Absolutly Gutted

Thats bad news Doyley..... you'll just have to stick to FS, it's safer anyway! 😉

Doyley wrote:

I was supposed to have my first flying lesson today but the weather is bad so they have moved it to Thursday.

Sorry to hear this dear Doyley,but think that at the end you are going to take your lesson.
There are a lot of people here, they wish to have flight lessons but probably they will never manage to do it...

Well, I hope you can have your flying lesson as soon as possible. I don´t get why they don´t let you fly in bad weather. You have an instructor next to you, so you´re safe. And if you don´t let you fly in bad weather, when are you going to learn how to fly in bad weather? Later? Possible...But why not at first time? You need to know how flying in bad weather looks like. Ok, maybe you have to do some training, but there´s an instructor next to you.

Doyley wrote:

I was supposed to have my first flying lesson today but the weather is bad so they have moved it to Thursday.

Where was you going to take your lesson?

Lessons like this need good VMC. There could be many reasons why not to fly such as crosswind limits, low ceiling etc. You will enjoy it more on a nice day...not much to see on a poor day!

That's right, PH. But it's also fun to fly in a rainy, cloudy, or windy day. It's a challenge you want to accomplish.

So true! I prefer flying in the "murk" but just trying to point out for people new to real world flying the nicer the better!

Yeah, I agree with that. We all want in our first flying lesson to look at the scenery from above and the beautiful blue sky with a shiny sun. 😉

flyaway wrote:

Doyley wrote:

I was supposed to have my first flying lesson today but the weather is bad so they have moved it to Thursday.

Where was you going to take your lesson?

Liverpool flying school, taking off from John Lennon Airport (EGGP).

Hopefully the weather will be better on Thursday.

Sorry to hear of the delay but envy you for opportunity to do the real thing. 👍 Keep the dirty side down. 😀

Re the question whether to have your first lesson in inclement weather or not -- what happened to the adage "Learn to walk before you run"?

Agus0404 wrote:

That's right, PH. But it's also fun to fly in a rainy, cloudy, or windy day. It's a challenge you want to accomplish.

Not on your very fist lesson! Everything you do when getting your PPL is supposed to be in VFR conditions. Without an Insturment Rating your not even allowed to go into the clouds. Although the CFI is PIC, your essentially the one doing the flying.

Wait until you have hundrerds of hours under your belt like the CFI's do. By then though, you will realize that on your very first lesson you DONT want to be taking someone up when the weather is bad. Its not necessarily fun and chances are you will be death gripping the yoke the whole time.

Doyley wrote:

flyaway wrote:

Doyley wrote:

I was supposed to have my first flying lesson today but the weather is bad so they have moved it to Thursday.

Where was you going to take your lesson?

Liverpool flying school, taking off from John Lennon Airport (EGGP).

Hopefully the weather will be better on Thursday.

Lessons were grounded at my local airfield today also, Stapleford (EGSG) in Essex. It's supposed to be raining all week, tomorrow and Thursday - Friday is set to be clearer.

Would rain stop flying? I thought it would be the wind which was pretty strong round here today, there was also some fog.

I look at the weather for Thursday - Scattered showers, broken clounds, winds slower than today so fingers crossed it will go ahead.

VMC Visual meteorological conditions
These conditions are as follows:

· AT & ABOVE FL100 Class B,D,E,F,G: 8km visibility and 1500m Horizontally & 1000' vertically from cloud

· BELOW FL100 Class D,E,F,G: 5km visibility and 1500m Horizontally & 1000’ vertically from cloud

· AT OR BELOW 3000’ Class F,G: As above or

· at speeds > 140kts: 5km visibility and Clear of cloud and in sight of the surface

· at speeds 140kts or less: 1500m visibility and Clear of cloud and in sight of the surface

Rain it self is not the problem. Visibility and being able to maintain the minimum Clearance from clouds for legal a safety reasons. These are minimum requirements. I had to research them because they are different than the US. The altitudes are AGL. Here is a link for airspace.

http://www.flytandem.com/airspace.htm 🙂

matt7723 wrote:

Agus0404 wrote:

That's right, PH. But it's also fun to fly in a rainy, cloudy, or windy day. It's a challenge you want to accomplish.

Not on your very fist lesson! Everything you do when getting your PPL is supposed to be in VFR conditions. Without an Insturment Rating your not even allowed to go into the clouds. Although the CFI is PIC, your essentially the one doing the flying.

Wait until you have hundrerds of hours under your belt like the CFI's do. By then though, you will realize that on your very first lesson you DONT want to be taking someone up when the weather is bad. Its not necessarily fun and chances are you will be death gripping the yoke the whole time.

I understand what you are saying, and I agree with that.

Re the question whether to have your first lesson in inclement weather or not -- what happened to the adage "Learn to walk before you run"?

That is true. My point was that in a demo flight, most people want a challenge. I mean a person´s first demo flight. Taking the plane off is already a challenge, and don´t even think about the landing. Some people like challenges and some not. Flying through turbulences in your first flight could be something enjoyable.

Looking at this point in a different point of view: When I got my driver´s license my mom told me not to drive in a rainy day. My dad heard that and he said "when is he going to learn how to drive in a rainy day if you don´t let him drive now?" She also used to tell me not to drive during the night. I´ve learnt that by myself...

Doyley wrote:

Would rain stop flying? I thought it would be the wind which was pretty strong round here today, there was also some fog.

I look at the weather for Thursday - Scattered showers, broken clounds, winds slower than today so fingers crossed it will go ahead.

For the beginner lessons, rain and visibility are an issue also. As matt7723 said, VFR is important. When you progress on your PPL course, you can go up in light winds crossing the field to practise your x-wind landings - fun fun 🙂

From what I remember, they take lessons up in little 152's when the wind is below 20kts... I'm not entirely sure though.

Forecast for EGGP tomorrow

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=EGGP

My lesson is at 10.30am.

Still got my fingers crossed 😀

flyaway wrote:

From what I remember, they take lessons up in little 152's when the wind is below 20kts... I'm not entirely sure though.

Its in a little piper tomahawk... thats the panel in my signature 😀

Doyley wrote:

flyaway wrote:

From what I remember, they take lessons up in little 152's when the wind is below 20kts... I'm not entirely sure though.

Its in a little piper tomahawk... thats the panel in my signature 😀

The first time I went up was in a Cessna 152 - a few lessons later I asked to take up the PA-28 (with wings on the fuslage). They fly totally different from each other; the PA-28 seems more stable and smooth while the 152 seems more responsive and "nippy" with faster movements.

Definitely take up a Cessna at some point, compare the two... my old instructor said if you can fly a Cessna 152, you can fly anything. 🙂

flyaway wrote:

Definitely take up a Cessna at some point, compare the two... my old instructor said if you can fly a Cessna 152, you can fly anything. 🙂

Hehe, one of the of the untold secrets of aviation is that the bigger the plane, the easier it is to fly. Once you have the basics down you can pretty much fly anything. Bigger planes really, for lack of a better term, stick where you put them.C-152's are REALLY light and get tossed around even by the smallest bump.

Ouuuu - I have got my first lesson on Sat at 10am - hope it will be ok.

I am going up in a 152- Fingers Crossed!

Yeah good look with it 😀

I dont know if he will let me take some pics or if I will get chance but if I can ill post them on here.

Doyley wrote:

Yeah good look with it 😀

I dont know if he will let me take some pics or if I will get chance but if I can ill post them on here.

He will. If they say no, just remind them who's paying. 😛

Hopefully lessons cancellations wont get to the extent that it got to for me - 6 cancellation in a row! 😂

Definitely worth it in the end though. 😉

EGGP 090609Z 090716 16006KT 9999 SCT020 BKN040 TEMPO 1316 6000 RA BKN014
Thats the TAF so looks OK for your flight bit of cloud around but light winds and good vis...until 1300!

Enjoy!

Current metar:

EGGP 090820Z 13007KT 9999 SCT019 BKN040 07/04 Q0997

Yeah ive been watching the weather closely, im only a few miles from the airport and its seems to be getting brighter and brighter. #im going to call them in about 10 mins....fingers still crossed

ooo they have just phoned me, they want me to go half an hour earlier as there is rain later but its all go at the minute 😀 😀

Well I did it and I must say it was the most fantastic thing I have ever done in my life. Everybody must try this, it is absolutely amazing.

I did everything, the taxiing, take-off, climbing, cruising, decent, approach and landing. He had his hands on the controls during take-off and landing just in case I needed help but I was doing the flying. It really is unbelievable!!!

I cant wait to get up there and do it again.

The controls are sooo sensitive compared to FS. The tiniest movement on the yoke and your off. I cant stress enough how enjoyable it is. Im on a real high now 😀 😀

I could work the rudders great which I was worried about because of my right knee but he said when I have a medical that they will probably leave it up to the flying school and he said there isnt a problem with the way im using it.

He said he was really impressed with the way I flew due to my experience with FS. He tried to mess me up a few times by setting the throttle to idle and trimming the wheel all the way down or up and turning the yoke throwing me off course but I managed to get out of everything he did. One thing he did tell me off for though was using the instruments rather than looking outside as it was supposed to be VFR. Force of habit with FS lol.

Congratulations! We are all happy for you 🍻

Congratulations Doyley!! You sound that you really had fun.

👍 👍 👍

Cheers all,

Sorry I never got any pics but I was really concentrating on the plane so I never got chance, ill try and get some next time im up there.

Ive booked my second lesson for next Monday... Fingers crossed for good weather 😀

Best wishes for clear weather for you dear Doyley. ❗ ❗ ❗

If there is a chance of taking some shots we all be very happy share them with us. 😉

good luck 😀 😀

👏

Cheers guys, I will try my best to get some photos, I would like some to, but I cant promise anything. If its anything like my last lesson I didnt take my hands of the yoke once - well apart from when he was showing me about the trim wheel 😀

Great work mate, you sounded like you loved it. Yep, FS teaches you to look at the instruments too much - my instructor often points it out to me in my lessons. 😉