Flying Update - January 2023

It has been a very long time since my last update and this is because I couldn't be bothered to create new posts when it is only me that probably reads this anyway.  However, a lot has happened since February 2022 when the last update was written.

Following the last update, I continued with my flight training with GS Aviation at Clench Common.  My main instructor was Dave Rogerson, not for any other reason than it seemed to fall that way.  I was not complaining as I got on well with him.  I had reached the number of solo hours I needed and completed all the required training sections of the syllabus and just needed some revision flights prior to my General Skills Test (GST). 

I did several GST revision sessions with Dave Rogerson and also took advantage of a 'grounded' day to go over the ground oral part of the exam.  This is basic stuff such as passenger briefings, general airfield safety and a good general knowledge of the aircraft, especially with regard to the engine.

Finally the day of my GST came in March 2022.  Dave Slater was my examiner and I have to say that he put me at ease and overall was very fair in his assessments.  I was very nervous but must have been OK as I passed.  I wonder if he chats to the other instructors to get their opinion of my ability and, as long as I don't do anything stupid on the test, they almost pass me before I fly.  This would certainly explain some of the comments Dave Rogerson said to me before the test.  He never said it was in the bag, but sort of inferred it would be OK.  I have nothing to prove this either way, it is just my perception.

However, this wasn't the end as I still needed to complete my ground school.  My Air Law exam had expired as I had taken over 24 months previously so I needed to re-sit that.  I also needed to take the Metrology exam, which I wasn't looking forward to.  I also need to re-take my Radio Telephony written exam, which had also expired, and the Radio Telephony practical exam.  This was all possible to complete in-house at GS Aviation.

With a bit of study and a revision course on RT, I booked myself in for these exams and over a period of a few weeks managed to pass them all.

The final thing to do was to complete all the paper work to send off to the the BMAA (British Microlight Aircraft Association), as they were authorised by the LAA and the CAA to issue the NPPL(M) licence.  The whole process was pretty seamless and within a couple of weeks I had my licence.

Decision Time

This is when the trouble started.  Well it wasn't trouble, it was more when my doubts set in as to what I was going to do with my new licence.  GS Aviation had a club share option but required £3115 upfront along with £41 per month.  Flying was then charged at £50 per hour.  They also had 4 x C42's in the fleet with 2 x Eurofox's to graduate on to if I wanted to.  However, the £3115 only covered me for 4 years and then a further £2115 was required for the next 4 years and so on.   

On the plus side there was a club house and this often seemed busy with nice friendly people there.  The airfield was busy with quite a few club and private aircraft based there.  The main drawback, which is why I had doubts, was that it was an hour's drive each way to get to the airfield.

I also seemed to have lost the desire to fly and needed a few months off to make a decision.  I decided that I needed to look closer to home to see if there were any share options or other ways to fly.  Whilst looking around I found Tom Hay and Elevation Airsports.  I had a good look at the website and noticed that it would be possible to hire his aircraft when not being used for training.  There were a couple of negatives in that the aircraft would mainly be used in the afternoons so would only be available in the mornings and also it was based at Staverton, which is a very busy, full ATC controlled, commercial airport.

I went and had a chat with Tom and discussed my concerns about the airport, as I had never flown to anything other that grass strip airfields.  I had spoken with Tom 3 or 4 years ago when he was the instructor at The Flying Shack.  This had closed down, hence why he had started Elevation Airsports. 

We had a really good chat and Tom put my mind to rest on a few of the doubts I had.  I decided to have a trial flight with him and to run some numbers to assess the costs.  I created a spreadsheet to compare flying at Clench Common and Staverton and the reality is that there isn't much in it cost wise, but Staverton is only 10 to 15 minutes from home and not and hour.  I factored this in to my costs, petrol wise. 

EGBJ - Gloucestershire

Move forward to July 2022, and I started to fly with Tom.  I explained upfront that I needed to have a number of flights with him to get used to the procedures at EGBJ and to get the confidence I would need to fly from there.  Tom has been brilliant on that front and I suspect if I never fly on my own and only ever fly with him, it would not be an issue.  I think I will need to be pushed in to going solo, but only time will tell.

One of the advantages of flying with Tom is that he has pushed me to try things that were never covered in my training at Clench Common.  Obviously there is talking to ATC, which is not as scary as I thought, but still takes some getting used to.  We have flown down towards the Bristol Control Zone and used a listening squawk.   We also did a route that involved a zone transit over RAF Brize Norton and through their ATZ.  That was a lot of work, but not as complicated as I had thought.  I wouldn't deliberately route through a zone, but wouldn't be worried if I had to make a crossing.

The next few flights will involve going to some other airfields, just to get more experience.  Eventually I hope I will get the confidence to hire to aircraft and go off on my own.  I still have my doubts as to what I will do with my licence, but we shall see.

Licence

To maintain my licence, I have to fly as PIC (Pilot in Command) for 12 hours in a 24 month period, of which 8 hours as to be in the 2nd year.  I also need to do at least 1 hour with an instructor.  I have done my hour with Tom as Instructor and need about another 7 hours.  I got my licence in April 2022 so I have 14 months to get 7 more hours, which should not be an issue.