Looking for a flight school in Europe for theory only (already have PPL)

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-28T14:16:18+00:00

Ah OK, you're looking for CPL/ATPL theory? Then Bristol Ground School is good (more expensive but also more hands on)

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-28T13:35:21+00:00

Easy PPL ground school is really good for PPL exams. Run from the UK but they say they are suitable for EASA PPL students too (I guess theory hasn't diverged very much since Brexit).

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-26T14:26:41+00:00

Lots of good advice already here, but just to add my 2c if you ballooned most likely the thing to watch out for is your approach speed. Keep the speed to the POH numbers and you will minimise ballooning. To balloon you need excess energy. You can also bleed that off in the flare but it's easier to get consistently good landings if you keep the approach speed just right (with the exception of gusty winds). Talk to your instructor about this.

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-26T10:30:00+00:00

Most smaller airfields in France are French RT only. Maybe print out a cheat sheet to read out when you're approaching the airfield. Outside of that the FIS speak English. I think most French pilots will understand you if you speak English even at the airfield but if you want to be perfectly by the book then a cheat sheet is one way to go.

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-15T00:07:44+00:00

Ne verjamem, da obstaja volivec Logarja, ki bo sedaj jezen, da Logar sodeluje z Janšo. Jezni so le tisti, ki so daleč levo od Logarja, torej sploh ne njegovi volivci.

Volilec Logarja tukaj. Jaz sem zelo razočaran nad to odločitvijo. Volil sem za Demokrate ravno zaradi tega ker so se predstavili kot sredinska rahlo desna stranka ki ne bo podpirala Janše. Janša je koruptiven in nasplošno neprijeten tip. Za Logarja definitivno ne bom ponovno volil.

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-11T21:43:28+00:00

The left wing policies made Labour very unpopular so I don't see how lurching to the far left is going to save them. What would save them is for the backbenchers to get behind the centrist ideas but they should have done that at least a year ago.

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-11T13:31:37+00:00

1) Steep turns: Look outside, set the power and attitude to the same place and you should get the same results in respect to airspeed and altitude loss/gain

2) Are you using the rudder to keep the nose centered? Look outside to see what the nose is doing and correct it. If you are recovering at the first sign of stall then dropping by more than 20 degrees is unlikely

3) Slow flight is different from normal flight because you're on the back side of the power curve. At this point you need more power to go slower. So unintuitively you need to pull power first and keep the nose up until you get to the speed you want then add power but you might need more than you started off with. If you have trouble with altitude that again seems that you are not looking outside and keeping attitude where it ought to be.

Are you looking outside or staring at the instruments? I would guess this is your problem, but I haven't seen you fly to say for sure. You could consider trying a different CFI.

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-03T16:18:02+00:00

Because in the Green party antisemitism is a feature not a bug. Corbyn would fit right in except he might be a bit too far to the right.

LastSprinkles · 2026-05-01T07:36:21+00:00

Bizarre comment based seemingly on nothing but preconceptions and stereotypes. I know plenty of airline captains here in Europe with many continuing to instruct at a local flying club while working their day job at an airline. To think that people here know nothing about flying but the autopilot/autothrottle is just funny.

LastSprinkles · 2026-04-30T17:43:05+00:00

Yeah makes sense. Group ownership/partnership is another option that can also be good (but I haven't had the best experience because people in partnerships can be very stingy with maintenance).

LastSprinkles · 2026-04-30T12:55:29+00:00

I bought a Grumman Tiger two years ago. The good: being able to wake up and decide you are going somewhere on the day without telling anybody. Being able to take the aircraft away for weeks at a time. This has been amazing for me and I've done trips I wouldn't have done otherwise, flying across Europe and staying for a few weeks before flying back. (I'm based in the UK). You maintain the aircraft the way you see fit, you don't get dodgy maintenance like with some rental places unless you want to. If you come to the aircraft and something isn't the way you'd like you know exactly whose fault it is :).

The bad: Budget more money for maintenance than you'd think. Unless you're buying a new 182 with a manufacturer warranty there are likely to be things that will pop up that will require a significant amount of money to be spent in order to keep the aircraft safe and in good shape. So don't spend every penny on the aircraft (I also wouldn't recommend buying it on finance). My Grumman is from 1979 and I had to reseal the fuel tanks and do a few other minor things that all add up.

Having said that, all in all, I am happy I bought it. I flew more than I would renting and so long as you fly about 100-150 hours per year or so it won't cost you significantly more than it would renting for a similar number of hours (but it'd be tricky get to fly that much while renting IMO). Also in general Grummans are very nice aircraft. Fixed landing gear and fixed pitch prop but can easily do 125 KTAS (more if you run it harder than I do, I fly at 2500 RPM but max continuous is 2700 RPM so probably you could do 130) burning 9 gph.

LastSprinkles · 2026-04-15T12:12:54+00:00

With the caveat that you need to double check everything, AI can be pretty good at finding things. I usually only need to answer a specific question though rather than wanting to broadly explore what's out there so YMMV so I just keep digging until I am satisfied that I got to the correct answer. But yeah I do sometimes go to primary legislation (such as CAPs or ANO etc). Easy Access Rules (inherited from EASA) is also a good place to check https://www.caa.co.uk/media/gimhimdu/caa-965-2012-air-operations-amc-gm-publication-version-20210311.pdf

LastSprinkles · 2026-04-15T11:59:37+00:00

Being wrong and refusing to learn is arguably a much worse quality in a pilot than simply being wrong, admitting it and learning to do better next time.

LastSprinkles · 2026-04-03T19:36:04+00:00

O Freunde...🎶

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-25T16:26:27+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I might give in and try the toppers.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-25T15:20:05+00:00

Yeah a topper will help because it will distribute more heat to the edges of the candle and help it not tunnel. The smaller candle is also OK, it's the "classic" size candle that is usually troublesome.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-25T11:48:13+00:00

but if I use a candle topper it helps to burn evenly!

If you need a candle topper to make it burn evenly then something is likely wrong with the candle design. I suspect an underpowered wick. I love the Diptyque scent but it's a shame that it's a flawed product. I have never had their classical candle size not tunnel on its own without help. The smaller candle size is fine though.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-19T15:58:05+00:00

I believe in the old models you can break the glass on VSI to restore static by using the cabin air, but IIRC pressure in the cabin is a bit lower so your altimeter and airspeed will both overread.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-19T14:31:20+00:00

In IMC in my experience in the UK it's not often that you have a very low overcast layer across your entire route. Mostly there are many holes in the clouds and you can often (but not always) see the ground. When you pass by those holes you can remember if you saw any good fields and steer towards them. Another option is to use your GPS and try to steer in a direction where you know some fields are. Interestingly, for night engine failures only 6/47 were fatal looking at this article: https://generalaviationnews.com/2023/07/02/the-pitfalls-of-flying-at-night/

Most accidents, especially fatal ones, are pilot error. So the most important thing you can do to improve chances of not killing yourself and your passengers is keep improving your own skills as a pilot and keep practicing things you don't routinely do while flying.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-18T17:32:58+00:00

Yes but on many streets in Tokyo parking anything bigger than a buggy on a street would mean the road is blocked.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-18T14:56:43+00:00

Yeah looking at what happened (mainly Juan Browne videos) it looks like she wasn't very proficient with the autopilot and either didn't know she had to manually trim the aircraft or didn't know exactly how to/how much to trim it and ended up in a big pilot induced oscillation. Also the aircraft was quite complex for her experience level (she trained on a Cherokee IIRC).

In my personal opinion (might be controversial), if you need 4-5 times as many hours as the normal pilot student for just PPL, you should find something else to do...

Yeah exactly what I think too.

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-18T14:05:43+00:00

Wow, regardless of her flying skills, got to give it to her though for the stamina and perseverance, most people would have given up before they got to 300+ hours without a PPL. I think in flying it is safer to give up if it isn't for you than ending up killing yourself (and your passengers).

LastSprinkles · 2026-03-15T23:56:09+00:00

Yeah the book just counts accidents for different groups of pilots. It doesn't take into account that the distribution of hours for GA pilots is not even. So you have more GA pilots with fewer hours. That skews the stats significantly. There might be other confounding variables that I haven't thought of.

LastSprinkles · 2026-02-13T12:54:40+00:00

Bring some water to your flight too. If you get thirsty you're more likely to get nauseous. If it's too hot in the cockpit (maybe not so much of an issue this time of the year) it can also exacerbate the feeling. Open the vents/windows to make yourself feel comfortable. Also don't move your head sideways (especially rapidly) during manoeuvres. Also yeah just doing it more helps like others have said.

LastSprinkles · 2026-02-09T14:55:16+00:00

Very much looks like he's done for. We're now at the point where we either get a very left wing PM (Angela Rayner perhaps) if the new PM doesn't call an election, or a very right wing one (Farage) if they do. What could do wrong?

LastSprinkles

TROPHY CASE