Learn to fly in France

The CPL..

2010-07-18T12:31:00.001-07:00

Sue,

Today I have taken the plunge, I have signed up for my Commercial Pilot License theory study course with CATS in Luton.

They do the theory course online as well as the with the books so I can study whilst I am traveling which I do a lot of for my work. Be warned there are going to be lots and lots questions from my side of the atlantic over the coming months. I hope to see you during the summer in south and see if we can repeat the Cannes sunshine fun we had last year.

To let you know I also had my RT practical exam today here in Devon at Devon and Somerset flight training at Dunkeswell. The airport is a lovely place there, great food and club house and very welcoming. A little strange as there are parachutists landing right next to the runway which is interesting to say the least to watch from the sidelines.

I found the RT exam a little strange as an exam to say the least, after doing so much training actually in a plane to be pretending with a computer screen clicking a mouse to fly the little plane, it all seemed a little make believe especially when its using make believe towns and airports. Lets just say I am glad its out of the way.

I will be taking my parents for a flight down to Perranporth (Picture enclosed) in Cornwall in one of the Cessna's from the club here so fingers are crossed for some good weather.

Stuart

Stop Press

2010-07-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

Jim Miller flew his first solo flight yesterday!

ICAO Pilot License Conversions sent by Stuart Morton

2010-07-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

ICAO Pilot License Conversions

FAR part 61.75 makes provision for licensed foreign pilots of any ICAO member state to apply for an FAA (US) Private Pilot License, issued on the basis of your foreign license. Here are the steps to follow to apply for and activate your FAA PPL.

1. Go to this website and download the PDF form: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/foreign_license_verification/

2. Fill out the form and send it to the FAA along with copies of your foreign license, an English transcript of your license (if necessary) and a copy of your medical certificate or endorsement (make sure all documents are current according to your Civil Aviation Authority rules). Send to: Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760, PO BOX 25082, Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082 or fax the form and documents to (405) 954-9922.

3. Please put the Orlando Flight Standards District Office, FSDO-15 as the location where you intend to make application for your FAA PPL.

4. Allow 60 days for processing the above form, once the FAA has received it either via postal mail or fax. NOTE TO UK PILOTS: The Data Protection Act now requires your permission for the CAA to release any information to the FAA. Please check with the appropriate authorities (CAA) before submitting your 61-75 form to the FAA.

5. After the FAA has processed your request, they will send you a Letter of Authenticity. You must bring this letter with you when you arrive to Florida. Please make sure you also bring all other pilot documentation with you as well (ie: foreign PPL, English transcript, medical certificate or endorsement, logbook) and a picture ID (ie: Driver's License, passport).

6. You will need to register for an IACRA account before seeing the FAA inspector here in Florida to get your new FAA Private Pilot License (don't worry it's free and easy). IACRA stands for Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application and is the system the FAA now uses for anytime a pilot applies for a new airman certificate or rating. Here are the steps to follow:

A - Navigate to http://iacra.faa.gov/iacra

B - Take a moment to read through any notices or other important information on the home page.

C - Click the button labeled: "Register" located on the right-hand side of the home page.

D - Click on "Applicant" and then click "Next".

E - The very first question which asks you if you currently hold an airman certificate, click the radio button labeled "No".

F - Fill in all of the personal information, security questions and answers, user name and password, etc. and then click "Register".

You will then be assigned an "FTN": The FTN (FAA Tracking Number) is assigned to you by the FAA after you complete your registration in IACRA. Please record your FTN as it will be required later by your instructor and/or certifying officer. I recommend you write your FTN in your logbook where you will never loose it and it will be accessible any-time you need it.

7. Upon your arrival here, we will set up a meeting for you with a local Designated Pilot Examiner. The examiner will then look over all of your documentation and issue your temporary FAA PPL.

8. You must then complete a flight review with one of our instructor pilots, who will then endorse your logbook. This will activate your FAA PPL as well as giving you rental privileges of our aircraft (completion of a SunState Aviation rental agreement is also required).

9. Enjoy your flying.

Please note that this will only convert your license to a US Private Pilot License issued on the basis of your foreign Pilot License, therefore any restrictions you have on your foreign license (example: "no night flights authorized") will carry over to your converted US/FAA License.

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The $100 hamburger - French style

2010-07-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

We have a new 'favourite' restaraunt. It doesn't serve the best food in France, is not in the most modern premesis, the table cloths don't all match, it's not flash or 'posh', it's not got a menu (despite the faded one pinned to the bar window) and it's not open in the evenings.

This resteraunt is however, charming. The proprietors are friendly, the food is good wholesome French country cooking, every day is a suprise, the 'menu' is off the top of the owner's head and has not been the same twice since we've been going there.

It is in fact, a tried and tested format in France, the village Auberge. Good value home cooking served up every day and frequented by the locals during the obligatory two hour French lunch break. In fact, this one has such a good reputation that you often find 'out of department' cars and vans parked outside during lunch while their artisan owners enjoy an unhurried four course meal.

So what I can hear you all ask has this got to do with flying? Well, not much if anything to be honest. The only tenious link I can find is that it's 40 minutes flight from Limoges and gives a visiting pilot the opportunity to land at our wonderful 1300m grass airstrip at Jonzac (LFCJ), enjoy the lack of landing fees, the hospitality of our club and with a quick cab ride a hearty lunch at the Pegasus Auberge in Guitinières. Come on a Monday and we might even meet you from the airstrip!

And how much will all this cost a visiting pilot? Well, with the ever rising prices of hydrocarbons, likely as not thye fuel alone will far excede the $100 (or euro) mark, but with no landing fees and a wholesome four course meal with wine and coffee for 11€ per person it's got to be one of the best value meal stops around.

Lastly, a word of warning - make sure to arrive at the airstrip before 12:00, by 12:30 tables become very scarce.

Bon apetit!

A Flying Trip to Les Sables-d'Olonne

2010-07-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

Where to go? – that was the question. We decided that it should be somewhere there was a maximum of 1.5 hours flight from Limoges and there had to be something for the kids to do when we got there; a great restaurant is nice for the adults, but the kids rarely appreciate such gastronomic treats. After a quick study of the charts we settled on Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Atlantic coast in the Vendee. As the departure point for the Vendee Globe yacht race it’s a place that both Helen and I have wanted to visit for a long time but have never had the chance – on top of that it has a wonderful beach and a reputation as a beautiful place to visit. Our next problem was that the 4 seat Robin Kilo Tango (which I’ve flown with Sue from Rochester UK, to Jonzac so am confident touring in), had already been booked for that weekend so that left just the PA28, N30385. Although I’ve flown Pipers before it was 14 years ago and whilst a good friend and commercial pilot reckoned ‘It’ll be fine, perfect grounding to be a transport pilot’, all joking aside, it required a check flight with Sue to ensure to both of us (and of course, the plane’s owner!) that I would be safe let loose in it.

Living 2 hours drive from Limoges made it a little logistically challenging, however we decided that we would come over on the Saturday morning, drop our dog Enah off with Sue (yes, she’s a Vizsla too!) for a week’s holiday (as we are all off to the UK following the weekend), pack the tents and find a nice campsite near Limoges for the Saturday evening, set up camp then I’d nip back to the airport for a check flight with Sue and get that out of the way, then Sunday morning arrive early at Limoges, load up the PA28 and set off for the coast. We Googled around and found what looked to be a great place to camp, just NE of Limoges and about 15 mins from the airport – all set in the grounds of a nice little chateau with a good pool, bar, restaurant and deer roaming in the grounds.

Once we were safely installed and the tents set up I left the family to explore the grounds and headed off to Limoges for a check flight with Sue. After a few circuits and some general flying, Sue signed me off so we were all ready for Sunday. I headed back to the campsite and we dined in the onsite restaurant – nice ‘wholesome food’, but wickedly overpriced, I winced when the check arrived.

Sunday arrived, we broke camp and headed to the airport – after moving the HR200 out and fuelling the PA28 the first problem of the day was that the system would not let me check out the aircraft. Luckily, one of the French instructors arrived, shouted at the ‘ordi’ (computer) for a bit, then rang the secretary, shouted at his answer phone for a bit and then said ‘just take it anyway and leave a note that you have it, you can’t miss a flight there, it’s beautiful – but watch out for the short runway’ – so typically French, I love it! Anyhow, just to be double-safe I booked it out in my name and added Sue as well, at least it was on the computer then.

Problem two was discovered when Emily got in the plane and could not see out – simply solved by installing her booster seat.

We ‘wired up’ the kids in the back, went through all the internal checks and were ready to go.

Taking off from runway 21 passed uneventfully and while I was fiddling with the GNS430 radio/nav/GPS (and probably ‘teasmaid’ too) I missed the tower giving a traffic warning – we passed a microlight with about 1000ft between us, so not as big deal but I was terribly apologetic to the tower … We climbed to 3000ft, set a course of 289 degrees and threw on the autopilot and auto trim (oh, what bliss!). Just as we entered into the Poitiers FIS we hit an isolated rain cloud, so we checked with them that the Cognac R49 area was inactive and climbed to 3500 to avoid the cloud and stayed there for the rest of the journey west.

As we passed Nantes on our right we re-checked the plates for Les Sables-d'Olonne and I grabbed my ‘phrase book’ as it’s a free-call 123.500 airfield, so all calls must be made in French – this is where the autopilot really became useful whilst messing around with such tasks. We passed into the La Rochelle TMA briefly and then the coast came into sight. Another few minutes and we were over the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne.

As overhead joins are not practiced that often in France and I wanted a good ‘butchers’ (look) at the airfield before we made an attempt to land we went wide over the town at keeping the airfield in sight but at a good distance, out over the Atlantic and descended into the circuit for a downwind join. All this talk of such a short runway didn’t bother me too much, but was definitely playing on my mind a little. We called downwind, called and turned base, then finals lining up fine, if a little fast at 80 knots.

As we came in to touch down, discretion got the better part of me and I decided to go-around and have another try. A few minutes later we were safely down, turned and backtracking up the very short (600m) runway. With hindsight, I’d have easily made the first landing, but you never loose face for playing safe, especially with the family onboard. We taxied to a nice quiet area just north of the pumps and shut everything down – time for a quick ‘runway’ snack while dad did the paperwork.

By the time the checks and paperwork was finished the aeroclub was shut (for lunch we guessed) we wandered out to the restaurant next door (where incidentally the aeroclub guys were installed) and ordered some drinks and they called us a taxi into town. As a note, if not with kids, the food here both looked and smelled excellent and there was no shortage of custom with people flying up from La Rochelle and the nearby airparks to eat here. Our taxi arrived and whisked us off to town.

The main town has a beautiful ‘Edwardian’ feel to it (yes, I know he was a British king, but the period’s right and I’m sure you get the general idea) and reminded us very much of Brighton.

The beach is beautiful and there are plenty of excellent cafes, restaurants and ice cream bars to keep anyone happy. We wandered down to the beach for a bit of sun-bathing and paddling. Just as we got onto the beach Emily suddenly jumped up, ran over and hugged and kissed a small girl who was walking past – no, this wasn’t madness but amazingly, one of her best friends from school not only happened to be in Les Sables-d'Olonne but on the same 100m of beach at the same time as us; what are the odds of that?

After that we saw a girl with what a film crew and what can only be described as a ‘suntan lotion holster’ – she’s been employed by the town for the summer to ensure that people are properly protecting their skin by offering advice and lotions, especially to children and the TV was doing a news article on it – apparently over 5000 people applied for the role! Seems like a very sensible idea though to be honest.

We then headed off for a bit more of a mooch around the town, grabbed an excellent ice cream and waited for our taxi driver (who arrived on time to the minute) to take us back to the airport. When we arrived, we checked with the aeroclub if there was any landing fees (taxe) to pay and got the answer ‘no, of course not, but we have the beer pig’ (pointing to a pink money-box pig on the desk) ‘if you would like to make a contribution. Of course it’s voluntary’ was the reply, this time in perfect English. Of course, we happily put a few Euros into the ‘beer pig’ and headed back to prepare N30385 for the journey back to Limoges. This was when problem no. 3 raised it’s head. All the checks were fine until the radio decided to go ‘on the fritz’. I was sure it was something I was doing wrong (it’s a pretty complex bit of kit a GNS430, especially to those of us not used to them) so after a quick call to Sue (“help, the radio’s buggered – any ideas?”) and some help from a parachute jump-plane pilot we worked out what was going on, sorted it all out and 30 mins later were “aligné piste vingt quatre” and “pret au decollage”.

We took off over the beautiful Atlantic, turned and climbed to 3500ft to keep under the cloud base and set a course for Limoges. As we changed to La Rochelle Information we overheard a hilarious conversation with an English pilot asking for permission to taxi out of La Rochelle for a flight to Genoa (Spain) and being asked where his flight plan was "what flight plan?" he replied, "you need one as Genoa is in Spain" the polite controller replied "oh " said the pilot, "I did not realise it mattered as you're all attached, no water to cross. How do I file a flight plan then?" .... does kind of beg the question how he got to La Rochelle in the first place and made us smile for a way further. Then, with empty skies other than a plane passing in fromt of us going into Angouleme we had an uneventful flight back to Limoges with the kids fast asleep in the back we passed over Whisky and were told to join downwind for 21 and report finals – 5 minutes later and we were back at Limoges and taxiing to the club parking in time for the World Cup final between Spain and Holland.

We packed N30385 away, did the paperwork, filled in the computer, paid the bill and jumped in the car to head for home. All in all an excellent weekend out.

For those interested in a visit I’d highly recommend Les Sables-d'Olonne. It’s a truly beautiful place; the club members there are friendly; all of the ones we met spoke fluent English; the restaurant is good; no landing fees (but do make a contribution to the beer pig) and Bruno the taxi driver (06 07 59 60 30) is punctual and also speaks excellent English. The only down side is the cost of the taxi – at 40€ return it’s a bit steep (even if it is a nice new Merc!), but between 4 people would be more than bearable.

My PPL Story by Howard Scott

2010-07-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

Rule No1

Limoges

Time in the air costs at least £150 per hour, time in a classroom costs £10 per hour. Learn what you can on the ground first.

Rule No2

Knowledge is perishable unless it is used regularly. Let’s not waste money by taking forever to get my PPL and having to return to things I have forgotten.

Rule No3

Begin with the End in Mind. Was getting my PPL just an ego trip so I could brag that I have my wings? What would I use the privileges for? I knew that I wanted to discover Europe and USA from the air.

Action Plan

I would enrol on ground school without stepping foot in an aircraft. Once the studying was going well and one or two exams were passed, I would have my Aviation Medical. Once all exams were passed, I would take the RTF course, and only once this was passed would I start to fly. I would then have two years to learn the practical skills and pass my test. Deadlines work, after the cost and effort expended, failure would not be an option.

Action Taken

So I spent 6 consecutive weekends with Flight Academy at the cost of £700. The result was all the required exams were passed and my 2 year clock started 21st May 2010.

I took my Aviation Medical at the cost of £205. No point in going any further if there were any health issues to stop me.

Next, I did the RTF course and exam. That was a further £175 and involved a full weekend with Kevin Edmunds.

So far, it was all going to plan. All I had to do now was to acquire the flying skills.

• Lesson 1: Cancelled due to weather.

• Lesson 2: Cancelled due to weather.

I contacted Sue Virr in France and decided to take a week off work. I wanted 10 or so hour’s tuition fast, so if I needed a break over winter, at least I would not forget everything I had learned.

In the following 4 weeks before I was to go away, I had almost 8 hours of tuition with John Cheetham at Flight Academy Barton which was excellent. But I lost 1/3rd of my booked lessons to bad weather, aircraft maintenance, or just general organisational problems. I totalled up the time taken off work. It was 5 days and less than 8 hours gained in my logbook.

To cut a long story short, one week later I had covered the entire syllabus at least once, I had flown 5 different aircraft and visited 6 different airfields. I had added a further 23 hours to my logbook, 2 of which were solo. The other blogs detail the facilities at Limoges, the professionalism of the Aero club and the brilliance of Sue herself.

First Solo a wonderful experience!

My last day was a pleasure flight, but if I had more time before my return flight home I’m sure I could have done my 150 mile cross country.

Proof Of My First Solo Away From The Airfield .

So what’s left to do? I still need to do the QXC and then further revision and practice for my skills test.

Has it been rushed? Will it make me an inferior pilot to those who take the normal 2 years and 70 plus hours in the UK? I don’t think so.

• I’ve been No3 in controlled airspace behind Learjets and Ryan Air 737s. The military regularly train at Limoges too!

• I’ve learned some of the French terminology which I couldn’t have done without this experience.

I have sampled delightful french food at the local airport restaurants, the meals are reasonably priced and superb,nothing like the typical airport restaurants in the UK.

•

• I have had to truly navigate because I didn’t know the area around Limoges at all. I don’t believe the average student can say that.

So what’s next? As you have no doubt guessed, I’m going back as soon as possible to continue the adventure. Another 4 days or so should do it, including taking my skills test over there.

Has it been value for money? Certainly, due to my ground school and RTF qualifications, I have been able to concentrate on the flying skills. It would have taken months to get this far back home. I have done the calculations and including the flight and accommodation I have only spent what I would have in the UK, around £3900 for 23 hours.

The Future

I intend to go back annually to fly in France, probably using Limoges as a base. It’s beautiful and the weather is usually better down here than it is in the NW of England. I am going to encourage my wife to go up with Sue and learn some basics. I don’t intend to fly on my own; I need her on board and hooked.

And of course, I will update this blog as to my progress. If you intend to fly with Sue after reading this blog, could you kindly leave it until after I have had my further four days? I have just realised I have spent the last hour shooting myself in the foot.

My PPL Story by Ray GalBally

2010-07-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Idly surfing the web earlier this year, I came across Nearlyheaven and Sue Virr. It took me no time at all to decide that this was as ideal opportunity for a holiday for me and for my wife, Cheryl. The reasons why, were clear:

1) France – a country we both love and especially so, the countryside. Sue’s gites looked lovely.

2) Hungarian Vizslas – we have owned these wonderful dogs for 12 years and though we wouldn’t be taking our own with us, we would get to see Sue’s ‘pack’ including a new litter of pups.

3) Flying – having held a dream to become a pilot from some 40 years earlier (!) I was 30 hours into my PPL; a solo student making good progress. What’s more, Sue teaches on Robins – my long-time favourite aircraft.

Perfect. The only thing missing was a golf course………

I was confident that I’d be qualified PPL by the end of May, so we booked a week at the end of June. We’d have a couple of hours of sightseeing flights, with Sue showing us around and my wife getting used to the idea of being a passenger with me at the controls, albeit with Sue in the right-hand seat.

So, that was the plan. In practice, it didn’t work out that way.

My flying training in the UK had come to an abrupt halt with a couple of cancelled attempts at the Qualifying Cross Country due to poor weather and a mechanical failure with ‘my’ aircraft. [An in-flight engine failure in fact, with- fortunately- an excellent instructor on board with his student at the time. This meant a fairly lengthy investigation before it was returned to service and an even longer wait for my QXC.]

So, the plan changed: Sue would now arrange for me to complete my QXC in France. One or maybe two trips around the proposed route would be all it would take in preparation…..

Believe it or not, the Limoges weather held us up for a day and a bit and then, when we did get started, the crosswinds turned out to be more than I could handle comfortably. Local pilots were coming into the clubhouse saying how bumpy and tricky landing conditions were, but Sue patiently taught me what to do, using what to me, were unfamiliar techniques. 99% of my previous landings had been on a short grass strip and Limoges with its huge runway gave me new challenges. So, after a couple of days of re-learning how to land and after being introduced to all sorts of new experiences – taking off and landing behind 737s; giving way in the circuit to military jets and 3-ship helicopter formations; nose-wheel shimmies; to name but a few – I finished the holiday a much better pilot but still no QXC.

I had such confidence in Sue’s ability to get me through that, on returning to the UK, I booked just 2 nights at the airport hotel for a fortnight later. Over the course of a couple of days, I would finish the QXC for sure.

And I did. On Thursday 8th July, after just a couple of solo circuits, I was ready to go. The trip went absolutely perfectly (even though I say so myself) with my only problem being coping with the extreme heat of the unshaded glass canopy of the Robin HR200 F-GMKG.

Brimming with confidence and with still a day before I was due to go home, encouraged by both Sue and her other UK student that week, Howard Scott (whose first solo I had been delighted to witness on the evening I arrived – well done Howard!), we arranged the skills test for the following day. Thunderstorms were a possibility, so the test would be fairly early- around midday Friday- leaving precious little time for last-minute flying revision.

Friday came. By the time I had planned my test route and mentally rehearsed every detail, there was no time for real-life flying before the examiner, Mike Grierson, arrived.

The test itself was one of my best ever flying lessons. I made mistakes – there is no doubt of that – but I benefited hugely from Mike’s vast knowledge and experience, both during the briefings and the flying itself. The PPL test is thorough and tough. After over two and a half hours flying in territory I’d mostly never even seen before and with again, boiling hot, humid conditions to contend with, I had passed!

Thank you Mike. Thank you Howard. Thank you Aero-Club de Limoges, the maintenance team and the airport controllers. Thank you Cheryl. Thank you to my UK instructors too, of course.

And a very special thanks to Sue, one of the most hard-working, enthusiastic, committed multi-talented and nicest people I have had the pleasure to meet.

I’ll be back!

Ray Galbally

A Ladies trip to view the Milleau Viaduct !

2010-07-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, was a bit of a ladies day, Stine Gwen and myself took YA for the trip to view the beautiful bridge at Milleau.

The weather was very hot, hazy and cloudless, Stine flew to Milleau and Gwen flew the return leg.

We had intended to change pilots at the beautiful field of Aurillac ,however we were informed that President Sarkozy and his entourage would be visiting there that day.So we had to make a slight detour around his protected airspace.

The scenery en route from Limoges to Milleau is stunning.With large lakes, green forests and numerous gorges containing rivers looked more like Norwegian Fjords.
Stine and Gwen caught sight of a smaller bridge a few miles from Milleau bridge and they were most disappointed until I pointed out the massive bridge straddling the huge gorge a few miles ahead.
As usuall we did not see another plane until we reached the airport of Milleau, where a military trainer was doing touch and go training.
The pilot in the other aircraft informed us that the tower was closed and that runway 14 was in use, he was very friendly and informative and we touched down at exactly 12 noon in time to walk to the nearby motrway hotel.

Sadly, the food at this particular hotel is somewhat similar to the usual fare found at motorway service stations, we dined on very plain salads and equally uninspiring desserts.

We took a different route home via Cassagnes and Sarlat once again the scenery was sensational.
We viewed the new Brive International Airport which is now up and running ( the old Brive LFBV is now closed to the public traffic)

We arrived at Limoges about 4pm ready to return home for a rest, prior to our next flight at 10-30 pm when we would be joining Matthew Galvin for night training.

To be continued.....

Nearly Heaven Discount Pilot Supplies!

2010-07-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Stop Press!!!

We have teamed-up with Pooleys to provide you with a 5% discount for any online purchases made through their store.

Simply enter the word "nearlyheaven" as your promotional code during checkout from the store. (UPPER or lower Case.)

Postage to France is reasonable - anything up to 2kg goes airmail at normal rates. Anything between that up to 31kg is about £12.00
http://www.nearlyheaven.com/pilot-shop/index.php

La Baule a great airport to visit!

2010-06-30T02:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Sue,

I hope you are well and everything is going OK for you.

The attachments are from calling at St.Nazaire on the way back.

La Baule - has a nice restaurant, there's a historic hangar to look around

and a great coastline to follow.

I think you would enjoy a trip up there!

Regards, Martyn.

Nearly Heaven comes to Facebook

2010-06-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick note to everyone who wants to keep in touch with Nearly Heaven on Facebook. This blog now automatically posts to Sue's "Learn to Fly in France" Facebook page.

If you "Like" the page using the "Like Box" below, then you will receive all the blog updates direct to your own Facebook newsfeed and can comment on them as you would on the blog. (Comments only remain on Facebook and don't appear back on the blog.)

If you can think of other friends of yours on Facebook who you think might also be interested to receive our updates, then please use the "Suggest to Friends" link on the Facebook page (Top left, under the photo).

Social Oomph set up by Richard Martin.

Sue's Diary Flying a Huge Challenge!

2010-06-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Last week the General Aviation side of Limoges airport was deserted, owing to the really dreadful weather which has settled over this part of France for 10 days.Actually, as I write this, the news is showing massive floods in the South of France with several people dead.

In fact on most days the only light aircraft to be seen was our Robin HR 200/120, this aircraft was a new acquisition by the club this year and I have found it to be a good inexpensive training aircraft.
My student last week, drove from Romania to Limoges to do a week of concentrated flight training with me.
Andrei has had an ambition to fly since he was about 11years old and now at 33 years old he arrived at the airport hoping to make this dream come true, however he had one large hurdle to overcome he was born without his right hand. My task was to see if I could teach him to obtain his PPL in an unadapted aircraft.

Although Andrei had not previously flown a light aircraft, he has studied all aspects of flying as part of his passion.Therefore the cockpit was not too overwhelming for him.

We started the training on a blustery day with lots of turbulence and gusting crosswinds.We went off to the west for a local training flight and i taught Andrei all the usual manoeuvres required in the early part of the syllabus. After climbing, descending , 30° banked turns and lots more we headed for home, I was delighted with his progress and the relaxed way that he flew the aircraft ( this was a much better performance than most able bodied students on their first flight).

My greatest concern was that he would not be able to handle an aircraft in the circuit, so I decided to demonstrate flight in the circuit and explain to him what would be required of him especially with manual flaps.
After a circuit I suggested that we try the take off and landing together and after a bit of a wobbly take off Andrei succeeded in doing quite a respectable landing with a bit of help from me.

We stopped for lunch and I explained to him that I would like to do our next lesson in the circuit to see if he could truly manage to fly the aircraft in the circuit without my help, if not then I did not want to waste his money with hours of training which would be curtailed when he reached lesson 12,13 circuit training.
The next hurdle was to practice a Go Around with full flap which is a very difficult manoeuvre for anyone to do.Happily he managed this plus the go arounds, flapless, low level circuits and glide approaches, I was very pleasantly surprised and full of admiration by the determination of my new student.

Well after the circuit training I had no doubt that we could continue his flight training.
We continued to fly during the week in really difficult weather conditions, the only good day was his final day.
We covered virtually all of the syllabus including a 150 navigation exercise.
Andrei will be back in Limoges to continue his training in July.

Thanks to the Best Phone Call I ever Made ! by Martyn Rangely

2010-06-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Little Martyns blog( part 5).

Last year's summer at Limoges gave us lots of good flying weather. I checked my logbook and found we were flying almost daily right up until 26 November!

Only then did the weather break for winter. For me it was time to leave Sues 'ranch', Nearlyheaven.

It must be very frustrating for an instructor to train a student to the point of being ready to take the skills test and then everything comes to a halt due to lack of time and bad weather. Particularly knowing they will have to go over a lot of training again when they return to continue flight training.

I did not feel this way at all, as we had covered such a lot in a very short time.

By the time the month of May came around, Limoges weather forecasts showed excellent flying weather on a daily basis.

With time off work, I phoned Sue and started the long drive to Limoges to prepare for that elusive skills test.

The first few days flying with Sue was spent, as you might guess, going over forgotten skills, the radio particularly had me tongue-tied!

However, in no time at all, we were going over the flight test details and what to expect during the flight test.

Although Sue is a qualified CAA examiner, she cannot perform the PPL flight tests with her own students because the CAA doesn’t allow instructors to examine their own students.

Sue has already written about my test day and what a shock it was to me (all true by the way).

I did make some silly mistakes and I felt sure that I had failed at least part of the test but Mike my examiner told me I had passed, I was totally stunned ,my dreams had come to reality !

The following day it all started to sink in as when I arrived at the club, there was lots of shaking hands and congratulations. With no flying left to do, I took the opportunity to visit the tower at Limoges and meet the ' voices' behind the radio calls, it was a revelation and well worth doing.

As the chief controller was explaining procedures, right on cue I heard Lorraine then Sue and William, all performing very professional radio calls, and all dealt with by an apprentice controller under training.

I was glad that I had been given the opportunity to visit the tower the controllers could not have been more helpful.

My flight training with Sue started less than a year ago and it began with reading her Best website, one blog-spot read,"The Best Phone Call I Ever Made", was written by Esteban who had just completed his PPL, well thank you for writing it Esteban because I couldn't agree more.!!!

Myself with Sue and Mike Grierson.

Martyn Rangeley

Following the Dream in Florida by Stuart Morton

2010-06-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

Stuart Morton passed his PPL at Nearlyheaven and subsequently went to work in Florida, his dream is to pass his CPL and then to become an instructor.
See his stories below:

Sue these are a few of the blog stories about my training which has started in here in Miami Florida.

The head is back in the books...

Today I collected my books and software to start studying tonight ahead of my first flight at the Cessna school tomorrow. Its all very technical but very well thought out, there is a series of DVD's that you down load onto your computer with tests attached to each one after the end of each lesson. Once you have passed the test for each lesson you get to do the flight for that part of the training. Each test is automatically sent to Cessna HQ as well as the Chief instructor so they can keep an eye on how you are progressing and also how your instructor is getting on with teaching you.

Unfortunately I am an Apple Mac user and the DVDs are Windows based so I have had to go and spend $300 to get conversion software and a version of Windows but it should see me through all of my training up to CFI .

Tomorrow will be a familiarization flight, and the first chance to use the G1000 glass cockpit which should be a useful skill, so can't wait. Will report in after, just hoping it doesn't go like the other false start with the throttle coming off in my hand !!!!!

Stuart Morton

N12453 New Plane , New Cockpit and Lots of Fun

2010-06-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

N12453D New plane, new cockpit and lots of new fun by Stuart morton

Now that was a fun first day in the new stead. Not a serious lesson but a good familiarization flight around north Miami to check out the reporting points and try to get used to the new aircraft.

A Cessna 172 and with my new instructor Chris we took to the skies to let me stretch my legs with her after a prolonged period out of the saddle so to speak.

We went through some ground school work, and the professionalism of this school over the previous disaster area was apparent straight away.

I felt unusually nervous before it all started which is unlike me but I suppose a mixture of new aircraft, instructor, airport and after my last false start it was to be expected.

After a good chat on the ground where Chris got an idea of where I am at and where I would like to get to he showed me around the plane. What I liked about this is he was in no hurry what so ever. This plane is very different from anything I have been in before especially the cockpit, with a very different check list to go through before even turning the keys.

We went through everything methodically with a good explanation, for example there are 7, yes 7 different sumps to check for fuel contamination for starters.

Then you have to fire up the 2 huge glass screens, the G1000, its awsome and is going to take some getting used to as non of it looks the same as the good old 6 pack.

We got through the check list fired her up and taxied off passed some fantastic aircraft on the apron.

There were even a few museum pieces there aswell as the US coast guard and military jets, not to mention the line of Hawker and Citation jets. I will get pictures uploaded of a few examples when I can.

We were cleared to take off from runway 18 and off we went, the first thing i realized from an over wing is they pick up the cross wind pretty quickly on take off so plenty of wing down and left rudder was needed and we nicely climbed out.

The nice thing about the G100o is on your secondary screen you have a full map showing all other aircraft and collision avoidance system, which is a handy piece of kit when in the training area in Miami which serves 4 different airports and a dozen schools !

After some basic handling and a trip around the reporting points it was time to get back to the circuit where we were cleared number 2 straight in from 10 miles out. The radio work here is going to get a little getting used to but I am sure it will come along over the next few days.

We had a nice cheeky little crosswind from the right again on approach which was nice to get used to with the Cessna and it handled nicely crabbing its way in and even earned " Nice Landing " from Chris, sure he was just being polite.

We taxied off the runway and 30 seconds later the tyre screech a Hawker Jet kissing the tarmac behind me, reminded me that its pretty busy air space here so good to keep me on my toes.

Day 1 went well, plenty of small rusty mistakes but the basics have held firm so happy with that and really chuffed to be heading straight back up tomorrow.

Slow Flight

2010-06-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

2 hours in the air today, and feeling like I am getting the hang of the 172.

After some ground school work as I have to go through the Faa "Check out" procedure as well, which is similar to the 2 year check ride. Some questions from the theory exams and also demonstrate all of the basic skills required for the PPL skills test.

Chris my faithful instructor has been going through all of the turns, stalls, landings to complete the check out which provides a good catch up for me too.

The all new glass cockpit which you can see in the picture is the newest and safest way of flying I have ever seen and is taking some getting used to. I am looking forward to the cross country exercises with it, all of the information at your finger tips, there are no maps flapping around in the cockpit.

The 172 is a pretty good plane to fly, it turns well and holds its line really well, getting used to a yoke instead of the stick on the good old Robin is is fun too. I am enjoying flying it, the stalls are pretty different, especially the powered stall, we were needing to go virtually vertical.

My main learning curve with the flying here is the radio calls, they are carried out very differently to europe, there are no standard down wind then finals calls for clearance to land, just one down wind call when you are cleared to land. Similarly taxiing and take off radio procedure is different. More practice needed and it will all slot into place.

I have to complete a set amount of take off and landings tomorrow and the check out should be complete, and the Instrument training will commence.

All very positive here, I feel happy I have found the right school at last. Back in the air again tomorrow morning.
by Stuart Morton

Flying over Alligator Alley by Stuart Morton

2010-06-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

PFL's at 2000ft over the Alligator Alley in the everglades

Today was a good day.

Well it started a bit rough as someone had left the Master switch on over night on the aircraft so all was a bit quiet when I hit the switches and nothing happened. But after a jump start from the engineers it was all systems go. The objective today was to finish off the official check ride which I have to go through to be officially allowed to fly here. Its the same as the PPL flight test but a lot less stress as you do parts of it and then. The fun part was a 2000ft when it was time to pull off the power and go through practice forced landing, the one slightly different part to this from when I did my flight test in Limoges was we were over the Everglades which is thousands of square miles of Alligator infested swamps......MMMmmmmmm.

There is one small stretch of grass near a road and that was the target, but I was happy with the result and Chris was as well, he signed me off after a couple of circuits (or patterns in U.S parlance) and get a few landings in. So all clear for solo flight in the U.S.

Then it was time to start talking about the Instrument work, Straight and level flight, Trimming, Constant airspeed climbs and descents all with the foggles on. For those of you who don't know what foggles are, its like flying with the curtains pulled in the plane so that you can't see anything outside so you can only fly by the instruments inside the aircraft.

Its quite disorientating and you have to trust your instruments and not what your body is telling you, and I think that is going to be half of the training during these early stages.

Happy with another good day, its 94 degrees here at the moment so losing a few pounds in the warm cockpit each day, so dieting whilst flying, can't be bad.

Posted by Stu Morton at 10:57 AM 0 comments

Labels: everglades, foggles, patterns

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Slow flight and getting in the swing of things

2 hours in the air today, and feeling like I am getting the hang of the 172.

After some ground school work as I have to go through the Faa "Check out" procedure as well, which is similar to the 2 year check ride. Some questions from the theory exams and also demonstrate all of the basic skills required for the PPL skills test.

Chris my faithful instructor has been going through all of the turns, stalls, landings to complete the check out which provides a good catch up for me too.

The all new glass cockpit which you can see in the picture is the newest and safest way of flying I have ever seen and is taking some getting used to. I am looking forward to the cross country exercises with it, all of the information at your finger tips, there are no maps flapping around in the cockpit.

The 172 is a pretty good plane to fly, it turns well and holds its line really well, getting used to a yoke instead of the stick on the good old Robin is fun too. I am enjoying flying it, the stalls are pretty different, especially the powered stall, we were needing to go virtually vertical.

My main learning curve with the flying here is the radio calls, they are carried out very differently to europe, there are no standard down wind then finals calls for clearance to land, just one down wind call when you are cleared to land. Similarly taxiing and take off radio procedure is different. More practice needed and it will all slot into place.

I have to complete a set amount of take off and landings tomorrow and the check out should be complete, and the Instrument training will commence.

All very positive here, I feel happy I have found the right school at last. Back in the air again tomorrow morning.

Stuart Morton

It is all Foggles... by Stuart Morton

2010-06-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well its Friday, and thats the end of the weeks flying. Todays lesson was all under the foggles, carrying out turns at level altitudes, climbing turns, descending turns and now doing the radio calls whilst tracking the VOR, whilst descending onto finals.

The workload is starting to be increased so that the flying under IFR comes naturally and can be done whilst handling the rest of the cockpit duties. I can only imagine what its going to be like over the coming weeks when having to handle the holding patterns and the ILS approaches. I have realized how much learning there is to get done and am also very pleased I have taken on this course as it is improving my pilot skills no end and I am sure will push me on to the commercial license.

A Little Dream

2010-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

a little dream

Yesterday I had a nice surprise as a part of my day job, and also got a good insight into what day job I would really like to do some day.

I was asked as part of my job as a photographer to take pictures for a UK tv show of the subject of the show on his Private jet here in Florida. Its an Embraer Legacy and very fine piece of kit indeed. Its a little surprising he has this for trans-atlantic flight as this Executive jet can only just make that hop, usually having to stop on in Maine for a fuel. But its not for me to question where he spends his millions I can just stand back, admire and dream a little.

The pilots were really good guys and let me have a good look around and a sit in the right seat to see how my future office in the sky could look, and it was definitely better than any corporate corner office overlooking the thames any day.

Just makes me come home and want to study that little bit harder.

How Not to Land A Plane --- A Salutory Tale !

2010-05-27T01:51:00.000-07:00

I am bringing this interesting incident to the notice of all fellow pilots/students let this be a salutary warning to remember always to lower the undercarriage prior to landing.When the warning horn blares reminding you to lower the gear do not disconnect it because you think that it is faulty.

You could write off a very expensive aircraft and be left with a little more than egg on your face.!

This incident happened very recently in England!

Well Done Martin another PPL gained at Nearlyheaven

2010-05-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Martin Rangeley (Little Martin) he obtained his PPL today with British Examiner Mike Grierson.

Martin returned to France last Thursday to finish his flight training with me.
He had not sat in a plane since our previous lessons over six months ago.
Martin has used every spare minute since his arrival to revise and prepare for his test.
Once he was back in the left hand seat,it did not take him very long to get back into the swing of things.

We did about 8 hours of revision during which time he was forced to re validate his landing skills as we had clear blue skies but some wicked crosswinds to contend with.
Martin is a dedicated student, with a burning ambition to obtain his dream , so he is always an attentive student.

We concentrated all of our efforts towards preparation for the skill test. This included general handling, navigation and the radio skills.

I had expected Martin to be ready for test towards the end of the week, however after enjoying CAVOK flying conditions for many days, upon viewing the weather forecast I was concerned that the weather was deteriorating rapidly with thunderstorms forecast for the end of the week, so I decided that if Martin could prove to me that he was good enough, the test date would have to be the very next day.

So all day yesterday, I made Martin jump through hoops and my criteria was that only perfection would do!
We performed general handling all morning with a break for an excellent lunch at the airport restaurant.
We then set off for a practice test during the afternoon.Of course I was assessing my student all the time but Martin was blissfully unaware that tomorrow could be The Day.

My tactics with Martin were to keep him happily unaware that the test was looming!

My knowledge of his personality from past experience is that he never thinks that he is ready for the next hurdle;Today, I kept him blissfully unaware of the test until 5 minutes prior to Mikes arrival.

This morning I gave him the route to plan a practice test and I suggested that this test would be done strictly to mirror the real thing, so everything would be performed as it would be on test day.

Poor Martin, when he had finished everything and I had quizzed him on all sorts of things, he began to gather his things,ready to go to the plane,then I sprung it on him "yes Martin you are flying the test but it is not with me, this one is with Mike your examiner"!.

The look on his face at that moment was of total horror.

Two and a half hours later the look on his face had changed to ecstasy..... he had obtained his dream

A Private Pilot's Licence.

Another PPL Success at Nearlyheaven -----Well Done John !

2010-05-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

John Stevens gained his PPL yesterday with examiner Mike Grierson.

John has worked extremely hard to gain this success and I send my congratulations to him for his determination and dedication.

As many of you already know, John lives in France but works during the week days in the UK, therefore he is always short of time.He lives two hours drive from Limoges Airport ,so he has had to juggle his lifestyle and family life to obtain his dream of obtaining his PPL.

Many times last summer Gwen, Stine and I have brought our plane to his home airfield of Jonzac which has provided the ladies with navigation experience and saved John four hours drive for his flying lesson

John has his own aircraft a Grumman situated at Rochester and now he will be able to fully enjoy his new aquisitation and gain valuable experience in the air.

Good luck John go and enjoy your wings!

Grants for young Pilots obtaining PPL in France

2010-05-17T10:19:00.001-07:00

FFA Student Grants

Most French flying clubs insist that their members join the Fédération Française Aéronautique (FFA), primarily because of the legally-required public liability cover included as part of the membership—this is required for French-based pilots rather than those just ‘passing through’.

The FFA also play an active role in the promotion of French aviation generally and among young people in particular.

For aspiring pilots under 21, the FFA provide a series of grants to assist with the cost of learning to fly.

These are results-based awards and include the following:

First solo—305 euros

Ground examinations passed—305 euros

PPL awarded—610 euros

Mountain-flying qualifications awarded—305 euros

Aerobatics first stage qualification awarded—305 euros.

Contact me (info@nearlyheaven.com) for more information or consult the FFA web site directly—www.ff-aero.fr

I will be happy to apply for these grants on behalf of my own students.

Nearlyheaven at your service!

2010-05-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

This month has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows all caused by the one thing that we cannot change and that is the weather

Owing to the initial volcanic ash scenario my expected guests/student pilots could not leave Britain owing to the grounded flights, so I was forced into a temporary retirement situation.

Then out of the blue, a British student of mine Carl Pryce, telephoned me from Gibraltar with the hope that I could fly him back to England as he could not get home by any other means.

During his time trying to find a means of transport home to the UK, Carl had befriended two other stranded Britons, Yvonne and Steph, their last hope was for me to fly them home.

Lucia suggested that they catch a train from Barcelona to Limoges, as she had made this trip many times previously and the trains run every night.

The intrepid travellers made their way by bus to Barcelona, where they found to their disappointment that all the trains were fully booked. So the next plan was to search for a bus journey to France. Luckily, they caught another bus to Montpelier in the south of France and then a final bus journey to Rodez where I was waiting for them with F-GMKT.

These guys were very tired; most of these long bus journeys were undertaken at night without the luxury of beds etc.
They spent time in cafes trying to plan their route to Limoges it was very difficult because even the maps were sold out.

The scenery is most beautiful on the route from Rodez to Limoges and I got rather used to hearing "wow look at that chateau"

Carl was having such fun flying an aircraft again after a very long break.

We flew initially to Limoges where I hurriedly prepared the route to Rochester in the south of England. I telephoned another student John Stevens who works in England but comes home to France each weekend and I asked him if he was stranded in England., did he need transport back to France?

John jumped at the chance of flying back to France in KT and he very kindly offered to provide overnight accommodation for me at his home.

I filed our flight plan, and we were soon ready for takeoff, on our mission to return the travellers safely back to British soil.

Stephen (a school teacher) then had a trial flight from Limoges to Le Touquet ( not many people have a three hour trial flight!) After initial nervousness which was to be expected, he had never been in such a small aircraft before!, he settled down and thoroughly enjoyed this new experience.
He was determined to write a blog about this adventure for his class at school

The weather was very kind to us and we did not have any problems en route from Limoges to Le Touquet.
Yvonne declined the offer of a flight, she was happy watching the scenery and catching up on her sleep.

As usual we had a very strong crosswind at Le Touquet, we stopped to stretch our legs and pay our landing fee, then it was time to fly over the channel and on to Rochester. Carl was thrilled at the prospect of flying over water and he could not contain his huge grin when he climbed into the left hand seat.
When we flew over the coastline at Lydd there was a huge cheer-- they were home at last.

We had known that we would arrive at Rochester after the airport closing time; however, John Stevens had arranged all the details for us including permission to land after hours and eventually we touched down on the grass runway at about 7pm.

I had managed to get them all to the UK now they had to get back to their homes in the Midlands and Scotland but that is another story.

Hungry & Peckish by Gwen Jenner

2010-05-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Good weather plus a healthy appetite call for a foray into new eateries.
As last year's delectable menus were discovered new tables continue to wait to be discovered.
Visible from the A20 near Chateauroux we had often seen the roof of an old house with the name Relais St.Jaques painted on it. A large airfield nearby seemed to offer what we needed.

Bernard booked a table for us, Sue and my mother, the weather report was good and we looked forward to enjoying the restaurant's recommended offerings. Ken who had travelled over from China for a revalidation with Sue was able to join us and we whizzed up to Chateauroux in KiloTango and Yankee Alpha. Waiting for us on the very large runway, between the very large aircraft were the marshallers and a taxi. We were brought to the Relais doorstep, welcomed by the propietor and ushered to our table. Another mouth watering meal of various mis en bouches, seafood, venison, cheese and pud swallowed up the afternoon very quickly. The friendly lady taxi driver brought us back to our aircraft, which were too light to warrant landing fees. The marshallers once again ready to help us manoeuvre between the huge aeroplanes and as quickly as we arrived we were off en route home. Super way to end the week experiencing a new airfield and restaurant, with impeccable service.