Reflecting On PPL Training

I began to write my blog after my first lesson to assist me in understanding what I had accomplished during that lesson. Writing down what you have learned is an excellent means of understanding and committing to memory what you have just experienced. The process is known as reflective learning and it forces you step through the training you've just completed so that you recall some of those smaller details which you might otherwise forget.

As I was only flying once every weekend I used my blog as preparation work for each up-coming lesson so that I would be up to speed on where I got to at the end of my last lesson and wouldn't waste time going over old ground too often.


At first my blog was simply notes on scraps of paper, but I soon realised this wouldn't be satisfactory so I decided to publish my diary on-line for three reasons:

1. It would be a permanent record of my training, something to look back on in the future


2. I would be able to review my training from anywhere I might be - I do a lot of travelling in my job,


3. I would be able to share my experiences with other student pilots around the world.

The blog is a warts-and-all tale of my PPL training which records each lesson from day one right through to my successful skills test.

As a student pilot you will get the most value by reading from beginning to end in chronological order, but of course you can jump in at any point.


Now that I've completed my training I've categorised my blog into five sections which provide me and the reader a more structured approach to reviewing my training.


The first section is preparation, which covers the flight training syllabus and what to expect from ground school. This is a useful reference section that can be referred to at any time during your PPL training.


The flight training is divided into four parts:

• Part One covers the basics of flying, leading to...


• Part Two which which brings the basics together to enable me to fly a 'circuit' around an airfield. Once I'm proficient in flying circuits I can fly solo. At this point I move on to...


• Part Three which takes me through navigation exercises culminating in my qualifying cross country exercise.


• Part Four focusses on consolidation and getting enough hours in my log book to get me through the skills test.

I trust you will get as much enjoyment reading my blog as I had in compiling it. And if you are learning to fly please feel free to comment at the foot of any page that interests you so that you can share your experiences with others.