The Real Flying Company

Learning to fly and obtaining your pilot's licence - just a dream? It need not be. We offer flight training by professional and experienced instructors in our modern Piper Warrior, dual-controlled aircraft. Courses are structured to suit all needs and time scales.

How To Obtain A Private Pilot's Licence (PPL)
Applicants for a PPL issue must be at least 17 years of age, however a student can begin logging flying time for licence issue at 14 years of age (dual only). There is no upper age limit for obtaining a PPL, provided the applicant can pass a Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR) medical. The course is based upon the standard Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) recommended syllabus, which consists of both flight training and theory tuition.

Flight Training
The minimum amount of flying hours required for issue of a PPL is 45. These hours will include:

A minimum of 25 hours under dual instruction
A minimum of 10 hours solo flying, including at least 5 hours of cross-country flying. (Included in your cross-country flying will be a 'qualifying cross-country flight', which is a flight of at least 150 nautical miles distance, during which you must land at two other airfields apart from the airfield of departure.)
Once all aspects of the training have been covered, the course culminates in a flight test with one of our friendly examiners.

Prior to each exercise, whether it is dual or solo, the pupil will have an in-depth briefing with their instructor covering all elements of the flight.

Flight Theory Training and Examinations
There are a number of theory subjects that a student will need to know before they are able to pass the required written exams. The thought of exams can fill people with a degree of terror, however these are of multiple choice type and not unnecessarily tricky. In fact the majority of students work toward the exams by means of self-study. The Real Flying Company can provide individual ground schooling for students if required. In addition to the written exams, there is also a practical Radio Telephony oral exam to be taken, again nothing to lose sleep over.

Medical Requirements
Prior to flying solo and in order to be issued with a PPL, the student must obtain a class 2 aviation medical. These are conducted by a CAA authorised medical examiner, of whom there are a number in the local area.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR AIRCRAFT

CLICK HERE FOR PRICES

For those who already have a PPL and are looking the next step in enhancing their flying skills, RFC have several options for pilots to consider:

Night Rating
Exercise the privileges of your pilot's licence after the hours of darkness by gaining a Night Rating addition to your licence with the Real Flying Company in our PA28 Warrior aircraft. This short course of tuition will enable you to fly at a time when many others have called it a day. A Night Qualification is a very useful addition to have when delayed on the way home from a trip, or when the long winter evenings have set in. That aside, the spectacular views from the cockpit at night alone are enough to make this rating a must!

The Night Rating course consists of:

5 hours of night flying training. (3 of those hours will be dual, of which 1 hour will be dual night navigation.)
5 take-off and full stop landings at night as Pilot In Command (PIC).

As you can see, there is no test for this rating, just completing the training is sufficient.
(Training for the Night Qualification may be completed during the training for a PPL.)

IMC Rating
To gain a UK IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) Rating involves a course of training that finely tunes the instrument flying skills of every pilot and teaches them the valuable art of Radio Navigation. This rating is only valid for flight in the UK but will enable a PPL holder the opportunity to safely fly when the weather conditions are below that required for a basic PPL holder. Part of the training involves learning to fly instrument approaches at airfields, a very useful tool to have if the weather has unexpectedly deteriorated when you approach your destination airfield.

The UK IMC Rating course consists of:

A minimum of 15 hours dual instrument flying training (Up to 2 hours may be in a recognised flight simulator).
A Flight Test (With one of our friendly examiners).
A ground theory exam (Multiple choice type questions).

When applying for an IMC Rating, some further flying requirements must have been completed since PPL issue which do not make up part of the course. (Minimum flying hours etc.) Please call us for more details.

Tailwheel Conversions and Aerobatic Courses
See separate pages on each for details.

CLICK HERE FOR PRICES

pagemain