I have a lapsed South African ppl. It lapsed about 30 years ago. CAA won’t give me any credit for it.
I also have about 1000 hours P1 in sailplanes including a bit as an instructor so generally I can point an aircraft in the right direction and I can keep the blue bit above the green. Unfortunately middle aged spread has put paid to my gliding but I love flying so it’s back to noisy flying for me.
I want to be able to fly to the continent occasionally, possibly as far as Greece where I have property so a full blown PPL is the way to go. Looking around at the licencing options one is immediately struck by just how much of a complete balls up the situation is! One would think that aircraft stopped flying as they crossed imaginary lines mid channel or mid atlantic and that their pilots became incompetent fools at the same point forgetting how to read an asi and horizon as the aircraft penetrated foreign airspace. The looming B****t fiasco wont help no doubt.
So, questions abound. I am a late 50’s British born citizen, resident in the UK and North Wales.
1 – Uk PPL, FAA PPL or some other flavour? I’ll be wanting to add IR on as well but I want to be able to fly ‘anywhere’
2 – Purchase an N reg aircraft?
3 – I fancy a Baron 55, there are a few about at ‘affordable’ prices. Any opinions? Better off with a Bonanza? I fancy something quick with a bit of load space as I want to do a bit of touring. Can’t stretch to one of the modern composite glass slippers though.
4 – cockpit/knee board add ons, I still have an old cx calculator that might actually work but times have moved on, ipad based tools? What are the best bits of kit to buy? ForeFlight any good?
5 – headset/s ?
Tia
A quick route could be to do an NPPL(SSEA) – 10 hours training – using the credit for holders of a BGA Glider Pilots Licence, then do the paper conversion to a LAPL then upgrade to PPL.
See CAP804 Section 5 Part A Appendix 1
Ipad based GPS apps for VFR navigation certainly the way ahead, Skydemon is a big one in UK although there is also Runway HD which I prefer as it uses CAA charts and for various other functionality reasons. You can try out Skydemon light for free via App Store.
Bose A20 is best headset out there in my opinion by far
Have you got a medical sorted? This is important first step I recommend before getting into aircraft purchases!
Welcome to EuroGA Nimbusgb 
If you are UK based, N-reg is not as attractive as it used to be because from April 2017 (and then apparently until Brexit is executed) the pilot of any aircraft whose operator is EU based needs to have not only the State of Registry (FAA) papers but also EASA papers. Also currently you can’t do the FAA writtens in the UK.
Also getting FAA training in the UK has been very difficult for years. Well, not so much the training but the checkride.
I would still recommend N-reg to pilots who
As regards which plane to buy, think hard about buying a 30 year old twin versus a newer and more modern SEP. There is a good reason why the MEP business is pretty stagnant in Europe. The fuel dominates the DOC nowadays and it will dominate 2x more on a twin. You get a little bit more speed maybe with the twin, and can get stuff like radar, but the days when “everybody” got their PPL and then naturally progressed to twins are long gone. People who always had twins tend to stay with them but very few new people are entering the scene, apart from those going for a DA42. Do a search on
twins
here – example
With an older plane, downtime gets common. On the last EuroGA fly-in, around 4 aircraft didn’t make it due to mechanical problems. That is 4 out of (I think) 13 potentials.
As you can guess, I fly a SEP
The two main tablet apps for Europe are PocketFMS and Skydemon.
Thanks, the nppl route it is then!
Hope to give some feedback on progress here. I know the big challenge is going to be finding somewhere convenient to do it!
With a bit of luck my gliding club will have something available!
Balliol wrote:
You can try out Skydemon light for free via App Store.
Just to avoid confusion, SkyDemon Light is not a demo version of SkyDemon. It’s a cut down ‘planning only’ tool with limited functionality and based on a much earlier version.
To trial SkyDemon, you just grab the normal SkyDemon app and set up a trial account.
In my true tradition of going ‘all in’ I have acquired this little starter.
I hope to rack up a couple of hundred hours in her over the next 2 years or so before moving on to something complex, perhaps a Bonanza or more modern glass ship. Will be based North Wales.
Congratulations – happy landings
Brilliant, Nimbus, that’s the way to do it! No messin’ about
Enjoy ownership, get involved in the maintenance, and you will never go back.
Welshpool? I used to come there often (as they say).
Congratulations I saw -NONI advertised and it looked tidy and very good value. Arrow cruise speeds with fixed gear/prop maintenance bills.
Congratulations, good choice! Fun to fly and inexpensive to maintain.
