There’s lots to learn during your PPL course, but some things are better to be aware of before you begin flying. Here’s our list of crucial things to know before you start:
1 – The timescale of a PPL is variable
The clock starts ticking on your training once you make your first ground exam attempt. From that time you have 18 months to complete all 9 exams, and after you have completed all 9 exams you have a further 24 months to have your licence issued. This gives a maximum nominal course duration of 42 months, or 3 and a half years. You should decide when you want to complete your course, and pace your training (and ground studies) accordingly. As a guide, most people aim to fly once or twice a week.
2 – The budget of a PPL is also variable
You can check out our article on budgeting for a more in depth guide, but generally your PPL budget should include spare “contingency” funds in case of unforeseen expenditure. If you aim to fly once or twice per week you should be able to complete the course in a good timeframe. If you only fly, say, once or twice a month, you’ll find it harder to keep up and likely need more hours overall (and therefore more budget).
3 – Instructors are a valuable resource
Flight instructors are not just responsible for their students’ practical flying training, they are responsible for managing their training course. Your instructor should keep on top of your planning for lessons and tell you what to prepare for. They should ensure that your ground exams are progressing at an appropriate rate. They should inform you if you are not performing to an adequate standard. If your instructor says that you need to redo a lesson, trust that they know what they’re doing – an air exercise is better redone sooner than later.
All this said, if you are not happy with your instructor then you have the freedom to change instructor. From experience we recommend one main instructor once you find one you’re happy with, and a secondary instructor for when your main instructor is unavailable.
4 – Lessons are not just in the air
There are five stages to a good lesson when you’re learning to fly:
- Pre-read: you study the content of the lesson from your textbook/learning resources. Note any questions you have
- Pre-flight briefing: your instructor will outline the lesson content and plan before you go. You should ask your questions now, on the ground
- Air exercise: a practical lesson doing the exercise you’ve studied. Try to get hands on as far as possible, but the instructor will take control when they see it appropriate and it’s important you respect this
- Post-flight debrief: your instructor will assess your performance and highlight any particular areas to focus on in future, or go and study
- Re-read: you go over the bits which your instructor said to focus on, or things which you need to remember, to consolidate the lesson
By taking on the study yourself, you make the most of your flying lesson and get the best out of your time, your money, and yourself in the air.
5 – Be at your best for your flying lessons
In addition to your pre-reading, you need to make sure you are fit to fly and in the best mindset for doing so. Pilots use IMSAFE to check they are good to go:
I – Illness: are you sick?
M – Medication: are you taking medicines that could make you drowsy or otherwise unfit to fly?
S – Stress: are you suffering from external stresses that could impair your performance?
A – Alcohol: have you had any alcohol recently, or could you be suffering from a hangover?
F – Fatigue: have you had a good night’s sleep, and are you rested generally?
E – Eating: have you eaten sufficiently before your lesson to ensure you don’t go hungry? Low blood sugar can seriously affect your ability to fly.
If there’s any reason you think you shouldn’t fly, or you’re unsure, ask your instructor before you go! It’s far better to cancel or do some ground studying for a small fee than it is to go and waste an hour of flying time and potentially put yourself at risk.
6 – You will need a Class 2 medical certificate to go solo
Before you fly by yourself, you need to have a class 2 medical certificate issued by an aero-medical examiner (AME). You do not need this to do lessons, but once you’ve done a trial lesson and decided you want to do your PPL it’s sensible to get your medical examination done early. This is just in case of any issues, it’s better knowing early. The CAA website contains useful information on finding an AME near you, and also has a flowchart to give guidance on whether any existing medical conditions will cause any problems.
7 – Your PPL is a UK licence, but is useful over most of the world
UK issued PPLs are no longer EASA compliant, but are still recognised worldwide as a good standard of licence. In most countries, your PPL will allow you to fly UK registered aeroplanes with little or no conversion training required. This includes in Europe, so you could fly to France for the day from mainland UK.
If you want to fly non-UK registered aeroplanes then you’ll need to consult the national aviation authority who registered the aeroplane. For example to fly an American registered Cirrus, even in the UK, you’d need to go through the FAA channels to do this. But you could fly a UK registered Piper in the USA. Confused yet? The key thing to remember is that on a UK PPL you can fly UK registered aeroplanes.
8 – LAPL vs PPL
You may have seen the term LAPL in your searches when looking for PPL information. This is a “light aircraft pilot’s licence” and it is not the same as a PPL. In day to day use the two licences function similarly, however there are some key differences:
- LAPL is not an ICAO licence, and therefore cannot be used in other countries! You cannot fly outside the UK on an LAPL
- LAPL is weight and passenger restricted to 2000kg and 4 passengers. This rules out flying larger single engine aeroplanes that you can fly with a PPL
- LAPL holders cannot fly in clouds. The correct phraseology here is to say that an LAPL cannot have an IMC rating added to it (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) and therfore it will be more restrictive long term than a PPL, which can be added to
There are more differences but our view is that the PPL is superior to the LAPL – those are just some of the reasons why. We won’t spend any more time discussing LAPL here, after all this is PPL Guide, not LAPL Guide…
9 – Currency and revalidation
Currency refers to recent flights, including takeoffs and landings. Being current means that you can fly with passengers and that you’ll meet any flying school currency requirements as well. You can have a PPL (that’s the licence) with an SEP rating (the bit that lets you fly single engine piston aeroplanes) that is in date, but not be current. Once you have your license you will need to fly regularly to keep current, otherwise you’ll need to take an instructor with you to regain currency.
Revalidation refers to your SEP rating, which expires after 2 years regardless of currency. In your second year of holding the rating, you must fly for 12 hours (fulfilling some specific criteria) in order to allow you to have your rating revalidated.
The point here is that you should aim to fly for at least 1 hour a month after licence issue to keep you current, and help get your ratings revalidated with minimum fuss. Prepare to budget for this, and ideally find a flying buddy. This will make your flying hours go twice as far and you’ll learn from them too!
10 – Ask questions and get to know people
Ask your instructor questions. Ask the operations staff questions and be friendly to them. Ask if someone can take you to the engineering department at a quiet time and ask them questions. Ask visiting pilots flying aircraft you don’t recognise questions…
Getting to know people is great for learning to fly, and learning to fly is great for getting to know people! By asking around you’ll meet new people and learn about flying from different points of view, and learn about all the different parts that come together to make GA (general aviation) work smoothly.
In short,
Be curious about the process
Be diligent with your planning
Be sociable with the people around you
These building blocks, based on things to know before you start your PPL, will get you off to a strong start!
