Episode 3 – Learning to Fly

Barton Airport

Barton Airport

Advice on learning to fly from Robert Knight.
This interview covers such areas as how to find a flying school, which school to pick, the sort of airfield, type of license available and much more. Bob is a flying instructor, CAA examiner and university lecturer in aviation.

 Listen to Episode 3

 

In Episode 3 of Flying Podcast, Robert Knight discusses various options for those of us wanting to learn to fly.

There are several types of license including the Microlight, NPPL and JAA PPL. Bob gives us a breakdown of the minimum hours required for each. You’ll also need a medical of some sort. You may just need your GP to sign you off as able to fly or you may need a class 2 or even a class 1 depending on how far you want to take your aviation career.


Cessna 150

Cessna 150

When choosing a flying school, Bob advises what to look for, what questions to ask of the school and instructors and where to get some independent advice on your potential flying school.

There’s also the choice of large international airport versus small grass strip and whether to go to Florida, for example, to complete your flight training.

We discuss your choice of training aircraft. Should you go with a 2 seat training aircraft or a more stable 4 seat touring model.

Grob 115 2 seater training aircraft

Grob 115 2 seater training aircraft

I aimed to fly once every week or maybe every fortnight but is that enough to progress through your flying training?

What exams will you need to pass when you are training?
These include:
Aviation Law
Meteorology
Aircraft General and Principles of Flight
Navigation
Human Performance and Limitations
Flight Performance and Planning
RT written and RT Oral