Learning To Fly

Flying Around The World
As I live, train and fly in the United Kingdom my flight training diary entries, the syllabus and references are very much UK centric. If you don't fly in the UK you will still find lots of useful information here - after all, aviation is a truly global industry and apart from a few minor local differences the principles and practice of learning to fly is the same throughout the world.

The first step is to make contact with your local flying school. A Google search or a look in the Yellow Pages will give you a pointer in the right direction. Give the flying school a call and book a trial lesson. This may be a cheaper option than booking a full lesson and will give you an immediate taste of what flying is all about.

Imagine going for your first ever flight with you at the controls and flying over familiar territory, you could even wave down to friends and neighbours.

If you decided to continue with your Private Pilot's License (PPL) training then the trial lesson will count towards your 45 hours of fixed wing flight training - but make sure that the flying school is aware that you are looking to learn to fly, rather than simply wanting to go on a pleasure flight to see your house from the air - although you could of course combine the two.

To get the most from your trial lesson it pays to be prepared. I had a copy of the Flying Training
book for two years before my first lesson - a constant reminder on the shelf that I really needed to take the first steps to learn to fly. The full title for this book is "The Air Pilot's Manual Volume 1 - Flying Training", but to everyone in the business it is simply known as Trevor Thom Book 1 - impress your instructor on your first flight by casually stating that you already own a copy of Trevor Thom Book 1 - you will be feeling like a true pilot before you know it.

I used the Trevor Thom series for my flying training and the books became a constant companion during my training. There are other books, which other student pilots swear by, such as the Jeremy Pratt series.

Reflective Learning
Find out more about reflective learning by reading this excellent summary at the Pilot Journey site.

I began to write my diary after my first lesson to assist me in understanding what I had accomplished during that lesson. Writing down what you have learned is an excellent means of understanding and committing to memory what you have just experienced. The process is known as reflective learning and it forces you step through the training you've just completed so that you recall some of those smaller details which you might otherwise forget.

As I was only flying once every weekend I used my diary as preparation work for each up-coming lesson so that I would be up to speed on where I got to at the end of my last lesson and wouldn't waste time going over old ground too often.

At first my diary was simply notes on scraps of paper, but I soon realised this wouldn't be satisfactory so I decided to publish my diary on-line for three reasons:

1. It would be a permanent record of my training, something to look back on in the future


2. I would be able to review my training from anywhere I might be - I do a lot of travelling in my job,


3. I would be able to share my experiences with other student pilots around the world.

The diary is a warts-and-all tale of my PPL training which records each lesson from day one right through to my successful skills test. As a student pilot you will get the most value by reading from beginning to end in chronological order, but of course you can jump in at any point.

If you want to get started right now then follow this link to read all about My First Flying Lesson.

Now that I've completed my training I've categorised my diary into five sections which provide me and the reader a more structured approach to reviewing my training.

The first section is preparation, which covers the flight training syllabus and what to expect from ground school. This is a useful reference section that can be referred to at any time during your PPL training.

The flight training is divided into four parts:

• Part One covers the basics of flying, leading to...


• Part Two which which brings the basics together to enable me to fly a 'circuit' around an airfield. Once I'm proficient in flying circuits I can fly solo. At this point I move on to...


• Part Three which takes me through navigation exercises culminating in my qualifying cross country exercise.


• Part Four focusses on consolidation and getting enough hours in my log book to get me through the skills test.

From every page there is a link back to the index page which provides an overview of, and link to, every page of my Learning to Fly diary.

I trust you will get as much enjoyment reading my diary as I had in compiling it. And if you are learning to fly please feel free to comment at the foot of any page that interests you so that you can share your experiences with others.