Subjects on PPL

[du Plessis]

Can anyone help? I'm busy with ppl for weight-shift microlight. The subjects are Aerodynamics, Engines & Airframes, Met, Nav and Airlaw. My problem is that with Aerodynamics and Engines & Airframes, NOTHING in the books is about weight-shift microlights! Is this right? The flight school I attend says this is right, and that if want to move up to bigger planes I'll have to do it all over.....? It would be appreciated of someone can shed some light.

[Trikenut]

Hi, what flight school do you go to?
It seems odd that they don't have weight shifts in the book

[Morph]

That is possible because the Trike is not intended to be flown by a ppl and therefore their courses only cater for bliks. Go out and buy yourself "Microlight Pilot's Handbook" by Brian Cosgrove. A publication from the UK. You can get it online at Amazon. Use that for the additional reference for the Trike

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microlight-Pilo ... 1840372869

[du Plessis]

Dont realy want to mention schools name, for ethical reasons. Does it mean then that normal ppl is the only way to go to fly a trike?

[Wargames]

Dont realy want to mention schools name, for ethical reasons. Does it mean then that normal ppl is the only way to go to fly a trike?

Not the only way. If you have no license, then a MPL will be better to fly a trike. Much cheaper and training is great.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Dont realy want to mention schools name, for ethical reasons. Does it mean then that normal ppl is the only way to go to fly a trike?

You are not allowed to fly a trike on PPL.

[Wargames]

Dont realy want to mention schools name, for ethical reasons. Does it mean then that normal ppl is the only way to go to fly a trike?

You are not allowed to fly a trike on PPL.

Cant you just do a conversion??

I thought that the diff between PPL and MPL was weight restrictions, and not type!

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Yip you would have to do convex. But if you want to fly trikes there is no point or benefit in doing PPL, just go straight to MPL. Above post reads as if du Plessis is doing PPL to fly trikes. maybe just my interpretation, but again I say you can not fly trikes (weight shift) on PPL and I fail to see any point in doing PPL and then MPL convex if you only gonna fly trikes....

There is some overlap at the moment and you can do a convex (less than 10hrs in most cases), but I am told that when the new part 61 comes into play you will not get much credit and will have to do (the majority) of the MPL course from scratch as it is a different type of aircraft and as such the controls, flight principles etc are different.

[du Plessis]

The training I get is on a trike, but the book i have to study is 'handbook of flight, second edition'. In that book there is noting about trike. Does a mpl exam exist , or only ppl exam?

[Wargames]

The training I get is on a trike, but the book i have to study is 'handbook of flight, second edition'. In that book there is noting about trike. Does a mpl exam exist , or only ppl exam?

You do have a problem with regards to this. There are fixed aeries which are microlights as well, and for that reason you are bound to receive questions that are for fixed wings. You will just have to live with it. But then again, the more you know, the better it gets.

Just enjoy it.

[du Plessis]

Thanx to everyone! I do understand better now. Just wanted to make sure I dont waste time studying the wrong stuff.....

[Morph]

Both Ranger and Gadget did PPL groundschool and MPL "airschool" The school reckoned it will save them having to redo the PPL groundschool later if they want to go the PPL route. I think the real reason is the school didn't have the correct books. But there is no harm done. As I mentioned, get that book and self study.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Or search on web. Plenty info. In US they called Ultralights.

[LarryMcG]

seem to be lots of guys still flying trikes on ppl??

Lm

[ChrisB]

Hi DuPlessis,
There is Brian Cosgroves book. The 'problem' is that the ref to Airlaw, Met and nav is not really suitable for us here in SA. Any ref to Radio Procedures etc are also based for the UK. The only real benefit the book can provide is the theroy on the flexwing and the stuff on engine.

We train for MPL and I encourage our students to make use of the PPL notes for a number of reasons:

Many Microlights are fast and are becoming cross country machines so nav and met forecasting is very important.
We often fly in the same space as many PPL holders
We can go on to fly fixed wind at a later date and this does happen, so some knowledge of fixed does help.
The principle of flight remains the same for both types of wing and certainly the pert that your instructor can spend some quality time with you is describing in detail the "Control" and how the wing works in flight eg: Billow shift, reflex etc.

Certainly you can't apply the fixed wing flying syllabus to a flexwing pilot, for example "The view over the engine cowl is different from a left turn to a right turn", on a trike its 'look' slightly left or right of the pylon support tube etc.

I would encourage you to make good use of your notes, but not get swamped down with to much technical theory on fuselage construction, the effect of flaps etc, how an alternator generates current, and radio navigation. There are some meaty parts which as an MPL you just don't need to need to know. However having the books and knowing where to find the info at a later date is important for your own ability to expand your flying knowledge.