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Richard's flight site

Hi and welcome to my new website

Hi please reload your browser because I update this site on a regular basis with lots of new things that I find while surfing the net.

the information below is for those out there that want to learn how to fly. It is just a brief description of what you will experience.

Most of the information came from Trevor Thom and his flying training manual with a little of my taste

Also on this page is some D/L for flight sim 98 and 95 planes, scenery etc and some useful links that you may wish to visit.

So please feel free to email me on any comments that you may have on [email protected] and please sign my quest book with your input, its the only way I can provide what info you may need and if I can supply it I will.

Becoming a pilot

Every pilot begins as a student whether your aim is to fly for a hobby or to fly for a career. Learning to fly does not take long, within the first 20 hours of flying training you will have learned the basic skills. Since the training habit is so short,good habits must be developed right from the start.

Now there is some things you need to do before you start you flight training.

Choosing a school

This can be very confusing as there is so many schools, Bankstown, Camden and hoxton park have jillions haha, but being serious you need to look at the schools very carefully. Some things that may help find the right one are as follows:

Cost this is a big factor, but you will find that most schools charge around the same price, so it comes down to service and quality now when you visit the schools listen very carefully to what you are being told etc "we will have you flying in no time" or "we have the best training method in the world" this will be up to you but try looking for a school that has a large fleet of planes and different type such as when you complete your license you may want to hire an aircraft do they have a good selection of aircraft you may need to ask how many instructors work at the school nothing worse than getting your license then finding out they don't have enough aircraft for private hire then you have to do a flight check at another school just to hire an aircraft. these are things you should consider.

Next ask around the airport you will be surprised how much info you can get from asking people what's the best place here to learn how to fly, because this is a costly exercise and you will pay big if you choose wrong, so take your time on picking a school. After all this school that you go too! are going to teach you how to fly an aircraft and defy gravity so it is important that you learn the right way from the start.

Your first flight

Well what a thrill, that all you can say to this commonsense goes out the window along with your bank account and that's a fact. The first time you take control of the aircraft you are bit, some people are apprehensive others just go for it but 99.9% are bit by the I must learn to fly this plane bug. And the only cure for this bug is a good bank book and or a little madness either way it is the most exciting thing you will ever do in your life. Most schools will take you up for a trial flight at some small cost and in most cases you get to take control of the aircraft. to feel the effect of the controls etc. after this short flight and you still want to go ahead you then most get a few things in order.

The Medical

You have to obtain a medical certificate from an approved medical examiner by approved I mean that the caa have approved the doctor there are lots around. but only an approved medical doctor can do the certificate e.g. not your own family doctor unless he or she is approved by the caa.

This is not much really you go through a medical and they check you right over, it is a very precise exam the cost is between $65 and $80 not a lot considering you will be spending thousands on your flying lessons for a list of the caa approved doctors click here

Obtaining a student license

All flying schools have a chief flying instructor he or she will issue you with this license and along with your medical certificate you can now learn to fly. ( this is were the fun starts ) you will learn the basic fundamentals of flight and as you may or may be told there is a time that the caa set on a GFPT or restricted license that is 20 hours 15 hours with an instructor and 5 hours solo, yes that's right you will fly solo scary is it not! but in all reality it may take longer more like 30 to 40 hours. You start of by learning the controls of the plane and what keeps it up there then you learn turns descends climbs etc stalls well they may put you of flying altogether, but you have to learn it, after all if you are in the aircraft doing a solo and you have a brain explosion and stall your aircraft how will you know how to get out of a stall if you don't practice them. They aren't really that scary now when you do some circuits and the instructor is pleased with your progress you get to do your first solo flight this is a circuit flight. What's a circuit you say? no its not a power point this a when you practice to land and take of from the airport and do a touch and go this is were you land then after you have touched down you take of again and fly around the airport in a standard direction mostly left hand circuits the positions are called upwind that's the direction you are at take off crosswind that's turning unto the right or left after 500 ft above ground then you turn right or left onto downwind here you are at a 1000 ft then you turn right or left onto base here you descend to be at 500 ft on final then you turn onto final and l;and the aircraft. pretty simple mmmmmmm well not really but after the practice you get it will be.

so after you have practiced all the above you instructor says stop the aircraft and he says okay I want you to do a solo flight do one circuit and make it a full stop after you land. Well to say your hart is in your mouth is an understatement your whole body is tingling with a strange feeling of apprehension, you ask yourself does this instructor know what he is doing letting me loose in the sky etc. But he does he would not put your life at risk when you do your first solo he knows that you are ready for it.

the radio is set the aircraft is on haha here is what you will expect

pilot "you"

"bankstown ground uniform romeo November for circuits with information xray"

bankstown ground

"uniform Romeo November goodday

this means that you can taxi to the runway

at the first stop on the runway and not on the runway you change the radio to bankstown tower

pilot "you"

bankstown tower uniform Romeo November ready runway right

they may respond by uniform Romeo November line up hold short or clear for take off

hold short is remain of the runway at the stop line, line up is move onto the runway at and get ready for take off, take off is move onto runway and take off

either way you will be nervous when giving the all clear to take off

Well here you are rolling down the runway wondering what the hell were you thinking of your mind is moving at a million miles per hour then you get to take of speed and you rote the aircraft and climb out well you brain says "you got me up here now you better get me back down Aha.

its to hard to explain the feeling but needles to say every pilot even the 747 pilots remember there first solo its the most exciting thing you will ever do in your whole life.

Getting your restricted pilots license

When you qualify you get your restricted license this is were you can take family and friends up in an aircraft and show off your new skills as pilot in command, it is meant to teach you further and get your flying skills up to a better levels.

The only drawback on this license is you can only fly in the training areas and not to another airport unless in the case of an emergency so after a while and when you get bored looking at the same airport and training area you get to the next level of your flying lesson

PPL unrestricted license

Now you are ready for the good stuff. you learn to navigate from airport to airport you fly solo to other airports this is a lot of fun, but before you fly solo you need to be trained to a level that will ensure you wont get lost etc this is 20 hours but in reality it is more like 30 to 40. Once you have your PPL you can take you family and friends on trips holidays what ever tickles your fancy haha.

After the ppl

Now that you are a pilot you may want a little more, such as get yourself endorsed on constant speed pitch design features and retractable, with this you can fly faster types of aircraft and learn more about the sky, with the ppl there are still some restrictions imposed on you, like you cannot fly commercial flights and make a living from flying until you get your CPL

Other things you may like to get is your night vfr this is a lot of fun nothing worse than going to another airport only to find that you have to get back before nightfall, its not much really to get a night rating just 10 to 15 hours really.

Then after you have flown 50 hours cross country as pilot in command you can get your Ifr rating this is very costly between $6000 and $8000 the good thing is you will be able to fly in all kinds of weather within reason

So you can see from the above it takes a while to get your license and it takes a good bankbook, but the rewards you get from flying is something else

Flying is a lot of fun and I don't know anyone that has flown that wont agree I feel I have given a general info but should you need more here is one of the schools I myself have used. Clamback and Hennessy they can be contacted on 02 97921022 or email them on [email protected]

Until then happy flying and I may see ya in the sky be safe and well

some useful sites

This link you may or may not want o look at I think the pic says it all but at the same time it does show that flying can be safe and that accidents are preventable it just takes good planning and keeping ahead of the plane at all times, And your flying days will be lots of fun

I had the pleasure of flying a Golden eagle 421 last weekend and it was the most exciting thing I have done in a long time it is such a beautiful plane for a look at it click this the aircraft is owned by Allen Hawes from Smack on Time. No its not a drug company its well mmmmmmmm yup I have it they are a very technical bunch of people every time you use your effpos to pay for the lessons think of them they installed the machine