Warbird Information Exchange

hands down the best feeling in my life was when my instructor got out of the aircraft, and said fly. The day I had my solo, was the proudest day of my life.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

The medical stuff has to be the most important! I'll get to that later.

If I recall, you're a pretty tall guy from what you said before about P-38 rides, so going off of that, ya probably don't want to learn in a C-152. I'm 6' tall and barely fit. Cost here was around $65 an hour for the 152 not including instructor's fees (I got those on scholarship).

I won't bother you with all the medical details, but I got horribly sick and have yet to return to flying. (it's been nearly a full year now) I had lots of ear trouble and never was able to get around to solo. Hopefully I'll start flying within the next few weeks as my symptoms are about cleared up. Make sure you get your ears checked for sure!

What is it about the flight training that takes 60+ hours for someone to get their license? Reason why I ask is because like Mudge, I plan on getting my license, hopefully in about two years if everything goes as planned. I have a few hours in gliders, and a little time in a 172, and I've been flying radio control for several years. So I have the skills to actually DO the flying part, what else would take so long to be able to solo?

I got mine in just 40 hours.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Mudge, Connery,

The average person is looking at about 6 to 9 hours of flight training before they solo, and on average about 60 hours "stick" time to get their ticket. Remember, there are certain minimums (measured in hours) that have to be met anyway, regardless of how good you are, or how easy you find it. That will account for 40 hours.

The hours above 40 hours are usually a result of the length of time spent between lessons. The larger the gap, the more time the instructor is liable to spend on "refresher" training. Normally, the student who completes the lessons in a short time span, actually takes less hours, because what was learnt in the previous lesson is still fresh, and can almost immediately be used as the buidling block for the next lesson.

When I got my licence back in 1974 in exactly 40 hours, I was very fortunate.
1. The RAF paid for the first 35 hours (Flying Scholarship).
2. The weather was magnificent, and I completed my licence (start to finish) in 8 days.
(Achieving the above had nothing to do with the fact that my father was an RAF flight instructor and I had spent almost every other weekend since I was 8 or 9 years of age flying the Argosy and C130 flight simulators )

Despite the fact that I had held a licence for 22 years when I came to the US in 1996, (1100 hours private, and 650+ hours as an RAF pilot), the FAA made me complete the total US syllabus of 40 hours to get an FAA licence. (This was because all I brought to the US was my PPL, and not my logbooks.) However, once you are bitten by the flying bug, you will do whatever it takes to continue flying. I just looked at it as recurrent training, and at the time it was cheaper than flying back to the UK to try and find my log books!

If you have the opportunity to learn to fly, go for it. You will never regret it.

Julian

Needle, what RAF base did you get your training at? I flew gliders with the RAF chaps at RAF Bicester just down the road from RAF Croughton where I was stationed.


Well I've been planning on being a pilot since I was about 5 years old. My whole focus in high school was was making it into the AF Academy. I had the grades, but not the connections. Someone else who's dad knew the congressman got the ticket instead. So I enlisted in the AF instead. got a couple of assiciate degrees, went to apply for the AF educational commissioning program...when my wife found out, she pretty much said if I did, I'd never see her or my kids again. Then I found out that I could transfer from the AF as an E4 sargent to the Army's warrant office flight training program. Again, same response from my wife. So I decided to get my PPL instead. The Community College of the AF conducted the ground school, so that would have been paid for, and the air time at the base flying club was like $25 a hour. I took my introductory ride in a 172 and was about to get started when my wife "convinced" me to get out of the AF because she was afraid I'd get deployed even though Desert Storm had just ended. Needless to say, she has been my EX-wife now for about 10 years

My current wife is totally behind me in my hobbies and goals and fully supports my desire to get my PPL. So now that my child support payments are almost done (oldest already joined the AF like dad ) the financial situation will be to the point where I can afford to get my license, and have plenty of flying time.

Another question....is it worth it to buy your own GA aircraft like a 152/172 or just rent one?

Learning the actual stick and rudder aspect of jockeying an airplane around the pattern doesn't take that long...as was mentioned, most people solo on the order of 6-9 hours. Your glider time will help with that, but it won't cut it by much.

It is seeing and learning all of the other aspects of flying an airplane -- handling maneuvers, emergency procedures, night flying, cross country navigation, etc, that will take the balance of the time to perfect.

Even then, at 60 hours, you will barely know a thing about flying. My FAA examiner, like probably many others, gave me my Private and said "this is a license to learn". At the time I didn't get it, but now I do. Hell, I have about 1,700 hours of fighter jet time currently and I still have a lot to learn!



IMHO it's better to rent.

Mudge,
First go on a intro flight,you may find you don't like being the pilot
But if you do fly at non-controlled airports at first so your not paying so much being on the ground.
Don't be afraid at fire your instructor.
Get your Medical as soon as you can.
Think about becoming a sport pilot first (Something that wasn't around when I started) and AOPA can help you with all this and more.
Good Luck,Phil
P.S. Some of the cost and times on the posts sound alittle low but I fly out of Ct.

Mudge;
So far you've got a lot of info from a lot of people...all accurate and good advice. I won't beat a dead horse repeating what's been laid out.
I will say, however, that if I had to do it all again, I'd do it a bit differently.

I have always lived in Connecticut and the weather was a great obstacle to my training. I'd budget, plan and book three flights a week and I'd be lucky to get to actually fly once! This slows you down and in the end, can add to the total cost and number of hours you need to complete your training.

If I was to do it again in a similar weather climate as CT, I'd train locally until I was ready for my cross country flights. This will help you evaluate whether you want to continue to fly or throw in the towel. Once the cross country training arrives, I'd take a week off and go to Florida or Arizona and fly everday for a week, sometimes maybe twice a day and knock out all those cross country requirements in short order. You'll retain more and even with the travel expenses save some money. It took me forever to get enough good weather to do my cross country requirements.

Just my two cents, but Mudge...you'll never regret it!
Blue skies,
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Connery,

I did my glider pilots licence the year before I got my PPL. I did that at RAF Swanton Morley.

My PPL was at a private flying school (but paid for by the RAF, including all on-site accomodation). That was done at Fairoaks Airfield, Chobham, and I was taught by a New Zealander named Bill Bryce, who also owned Brymon Airways.

Randy,

The CO at my last OCU told me that in Civilian Life you get a licence to fly and then think you are "qualified". When flying for the military, there is so much to learn that you can never be "qualified". You will always be a trainee! I think that is true in all walks of life, flying (military or civilian) included.

Julian

WOW...so much to assimilate? Many "Mahalos" to all of youse troops.
I've been looking for any list of medical problems that might disqualify me but haven't found one yet. I do have Type II Diabetes but that's about it. I wear hearing aids but can hear fairly well without them. Other than those two...no problemos.

You've all given me valuable info and I'm making a list of it.

Mudge the fledgling

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Land of the free because of the brave

If in fact you cannot get the apropriate medical for a full PPL, you could go the light sport route as that requires a current drivers license in leu of a medical. There are more restrictions on when, where, and what you can fly, but it beats sitting on the ground dreaming!

Randy, you are a rare one, I've never heard of many other modern jet fighter pilots admit that there was anything he didn't already know. I did a checkout for an Isreali jet pilot who had a couple of Mig kills. He sure liked American misseles, and didn't have anything good to say about the Arabs. He understood politically why he wasn't brought into the Gulf War, but was on cockpit alert and eager for the chance. We'd enjoy hearing about things in UK, especially RAF etc. Think of all the money you can sve there on not having to buy suntan lotion! Fly safe

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Any pilot who thinks he knows it all will inevitably run across an airplane just itching to prove him wrong.

Any fighter pilot who merges with a MiG and doesn't assume that the guy in the other jet is the best MiG pilot on Earth is a fool.

If that same fighter pilot doesn't go to that merge with the MiG knowing in his heart that he is the baddest motherf*cker to ever fly an airplane is destined to die a violent, fiery death!

That "know it all" personality that you're referring to is vital for survival in combat...unfortunately many fighter plots let that bleed over into life outside the canopy.



With respect to saving money, unfortunately there'll be none of that here! The Pound is very strong right now compared to the Dollar (nearly 2:1!), so my paycheck goes practically nowhere over here. All the suntan lotion I've purchased in my entire life would barely cover the extra cost of a night eating and drinking at the local pub!!

I've only been flying in the UK for about a month, so I'm not exactly a fountain of knowledge about how it works over here. I'm still wrapping my mind around calling my jet a "kite" and saying things like "flight level four". I am learning that 300 foot ceilings seem to be the norm in the wintertime, too!

Randy's right about the prices in the UK. As a rule of thumb, figure whatever costs a $ in the US is gonna' cost a £ (ie. twice as much) in the UK.

Mudge the traveller

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Land of the free because of the brave