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    Learning to Fly in 21 Days
    Learning to Fly in 21 Days
    Learning to Fly in 21 Days
    Ebook163 pages1 hour

    Learning to Fly in 21 Days

    By Phil Stone

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    About this ebook

    There is nothing better than piloting your own aircraft on a bright sunny day. Learning to fly can be a real rollercoaster of emotions - exhilarating, terrifying, stressful, joyous – and nothing beats the ability to fly to numerous different locations even if it’s just there and back for lunch (the proverbial “$100 hamburger”). If you have the desire to gain your own Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL) then this book will aid you in achieving your dream.

    Phil Stone, a business management consultant, describes his experiences while following an increasingly popular route to obtaining the Private Pilot’s License (PPL), the intensive course: “Learning to fly in 21 days”. He travelled from the UK to Florida and learned to fly in near ideal weather conditions and at a huge saving in costs compared to UK courses.

    This account of his experiences is not intended as a technical manual. It gives an insight into the physical and emotional aspects trainee pilots experience when tackling the challenge of learning to fly a small plane. Phil’s experience helps potential pilots understand exactly what they are about to undertake and hopefully prepares them for the pain, anguish and challenge that they will no doubt experience, as well as the elation of finally achieving the various goals along the route to a Private Pilot's License. The book is fully illustrated with numerous photographs together with the completed weather briefings and navigation flight plans used during the training.

    Since gaining his PPL, Phil now has in excess of 500 hours in his Log Book in 22 different aircraft, including two ex-RAF aircraft and a De Havilland Chipmunk. Phil has looped the loop in a Slingsby T67 Firefly during aerobatic training and even donned helmet and goggles in a Waco UPF7 biplane on sight-seeing trips over the Florida Keys.

    During the years following his training, he has flown extensively throughout Florida, Georgia and Alabama and more recently in California and Hawaii. Phil has logged visits to nearly fifty different airfields during which time he has been fortunate to see whales migrating off the coast of San Diego and Maui, Hawaii, as well as enjoying a spectacular flight over the erupting volcano on the Big Island, Hawaii. Although Phil continues to fly whenever and wherever he can, he now avoids wrestling for air space with large commercial jets at his local airport in the UK, and flies purely for pleasure.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPhil Stone
    Release dateJul 8, 2012
    ISBN9781476332598
    Learning to Fly in 21 Days
    Author

    Phil Stone

    Phil Stone worked for a major financial institution for more than twenty years and during the latter stages was a Lending Manager with responsibility for a large portfolio of medium and small businesses. During this time he was also seconded to a Local Enterprise Agency to work with small and medium size businesses on developing Business Plans and Funding Proposals for a wide range of clients. Following this experience he started his own successful consultancy business specialising in strategic planning and marketing. He is also a successful author having written a number of business management books which have been published in various languages throughout the world. He holds a number of professional and academic qualifications including: •Master of Business Administration (MBA) specialising in Corporate Strategy and Change Management •Diploma in Financial Studies – Chartered Institute of Bankers •Diploma in Marketing – Chartered Institute of Marketing

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    Book preview

    Learning to Fly in 21 Days - Phil Stone

    Learning to Fly in 21 Days – Phil Stone

    Smashwords edition published by:

    Alan Le Marinel

    Le Marinel Consulting

    29 Athelhampton

    Washington

    Tyne and Wear

    NE38 8TA

    http://www.lemarinel.com

    Copyright Phil Stone 2000

    The right of Phil Stone to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Rights Act of 1988

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by print, photography, microfilm, or any other means without written permission from the publisher.

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Table of Contents

    Copyright Information

    Acknowledgements

    About the Author

    Preface

    Introduction

    Chapter One – The Preparation

    Chapter Two – The First Five Days of Training

    The aircraft used for my training – Cessna 150 registration N66560

    Aerial view of Bartow Airfield

    Aerial View of Winter Haven Airfield

    Aerial View of Lake Wales Airfield

    Chapter Three – Day Six to Day Ten of Training

    Aerial View of Approach for Landing at Winter Haven Airfield

    Air Traffic Control Tower at Bartow Airfield

    Aerial View of Lake Wales Airfield

    Aerial View of Winter Haven Airfield

    Chapter Four – Day Eleven to Day Fifteen of Training

    Weather Briefing for 17 June – Dual Cross Country Flight

    Aerial View of Avon Park Airfield

    Aerial View of Sebring Airfield

    Flight Plan for Dual Cross Country Flight

    Weather Briefing for 18 June – Solo Cross Country Flight

    Aerial View of Wauchula Airfield

    Flight Plan for Solo Cross Country

    Chapter Five – Day Sixteen to Day Twenty One of Training

    Aerial View of Zephyrhills Airfield

    Aerial View of Lakeland Linder Regional Airfield

    Lakeland Airfield Tower and Entrance to Tony’s

    Weather briefing for 21 June – Navigation Flight Test

    Flight Plan – Navigation Flight Test (Outbound)

    Flight Plan – Navigation Flight Test (Inbound)

    Weather Briefing for 22 June – Solo Qualifying Cross Country

    Flight Plan – Solo Qualifying Cross Country (Outbound)

    Cessna N66560 Parked at Ocala Taylor Airfield

    Flight Plan – Solo Qualifying Cross Country (Inbound)

    Chapter Six – The Return to the U.K.

    The Author with Piper Warrior N32401

    Postscript

    The Author with a De Havilland Chipmunk

    Acknowledgements

    I am very grateful to a number of people who helped me in realising my dream of becoming a pilot. First and foremost, for his patience and advice, and indeed his cajoling along the route, I must thank my instructor Nic Mostert. Nic had to put up with a lot during my period of training and I hope that he has survived the experience.

    By the same token I am extremely grateful to Margaret and Eric Shipley who owned the flight school at which I trained, Britannia Flight Centre. The standard of training and the service that they provided can only be described as totally thorough and efficient.

    About The Author

    Phil Stone is a Management Consultant who specialises in assisting businesses and government organisations in the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud.

    He is also an accomplished author having written a number of business management books covering strategy and planning, marketing and financial management together with a guide book for pilots flying in Florida.

    For more details please see his website at:

    http://www.pkstone.co.uk

    Preface

    This book was originally published in paperback in the UK in 2000 since which time the tragic events of 9/11 have dramatically changed the way in which private pilot licences can be obtained by foreign pilots in the USA.

    In this respect it is strongly recommended that you consult the appropriate Regulations which can be obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration website at http://www.faa.gov and also the UK Civil Aviation Authority website at http://www.caa.co.uk

    Introduction.

    This book is not about the technical aspects of learning to fly. It is intended as a practical guide to the physical and emotional aspects of learning to fly and has been written in order to help you try and understand exactly what you are about to undertake and hopefully prepare you for the pain, anguish and despair that you will sometimes feel as well as the elation of achieving the various goals along the route to a Private Pilots Licence.

    It should be noted that at the time of writing the requirements to achieve a Private Pilot's Licence are under significant review and change with the introduction of a standardised system throughout the European Union and whilst the basic flight training will broadly remain the same the written examinations may change. The practical examinations, referred to in this book as the Navigation Flight Test and the General Flight Test have already been the subject of review and have now been combined into the Skill Test. You are therefore encouraged to obtain up to date information in this regard from your chosen flight school.

    I gained my Private Pilot's Licence on an intensive three week course in Florida in June 1997 having previously only completed a one hour trial lesson in the United Kingdom at my local flying school.

    Initially it seemed an impossible task with a great deal of humiliation and anxiety but it is possible, I was nearly forty years old upon completion, and hopefully this book will go some way to preparing anyone of any age for the undoubted stress and joy that lies ahead.

    Whichever way you choose to gain your Private Pilot’s Licence, either by the intensive three or four week training course or over a period of months, I wish you good luck and safe flying.

    Table of Contents

    Chapter One - The Preparation

    It all started with a newspaper article in the early part of 1997. The article looked at the various options that aspiring private pilots had with regard to obtaining a Private Pilots Licence and the costs involved.

    Having looked at the possibility of gaining a licence some years previously I was surprised at how much the actual cost had diminished in real terms with potentially the cost in the UK being probably in the region of £5,000. The article did however report that an option was available to undertake an intensive three or four week course in various places throughout the world such as the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and Cyprus, obviously on the basis that the weather would be ideal for most of the year. Quite apart from the weather aspect the cost appeared to be at least half that of gaining a licence in the UK.

    This was an appealing option, living in the North East of England the weather cannot be guaranteed from one day to the next and potentially to undertake the required minimum hours to achieve the licence it could well have taken at least six months. Even then that would be on the basis of flying at least seven hours per month and, at a cost of £600 per month, this seemed to me to be excessive.

    Over the next few months I bought most of the available flying magazines, including Pilot and Flyer, all of which carried numerous advertisements

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