stratisphere Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Howdy, So one of my biggest dreams is basically to jump (bad pun? ) into the world of flying. Since i was a wee lad and my first commercial flight on holiday i've been obessed with learning to fly. However due to some medical reasons I cant learn to fly with the intention of getting paid for doing it (aka commercial), but I could get my Private Pilots License... if I had the £5.5k needed for it! Where that lies the problem... spending £5.5k on effectivly a hobby is something I just cant do. Was just wondering if anyone else has the PPL and if they have any tips on any ways to get it etc. One day i'll be sitting in the seat of a little 2 seater single engine with a real yoke, rather than in an office chair at a desk with a keyboard and mouse! One day... Edited August 17, 2009 by stratisphere cant speel...
Haptic Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 Howdy, So one of my biggest dreams is basically to jump (bad pun? ) into the world of flying. Since i was a wee lad and my first commercial flight on holiday i've been obessed with learning to fly. However due to some medical reasons I cant learn to fly with the intention of getting paid for doing it (aka commercial), but I could get my Private Pilots License... if I had the £5.5k needed for it! Where that lies the problem... spending £5.5k on effectivly a hobby is something I just cant do. Was just wondering if anyone else has the PPL and if they have any tips on any ways to get it etc. One day i'll be sitting in the seat of a little 2 seater single engine with a real yoke, rather than in an office chair at a desk with a keyboard and mouse! One day... speak to Brpilot hes a pilot and has been for a while now, http://www.edugeek.net/forums/members/brpilot99.html 1
SYNACK Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Can't really give real advice on going about it in the UK but I'm lucky enough to live rather close to a minor airport with lots of training places. I did about 12 hours in a cesna and have been on flights in all sorts of planes from world war two fighters and bombers to aerobaticly fitted cesnas. Good luck with your flying ambitions as it is a really fun thing to do. A few suggestions though, if you have not already been go and see if you can book a trial flight with a flight school. In this they usually take you up in a small plane for about an hour and give you a chance to control it in some simple manovers like level flight and turning. These are pretty fun and give you a feel for the real thing. If you have an adventurous instructor/pilot and a suitably equiped plane see if you can get them to do a max rate turn as these are really fun . In New Zealand there are two main levels of license, a PPL (Personal Pilots License) and CPL (commertial), you go four your CPL first which lets you fly a plane but not make any proffit at all from it then you progress. The PPL requires more hours in the sky and so costs much more but then you can actially make money from it. The standard practice in NZ seems to be to become a flight instructor shortly after you get CPL to build up your hours so that you are more attractive to an employer as some employers and aircraft require a certain number of hours in simmilar craft before you are certified. Anyhow, as before if you have not been on a trial flight book one. You will love it. Edited August 17, 2009 by SYNACK 1
FN-GM Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Hi I wanted to be a pilot but cant afford the training. You can get on cadet schemes to as the CTC Wings. You have to find a security bond of £69,000. If accepted on that they will train you from scratch in New Zeland and England. You will be given the security bond back over a period of time when you become a comercial pilot. have a look at this site - Become a Pilot with CTC Wings Pre 9/11 allot of airlines such as BA would train you for nothing with no bond etc as long as you worked for them for 10 years. When 9/11 happened they stopped recruiting because the aviation industry took a big hit. When it began to pick up again they stopped doing it. One cargo carrier i know do this still do it, Atlantic Airlines. Take a look at http://www.multiflight.com/flight-training-centre/cadet-scheme.php Also have a look at this website, its a forum for pilots. They don't really like new people for some reason so tread carefully. PPRuNe Forums - Professional Pilots Rumour Network Good luck, if you find a much cheaper way of doing it then please let me know. Edited August 17, 2009 by FN-GM improved 1
stratisphere Posted August 17, 2009 Author Posted August 17, 2009 I've logged about 5 hours flight instruction and I also used to be in the Air Cadets. Going up with ex-fighter pilots in aircraft fit for aerobatics = Aamazing fun even if each flight was only like 20min! I've also got all the training materials needed for the ground school section of the PPL. It's kinda of the same over here (tho PPL = unpaid, CPL = paid). As I mentioned, due to a medical condition (partially sighted) I cant actually gain my CPL. Which is pretty much where the whole problem lies... If I could gain my CPL, I could justify a bank loan or some other kind of loan as a career change. However since I couldnt actually earn money from flying; I would have to continue in my current job (I'm in no way atall displeased with my current job, infact I love it. Just happens that I love flying more! :-P). The medical issue is that i'm blind in one eye (cataract) and the class 1 medical specifies: Distance Vision Your visual acuity (measured by your ability to see, in this case, lines of letters on a chart at 6 metres) must be at least 6/9 in each eye separately and 6/6 using both eyes together The ironic thing is, my understanding is I could get a PPL and then get the flight instructors addon so I could teach people to fly... I just couldnt accept any kind of reward/payment without a CPL.
FN-GM Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 By the way if anyone has got an ideas of raising that bond for me please let me know
Soulfish Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 I did manage to log about 15 hours about 8-9 years ago and was ready to start taking the various exams and going on cross country flights (and starting to prepare for the solo flight!), but unfortunately I didn't have the time to continue I'm hoping in a few years to really dedicate some time to it and start it up again and get my PPL - once bitten I don't think you can ever really give it up . Still got all the gear, checklists and my headset upstairs in a cupboard ready for me to start again!
stratisphere Posted August 17, 2009 Author Posted August 17, 2009 Thanks FN-GM, thats a great link to the forum! some interesting stuff! Just gave the medical section of the CAA a call to ask... tho she was on the phone and I had to leave some CAA ID number... err I'll call back another time! In a way, the expense helps keep hobby flying to those "dedicated"... but Soulfish you're right. Once the bug has bitten you...! I go through phases of wanting to really get my PPL... looks like i'm getting back into one! As a joke, I just asked our finance guy if the school would pay for me to get my PPL... after asking me how much it was he just laughed and walked away lol!
FN-GM Posted August 17, 2009 Posted August 17, 2009 Thanks FN-GM, thats a great link to the forum! some interesting stuff! Just gave the medical section of the CAA a call to ask... tho she was on the phone and I had to leave some CAA ID number... err I'll call back another time! In a way, the expense helps keep hobby flying to those "dedicated"... but Soulfish you're right. Once the bug has bitten you...! I go through phases of wanting to really get my PPL... looks like i'm getting back into one! As a joke, I just asked our finance guy if the school would pay for me to get my PPL... after asking me how much it was he just laughed and walked away lol! Suppose, but i am pretty keen and i can no way raise that money. They wont even let me get a credit card at the minute because i have no credit history!
stratisphere Posted August 17, 2009 Author Posted August 17, 2009 Yeh ditto. Shame there's no opensource PPL! 1
Moorie Posted September 14, 2009 Posted September 14, 2009 I start at Oxford Aviation Academy on December 3rd 09. Getting out of I.T! 15 Months, £85k, Lot's of hard work = Fully trained pilot, on ALOT more than an IT Techy & having alot more fun! *Now, where can I get 33 cheap copies of XP"
FN-GM Posted September 14, 2009 Posted September 14, 2009 I start at Oxford Aviation Academy on December 3rd 09. Getting out of I.T! 15 Months, £85k, Lot's of hard work = Fully trained pilot, on ALOT more than an IT Techy & having alot more fun! *Now, where can I get 33 cheap copies of XP" Its something i want to do but cant put my hands on that sort of cash.
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