QuizAreo and Share Options


Kneeboard No 4

The saga continues and I suppose it serves me right for not investigating more.  When I ordered the last version of the Design4Pilots Kneeboard I ordered the A5 size and what I really needed was the A6 size which is, finally, the right size and the right one for me.  I really should put the others up on eBay and recover some money, but I am not sure I can be bothered and I may see if I can donate them to a flying charity of some sort.

One other thing I did discover is that Skydemon has a notepad function built in, so it may be possible to fly with just the iPad and not use a second kneeboard for notes at all.  I am not sure how practical that is, but we will see.

QuizAero

QuizAero is an online study course for the NPPL and PPL.  I have purchased the NPPL course.  It covers all the 5 exams: Air Law, Meteorology, Human Performance, Aircraft Technical and Navigation.  It also includes Radiotelephony (RT) as well.  It is valid for 6 months.

I started off looking at the Air Law section as this would be the first exam to take.  Most flight schools would like you to have passed Air Law before your first solo flight.  The subject is covered in bitesized chunks with a revision exam at the end of each.  Even though I only scan studied it, I was able to pass the 5 mock exams with, at or above, the 70% mark required.  Once I am ready to do the real exam, I will go through the course again but more thoroughly and also refer back to the Microlight Handbook as well.

I will talk to my instructor to see when the best time to sit this is.

Where to Train

This has come about because I had a half day off work and decided to go over to Clench Common to talk to them about their aircraft share scheme.  It is a payment of £3115 for 4 years for a non equity share.  At the end of the 4 years you either take £1000 back or pay a further £2115 for another 4 years.  On top of this you pay £41 per month for insurance, club fees, hangarage etc and then £50 per hour to hire the plane.  This would be OK if you had the cash free to pay in and flew at least twice per month, but for me, I don't have the spare cash and it is not sensible to borrow to be able to do it.  I will carry on PAYG.

However, this raised another issue.  It took me 1 hour 20 minutes to get to Clench Common as the traffic through Marlborough was bad and then it took me 1 hour 40 minutes to get back as I went cross country to avoid the usual build up at Nettleton Bottom.  I am not sure that this is sustainable.

It means I am back considering where to train.  I have had a look at Kemble Flying Club and I am going to have another serious think about The Flying Shack at Staverton.  It is a bit more expensive, but it is only 15 minutes away and offers other advantages.  It is based at a very active GA airport where there is full ATC so it would get me very used to RT work.  I am more familiar with the locality so navigation may be easier.  It is also has proper tarmac runways.  They have a share scheme which is a proper equity scheme where you put in £2500 and then pay £45 per month towards fees and the £45 per hour, wet, to hire the aircraft.  The only downside is that it is not open to student pilots.

Don't get me wrong, I like Clench Common, and it also has its advantages.  It is cheaper.  If you can fly from, and land, at Clench Common, you can pretty much fly and land anywhere.  The people there are nice and it has a nice, small club, atmosphere.  It has the advantage of 3 instructors and 2 examiners whereas, The Flying Shack, I think, only has the one instructor and I am not sure he is an examiner.  The negatives are that there is no real RT exposure and the travelling to get there may become more than I can take.

I think this is going to be an ongoing question for me and I will see how the travelling is over the next few lessons.  I have 2 booked in and also have an RT course booked in November.

Purchases this post

Kneeboard £27
QuizAreo = £55

Totals

Total Costs = £2155.98
Total Hours PA-28 = 1.05
Total Hours Icarus C42 = 5:15 hours

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventure Begins

Image
Introduction When I decided I wanted to learn to fly, I knew that I should somehow record my progress over and above a pilot's logbook.  I wanted a record not only for myself, but for others who may want to follow my path.  I used this same process when I built my GBS Zero kit car, and many people have referred to that blog for help and guidance.  Below is a picture of the car and this is the blog in case it is of interest: https://gbszerobuild.blogspot.com I have decided that the blog can be a record not only of the time taken, but also the costs associated with it.  I will keep a running 'Totals' section on each post. My Background I must have been about 8 when I was taken by my parents to visit my Uncle who, at the time, was a Wing Commander in the RAF for No 50 Squadron based at RAF Scampton.  I had no real idea what he did, but when he offered to take me and my Dad to see his aircraft, we jumped at the chance.  What I didn't expect was to ...
Read more

Lesson - 24 - 5th December 2020

Following the euphoria of the first solo it has been a quiet 7 weeks.  I had 3 weeks where the weather was against me and then another 4 week of the UK being in another COVID-19 lockdown.  The week leading up to this had also been unsettled and it wasn't until the actual flying day that I could see that it was going to be possible to fly at all. As I hadn't flown for 7 weeks, we decided that we would start by going away from the airfield just to get back in to it again.  We did some straight and level, level turns, climbing and descending turns and a couple of practice forced landings (PFLs). We then got back in to the nitty gritty of circuits and landings.  All in all they were reasonable considering the time since I last did them.  There were a few notes: 1. One landing I was too high and fast and I really should have gone around but instead landed a bit too long.  I was thinking it, but should have acted on it.  There is no shame going around! 2. An...
Read more

Lesson 30 - 8th June 2021

Lesson 30 - 8th June 2021 Today I was with the new instructor.  His name is David Rogerson, or Dave 2 as he is also known.  We were in the oldest of the 3 C42s, Charlie Oscar.  It may be the oldest, but there is something about it that I like, from a flying perspective.  It just seems to fly nicer than the other 2. Dave 2 decided we would start with a couple of circuits, just so he could assess me and then I could go on and complete the extended circuits again.  However, the weather was very thermic and after a couple of aborted landing son runway 2 5, I advised that I was not comfortable flying on my own today, which Dave 2 agreed was a good shout. We flew away from the airfield to do some general handling.  This included a couple of PFLs.  Interestingly, Dave 2 indicated that the PFL and the circuit re-join were 2 of the main items of the GST that are focussed on.  As usual, I talked my way through everything so Dave 2 was aware of my thinking p...
Read more