AIRWINGS RECREATIONAL FLYING SCHOOL
INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION ABOUT
RECREATIONAL FLYING
&
FLIGHT TRAINING
INTRODUCTION
This introductory guide provides basic information on Recreational flying, requirements, costs, how to become involved & what our School & business has to offer.
PARTICIPATION WARNING
Under current situations I am obliged to warn you that despite the ongoing efforts of Recreational Aviation Australia, regulation & surveillance by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to ensure the highest possible standards are maintained, Recreational flying in common with all “Adventure Sports” is potentially hazardous. People therefore participate at their own personal risk.
THE WORLD OF RECREATIONAL AIRCRAFT
The availability of lightweight, high power output engines enabled a totally new concept in aviation which put flying within the reach of the average person, at affordable costs & within a much more relaxed recreational atmosphere which General Aviation has steadily drawn away from since its early flying club days.
From the early 1980’s & the time of “minimum aircraft” which amounted to home-built collections of open tubes & spartan appointments, the range of Ultralight /Recreational types is ever broadening & becoming more sophisticated. You may still access the basic machines but increasingly we are finding a distinct overlap between Recreational & General Aviation to the extent that many machines could be registered in either category & the hours you fly in either category will be recognized by the other.
The man on the land has found in today’s Recreational aircraft a sensible alternative for the property motor cycle & ute, just as those machines have largely supplanted the horse.
SELF ADMINISTRATING
The rapid growth of Recreational flying is mainly about freedom – a freedom which attracted so many who rejected the concept that flying training should be founded on the assumption that any student pilot is potentially a commercial pilot & is trained accordingly. Our flying school treats you as a normal human being who wants to fly for pleasure – yet still achieves a high standard of piloting ability & knowledge whilst doing so. This is a base you can progress from if you wish, but we do not make that assumption for you.
In Australia, Recreational flying does not give you a flying license – it gives you a Pilot Certificate. In practical terms there is little between the two. In ethical terms they are worlds apart. We are run, not by a government department, but by ourselves. We have Recreational Aviation Australia, R.A.A. which is controlled by a Board of Management which you & I elect to office to look after our interests. That central body is supported by a small group of paid specialists who keep the central office running & ensure continuing standards in flying operations & airworthiness.
We are able to do this because we have been entrusted with exemptions from the normal flying regulations & have replaced these with our own which the government has approved. Today’s Recreational pilot is not some untrained “cowboy” operating out of a back paddock, but is a responsible person voluntarily meeting as much regulation & responsibility as anyone else – knowing that by doing so we will retain the priceless freedoms we have won.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
To be trained & fly in R.A.A., registered aircraft you must be a financial member of R.A.A. & hold at least a Student Pilot’s Certificate (see “Getting Started” below for introductory schemes). The schools must operate manufactured & certified training aircraft which are maintained to a standard. The flying schools have to meet strict standards & are inspected regularly. Instructors have to hold formal qualifications & are also checked regularly.
You must be at least 15 years of age to hold a Student Pilot Certificate & fly solo. There is no upper age limit. To hold a Pilot Certificate you must complete a minimum of 20 hours training of which 5 hours must be as Pilot in Command (solo). If you have prior flying experience then this may reduce the minimum requirement (see under Conversions).
With your Pilot Certificate you are automatically awarded an R.A.A. Level 1 Maintenance Authority which enables you to service & repair your own aircraft. At this point you may authorize your own flying within a 25 nautical mile radius of your home airfield, to a height of 5000’ (up to 10,000’ in certain circumstances) but you may not enter controlled airspace.
PILOT CERTIFICATE ENDORSEMENTS
Once you have your Pilot Certificate you may go on to broadening what you are able to do. There are 3 major endorsements at present – Passenger Carrying, Radio Operator & Cross Country.
PASSENGER CARRYING requires you to have 10 hours as Pilot in Command with a certain amount of this being on an approved R.A.A. 2 seater, plus pass a check flight with an R.A.A. Chief Flying Instructor. This will allow you to carry friends & relatives with you.
THE RADIO OPERATOR endorsement will require some study & practical work & then passing an R.A.A. examination & practical test. This endorsement enables you to use an aircraft radio & communicate with other aircraft & ground stations. Having an aircraft radio in Recreational aircraft is not mandatory up to 5,000 ft but is becoming increasingly more important. This is a useful endorsement & can be gained concurrently with your basic flying training.
THE CROSS COUNTRY endorsement allows you to fly anywhere in Australia below 5,000’ (10,000’ if
conditions are met) outside of controlled airspace. The minimum requirement is 3 hours of dual cross country flight training, 2 hours of solo cross country training & pass an examination. In practical terms most people require an amount of classroom work to come to terms with the task. At present there are no night flying, aerobatic or instrument flying endorsements available in Recreational flying.
CONVERSIONS
Please note that some G.A. pilots become confused about Recreational aircraft. The PPL allows flight in aircraft below 5600 kg – but this means a VH registered aircraft under the CASA control system. The license does not allow you to go & fly a balloon or glider, neither does it cover Recreational aircraft. Recreational flying is controlled by the R.A.A. system, carries an R.A.A. registration & has its own legal ordinance. Part of that ordinance requires you to be an R.A.A. member & carry an R.A.A. Certificate to fly Recreational aircraft.
If you have prior Gliding or General Aviation experience to the extent of 20 hours of which 5 hours are as Pilot in Command, then the minimum requirement becomes 5 hours experience on Recreational aircraft of which 1 hour must be as Pilot in Command. You must also satisfy an R.A.A. Chief Flying Instructor that you are conversant with the flying training syllabus – particularly the handling of high drag, low inertia aircraft.
If you already carry Radio Operator &/or Cross Country endorsements then R.A.A. will accept these without further training or testing if they are from a recognized source.
MEDICAL & HEALTH
The basic medical requirement is being able to state that you are of sufficient health standard to hold a car driver’s license. This significant concession allows people to fly who would otherwise be grounded in General Aviation. The only change to this is Instructors – who must hold a valid General Aviation Pilot’s medical certificate.
General health considerations are basically common sense. Do not fly when under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Some medications could present problems so consult your doctor if in doubt. You should avoid flying when taking drugs which affect your orientation, vision or alertness (e.g. in the latter case some anti-histamines cause drowsiness). If you wear bifocal glasses, or have just changed your glasses, it may be wise to check that your vision is o.k. This is not particularly visual acuity but more about any impairment to height (& changing height) perception near the ground..
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
You should spend a little time reflecting on why you want to learn to fly or convert to Recreational flying. This is important for practical reasons I will come to, but overall the objectives people set out with often change after they have some practical experience. Having a reasonable idea of what you want to do & why you want to do it, should have an important bearing on the school you choose for your training. In addition the following section briefly discusses different types of Recreational aircraft (& there are many) – so this should also influence your decision on what type you train in. Finally, we strongly suggest that you do not buy an aircraft before you have practical experience by which your personal goals can firm up a little.
WHAT TYPE OF RECREATIONAL AIRCRAFT?
A little time will be spent on this one because your personal conception of what Recreational aircraft is, may be a long way removed from what any particular school has to offer for training. If you do not train on something matching what you want to eventually do, then you could waste a great deal of money, be generally unhappy in training & so not learn as well as you might. You may also find you are up for considerable extra training to reach your personal target.
Recreational aircraft fall into 2 main categories – Tri Axis Control (normal aircraft control with stick, ailerons & rudder) & Weight Shift Control (where the aircraft is steered as a result of moving the pilot weight relative to the wing).
In the latter case there are 2 main Recreational aircraft categories – the Powered Hang Glider (usually known as Trikes) & the Powered Parachute (or Aerochute). In both cases the crew pod & engine are suspended below a wing or canopy. These are exposed aircraft, quite slow & are also a bit physical in how they are controlled.
In the Tri Axis area there are again broadly 2 sections. We may term one “Traditional Style” Recreational aircraft which by nature are high drag & low inertia. The other we may term “De-Facto G.A.” & these tend to be larger, heavier, cleaner & more expensive.
In 3 short paragraphs, I have given you 5 major choices – for you will now face what trainers are available to learn to fly on at schools you can reach. There is not much point learning to fly on a fast, glass fibre Jabiru Tri Axis when your leanings are toward Trike style of flying (the controls work the other way around for a start). At the same time if your concept of Recreational aircraft is a Jabiru, then you are going to be less than happy with meeting a Trike. Just because a school is a Recreational flying school does not mean it has the Recreational aircraft which matches your personal goals.
Generally there are trainers about for the various main categories. There are less Trike schools than Tri Axis & equally there are very few Powered Parachute schools. The majority of people go for Tri Axis & there are a couple of wrinkles here to consider. The considerations again depend on your personal goals.
If you are aiming at low cost, simple, local flying – then you need a “Traditional” style Recreational aircraft trainer to prepare you for this. If you train on something more slippery & heavier, then you may need additional training to prepare you for what you later buy. If you train on a “Traditional” trainer with your eventual sights on something more up the ladder, then your conversion to the larger & faster machines is far easier.
If your intention is to get something relatively large & fast – or just continue hiring the school aircraft, then you should look for schools which provide the class of aircraft you are interested in.
You should also be aware that Tri Axis aircraft, as a group, are divided into 2 quite separate additional categories, no matter their price, size etc. This is Nosewheel & Tailwheel aircraft. The Nosewheel aircraft stands on the ground in a level attitude with its weight supported by a largish nosewheel & 2 mainwheels further aft. The Tailwheel (or Taildragger) has 2 main wheels well forward, a light tailwheel & sits on the ground in a tail down attitude.
GETTING STARTED
If I have given you too much information & you are now unsure of exactly what you want to do & what you want to do it in, then there are practical means of making up your mind.
Visit a couple of schools, see what aircraft they have & try a Trial Instructional Flight (TIF). You do not have to join the R.A.A. to do this – there is no outlay other than the flight fee. However, be aware – the TIF can be translated as Trial Introductory Flight, which is little more than a sampling joy ride. At AIRWINGS we give you a 20 minute pre-flight briefing & about 25 minutes in the air, most of which you will spend on the controls. Our intent is to enable you to sample our instructions as much as our aircraft & airfield.
When you start training you may have 3 hours flight instruction before you make a decision to continue. At that point, you must join the R.A.A. or give it away.
Your actual training will depend on 3 main elements – (a). What you want & if local schools have that aircraft category. (b) What you can afford. (c) How much time you have.
SOME PRACTICAL HINTS ON TRAINING
You basically have 3 choices – (a) You will train via “casual” visits to a local school (perhaps visit once or twice per week or fortnight). (b) If you cannot get what you want locally you will go somewhere else, perhaps a distance away & stay for a period of intensive training (maybe 1, 2 or 3 weeks). (c) You strike a compromise & perhaps start with a short course for basics, continue with casual training locally, then finish off with a further short course.
Do not fall into the trap of just dividing the minimum 20 hours flying training by days – you have fatigue levels. In our experience you will not withstand much more than 2 hours intensive basic flying training per day, in conjunction with the ground lectures we give & the homework we also give. You can certainly do more, but it will not be value for money training – only flying time. The bottom line is not how many hours you have done but a standard on what you are doing – how well you are doing it. It is the standard that has to be reached, not just the minimum hours & you will have to do as many hours as that takes – without adding non-productive hours to it.
You should also think of the “two steps forward, one step back” if you are casual training. Regularity of attendance is critical to your training progress. This makes you more vulnerable to weather. If you lose 2 consecutive weeks due to bad weather on your “flying day” then it will actually be nearly a month between flights. Flexibility in attendance is important when casual flying, to keep you current & progressing.
On courses you should also think of the “skills most quickly learnt are those most quickly lost” aspect. You should structure your finances so when you return from a course you can continue keeping in regular flying practice. Bear in mind that an aircraft is not a car – you cannot pull over & have a think about things, once you go then you have to complete a flight & the consequent landing which requires you to be in practice. Holding a Pilot’s Certificate is only a demonstration of competence reached – not an assurance you can have a big lay-off & then be as good as you were when you were flying every day, unless you are very experienced.
Another important factor in your flying training – in terms of both value for money & your eventual standard – is support training. Most people do not realize that maybe 90% of flying instruction happens on the ground where there is time to ensure your understanding & preparation for the intensive bursts of time you actually spend in the air. It is essential that your flying is fully supported by lectures, pre flight & post flight briefings. In turn these should be conjoined with reference & study material so you can learn & revise at your own pace in your own time.
Weather conditions also have a large bearing on value for money & progress. Recreational aircraft are lightso they get bounced around in turbulence. When you are coming to terms with controlling an aircraft you need to be able to see clearly the results of your inputs, without the air obscuring the situation by making the aircraft do the opposite to what your are attempting.
A good pointer to how well any school actually understands & controls training, is the length of each flight lesson. The majority of human beings have learning limitations which result in a marked slow down of absorption & an increase in error, after about 35 minutes engaged with the current exercise. Yet most schools will fly you for a set 1 hour period – usually for booking & economic reasons. You obtain far more value by getting out for a break after 35-40 minutes in your basic training & then having another session. Note however, that in some schools they have to fly for an hour or more because so much time is spent on the ground taxiing or waiting in line for other aircraft. In this case you can be in the aircraft for that long because you are not doing very much, but you are of course, paying for it.
At AIRWINGS we offer both casual & course flying & tailor the training to individual requirements – you will only get what you need. We use powerful, conceptual instruction methods in conjunction with lectures, briefings & the School’s integrated briefing note series. Our airport is large but the design ensures you do not waste heaps of time taxiing, so you can get on with repeat circuit work without being slowed down by other traffic.
CHOOSING A SCHOOL
The main problem any new student faces is that by definition, they will know very little about flying & particularly the mechanics of flying training. This does not put you in a very good position to make decisions when you are just about to invest a fair amount of your money.
As students have little choice – assumptions tend to be made. The most common one is that all schools & instructors are fundamentally the same, therefore a choice can be made, for example, based on the most attractive price, whereas actual value for money should be the determining factor. Certainly all schools have to meet the same set standard, but how they do this is very much up to them.
The foregoing notes will have given you some ideas on key areas which will effect the value of your training in standards, money & human terms. We will now give you some general advice on how you can employ that information.
Your most valuable information source is word of mouth referral from people who have similar goals & outlooks to yourself. They have been “hands on” & will know how the interface with the school felt like subjectively as well as objectively.
If you do not have such an information source then you will have to make decisions for yourself. The first step is finding a school that has an aircraft type suitable to your intentions & which has a location to meet your travel & time needs.
You now need to get a “feel” for how the school will work for you – is it a bit cold & commercial, or friendly & “clubby” or somewhere in between. You could take a TIF to try them out, but also spend some time watching the operation & studying the general activity on the airfield. See how they handle their students & talk to those students to get their impressions. At AIRWINGS we run a small & exclusive school & we work in a lot of different areas. So if you want to look us over, then give us a call or send us an email. We will tell you the best time to come so you can have a yarn with our students &/or allocate some time so we can chat & show you around.
You may not be able to do much assessment by a visit if you intend traveling some distance to a course. In this case an important factor is to assess how much the school is trying to inform you & help you, versus how much “selling the product takes precedence”. In our case we are rather blunt. We would sooner take the time to give you information to make valid decisions on, than have you here for our product when you do not actually need it. That would only waste your time & ours – better to sort it out now.
In addition to the above, you should be given a reasonable idea of what is going to happen to you. At AIRWINGS you will receive one on one training with the same instructor, namely myself.
We will put you in a co-ordinated programme of lectures, briefings & flying. You will be given homework, using briefing notes (available for purchase at the School) & used for revision or initial penetration of new exercises. These programmes are individually designed for your particular needs as a person in conjunction with whatever stage you may have reached.
Weather conditions permitting, we will conduct training from “first light until “last light”. We will not fly you in turbulence until you are proficient at the controls & have confidence in how the aircraft responds to your own inputs & can therefore work out how the turbulence is affecting the machine.
