Hey guys, sorry for the radio silence been really busy with work... anyways here's another chart based on the response:
Speaking of bad weather… both my lessons (sat and sun) last weekend were cancelled. And the same happened the weekend before… Really frustrating!
See I have a bet with a friend that I would get a PPL faster than she would get her driving licence. When we both started, the first thing she did was to go buy outfits for her driving lessons, and I thought “hey, I might have a chance of winning this!”. This was in November and I’m still only 7hrs.
I now started booking both Saturday and Sunday since Feb but it’s still very slow going. I was actually thinking of booking some time at Biggin hill to get some experience taxying on tarmac and with ATC while still doing most of the flying at Denham. Other pilots have told me it’s best to do all the learning with one school. The advantages of Biggin hill is that it’s 40min from work and when days are a bit longer I could leave early from work (say at 4) and fit in an hour here and there. What do you guys think?
jwoolard, I’ll put this on github when I get a moment and share the link.
I enjoyed viewing your stats. With regard to flying lessons, I would recommend sticking with the one school. I havent trained at either Denham or Biggin Hill, but I think that the differences in aircraft (type or quality), the way subjects are taught, and operational procedures specific to the airfield will be so different that it wont be helpful at the early stages of learning. Plus, later on, you will get opportunities to land and taxi on hard surfaces and deal with ATC, but that generally comes later on when you are out of the circuit and learning navigation.
Stick with it, the weather will change. It has been particuarly bad recently, especially at weekends it seems. Booking both Saturday and Sunday is a good idea. With the longer evenings coming, there will more chances for weekday evening flights after work available to you.
Ha, not sure I suggested a 0ft ceiling!!
Very interesting stats - nice to see! I think a 200ft base would have been fairer on Jason!
With regard to lessons, I wouldn't bother unless you actually want to change school. Taxying on tarmac is not a difficult skill, nor is dealing with ATC on the ground. At busier airports with proper taxiways and ATC I actually find the groundwork much easier than I do at an unfamiliar grass field where I'm not really sure where I'm meant to taxi or park the plane.
Certainly stick with one school, and preferably stick with one instructor for most of your training - assuming you want to progress quickly. Every time you change instructor, you essentially lose an hour of progress because they need to spend a bit of time assessing you.
Training at 'proper airports' vs quieter airfields - each concept has its fans. I didn't want my PPL to cost more than it needed to, so like you I was keen to make progress quickly. I found that a quiet airfield where I could do endless circuits for an hour with no holding for jets or other ATC-derived inconveniences was very productive in this respect. The upside of training at a big airport is that you're familiar with ATC and the big airport environment from the start. However, you can learn this on your landaways - assuming RT comes easily to you. I would probably argue the cost/time disadvantages of a big airport probably outweigh the learning advantages, and nothing is perfect - those who train at a big airport may find themselves uncomfortable at small fields after qualifying. At least at a big airport there's someone to tell you what to do if you're not sure!
Thanks Piper and Graham. I will take your advice and stick with Denham for now. I like my instructor, it's the weather I'm having problems with! Oh well I'll keep on working through my exams... This weekend isn't looking good either so I might end up trying the nav exam instead!
Good attitude - crack on with those exams!
If the school isn't messing you around, the aircraft are decent and available, and you've settled on an instructor you like - then you've sorted out everything that you have (some) influence over.
You can't control the weather. But you can do a few things:
Book weekend lessons a long way in advance. When the weather improves they become very popular. Once I'd had three lessons with my instructor we sat down and mapped out pretty much all the bookings we'd need to complete the course. I knew what I wanted and she knew what I wanted - there was no point leaving availability to chance for the rest of the course.
Try for some weekday late afternoon / early evening slots if your work arrangements allow it.
When a big high pressure sets in, book two or three days off work and fly twice a day on each of those days. Weekdays should be much easier to get.
