| First, a disclaimer - the rules change all the time. This is being written in June 2007, so if you're
reading this off some ancient archive site, they are probably completely different. Also, I might have got it wrong, but mostly I know what I'm
talking about.... The official rules for learning to fly in the UK are in a CAA publication called LASORS. The 2007 edition is here Here's my decode (see disclaimer above).... There are a number of ways to get in the air in the UK. Powered parachutes, gliders, microlights, Group A aircraft, helicopters, twins etc, 747s. There at least 6 different types of licence, but in the context of LTFC and most other flying clubs you can choose from two. The JAA PPL is the full basic European fixed wing pilots licence. It requires at least 45 hours flying, of which 25 must be dual and 10 must be solo. There is a block of ground school to do, with 7 multiple choice ground school papers. Sound daunting? Well, do you want a lifetime skill or not? If I can do it, so can you....and it isn't as difficult as it seems written down here. Once you have your licence you can fly any "non-complex" (non-retractable,no wobbly prop, no jet) aircraft anywhere in the world, subject to whatever local regulations there are. To keep your licence current, you must have done 12 hours flying in the second of two years, with one hour with an instructor as part of that. Yes, I know it doesn't make too much sense - I didn't invent this, I'm just telling you. You can extend your licence up to ATPL and out to include night flying and IFR. Space Shuttle captain is probably the limit. The UK NPPL is the other choice. When the JAA PPL was set up, various countries including the UK felt it was a bit much for those who just wanted to fly around the place and didn't see themselves graduating to an A380 cockpit. So the UK set up the NPPL. It isn't valid outside the UK (yet), so no lunch in Le Touquet, and it restricts you to day VFR (look it up, I can't do all the work), but you only need 32 hours training, and 6 hours a year, with an instructor flight every two years. Same ground school and exams. Just as important - and this isn't obvious when you're starting - the medical requirements are much less. To keep a JAA PPL you have to have an expensive medical performed by an AME (specific doctor) before you start and at specific intervals thereafter. The intervals get closer together as you get older. The NPPL just requires the same medical fitness as an HGV driver (bacon butty, anyone?). Your GP signs a form, and that's it for five years unless you have any problems. The rather badly done NPPL website is here. The expectation is that eventually the EU will get its act together and create a European Recreational Pilot's Licence, and the NPPL will become part of it, but in June 2007 it hasn't happened. Many other areas of flight regulations are also in flux, and no only confusing but also interpreted in different ways in different places. Ho, hum.... So you pays your money and takes your choice - pick the licence that suits you. Either way you do pretty much the same course in the same aeroplanes - it depends on what you want to do when you have your licence. And by the way, most people take more hours than the minimum - life outside flying, plus the weather and the fact that aeroplanes need to be maintained mean that things go slower than you expect. And on the subject of money, you've going to need some - probably £6 - £7000 over the period of learning. Seems a lot at first glance, but other hobbies - drinking beer for example - cost just as much. And you can't fly and drink beer, anyway. And when its all done? Most of us think it was very well worth it...probably you will too. |
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