My Journey to becoming a Pilot

In the beginning

In my life I've done a lot of different sports and activities. Many years ago I compiled a bucket list and one of the things on that list was to learn to fly. I initially started out learning to fly a glider but the combination of the journey to the gliding club and the frustration with the weather meant that I soon abandoned. Fast forward to a mountaineering trip to Russia when, during a quiet moment, I got chatting to one of my buddies and he told me about flying and how he was learning. It fired my interest and on my return I sought out my nearest flying club which turned out to be about 20 minutes drive away at Gloucestershire Airport. So began a long and happy relationship with the Cotswold Aero Club and the CFI Phil in particular.

I booked a trial flight and was taken up in their Robin 2112, G-OCAC. It was amazing. Phil showed me the basics, then let me have a go, I was hooked. The hour flew by (pun intended) and we were soon on Finals. Phil let me land the plane, although I suspect he did far more than I did to get it down.

I immediately signed up, initially planning one lesson a fortnight, which quickly became one lesson a week, then two lessons a week. I loved it.

Of course, it's not all flying and there is a lot of theory to get through with no less than nine written exams. The books are numbered and cover a variety of subjects. It's not crucial to follow them in order, but the PPL/LAPL course guide and syllabus is divided into sections, with each section requiring completion of one or more exams. It doesn't have to be followed directly, it is at the Instructors discretion as to how the flow goes.

Covid

During my time of learning, there were several Covid related lockdown which were frustrating but I vowed to complete as many of the theory exams as I could and to the best of my ability which, I think, was reflected in the results.

Ongoing Training

I was told that, despite the minimum hours required, it was unlikely that I would be ready for my skills test in those number of hours, no-one ever is, but I had no problem with that, every flight was a classroom session and I felt I learned something every single time. I had good landings and bad landings, I forgot stuff, got my words muddled during calls, got stressed due to the amount of work to be done in the cockpit, got shouted at a couple of times, but at no time did I ever think of quitting.

RT Exam

In addition to all of the written exams is the Radio Telephony Practical which is either a Pass or Fail. I passed that on 13/11/2020. It consists of the Instructor acting as Tower, Approach and other aircraft and you have to navigate from one airport to another via various Zones, MATZ etc and make the correct calls and respond accordingly to whatever comes your way, including a Mayday, other aircraft in the vicinity and possibly a diversion. The exam lasts around an hour. Prior to the exam you are given a route plan and time to prepare but you are not allowed to have any books or other reference material.

First Solo

My first solo lasted just fifteen minutes and was on 15th July 2020. Phil and I had done a few circuits when he took over and taxied us back to A2. I was wondering what was going on, what had I done wrong? But then he opened the canopy, started to climb out and uttered the words 'Time for your first solo'. I ran through the pre-flight drills, called the tower and I was off. A single circuit but I was on my own for the first time. I landed without problem and was even congratulated by the Tower on a job well done.

My next solo wasn't for another month after more circuits, but then they followed quite quickly, with me gaining confidence every time. Eventually I was sent off on mini routes, the first one was to Stroud and back, touch and go, then off to Broadway Tower and back to land. Later solos I was allowed to choose my own route and after discussions and confirmation that I had a good plan, off I went. This was flying!

Solo Cross Country

Phil gave me more solo time and my solo land away was booked for 26th April 2021. I'd elected to fly to Thruxton, an airport I'd been to once before with James, one of the other instructors and felt confident despite it being inside the Boscombe MATZ. The flight time was fifty minutes and completed without incident. Time for a coffee and cake at the airfield before retracing my route back to Gloucester.

After that, there were a few more sessions before Phil told me it was time to put in for my skills test.

During this time, I'd heard that there was a share in a Microlight for sale, something I would be qualified to fly once I'd passed my Skills test, and with the cost of flying the microlight being a fraction of the Robins, I bought into it, despite still not having passed my skills test, but having done the sums, even with a couple of months wait, I'd soon recoup the monthly maintenance costs.

The Skills Test

The date was set for 26th May 2021. I'd read up on what was required and had done as much as I felt I could in preparation. The day was quite different to what I'd expected and I found myself quite nervous as it was not going according to my expectations. Not interested in the comprehensive Weight and Balance Calculations I'd done, not interested in the Safety briefing I'd prepared, didn't ask me any questions about the aircraft. My pre-start, taxi and pre-flight drills were fine and I soon called 'Ready for Departure'. We were off. The examiner asked for a couple of circuits and I managed to make a real mess of the landings, so much so that I was convinced he would cancel the flight and fail me. After the second poor landing we left the circuit and he asked me if I was okay. I replied that I was really nervous, and to be fair, he put me at my ease and we flew off to do a few skills which I managed easily enough. I also managed the Navigation phase and the diversion without issue, plus the power fail, although I picked a field that was perhaps not the best but he told me I would have got down. He also told me not to bother with doing any checks to establish the fault, something I'd had drilled into me. Back to the circuit where I managed a couple of acceptable landings and after the final one, we taxied back to the apron where I was told I'd passed!

Qualifying as an LAPL Pilot was the best day ever.

LAPL Qualified

As an LAPL pilot, ten hours solo are required before passengers can be taken and those ten hours cannot start until the License has been received. Looking on Social Media I was worried by all of the horror stories about the time taken to send a license after application, but mine took less than two weeks which I was very pleased about.

I paid for a block of ten hours in the Robins which I planned to use at around one hour a month whilst I decided what I wanted to do with my flying. In the meantime I start my Differences Training on the microlight, a Eurostar EV97 and a much simpler plane to fly than the Robins. I had three hours of lessons which felt about right and was by mutual agreement with the Instructor. After that, I was free to fly.

I flew the Robins about once a month with the hours lasting about ten months, but by then I was committed to the Eurostar and have never looked back. I have more than recouped my couple of months of pre-qualifying maintenance fees and in fact, have more than recouped the buy-in cost, flying around 100 hours in the first year alone, something that would have been unthinkable in the Robin.

Here's a video I made of my flying since qualifying. The plane I now fly is a Eurostar EV97 which is the one in the video. Much of it is speeded up - I don't land and taxi at that speed!

Points for spotting the various airfields and more points for identifying the sound track.

Ongoing Training

As you can see from the timeline I am continuing my journey in aviation and during November 2023 started my Night Flying Rating course. I enjoyed it immensely and flew around 3 1/2 hours dual with eight landings. I completed my 1 1/2 hours of solo and five full stop landings to satisfy my instructor that I am capable. The application went in to the CAA during late December and by the first post after Christmas my new license arrived! I am now taking advantage of my right to fly at night and am loving it.

My first aircraft

During February 2024 I purchased my own aircraft, a Europa XS Trigear and sold my share in the Eurostar. I flew over 150 hours in the Eurostar but I'd always wanted my own aircraft as I felt a little frustrated with a shared ownership. Early February Phil, James and myself flew over to RAF Bicester to collect the plane and with James supervision I flew it back to Gloucester. The next part of my journey had begun. I owned my own plane, but of course, that meant I was responsible for everything.

It was apparent right from the first landing that there was something amiss with the front wheel. It is a castored wheel which means it is not controlled by the footpedals as is normal for many aircraft. It was obvious to us in the plane that it wasn't right, which was confirmed by the tower. A subsequent flight with Phil further proved the need for some work. I located an engineer at Finmere named Ben Davies who was well aware of the issue and a quick flight over, coffee and thirty minutes work and all was well again. It just needed some adjustment on the main locking nut.

The next problem was noticed on the way back: the radio reception was dreadful! Luckily, as I approached Gloucester, it improved dramatically, but trying to get a service from Brize on the way was impossible due to the noise. Eventually I traced it to the USB cable used to power the Sky Echo mounted in the overhead. That removed, reception improved dramatically. I think I still have a little way to go to improve matters further but at least I can hear the stations.

Having a Jabiru engine, it needs regular servicing and looking after with a minor oil change service at 25 and 75 hours which I have managed to do myself, plus a more involved service at 50 and 100 hours. Initially I used Steve Carr based at Brimpton which worked well until he decided to stop servicing Jabiru engines. I've now turned to Targett Aviation at Nympsfield for their expertise, hopefully it will be a longer and equally successful relationship.