AirTalk.org Aviation discussions newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Flying in England for a US PPL Goto page 1, 2  Next          AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Aviators (General Discussions) View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message John Harper Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 4:53 pm    Post subject: Flying in England for a US PPL I've written something about flying in England from the perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at www.john-a-harper.com/flying/england.htm I'd especially be interested in any comments from UK pilots. John Back to top Dylan Smith Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 5:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL In article <1085504166.619124@sj-nntpcache-3>, John Harper wrote: Quote: I've written something about flying in England from the perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at www.john-a-harper.com/flying/england.htm I also have one, at http://www.dylansmith.net - I'll check yours out and compare :-) -- Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net "Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee" Back to top Dylan Smith Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 5:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL In article <1085504166.619124@sj-nntpcache-3>, John Harper wrote: Quote: I've written something about flying in England from the perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at Also, note the cost of flying depends strongly on where you live. I can fly the Grumman at Andreas for 70 quid an hour less than the 172 you flew (and fuel isn't any cheaper here). Also, if you're coming from the USA, things are even more expensive right now due to the weakness of the dollar against the pound. Some of the extra cost is that aircraft that are rented must be on a 'Public Transport CofA' which is considerably more expensive to keep up than a private CofA - the operating costs on a private CofA appear to be significantly cheaper going by the hourly rates many aircraft syndicates charge. Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. It's pretty important that the controller knows you're on the right setting. I've always read back altimeter settings in the US (I lived there 7 years and learned to fly VFR, IFR, multi, glider in Houston). I'd also say that Radar Information Service is more the equivalent of flight following; Flight Information Service might well be non-radar. (Radar Advisory Service is something you might ask for when flying IMC in class G airspace). There's a very good explanatory poster that the CAA do (up in many flying clubs) that show the differences. Some airfields also have reciprocal no-landing-fee agreements too (Barton had one of these with at least 10 other airfields), and many airfields waive all fees in the case of a diversion/emergency etc. (AOPA recently named and shamed the ones that didn't) -- Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net "Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee" Back to top David Megginson Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 5:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL Dylan Smith wrote: Quote: Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S. All the best, David Back to top Richard Herring Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 6:30 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL In article <0407b0p5vbtr43hcnsjp8jshe6fp83rk17 (AT) 4ax (DOT) com>, Peter <nobody (AT) somewhere-in-the-uk (DOT) com> wrote Quote: "John Harper" <jharper (AT) cisco (DOT) com> wrote I've written something about flying in England from the perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at www.john-a-harper.com/flying/england.htm I'd especially be interested in any comments from UK pilots. [...] Stapleford does have some bigger planes there but also, according to my maintenance engineer, has quite a history of landing gear collapses on twins, as well as a lot of gradual damage. The AAIB bulletins might be a more objective source of information on that subject... http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk. Searching on "Stapleford undercarriage" gave 140-odd hits, but I gave up looking after the first 30 turned out to be irrelevant. Don't forget that as an intensively-used training airfield, it has quite a history of practically everything. Also a choice: if you don't like grass there's always tarmac, and vice versa. Quote: I would not take my TB20 there ever again. What went wrong? (aside to John H - the tarmac only gets used as taxiway when the active is 04L. Most people prefer 900m of downhill grass to either half the length of tarmac with a hedge at the end, or grass with a nasty bump if you find you need the tarmac as well ;-) As for the crosswind landing technique - certainly I was taught the sideslip method, so it's not a transatlantic difference. -- Richard Herring <mailto:richard (AT) clupeid (DOT) demon.co.uk> Back to top John Harper Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 7:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL Quote: Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. It's pretty I've never read back a setting in the US, ever (VFR or IFR). They give them when you change freqs... "Roger 96S, Salinas altimeter 29.95" but I just ack this with "96S". However I do always give altitude in a call so they can cross check the mode C... "Oakland Center, Cessna 5296S level at 7500" or whatever. John Back to top John Harper Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 7:33 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL Thanks for the comments. Quote: What's N216AR? Grob 115C. It's an OK acro trainer although I prefer the Decathlon now that I'm flying it. John Back to top Brian Burger Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 10:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL On Tue, 25 May 2004, David Megginson wrote: Quote: Dylan Smith wrote: Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S. You need to read back landing clearances with holdshort instructions in Canada; I ordinarily do, but a few months ago I just replied with my callsign and Tower replied, "I need to hear your readback for the tapes...". I'd been doing TW circuits; the Tower guy & I both knew I could land the Citabria in 3500ft, but 'the record' needed to know that I understood & would comply. That was an interesting reminder. Brian. Back to top David Megginson Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 10:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL Brian Burger wrote: Quote: You need to read back landing clearances with holdshort instructions in Canada; I ordinarily do, but a few months ago I just replied with my callsign and Tower replied, "I need to hear your readback for the tapes...". Right -- that was the one I forgot. Has any else noticed that LAHSO seems to be less common recently, in both Canada and the U.S.? All the best, David Back to top Richard Herring Guest Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 10:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL In article <ul47b0tucnda06em9vjp81s55q0i41dgqa (AT) 4ax (DOT) com>, Peter <nobody (AT) somewhere-in-the-uk (DOT) com> wrote Quote: Richard Herring <news00 (AT) clupeid (DOT) demon.co.uk> wrote The AAIB bulletins might be a more objective source of information on that subject... http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk. Searching on "Stapleford undercarriage" gave 140-odd hits, but I gave up looking after the first 30 turned out to be irrelevant. Point taken, but a lot of this stuff won't be reported. I had no damage but it was the hardest ride I've ever had on takeoff. Which runway? -- Richard Herring <mailto:richard (AT) clupeid (DOT) demon.co.uk> Back to top Carl Orton Guest Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 12:22 am    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL John: An interesting read. I, too, flew in the UK last summer (during the record-breaking heat wave). I flew out of Old Sarum. So much of your description matches so closely my experiences. Especially the part about the "club" aspect. Old Sarum has a white picket fenced-off area with tables, etc., set up to allow folks to just sit and eat, drink, and watch the planes. I was impressed with the general quality of the fleet. I flew a '67 C-172H which was in almost immaculate condition. About millibars: when we got in the plane, the instructor & I were going down the preflight checklist. Although he mentioned the use of millibars and QFE/QNH, etc., I commented something about the "oddness" of millibars. To which he replied quite dryly, "You're in the rest of the world now. Get used to it!" Other differences were that when we returned, I looked for the control lock. The instructor said they didn't use them. I then said, OK; should I just tie it down? He said, no, there was no need. I asked about wind gusts, and he said, "This is England!" Must not be much wind.... Only mistake I made was booking the flight for 0800. Here in TX, if you want cool, smooth flight, it's early in the AM or late in the evening. Forgot all about the English haze.... Fortunately it burned off quickly, but did not make for decent photos... Mostly just wanted an "official" UK entry in my logbook! I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Carl "John Harper" <jharper (AT) cisco (DOT) com> wrote Quote: I've written something about flying in England from the perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at www.john-a-harper.com/flying/england.htm I'd especially be interested in any comments from UK pilots. John Back to top Brian Burger Guest Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 2:56 am    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL On Tue, 25 May 2004, David Megginson wrote: Quote: Brian Burger wrote: You need to read back landing clearances with holdshort instructions in Canada; I ordinarily do, but a few months ago I just replied with my callsign and Tower replied, "I need to hear your readback for the tapes...". Right -- that was the one I forgot. Has any else noticed that LAHSO seems to be less common recently, in both Canada and the U.S.? LASHO here - CYYJ, Victoria BC Canada - has always been fairly common, and doesn't seem to be getting less so. We've got three runways, all intersecting, so LASHO is a huge efficiency gain. According to one of our local Nav Canada Tower guys, CYYJ has the 4th or 5th most complex ground layout of all Canadian airports... There's a rough diagram here, if anyone's interested: http://www.flyvfc.com/about-vfc/airport.htm I'm not sure where/if there's an official airport diagram on the web. Transport Canada has been much slower than the FAA in making publications/data available over the web... Brian. Back to top Dylan Smith Guest Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 7:19 am    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL In article <1ALsc.709$YbX1.363 (AT) news04 (DOT) bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>, David Megginson wrote: Quote: Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S. Hrm. It's probably good practise to do so all the same :-) -- Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net "Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee" Back to top Dylan Smith Guest Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 7:28 am    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL In article <10b7oq5adj03v9e (AT) corp (DOT) supernews.com>, Carl Orton wrote: Quote: Other differences were that when we returned, I looked for the control lock. The instructor said they didn't use them. I then said, OK; should I just tie it down? He said, no, there was no need. I asked about wind gusts, and he said, "This is England!" Must not be much wind.... The lack of tiedowns got me too. We tie ours down here (and put control locks in), but especially in the winter (when we usually get at least one storm with hurricane force winds) this can be a windy isle... But in the summer, we never get those huge thunderstorms that are common in Texas. -- Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net "Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee" Back to top Cub Driver Guest Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 10:42 am    Post subject: Re: Flying in England for a US PPL On Tue, 25 May 2004 17:39:24 -0000, Dylan Smith <dylan (AT) vexed3 (DOT) alioth.net> wrote: Quote: I can fly the Grumman at Andreas for 70 quid an hour less than the 172 y 70 quid LESS? Good grief. Why would anyone train in the UK when you could winter in Arizona? That 70 quid would pay your motel and the rental car. all the best -- Dan Ford email: [email]warbird (AT) mailblocks (DOT) com[/email] (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Aviators (General Discussions) All times are GMT Goto page 1, 2  Next Page 1 of 2   Jump to: Select a forum Aviation----------------alt.aviationAviation safety EnhancementPlanes, gliders and flying in AustraliaAviation et pilotage (Français)rec.aviationAviation (Aerobatics)Hot air, gas balloons and airshipsHang-gliding, paragliding, foot-launched flightAircraft Design & BuildingInstrument Flight RulesAviation (Classifieds)Military AircraftNaval AviationAviation (Miscellaneous Topics)Owning AirplanesAviators (General Discussions)Aviation related productsAircraft RestorationHelicopters and rotary wing aircraftsFlight SimulationSailplanesAviation (Students)Light aircraftFlying related activities in the UK Airports----------------alt.airportsEdinburgh Airport Glasgow Airport Humberside Airport Luton Airport Aberdeen Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2006 phpBB Group SEO toolkit © 2004-2006 webmedic.