Pilot License Tips?

[FACA 0]

One of the best thing about real flying against sim flights is that you don´t have to worry about frame rates, and the sceneries are always perfect! :D And also you don´t need complicated gear (like trackIR) and lot´s of USB cable around your table just for make it look real. Actually there is only one bad thing on a real flight: you can´t turn off the crash detection settings, so go smooth :(

[Paul_Smith 92]

The only two points I would add is to suggest you try and fly from different locations and in different aircraft. Do this in addition to your study, not instead of it. The C152/C172 are wonderful aircraft to fly and will cover ground in comfort, and if you ever end up buying/leasing a plane, it will probably be one of these, but in fairness, they do have limited visibility and they are not exactly 'fun' aircraft. Try a flight in a Grob or similar. Full glass canopy and mild aerobatic abilities mean serious entertainment even if its not the aircraft you want to take your wife and kids cross country in. Like learning to drive a car, just being a passenger in a Dodge Viper reminds you why you are working hard to learn to drive a Ford Focus.As for the different airfields, the airport I usually use for lessons or joyrides (Weston Airport, Ireland) only allows for unrestriced flight north of the M4 and west of Dublin. These are the flat plains of Meath. Very good for learning to fly as there is nothing to distract you. In truth, it is boring, even so, I am told it is often too much for people who went to Nevada for three weeks intensive and came back with a full PPL. These people have never seen a cloud, flown through a thermal or landed with a cross wind.

[danparker86 0]

Dan,As far as i know from a few of the pilots who have come over from the UK, in order to fly in another country you just need to take the corresponding exams for the licence example if you have a US PPL you would sit the UK or AUS PPL theory and just do a check and then they will issue you a licence, in Australia at least flying is competency based and if you have been a captain on a 747 for example in the UK the competency is there its just there are some rules that differ from country to country in terms of airspace etc. so i think you just need to sit the test and take a pratical flight with a CFI.Glad the information helped i do hope you will pursue it as the joy of flight is amazing, dont be thrown out by what people will tell you that simming dosent help it absolutley does and i hope i did not make it sound as if it doesnt, in my own opinion it helps a great deal! however when you fly for real you quickly see how the two differ :( Best of luck with it and be sure to keep us all posted on how the training is going and also any hardships you encounter! im sure we would all love to help you through these as many of us have been there ourselves! My struggle was landing attitude i just kept getting low and slow and scary i thought "too low nose up, oops too slow add power, still low nose up, oops too slow add power" this went on and on untill the cows were basically grazing under my wing on short final :( ha ha seems impossible to imagine now but there i was dragging my tail in over the threshold with 3/4 power!! feel free to fire any other questions mate ill keep and eye on your journey!-Dan Parker

[Buddy2 0]

Dan - Congrats and I wish you luck! Your will remember your first solo for the rest of your life, and trust me... it's one of the most exhilarating feelings this world has to offer. I think one of the biggest things that you can do while getting your ticket aside from what has already been mentioned is to just hang out at the airport. I can't tell you how much I've learned by just shooting the breeze with the old timers that hang around the FBO. For instance... in a older bonanzas, the gear position indicator lights will appear not to come on during the day if the nav lights are on. Also, I'd look for an older instructor with a lot of years under his belt instructing. They are harder to find, but typically more reliable. I went through 3 different instructors during my PPL. The first two had enough hours and were hired by regional carriers. The third was a retired FAA guy, who was a new instructor (We ending up screaming at each other in the cockpit!!!)... And the fourth was finally stable enough to get me across the finish line. The problem is, it took me 18 months and increased my costs by at least 40-50%.I started simming about 5 years prior to getting my PPL. It was a tremendous help and I'll echo the others in saying keeping your eyes outside of the aircraft. You'll be amazed at how many physical cues there are in RW piloting. Sounds, g-forces, control forces will all be relatively new, but won't be completely foreign. I was able to solo in 7.5 hours which I directly attribute to FS. I'd try to get as much Class C or Class B dual instruction in as possible. The stress level goes up quite a bit and it's nice to have someone next to you to handle things when you get behind. Which leads me to my final suggestion. Stay ahead of the airplane. When possible, especially in your early flights, ask your instructor a day before exactly what your flight will consist of. Look at the TAF's for your area and visualize the maneuvers in your head. Consciously be aware of the speeds/altitudes you want to perform these maneuvers at. And remember... Trim is your best friend!Cheers,Buddy Morgan

[downscc 1,327]

My two cents: You should figure out if you have the aptitude for flying by the time you get to your first solo. I recommend that if you are loving the experience by the point, you borrow the money required to get to the PPL checkride and make the training a priority as much as job and wife will allow. If you can fly two-three times per week you will find that the lessons are retained better and your improvement will come faster. This is what I did in 1972 and never regretted it.I think the initial training to PPL should be in same type aircraft to allow you to hone your flying skills. Afterall, the PPL is just the basic training of airmanship with reference to the ground by learning things like stalls, 360 turns, pylon turns, eights-along a road, etc. The next step, the commercial license, introduces the slightly more advanced airmanship maneuvers that reference your flight performance or you might decide to just work on the instrument rating after you have about a 100 hours or so. The C-152 is a very good basic trainer. The USAF used to use a beefier Skyhawk I think, I remember renting one at an aeroclub at Hondo TX when I was on a break from OTS. It was like a cross between a C-172 and a C-182. Regardless, money counts and focus on your airmanship and the basic knowledge stuff and don't worry about different aircraft until this is achieved.Just my two cents.

[realpilotsimpilot 11]

Getting a PPL is itself not that expensive. Instructors are pretty cheap per hour, and you can self study the written test stuff, and the fees from the FAA are reasonable. Renting a plane is extremely expensive. I purchased a plane for my IFR ticket. Its a great time to buy. (Having just sold one, believe me, I know... oy.) The trainers are all pretty similar in terms of speeds and stuff. I got my PPL in various 172s (Qs, Rs, SP, MEs). And the day I got my PPL was the last time I ever flew a 172. I promptly went out and bought a Piper (first an Archer, and later an Arrow) to get my IA rating. Frankly, I was sick of the 172 by the time I got my license. But assuming a purchase is out of your means or willingness, then let me suggest a few things about using FS to help you be better. As others have suggested, don't use the gauges. Because of the various limits of 2D simming, there's a real tendency for simmers to keep their eyes inside. While that is useful for instrument training, (You can practice your scan in FS pretty well) that is bad practice and potentially fatal in visual conditions. One of the greatest revelations for me as a student was proper use of trim and power. It is so much easier to fly if the plane wants to stay where it is vertically. While the actual planes are different (and easier to trim because of tactile sensations), play around with the planes in FS and work on leveling a plane with trim and power and then see what happens when you add or take away power. You should be able to do this by looking outside, grabbing the trim wheel (or joystick button in this case) without looking and verifying level flight with the gauges. Once I could do that effortlessly, the license was easy. Landings in FSX aren't really the same. Approach to landing you can work on getting to the runway without relying on the gauges, but the flare and touchdown aren't the same, at least to me. Good luck. Feel free to PM or otherwise reach out to me if you want advice on something.

[badderjet 181]

The C152/C172 are wonderful aircraft to fly and will cover ground in comfort, and if you ever end up buying/leasing a plane, it will probably be one of these, but in fairness, they do have limited visibility and they are not exactly 'fun' aircraft. Try a flight in a Grob or similar. Full glass canopy and mild aerobatic abilities mean serious entertainment even if its not the aircraft you want to take your wife and kids cross country in.

Hey man, what kind of aerobatics can you do in a Grob? The only slightly aerobatic stuff that I have done (in C152s) were a couple lazy 8's and chandelles, besides the occasional zero-G parabola lol. I found these quite fun already, but maybe I'm just a bit too scared of a mild loop or roll still.

As for the different airfields, the airport I usually use for lessons or joyrides (Weston Airport, Ireland) only allows for unrestriced flight north of the M4 and west of Dublin. These are the flat plains of Meath. Very good for learning to fly as there is nothing to distract you. In truth, it is boring, even so, I am told it is often too much for people who went to Nevada for three weeks intensive and came back with a full PPL. These people have never seen a cloud, flown through a thermal or landed with a cross wind.

Oh my, I hear ya... After all I was more than glad to have flight training in a part of the world with just normal, average mixed weather, period. Right from the beginning. And slight terrain around too. It doesn't hurt, really. There simply is no reason to learn "flying" in the desert where you find nothing else than sun shine all day long, CAVOK and winds at 00000KT. It has nothing to do with flying in actual conditions like you would normally experience them.

I started simming about 5 years prior to getting my PPL. It was a tremendous help and I'll echo the others in saying keeping your eyes outside of the aircraft. You'll be amazed at how many physical cues there are in RW piloting. Sounds, g-forces, control forces will all be relatively new, but won't be completely foreign. I was able to solo in 7.5 hours which I directly attribute to FS. I'd try to get as much Class C or Class B dual instruction in as possible. The stress level goes up quite a bit and it's nice to have someone next to you to handle things when you get behind. Which leads me to my final suggestion. Stay ahead of the airplane. When possible, especially in your early flights, ask your instructor a day before exactly what your flight will consist of. Look at the TAF's for your area and visualize the maneuvers in your head. Consciously be aware of the speeds/altitudes you want to perform these maneuvers at.

Thanks for bringing that one up. One of the many things that can make your life easier (I will go so far and say cheaper too) is mental training, seriously. Now if you were asking, sure it could be done with the sim but it certainly can be done without too. No need to fly the same pattern a thousand times and dump endless $ in it if you have the items and flows ready in your mind the moment you board the plane. :( Probably requires a bit more time outside the plane but as I tried to say above, you will have more capacity and time for more fun stuff on the plane almost guaranteed.

[Turbine777 13]

This thread is full of really great info, thanks to all that have posted. I hope others out there are finding at least 1% as useful as I am. This reply will most likely be in 2 parts since I am at work on my sisters laptop and the max res is just aweful and reading the latest posts alone have taken 5x longer than if I were on my own, haha.Going from memory from what I just read, and in no particular order of posters. I can say I am definitely willing to buy an aircraft and wish I could but despite some people thinking I have money, I just don't. I hope someday I can buy my own but doubt that day will come anytime soon.I can so very relate to getting sick of the C172 or anything for that matter. I think one of the things simmers have is the luxury of choosing between so many differnt AC. I have really wanted to get back to the basics of flight and navigation for a few months now and have only been flying the Carenado C182RG. Well until recently of upgrading to the RealAir Duke B60 (this is an incredible aircraft and wish I had the coin to buy it!).All of my flying has been IFR related and actually never the same route since again, I'm trying to put together a spreadsheet on IFR around the United States (State to state). I can totally see where you're coming from on this Paul and by doing this project and forcing myself to constantly having to manually plot my course as well as learn, research where I'm going it has given me a lot of practice and helped bring up situations I never would have got had I kept flying my only my favorite locations.One thing I hate to do is borrow, but I see where you're coming from Dan. I currently don't have the credit to do it and hate to do it from friends or fam. Matter of fact I am the one that is usually the lender and if I had back 10% of what I have lent out in the past 5 years alone, I would have my instructors license paid in full (seriously haha). I agree that having it paid in full will make it easier both on the overall cost as well as allow me to fly more times a week.I will reply again later when I get home since there are more things I wanted to comment on but this reply has taken well over an hour (busy).Thanks again all, one of the objects of posting this was to better use my time on FS as well as keep key things in mind and I have learned a lot and look forward to reading more.

[Turbine777 13]

I haven't looked into the cost of getting a PPL but I thought it was around 8-10,000$? I could be very wrong though

Hi Taylor, due to the fact that I had to mail you your prize for winning one of the prizes in my livery contest, I know where you live :(, haha no worries I won't be doing any stalking any time soon. I PM'd you a number for a good place but yeah, holy shnikies they're expensive!

... try and fly atleast twice a week.

Whoops, sorry about that Tyson, I originally read you post as flying twice a week, after I got my license. I hope to have it paid in full before I begin so will fly as much as they'll be able to let me.

... I soloed in even less back then and I will say simming has helped to save significant $

Hi Eltienne,One thing I've been curious of (ok two things) from this statement from you as well as others is;

1. If I pay in full I'm not sure how I would save money, do you mean you saved because you didn't have to fly more than the mandatory hours?
2. It's amazing they let people solo with so few hours. I'm glad of course, it just seems strange with todays society and law suit happy individuals, rules and regulations etc,,, etc,,, that this would be allowed, how long ago did you get your license?

This is really interesting, if others want to share their hours before soloing and rough time when you went through training that would be great!

These people have never seen a cloud, flown through a thermal or landed with a cross wind.

Hey Paul, This is a good point and something that my PPL dvd's from Sporty's talks about too. I've been practicing crabbing a lot and sometimes just try and follow long roads in the sim and try to stay as straight as I can. I've made a point just recently to not look at the wind data presented in FSX (Shift+Z). It's fun not knowing exactly how strong the wind is and what direction it's coming from. I've grown pretty dependent on the shift+Z info and am also actually using ATIS (ok I do occasionally but never paid much attention before).

...Best of luck with it and be sure to keep us all posted on how the training is going and also any hardships you encounter!... My struggle was landing attitude i just kept getting low and slow and scary i thought "too low nose up, oops too slow add power, still low nose up, oops too slow add power"!

Thanks again Dan, and will difinitely keep maybe some type of forum online journal with "What we did tonight" kind of a thing to let other non-pilots get an inside peak of each lesson. To reiterate though, this won't be for a few months at the earliest. I wish I could do it right away but need to better my situation first. I would love to do it in the fall for various reasons. Autumn for one, and colder air for another. The downsides are mainly the days get shorter now and will be darker around 4pm here and I just started a new job that I doubt would be that flexible in already changing my shift.It's funny but that is my problem in the sim a lot of times. As I mentioned somewhere above, I am just now getting a feel for letting the throttle control my vertical path correctly. I'm alright, but I need to apply throttle earlier than I do in the sim with the lighter aircraft because the ones I fly the most don't respond that fast and I end up ballooning a lot. Some approaches are picture perfect and I have learned (well, not always) to not chase the needle but need to do it allllot more to make it habit. As I get close and the needle is more sensitive in the RA Duke B60 my first reaction under stress is use the yoke too much :(

Congrats... We ending up screaming at each other in the cockpit... I'll echo the others in saying keeping your eyes outside of the aircraft... I'd try to get as much Class C or Class B dual instruction in as possible.

Thanks Buddy,I try to be a nice guy best I can but I am one of those that gets hung up on principles probably more than I should in real life situations of confrontation. My friends know me as a good guy but some know I can fly off handle too, that said I can see opening the door and pushing an instructor like that out then worry about how to land later :wink:Keeping my eyes out of the aircraft seems like logical advice, but I'm only 5'6" (and a quarter!). I may need to bring a booster seat if I actually expect to see anything out of the window, hehe.Class B & C time shouldn't be a problem. At least not in finding it or needing to go far for it. It's all around where I'll most likely go for my lessons (KLWM), including KBOS's Class B directly overhead and KMHT not too far away either. KBED AB is pretty close as well as many many more.

You should figure out if you have the aptitude for flying by the time you get to your first solo... I think the initial training to PPL should be in same type aircraft to allow you to hone your flying skills... The C-152 is a very good basic trainer... Regardless, money counts and focus on your airmanship and the basic knowledge stuff and don't worry about different aircraft until this is achieved.

Hi Dan,I was hoping you would chime in. I think your two cents have a much higher street value than you know. First off, I am rethinking things from what you said and every time I've gotten close to going for my PPL other things came up, partly because I have always had it in my head to train in the C172 or better. What you and others said makes sense and I should really just focus on the my means and just get her done before something else tosses a wrench in the mix. Joseph also made me think hard about reconsidering the C-152. I guess in my head I have tons of friends and fam I would like to take flying once I get certified and the C172 would be my most likely choice of rental at my local airport. But as long as I don't have a linebacker for an instructor. I think the C-152 will be more than fine for my training and think I'll buy the Carenado and check it out (Never even been in one virtually). On a side note, I personally prefer flying (simming) with low wing aircraft. I have logged tons and tons of virtual hours in the C172 & C182 enough to know that I really don't like the higher wing. I think they make the better trainer and would prefer it to be able to see better below me but if I could afford a plane it would be a Piper Arrow, or Dakota with my current dream plane and still being possible in my lifetime would be something like the Duke B60.As for the first statement quoted above about aptitude. That is a very good point and let me just say I am actually afraid of heights, haha. The other thing though is I hate being afraid and really have a love for flying. My fear of heights annoys me to no end and I have challenged it and pushed myself my whole life. I use to hang out of 20 story buildings with not much more than a little belt in order to grab hoists from cranes. In the military I was always nervous to do Air Assault but loved it at the same time. In the Rangers I volunteered to do a STABO extraction for demonsration purposes and was hating life (and of course the pilot) more than ever but it was worth it in every way. Not to mention I helped add a lot of fertilizer to some of the tree tops the pilot tried to marry us to :( I've pushed myself and have been up in aircraft for about 200 hours, but only about 10 in smaller planes. I'm nervous every time in the smaller planes but hope actually being the one in control helps me finally conquer my fear.Thanks again for your $.02. I think of it as more like a whole buck B)

I purchased a plane for my IFR ticket...

Hi Doug, I know I'm probably older than you, but would you be will to adopt? haha.Thanks for your feedback and input, much appreciated. I too like the Pipers as you may have already read. To comment again on the "Willingness", lets just say I'm not the smartest shopper you ever met, but if I had enough to afford any aircraft, chances are I would buy the best I could afford leaving myself with nothing left over. That's how much I wish I could and hope someday I will. Being an aircraft owner yourself you can understand there is just way too much other expenses to owning one to make it realistic for me right now. Where I live the costs alone for storage/parking would be above my threshold, not to mention maintenance.As for asking future advice, you can bet I will be doing just that! Thanks again, and thanks again everyone for writing down your thoughts, experiences and good wishes.

[thefsxflyer 1]

Hehehe Dan. I wasn't worried. Ya, its that plane rental.

[byork 2,258]

Here's a tip you won't often find...Try to find an instructor who is on some kind of salary or guaranteed income.A lot of flight instructors are operating under heavy financial stress due to the bad state of the industry, very low pay and heavy debt. Also consider that "being abused" by management is almost a cultural norm in the industry, especially at the lower levels.This can adversely affect your instructors performance and their moral.Is that always true? Of course not, but from my own personal experience there is often a lot of truth in it.So find an instructor who is either independently wealthy or who is on some kind of salary.The difference between the two groups is often noticeable.Cheers,

[Turbine777 13]

Thanks Bryan, That's a pretty good tip. I use to toss back a few brews and play some pool (billiards) with an intructor and actually remember him saying the same thing. Not so much in what I should look for, but more in listening to him complain about the lack of pay due to how slow things were. Once he was feeling the suds he wouldn't stop. Nice guy otherwise but you could tell he clearly was one of the ones you're talking about.Thanks, I never thought about it much until now.

[ahsmatt7 1,199]

Hey Dan, There may not be a specific zero hour to IFR training syllabus, but if you start your IFR right after your PPL check ride, It feels like there was never a break in momentum. When it comes to hour req. if you do your IFR ticket at a part 61 school, you will need 15 hrs of instruction, 40 hrs of either actual or simulated instrument time and 50 hrs cross country PIC time. All these times need to be satisfied BEFORE you take the CHECK RIDE. NOT before you start your IFR training. Part 141 schools don't have to have the 50 hrs PIC cross country time. Those 40 hrs of IFR time can all be cross country if you want them to be which means you can double dip. My instructor cut me loose a week ago so I can get the rest of the instrument time along with the 50 hrs of PIC cross country time with a safety pilot. A safety pilot is a licensed PPL or higher who sits in the right seat and watches for traffic, clouds or birds or anything of that like while you are under the hood getting your IFR and cross country PIC time. The regs actual state that both pilots can log PIC time under certain conditions. That being said, if you decide to fly with a safety pilot, both of you split the cost and it makes things a hell of a lot cheaper.

[Turbine777 13]

Thanks again, Matthew. I hope I can do just that and go right into IFR. I'll need to look into what's in my area for PIC's (Professional Instrument courses). That is great news though. I was under the impression I need to have some insane amount of flight time before even getting into a PIC. I know my instrument dvds mention a lot of this stuff but have been trying to figure out where they were packed, doh. I found this website that has some good info also (hehe, I needed to find out what the heck PIC was :().Thanks again,

[badderjet 181]

Hi Etienne,One thing I've been curious of (ok two things) from this statement from you as well as others is;

1. If I pay in full I'm not sure how I would save money, do you mean you saved because you didn't have to fly more than the mandatory hours?
2. It's amazing they let people solo with so few hours. I'm glad of course, it just seems strange with todays society and law suit happy individuals, rules and regulations etc,,, etc,,, that this would be allowed, how long ago did you get your license?

This is really interesting, if others want to share their hours before soloing and rough time when you went through training that would be great!

Hey man,1. that was probably put in a less than optimal way. Actually yes, I meant your chance that you will most likely only need minimum hours increases greatly. Nevertheless I am a bit confused now myself, because I still somehow managed to stay quite a few bucks below what was planned when I started training, luckily. I should have reviewed that statement a bit better, sorry, to give a bit more useful info.Anyways, once again coming back to the first statement, this is just from my personal experience with fellas who did use additional aids (simming, mental training etc) vs. those who did not. It's not meant to be general by any means, there are so many people who will do just great without simming etc, obviously, and vice versa. Still, I just feel if you do the whole training (including all the stuff that you actually can do off-flying like the learning all the switches, items, flows, checks, briefings and so on) on the plane, well you've gotta pay for it and you might eventually end up needing more hours than neccessary.2. Just rechecked the numbers and logs: first flight lesson Sept 17^th, solo Oct 1^st, actual cumulated flight time up to that day 5:05 and 22 landings. As you might imagine I haven't been flying every day during those two weeks... Credits go to MSFS haha. Oh and I got my license about 9mo ago. Could have been way earlier but I stretched flight training a great deal the last months for a number of reasons, so in the last period I got to fly once a month or so, maybe. Glad to have it after all. In the end I was 4 minutes over mandatory minimum, but only because I did a small miscalculation when I was filling up the time with traffic patterns in the end and did one pattern too much haha. Coulda nailed it down to the exact number otherwise, but oh well. :Party:Yes and you should really get into IFR as soon as you can, makes you feel right at home especially when you have done it a lot in the sim before. :(