Rogers’ to me but understand the sentiment. I’ve discovered I don’t like ‘bimbling’ around, I enjoy going places A to B I enjoy the planning and prep and executing the flight accurately, no messing around with C. The UK is a small palce at 135 KTAS so European touring is what I really want to be doing. Peter, I have read your articles with great interest and you are where I would like to be, and I totally agree with your assessment on the quality of training and rental fleet at UK flight schools, mine is typical of that assessment which has led me to looking at purchasing my own plane. Training is another issue, you are taught to fly but not taught to go anywhere. I would like meet up with people who actually fly somewhere as that level of expertise is lacking at my club. I think we will leave the ‘which plane thread for another day, as this one has gone on too long. I hope I can contribute to the forum and put in as much as I get out.
All the best
Rob
Welcome! That’s quite a first post. :-)
I’m in a similar position to you, having spent many years around the midlands (and west London), and recently started out to further destinations. Hardly a record, but into France and down to La Rochelle. A revelation! Peter’s posts are in a different class altogether though. If you’re looking into the CBMIR, I found the folks over at PPLIR really helpful in putting it all into a practical perspective.
Are you looking to do anything in particular or after general stories…which could go on!
Ed
Great post Rob and thank you for the kind comments 
Yeah, I am responsible for demolishing a lot of peoples’ finances
I’ve started a thread here regarding the CB IR options, which should not be a rocket science to do. The exam options in particular were in a state of flux till very recently. However, for an IR, you do need to be fairly current in, and have access to, a capable aircraft to (a) make the training reasonably productive and (b) get something out of it afterwards. A PA28R is fine.
The trips I do are nothing difficult, and flying generally is a lot easier today than when I started long trips in 2003. The way all the preflight stuff has moved to the internet has simplified things hugely – both VFR and IFR – and we have much better in-flight moving map products now.
Flying around Europe isn’t what it was 30 years ago (not that I was flying back then) but it is certainly a lot easier than it was in 2003.
Great to hear Rob. I thought I had a big gap in my flying at 16 years, but you beat me good! Glad you’re back in the air. Ever since I did get back into flying, I rapidly moved on to ownership. Just trading up (or down, depending on viewpoint) to my third aircraft as we speak. I highly recommend aircraft ownership – it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. And with an IR at least Europe is at your feet, perhaps even the world.
I fly twins because I like the added redundancy, but this is in the US. A twin is a big deal to sustain in Europe with the fuel prices, although you can get into them very cheap. But I would give you one piece of advise if you plan on doing long range touring: buy the most capable plane you can afford. The old adage: buy your last plane first, has some truth to it. I can tell you from personal experience that you will always want to go faster eventually, so might as well swing for the rafters to start with. That 135kt plane that looks ideal to start out with, will not be 1 year down the road. And selling and buying planes is a bad idea financially (ask me how I know!). If you can swing it, go for a de-iced, capable IFR tourer. Pressurisation even better, but it limits your choices considerably.
Bonanza, 210, P210, 182, Malibu, TB20, Mooney.
And then you can thank god you never have to deal with stuff like this again:
Thank you for the warm Welcome Ed, Peter and Adam. There is a lot of useful information on the PPL IR web site which has allowed me to come up to speed with the requirements and timescale differences. I’m aware that Rate One in Gloucester and Booker Aviation both offer the CMB IR. But really it’s the TK that I need to get done first. We have three IR training providers at my local airport, but none of them seem to be up to speed yet.
I soon discovered that with a flight from the Channel Islands back to base, which consists on 100nm over water in a single engine aircraft, the most stressful and dangerous part of that flight is coming up through Oxford dodging all the gliders. Being up in class A seems a whole lot less stressful and easier to me. I try to keep current with my IR(R) and always ask for a traffic service and a procedural approach coming back to base. This keeps me in practice and away from everyone else at the VRP’s.
Adam, great advice, thank you. This is exactly why I’ve held off with a purchase. I don’t fancy a share and did consider early on, a Piper Archer. I thought this was a good compromise, quicker than the Warrior, not as fast as an Arrow, but fixed gear, therefore lower maintenance cost which is a consideration when owning outright. But then I started to fly the Arrow and once I could stay ahead of the plane at that speed, I hate flying anything slower now. Thoughts then moved to Arrow, but after reading Peters trip reports, I realised range and altitude is needed to really utilise your IR. Thoughts then moved to the Saratoga II TC and recently the Cirrus SR22 in which you seems to be able to get a lot more for your money compared to the Saratoga and modern avionics. The Arrow that I fly doesn’t even have a basic Autopilot, so to hand fly in IMC for any length of time is hard work.
Rob
I don’t fancy a share and did consider early on, a Piper Archer.
Welcome, and a good post. You clearly know what you are doing and have done a lot of research and I think you will make wise decisions. I owned (was sold a few days ago) a PiperArcher (hence the name) and it was a great first step into ownership, and armed with SkyDemon and a GNS430, made slightly longer distance trips even VFR with an IMCr rating was very successful, and rewarding. Not as long as Peter’s trips, but the 2 hours each way kind of trips you have described, plus a few a bit longer like La Rochelle.
The abundance of weather informtion on iThingies and other such devices makes go/no-go decisions very accurately. But I’d agree with you about selecting the right aircraft, and Adam’s sentiment about buying the last aircraft first, but money is a limiting factor sometimes. I’ve always enjoyed my flights, but the Archer was a serious limitation for my planned conversion to the en-route IR or a full comptency based IR. Even though it was totally equipped for IFR flight, and all avionics and autopilot systems worked, I think you need Turbo + raised undercarriage + wobbly prop in the Piper range to really use it properly. I had got to the point when a PA28R Arrow or even a TB** would have been a logical progression, but even with Mr Osborne’s kind help today with regard to stamp duty, my next upgrade is going to be property rather than a plane :-( So long as all of the so called ‘London’ airports dont impose their RMZ’s or expand their Class D everywhere maybe one day I shall follow the same track as you and make a comeback.
Some very important considerations for buying a plane:
1) Get one which does ~ 90% of your requirements. Obviously you will never achieve 100% and the last 10% will cost you a lot of money and – given that GA is GA and not like buying a BMW which you can chuck back at the dealer if the exhaust falls off – the extra complexity will cost you lot of hassle/downtime.
2) Make sure you can afford it comfortably, without worrying about the cost. Money worries are very corrosive on enthusiasm, and there is already plenty of aggro in GA to keep even a masochist busy Money worries also gradually turn your family against you; many pilots stop flying due to spending/budget pressure from OH (other half).
3) Make sure you have a comfortable “ground management” setup e.g. hangarage that is not owned by some complete bastard. In this respect, GA is a bit like keeping a horse and anybody whose [ex]wife is/was into horses will know exactly what I am talking about
4) If you want to do an IR, obviously get a plane which functions in the Eurocontrol IFR system. That means (and yeah I know many will disagree!) a minimum FL140 ceiling and preferably F170+ to get above some buildups. Prolonged enroute flight in IMC is not a viable option (and yeah I know many will disagree!) if you want to enjoy doing this stuff. If you can stretch to a good specimen of an SR22 then you will find something OK I would buy the TB20GT again if I had say max-£200k to spend – the actual mission capability is the same. Oxygen is a must, unless you can make the next quantum leap and get pressurisation but then you won’t be doing local pleasure flights with one of those.
