Flying in England for a US PPL

I've written something about flying in England from the
perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at

www.john-a-harper.com/flying/england.htm

I'd especially be interested in any comments from UK
pilots.

John

In article 1085504166.619124@sj-nntpcache-3, John Harper wrote:
I've written something about flying in England from the
perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at

www.john-a-harper.com/flying/england.htm

I also have one, at http://www.dylansmith.net - I'll check yours out and
compare :-)

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article 1085504166.619124@sj-nntpcache-3, John Harper wrote:
I've written something about flying in England from the
perspective of a US pilot (albeit a Brit), it's at

Also, note the cost of flying depends strongly on where you live. I can
fly the Grumman at Andreas for 70 quid an hour less than the 172 you
flew (and fuel isn't any cheaper here). Also, if you're coming from the
USA, things are even more expensive right now due to the weakness of the
dollar against the pound. Some of the extra cost is that aircraft that
are rented must be on a 'Public Transport CofA' which is considerably
more expensive to keep up than a private CofA - the operating costs on a
private CofA appear to be significantly cheaper going by the hourly
rates many aircraft syndicates charge.

Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much
mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. It's pretty
important that the controller knows you're on the right setting. I've
always read back altimeter settings in the US (I lived there 7 years and
learned to fly VFR, IFR, multi, glider in Houston).

I'd also say that Radar Information Service is more the equivalent of
flight following; Flight Information Service might well be non-radar.
(Radar Advisory Service is something you might ask for when flying IMC
in class G airspace). There's a very good explanatory poster that the
CAA do (up in many flying clubs) that show the differences. Some
airfields also have reciprocal no-landing-fee agreements too (Barton had
one of these with at least 10 other airfields), and many airfields waive
all fees in the case of a diversion/emergency etc. (AOPA recently named
and shamed the ones that didn't)

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Dylan Smith wrote:

Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much
mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR.

Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except
hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S.


All the best,


David

On Tue, 25 May 2004, David Megginson wrote:

Dylan Smith wrote:

Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much
mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR.

Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except
hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S.

You need to read back landing clearances with holdshort instructions in
Canada; I ordinarily do, but a few months ago I just replied with my
callsign and Tower replied, "I need to hear your readback for the
tapes...".

I'd been doing TW circuits; the Tower guy & I both knew I could land the
Citabria in 3500ft, but 'the record' needed to know that I understood &
would comply. That was an interesting reminder.

Brian.

Brian Burger wrote:

You need to read back landing clearances with holdshort instructions in
Canada; I ordinarily do, but a few months ago I just replied with my
callsign and Tower replied, "I need to hear your readback for the
tapes...".

Right -- that was the one I forgot.

Has any else noticed that LAHSO seems to be less common recently, in both
Canada and the U.S.?


All the best,


David

On Tue, 25 May 2004, David Megginson wrote:

Brian Burger wrote:

You need to read back landing clearances with holdshort instructions in
Canada; I ordinarily do, but a few months ago I just replied with my
callsign and Tower replied, "I need to hear your readback for the
tapes...".

Right -- that was the one I forgot.

Has any else noticed that LAHSO seems to be less common recently, in both
Canada and the U.S.?

LASHO here - CYYJ, Victoria BC Canada - has always been fairly common, and
doesn't seem to be getting less so. We've got three runways, all
intersecting, so LASHO is a huge efficiency gain.

According to one of our local Nav Canada Tower guys, CYYJ has the 4th or
5th most complex ground layout of all Canadian airports...

There's a rough diagram here, if anyone's interested:
http://www.flyvfc.com/about-vfc/airport.htm
I'm not sure where/if there's an official airport diagram on the web.
Transport Canada has been much slower than the FAA in making
publications/data available over the web...

Brian.

In article rs.com, David
Megginson wrote:
Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much
mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR.

Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except
hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S.

Hrm. It's probably good practise to do so all the same :-)

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Dylan Smith wrote:

Not VFR, though -- I don't think that you have to read back much except
hold-short instructions (while taxiing) in Canada or the U.S.

[and land-and-hold-short instructions, as someone else mentioned]

VFR readbacks (especially the long, meandering kind) tie up the frequency
pretty severely at a busy airport when tower has more important things to
worry about, like giving a landing clearance to a 737 on short final. I do
make a habit of acknowledging my initial altitude restriction when I get my
takeoff clearance (i.e. "one thousand six hundred, bravo juliet oscar") just
to make sure there's no confusion, but otherwise, I try to leave the
frequency clear for the IFR traffic.

Sometimes, I accidentally get stuck in IFR mindset when VFR and start
reading back altitudes and headings, but I usually catch myself quickly.


All the best,


David

Also, the readback of altimeter settings - I'd say this is pretty much
mandatory in the US as well especially when flying IFR. It's pretty

I've never read back a setting in the US, ever (VFR or IFR). They give them
when
you change freqs... "Roger 96S, Salinas altimeter 29.95" but I just
ack this with "96S". However I do always give altitude in a call
so they can cross check the mode C... "Oakland Center, Cessna
5296S level at 7500" or whatever.

John