What Next?

Things to do with your PRIVATE PILOT’S LICENCE

(Post PPL)

BAe Warton Flying Club

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What next?

Undiscovered country….

The studying is over. The tests are passed. The Licence and presentation wallet have arrived through the letterbox...

For the majority of newly qualified pilots there are some “first” trips that happen fairly soon after getting qualified.

Your first “land-away” as Pilot in Command (PIC) is always a glorious occasion. YOU are totally responsible for everything and in charge of your flight! It is after all what you have worked so hard for!

The first trip with family, friends or significant partner is always something to look forward to and perhaps a little nerve-wracking. However, you can now show them at first hand why you enjoy this, that it was worth all the money, that you are a safe pilot, and trying to pull off a perfect landing – so they will come again.

You are now an ambassador for aviation!

However, soon enough all of the obvious short trips have been flown. You discover that your friends that are happy to fly once are not so keen to share the cost regularly.

It now becomes harder to find that sense of discovery and challenge that you worked hard to achieve.

Fear not! This booklet aims to help you rediscover it. It describes some of the obvious and some of the less common ways to sustain your safe interest in flying and continuing your licence to learn.

The undiscovered country is not just the landscape….

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Preliminary

This booklet is not meant to be the definitive and last word on the formal requirements for the activities described. Nor is it a complete story for your aviation adventure or career. There are many sources for this information; not least your instructor or examiner.

There are broadly four classes of activities you can do to enhance your interest in your flying:-

1. Add a qualification or “rating” to your licence 2. Formal differences training licence endorsements 3. Add skills to your aviation ‘toolbox’ 4. Extend your horizons with new experiences/challenges

Formal qualifications such as IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions), IR (Instrument Rating) and Night Rating add a “rating” to your licence.

‘Differences training’ embraces such interesting things as retractable gears, tail wheels(draggers), variable pitch propellers et cetera. New skills such as Aerobatics need instruction (one of examiners is qualified to do so!) but necessarily to your licence in one respect. Extending your horizons both figuratively and literally just add to the experience and “Airmanship”.

Not all of the formal training portrayed in this booklet is available at the club, however some is with our partner organisation “High-G” located in our own hangar, failing that your instructor will definitely know where to point you!

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Fly-Outs

One of the most surprising aspects of flying, once you have achieved your PPL is frustration. A little bit boredom can creep in! You got used to your instructor or examiner telling you what to do,

now you have to decide for yourself. The trip over the Lake District is always breath-taking but you have done it a handful of times and you want to fly with another pilot!

The Fly-Out is an excellent opportunity to rediscover what flying can offer, it doesn’t cost the earth and you can meet some of the other Club members.

A Fly-Out is usually a day trip out organised by our in-house Fly-Out Manager Garry (who once worked on SeaKings I believe!); that usually involves a number of pilots each flying a “leg” or flight. Often our club aircraft are joined by other Clubs’ aircraft or private ones. The upshot of a Fly-Out is that the aircraft usually goes further afield than you could have afforded with solo flights; because of only flying one way or leg.

Flying like this can enrich your logbook with new Airfields and experiences very quickly. Imagine taking off from an

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unfamiliar Airfield and landing at another, doesn’t that sound exciting, it is!

The Fly-Out is a great way to meet the other members of the Club, some of the other instructors. You will gain experience and knowledge from other instructors (at least one usually comes along) or

more experienced pilots. You can pick up hints, tips or just judge your flying against theirs. It is always a chance to brush up your flying, navigation skills or if an instructor is available some IMC work.

One of the most important points to remember is that you are using the aircraft for a thoroughly jolly good day out. There’s usually always an attraction or something worth visiting at an airfield.

You will soon learn of the legendary White Heather Hotel Sunday Lunches in Kirkbride and where you can park the plane in the hotel car park!

The planning, navigation, flying with passengers and getting organised on longer “legs” will all improve your confidence and skills. There isn’t quite like anything to beat a well- executed join and landing at an unfamiliar airfield.

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The IMC Rating

IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) Rating or the IR(R) as it now becoming known as by the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) is very basically a slightly scaled down UK version of an instrument rating that commercial Airline Pilots have to fly in bad weather conditions. It is also one of the most common and popular “upgrades” to the

basic PPL and one BAE Warton Flying Club can facilitate for you! In summary you will need:-

• 10 PIC as a PPL including 5 Hours “Cross Country”. • 15 Hours of Instrument training. • 10 Hours of instrument flight time. • Pass a written ground exam. • Pass a flight test.

The requirements above probably seem like a lot of work at this stage, and whilst IMC/IR(R) isn’t easy it is an incredibly useful skill to have. Don’t be put off, your instructor will tell you about the merit of IMC! The IMC is often described as the “get you out of trouble” or “go anywhere” rating, whilst true in principle, is in practice only partially true; it is a rating that you have to practice and maintain. However, the great news is that the IMC rating will make you a better pilot. More confident and more accurate. The ability to fly smoothly, using the gentlest touch, whilst holding a precise atitude, altitude and airspeed are essential prerequisites for the IMC pilot and any pilot with bigger aspirations. The IMC rating provides a huge step in the freedom and opportunities available to you. To command an aeroplane safely through cloud whilst executing a complex procedure and nailing an ILS glide slope has to be one of the highlights of pure piloting skill.

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The Night Rating

Who hasn’t looked out the window of a Jet Airliner at night going to or from your holiday destination and not been impressed by planet earth at night!

The Night Rating opens up a completely new world! At a practical level the Night Rating is a very useful addition to the basic PPL

and another one BAE Warton Flying Club can facilitate for you! It can help extend the length of short winter days, but the biggest advantage is that with it you can discover a whole new landscape. To obtain a night rating you will need.

• 5 Hours night training. • 5 Night take-offs and landings as PIC • A “Cross Country” night exercise

The night rating will make you more confident in handling as a pilot. You will discover a far greater precision in your navigation and get a lot more weather savvy. Landing in the dark will finally convince you that you can land an aeroplane! The world is spectacular at night and completely different to what you expect.

Our Homebase Airfield Blackpool is open to 2100 (9 o’clock) but the downsides to night flying is that many airfields shut at dusk, and the winter weather on all but exceptional occasions means great care is needed if IMC is to be avoided.

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Aerobatics

Who hasn’t been to an Airshow as a kid and not been in awe of the skill of a pilot? Aerobatics however doesn’t necessarily mean high energy or high G, upside down or highly specialised aircraft. The Spin is an aerobatic manoeuvre, as are Chandelles and Figures of Eight.

At Blackpool and through one of our examiners we are quite lucky that we can get you started in aerobatics, there’s an Aerobatic experience available during PPL Training (exercise 11) or Aerobatic training post-graduation of PPL; both with our sister organisation “High-G”- which is run by a Test Pilot who flew with the RAF! Obviously aerobatics is a very skilled activity and no one teaches themselves. So depending on what you want to achieve you may need anything from a couple of hours for Spins or Chandelles to the Full AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) aerobatics course. Aerobatic flying can be just for fun but there are also a number of formal and less formal competitions. Every year Loop Magazine runs an aerobatics introduction day at Sherburn-in-Elmet Airfield (North Yorkshire) which finishes with a competition for beginners – this could be you very shortly! The British Aerobatic Association run the national championships based on various levels of skill from beginners to unlimited. There are a number of aerobatic pilots around at Blackpool and members of the club have tried it out. Be warned though! Aerobatics seems to be one of the most highly addictive forms of aviation.

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Flying with String!!

How can this be possible!?

It is a perfect VFR (Visual Flight Rules – very basically means it’s a nice day for flying!) day…

You have the aeroplane booked…

You can go anywhere…

BUT:

You only have the aircraft booked for an hour!!!

The freedom of being a qualified pilot can sometimes mean you have an overwhelming number of choices. You have been looking forward to flying all week and you fancy something a bit new.

Try flying with string!

Cut a length of string that is 330mm long. This equates to about 50 minutes of flight time; that’s about 90nm (nautical miles) at 105kts (aircraft speed is measured in knots). 330mm is valid on the “½ mil charts” for this exercise.

Keep it in your flight bag. It is a quick way of seeing what you could do in an hour. Simply place it on your chart holding the two ends over Blackpool Airport (our base airfield). Then you can plot this out on the chart and plan it on a “PLOG”.

It is great way of experimenting with a circular, oval, rectangular or other shaped line will produce. It will stop you flying in a straight line and help with planning routes. It’s also a great way of keeping you navigation skills sharp!

Too wet to fly? Use this method to prepare some 1 hour flights at home. Write PLOGs beforehand and keep a handful of pre-prepared ones in a flight bag to use when you really cannot decide on where to go.

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Go Touring / have an Away-Day

The chances are at some point you have been trapped in a stuffy car stuck in an unrelenting traffic jam having planned a lovely day somewhere different!

“Where we are going, we don’t need roads!”

Flying for its own sake is rewarding, but the cake and coffee at

Barton Airfield is not the only reason for a pilot’s licence.

Once you are a member of BAE Warton Flying Club with a small amount of prior notice you can hire one of the club aircraft for the day and you only pay the flying hours that you do. This means you can use the aircraft as the transport of the day. Chances are you will be looking down on the traffic jams of the day.

One of the more common away days is to pair up with a fellow club member and share the cost of flying to the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington Airfield or the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. Both are really special to land at and of great significance during wartime!

How about a day out at the Seaside, you could try Skegness or one of the numerous Airfields on the East Coast. Not to mention Caernarvon or Llanbedr with outstanding scenery (and on route), great food and the seaside just poking through the airfield fence!

Wales has some beautiful scenery and a tour of their airfields is always a nice treat especially if you like walking.

To be able to fly yourself to a destination, have a great day out and then fly yourself home again without the hassle of driving and parking a car really makes you appreciate the freedom of flying. Who doesn’t like the idea of arriving at a destination in a plane!?

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Multi-Engine Rating

The MEP (Multi-Engine Piston) rating is often called the “twin rating”. The multi- engine rating is designed to allow you to fly as Pilot in Command of twin-engined aircraft.

In summary you will need:-

• 6 Hours of multi-engine training. • 7 Hours of Ground school. • Pass a ground exam. • Pass a skills test.

Adding a twin rating to you PPL is going to increase the distance you can travel, the speed but sadly also the cost.

This rating has traditionally been a very common addition of pilots, especially those on a journey to achieving commercial airliner pilot status.

The combination of a “twin rating” together with Night and IMC ratings converts an ordinary, fair weather PPL holder in to a pilot for whom long distance business flying is a practical option.

Where two engines are better than one!

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Formation Flying

An immeasurably underestimated skill in flying is flying in formation. There are some skills in aviation that you should never teach yourself and formation flying is one of those.

However, with a trained pilot, even sitting in as a

passenger in an aeroplane in Formation is a truly thrilling and amazing experience. During your training you are taught to avoid or clear away from another aircraft and yet here one is. There is something very strange about seeing another aircraft from the air, instead of staring up at the sky.

Enquire around the club and people will tell you how good it is, you might even find someone suitably skilled to show you!

To learn formation flying you will need to attend a course of instruction. There are several flying schools that do this around the United Kingdom. Most of them require a minimum of 5 hours instruction and a check out ride. And like any skill in aviation you must remain “current” with practice. T

The instructors and examiners of BAE Warton Flying Club do not conduct this training but is available through our partner organisation “High-G”. This training can be offered to you on the BAE Warton Flying Club aircraft as well High-G’s Chipmunk and Bulldog!

Formation flying training will make you an excellent “Stick & Rudder” pilot. Learning to fly “head out” rather than looking at the instruments, how to manage power and inertia, how to hold and anticipate a steady turn, make relative movements all with good communication.

Formation flying is another incredible experience of skill and co- operation with great visuals looking out from the cockpit.

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Flying Buddies

Flying, like most things in life, is better with friends.

Sharing flying is much more than just simply sharing costs, although that is a great incentive. In very simple terms two pilots can go twice as far as just one for the same individual

costings. This also therefore means it is possible to take the aircraft away for an extended period without the special prior permission arrangements associated with Touring!

With a Flying Buddy you can add another great dimension to your flying. The advantages of a fellow pilot sat alongside you are obvious, they understand your passion and you can chat together in “pilot speak”. You will both be able to understand “gone tech”, “wilco”, “go around”, “apron”, “bravo zulu”, “east abeam”. You will both understand why “roger, over and out” is fake ludicrous movie pilot speak!

More than that you will have someone that will really appreciate how tricky that landing was. And don’t forget that you have a fellow pilot next to you. How about enjoying the flight whilst your “co-pilot” helps you out on the radio and the navigation! Sounds good right!

You have a second opinion sat next to you, helping with safety and second pair of eyes to check over your work and the aircraft.

It takes a bit of time to find a good flying buddy at a similar level but once you have the flying and the challenges you both face, get even better.

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Tailwheel Endorsement

Tailwheel aircraft are known by pilots as “taildraggers”. The historic aeroplanes you can think of; the Spitfires, the Hawker Hurricanes, the Lancasters, the Hawker Furys, the Tigers, the Cubs, the Moths, the Chipmonks et cetera are all taildraggers.

The high performance racers and aerobatic aeroplanes are all taildraggers too. Tail wheels confer shorter take-off and landing than the most common trainers. “Farm strip” flying, off filed landings, and a whole new other world of incredible unregulated airspace is opened up by a tailwheel rating.

Aircraft with tailwheels are also often considered to be ‘proper’ aircraft! Indeed, few would argue that some of the most famous and exciting aircraft are taildraggers! Mastering the art of handling a taildragger is not difficult but it’s extremely satisfying.

So if you fancy flying any of them, first you will have to learn to fly a taildragger. The plane you learned in is known as a “tricycle” configuration with one wheel at the front and two aft of this; opposite to the taildraggers.

There are no special conditions but you must now receive a one-time logbook endorsement to act as PIC in a tailwheel airplane which you will get through some practical training and demonstration of handling a taildragger.

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The “Tricky” Airfield

We are very fortunate at Blackpool. Our main runway is 1,869 meters or 6,132 feet of magnificent asphalt, it is flat, level, fairly wide with good clear approaches, and is great for students.

However, once you start venturing further

afield, even in the local area it becomes clear that not all airfields are born equal. You now might have to conduct a “short-field take off”, “short-field landing”, plan a downhill taxi or with a suitable brief tackle a “grass strip” airfield!

We in the North are very lucky being away from the crowded hustle and bustle of the congested London airports and airspace with a plethora of airstrips in the surrounding area. There are all sorts of challenges in easy reach like the testing 500m sloping Netherthorpe, the demanding approaches of Welshpool or the author’s particular favourite the glorious variable slopey grassiness of Fishburn! Fantastic bacon sarnies and a warm welcome too!

There’s plenty of choice in the locale and if you look at a map you will see Blackpool is ideally situated for reaching the big obvious airfields but also the smaller trickier or grass strip ones…

BAE Warton Flying Club wouldn’t expect you just to dive in to these places and our instructors will coach you on how to tackle these should you fancy it. And you will!

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Go to a Fly-In

The Fly-In. The absolute must of any keen aviator. Of all the ways of reviving the sheer enjoyment of your flying, the Fly-In has to be one of the finest.

All the ingredients are there; The Pilots – old and new, The Planes – old and new,

The Hanger fables – old and new.

Then imagine yourself flying in to an airstrip and immersing yourself in all of that. Hopefully the sun is shining and the wind is behaving. A great day lies ahead and the obligatory bacon sarnie.

Fly-Ins come in all shapes and sizes and so will the aircraft that turn up. As well as the weird and wonderful ones. There are the large events such as the ones at Duxford, but the smaller ones are just as fun. There are ones closer to home such as Barton close to the Manchester Airspace. There’s the long standing ones and popular ones such as Breighton and Full Sutton.

These events are always all well-advertised in Pilot Magazine and Flyer Magazine. Why not ask around the club? You will surely find someone else who wants to go as well and will share the flight over with you.

Don’t forget your camera!!!

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The Annual Trip

Cornwall is a fantastic place, but could you imagine yourself driving there from the North- West, it seems a long, long way away. Eeek!

If you look at a map of the United Kingdom then Blackpool Airport is ideally situated in many respects that it

is centrally placed. It is close enough to Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Wales and even Europe.

Therefore this offers a very wide range of possible flying destinations. Destinations you probably wouldn’t hurriedly think about driving to.

However, why not set aside one day a year for the annual flying holiday/trip? It gives you time to save up, the excitement of picking the destination, choosing your confederates and planning the route! Pick somewhere you have always fancied going, one that is a respectable but comfortable distance and perhaps one that maybe a little challenging.

Flying locally you quickly become proficient at recognising the ‘neighbourhood’ and using the visual navigation of the familiar markers e.g. Blackpool Tower, Heysham Power Station or the Southport Coast. Flying out long distances for the day, takes you outside your comfort zone and refreshing those ‘rusty’ navigation skills you once were so proud of! You may even then be able to justify that GPS you have had your eye on to assist you in your adventure.

This is always another occasion to go flying with another pilot and share costs but also your workload!

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Practise, Practise, Practise.

Here’s one to make the BAE Warton Flying Club “CFI” (Chief Flying Instructor) very happy!”

Some skills and techniques you learned during training are there to save your life. Modern aircraft and maintenance schedules have made today’s aviation relatively safe, BUT occasionally things do go wrong.

Preparation and practice are the key to coping. Some of these skills go rusty very quickly; when did you last practice them?

Could you perform any of these if you needed to today?

• The PFL* • EFATO • Radio Failure • Glide/Flapless Approaches • Precautionary Landings • Position Fixes • Stalls with flaps and power • Steep avoiding turns

Don’t worry if these don’t mean anything to some of you or sound a bit scary all PPL training will cover these and here at BAE Warton Flying Club we will be very thorough.

However, once you are trained why not practise these precautionary safety skills as a brush up. Make a list, then go out and try some of them out with the appropriate precautions. (*Requires appropriate Instructor briefing).

If it’s been a while then book an instructor, let them know what you want to revise, then they can talk you through it and then you can go fly it!

Whether by yourself or with the guidance of an instructor, any revision of this sort is good practice. It might even be fun or make a nice change from your “normal” flying. It could of course mean that you are that “Ice Cool” pilot you see in the movies when faced with the unexpected!

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There for the Nice Things!

Here’s some of things our members have got up to with their PPLs…

G Henderson – Hellyvellen, Lake District Frank J Smith - Heysham Power Station and Morecambe Bay

http://m.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/10704790.Ro mantic_proposal_from_the_air_by_East_Lancashire_m an/ Eddie Nickson

Daniel Kirwan – On the climb out from Perranporth Airfield

Eddie Nickson – Darwen Tower, Friend’s marriage proposal – She said yes!

Daniel Kirwan – Lunch in the DC-6 Aeroplane Diner, Coventry Airport

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Markus Paun – Coming in to land Sleap Airfield Sean Donno – Blackpool Tower on the climb out to the

North

G Henderson – BAE Systems Samlesbury G Henderson – The Lake District; early Spring

Sean Donno – Coming in to land RAF Fairford RIAT2015

Sean Donno – Oscar Juliet and The Red Arrows at RAF Fairford RIAT2015

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Sean Donno – Cold War Jet Day, Bruntingthorpe Jerry Oki – Blackpool Promenade

Jason Wells – Castle Kennedy, Scotland Jerry Oki – Oban Airport, Oban, Scotland.

Bob Stinger – Overhead Lagavulin Distillery, Islay, Scotland

Bob Stinger – Looking west towards the Isle of Jura from The Mull of Kintyre

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Dave Stewart – Landing Approach Ayres Rock Air

Chris Dixon – View over Windermere Chris Dixon – After landing at Crossland Moor

(Huddersfield International)

Dave Stewart – Oscar Juliet at the castle Kennedy Barbeque

Jerry Oki – Oscar Juliet Parked up at RAF Church Fenton

Dave Stewart – Landing Approach Ayres Rock Airport

Dave Stewart –Flying around Ayres Rock

….And as an internationally recognised qualification you can use it abroad!!!

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BAE Warton Flying Club!

So with BAE Warton Flying Club and your Private Pilot’s Licence the World is your oyster!

Getting your PPL is only the beginning…..

Today’s PPL student is tomo rro w’s Commercial Airline Pilot or Flying Instructor.

So get in contact:-

Details:-

• www.baeflyingclub.co.uk • learn-to-fly@baeflyingclub.co.uk

Here to help!

Whether it be your Private Pilot’s Licence (another booklet is available on request “BAE Warton Flying Club PPL - Want to know more!?” or you already have you a Licence; get in touch.

BUT don’t forget we also do

• Trial lessons • Gift vouchers • Taster sessions

There are no stupid questions in aviation and we are here to help! Hopefully see you soon!

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BAE Warton Flying Club!

If you have any suggestions for this booklet in the future, contact BAE Warton Flying Club, thanks for listening.

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