Richard before a checkout flight in ‘KH’ – photo courtesy of John Richardson
Since completing the Bristol Groundschool ATPLs earlier this summer it meant I had the ‘fun’ bit left to do…jump into an aeroplane and finish off the hour building!! After speaking to friends at the flying school, reading various books and advise from the Wings Alliance, I had a rough idea/plan of how I am going to build the hours constructively- and not just burn holes in the sky (and my wallet) flying in the local area…
I need to build a further 42hrs of PIC ( pilot in command ) time which realistically will be spread over the next year in chunks due to financial restraints and other commitments. During my ATPL study I flew very infrequently so my flying skills are ‘rusty’ but this was to be expected! I have been taking advantage of flying dual with an instructor during checkouts on various aircraft which is helping me build confidence and gain valuable experience, learning new things every time . As I write this I’m half way through a checkout on the beloved ‘KH- the group shared PA38 Tomahawk and also fully checked out on the Cessna 172-the aircraft I learnt to fly in and incidentally based where I work now- the flying school. I’m also keen to build further hours on the school owned Piper Cub- gaining some hugely beneficial tailwheel time. This will do wonders for sharpening my flying and handling skills!
I promise to be more frequent with the future posts, next time I’ll report on my recent trips and jot down my rough hour building plan!
Thanks for reading
