Can I learn to fly a plane?

Look at something like the Flight Design CTSW for flight data, a very sleek microlight.

Quite a few around with shared ownership, rotax 912 engine sipping 12ltrs normal unleaded fuel per hour and 110 litre wing tanks can sure eat distances.

People still have visions of Microlights being them things with lawn mower engines,😂

Depends on quite a few things.

For example, commercial flying was my dream. But you must be 5ft 2” absolute minimum. I’m 2 inches too short to fulfill my dream. Gutted!

That's interesting. The PA28s I fly are really expensive to hire, you're looking at almost 200 an hour for the Warriors. We have a couple of Cessna 152s which are much cheaper to hire at something like £140.

I'm probably not going to be able to afford to hire more than once or twice a month so hiring/sharing a microlight might be a much better option.

I learnt to fly Microlights about 25 years ago, they are now outperforming most light aircraft at a fraction of the cost to run.

I have flown all over Europe over the years and had great adventures.

Join a Microlight group on Facebook and see what's in your area.

You can book a discovery flight to see how you like it before committing the cash to it. My oldest DC is too young to drive cars (and too young to solo) but well on their way to their PPL so you’d be just fine.

Sometimes it's very interesting to hear advice from people who are most likely female, with kids who are perhaps learning later in life.

Alot of the pilot Facebook groups are full of older men.
It's why I joined the BWPA.

A lot of questions about learning to fly in specialised forums are asked and answered by a very different demographic to Mumsnet. The barriers faced by a teenager who is planning to make flying their career are often different to women on this board who look to fly recreationally, who will need to consider kids, mortgage, etc.

If you're looking to eventually own a plane, leasing it to a flight school is one way to defray the cost. There's pros and cons to this arrangement but I wanted to highlight that it's a possibility.

My husband started as he was in the air cadets and wanted to join the Raf but wouldn't get in due to health problems. But hes majorly airplane mad, we've had compromise as classic cars are a bit more fitting with now having 2 kids. At least they can join in with classic cars.
His dad also has a licence.

It also starred getting harder and harder to get air time in the shared plane with his working hours as it booked up quickly at weekends. I think he only took me up about 3 times.

We're lucky as there's a strip about 1/2 mile from where he lived.

Probably because you keep banging on about the idea that most Mumsnet users don't have a pilot's licence when evidently there are lots of users that fly light aircraft.

Well said! I checked out a couple of pilot forums and the OPs there got a reply every 3-6 hours. Here there have been dozens of replies in a very short period of time.

And thanks for the reminder everyone, I've booked myself a flying lesson for Friday morning.

Microlights are cheaper, and the fixed wing sort are very similar to standard small aircraft. If you can fly a microlight you can fly anything! 😂

@Bellaboo01 the OP asked a question on a fairly niche topic on a busy board, got lots of responses to answer her question and ignited a conversation on aviation - and quite frankly how fantastic an organisation Air Cadets Is that so many of us experienced flying and received Pilots licenses before we had driving licenses.

If I had a Mumsnet account then I would ask on here first on just about any topic before making an account on a different, perhaps more specialised forum if I didn't get the answer I needed.

I could fly a plane before I could drive a car.

No-one did!

8 million unique visitors is very different from active users who contribute!

I won't forget that as i know that is an absolute fact. But, in no way did i ever under-estimate women or mention that they couldnt afford the training, why would you think that i did?

I still stand by the fact that i think that most people who are on Mumsnet AIBU forum dont hold a pilot's license!

Two of my DC started learning to fly at 14. Both could fly competently and solo before passing their driving tests!

Unfortunately DS was later diagnosed with epilepsy so that’s his flying career over.

You don’t need a driving licence. You would however need the means to travel to the air field (there are 3 within an hour of us, all in the middle of nowhere and not reachable without a car). You’d also need the aptitude to pass the written exams (but they aren’t that difficult - ATPL is when it gets hard, not PPL!) and a skip load of cash - hire with instruction here is £150/hour, £100/hour to hire the plane and fly solo. And you need a minimum amount of hours to get your licence. Plus a clean medical - worth getting that early so you don’t waste your money if you don’t pass for whatever reason.

My dh got his pilot’s license before his driving license. He was 17.3 when he got his pilot’s licence .

My 16 year old is learning, she will likely have her pilots licence before her car licence. She's ready to fly solo but can't take her test till she's 17. Be warned though, the cost is immense.

@whatshallonedo Flying is definitely nothing like driving a car. Even when you are taxing you use the throttle lever and rudder pedals to steer. Why not buy the first Air Pilot's Manual book and see if it's the hobby for you?

If the reason you don't have a driving licence is because it's too expensive, a pilot's licence is much more expensive plus, as a pp said upthread, you have to fly a certain amount of hours each year to maintain it. Whether you do this with your own plane or would need to hire a plane, it's still very expensive. If you don't have a licence because you don't like or are too nervous driving, then flying a plane may not be for you. It's not a free-for-all in the skies, there are many rules and regulations about where you can go and you have to be alert constantly and be able to react very quickly if necessary (which is also true for driving, but you don't tend to plummet out of the sky so much).
My dh flies, I say flies but well over half his time at the airfield is spent on maintenance, repairs, wondering whether the weather is flyable or will be flyable soon or cursing the wind for being across the runway. Other than that, it's a great hobby!

@BeckyBloomwood3

A Quick Google shows quite a few pilot forums with boards for amateurs. Similarly, 'learn to fly' FB groups……

No idea why OP decided Mumsnet was the best first port of call, but OK..

For info some of the pilot forums aren’t the most welcoming, and a lot of the info needs treating with a great deal of skepticism.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that there’s money to be made in trying to sell people flying training courses.

I’d hope the chances are basic advice on this topic on Mumsnet is likely to be objective (unless someone here runs a flying school), and TBH getting info from multiple sources is rarely a bad thing.

I think more people than you might think are either learning or have people close to them who fly.

Don't forget most women here have six figure salaries to afford the training for a licence 😉

@Karatema Thanks, I didn't know about the minimum landings (and presumably take offs?).

It's about a 20 min walk from the airport station to the flying club where I fly OP. How hard is it to get to your local airfield by public transport, OP?

I know a few people who have private licenses, you have to put in a lot of hours and it’s quite restricted on what and where you can fly. They don’t have their own planes but have a 50% share in one to cut costs.

OMG - this has nothing to do with Women. Of course Women can fly etc etc.

My point is that the majority of people on 'Mumsnet AIBU' though (which could be male/ female etc) i am assuming don't have a pilot's license.