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What next after PPL

If you’re not feeling ready to go to France just yet you could try doing some longer trips in the UK or to Ireland. If you’re in the south of England, perhaps take a day trip to Blackpool, it’s a decently long flight, it’ll mean you go over several different types of terrain, the weather will probably change on your route, you might look to cross controlled airspace in places, and the tram is only walking distance from the airport so you can visit the town. Ireland would be a good destination – while the procedures have differences, you’re dealing with native English speakers. You get to deal with a FIR crossing, the issues with overwater flight planning and crossing (for instance, the often complete lack of a horizon and having to fly VFR but with reference to instruments), you get to experience busy airspace with VFR procedures for getting to Weston, and you get a nice day out/weekend in Dublin.

Then all that’s left is learning the different procedures in France, which can be mostly done on the comfort of your sofa and not in the restricted space of a light aircraft cockpit, because by now you’re comfortable with longer flights and the overwater crossing, so you’re not trying to do three major new things all in the same flight.

Andreas IOM

I am not sure I would recommend a copilot

If you absolutely must bring another pilot along, you should go for the kind that holds his mouth shut unless you ask

Last Edited by Aviathor at 11 Aug 11:49
LFPT, LFPN

Peter wrote:

If you just want company then bring someone nice who doesn’t know about flying

Somebody nice of the slim kind, that can slip back into the luggage compartment and get the charts you forgot to get out of your bag before departure, and serve you something to drink when you get thirsty Been there, done that.

Last Edited by Aviathor at 11 Aug 11:49
LFPT, LFPN

Slim is good for post-flight as well ^^

So what’s the best/quickest/safest way forward?

Why did you take the PPL in the first place? To fly or to travel? Or something else? This place is very one sided, and you are likely to get a lot of answers in that direction. Recreational aviation is full of different things though, some less obvious than others. With a PPL you can do most of it with very little additional training or experience. Money is needed though

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

This place is very one sided, and you are likely to get a lot of answers in that direction.

EuroGA is a community and it is what people make it

I get involved mod-wise only when it gets too personal or someone tries to damage the site.

It probably is true that pilots who want to go places are most keen to write about it.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

I get involved mod-wise only when it gets too personal or someone tries to damage the site

I suppose LeSving wasn’t implying the forum should be moderated in a certain away. I understand he was pointing out a tendency of euroga to be about travelling (mostly IFR, owners…) – as opposed to people “only” flying for the heck of it, doing local burger runs, and aerobatics – and that may trigger a certain type of response to questions such as the original question here. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s useful to point it out!

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany

Congratulations on the PPL. Lots of advice already. So my thoughts:-

I would get involved in a ‘friendly’ place. Be it club, group, like minded souls. Now, I normally do not like that, but, in the beginning, it adds reason to your achievement, somewhere to go, particularly as you do not have your own plane. The majority, statistics show, leave aviation pretty quickly after PPL. Reason, boredom, lack of vision, lack of motivation, lack of company. Look to share, and cost share on longer trips. Even if you are sitting in the back. A lot can be learnt. Gain advice from the old sages, most of it bollox, but some useful tips crop up.

Look to achievable ratings, tailwheel endorsements etc. This boosts confidence and capability, and introduces you to different flying, and different view points. Read forums like this Broadens the mind……….

Set a financial budget, and importantly use it. Get an instructor to take you an IFR hour. Watch and learn. All experience, and it is invaluable. And most of all enjoy it…..it is truly wondrous.

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

It would be nice to have more “VFR local” posts here and this has come up a number of times but I guess that people who do those don’t feel as compelled to write, or ask questions.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

It depends on the determination of VFR local. Bimbling for an hour, a thirty minute trip for a cup of coffee? I quite often fly to Glenrothes, Fife, to meet some friends for lunch. They fly in from other airfields. Glasgow to Fife for me is 15 minutes……they are always enjoyable flights, and of course, in and out of CTZ. I also just go up for the hell of it, fly round Arran. Nice way to spend an hour. I do view it as “easy flying”.

Last Edited by BeechBaby at 11 Aug 20:46
Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow
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