Can I learn to fly a plane?

[whatshallonedo]

I don't know where to post this but I hope it is ok here and that I can get answers

I haven't got a driving license but wondering if I can take flying lessons to fly small planes or AIBU?

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.

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

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.

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!

No-one did!

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

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

@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.

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! 😂

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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,😂