Milestone - I got my PPL

Following 5 weekends of bad weather, the morning Sunday 5^th of July 2026, would be the day I get to prove that I was capable of flying a Cessna C152 safely and with passengers.

I am happy to report that I have joined that club with a lifetime Private Pilot’s License (PPL).

The Club

2016 was when I got my first taste of flying in a microlight. May 2023 was when I made the commitment to learn to fly. 11^th of February 2024 was when I went for my first solo.

It’s tempting to say that the journey ends with obtaining my PPL, but my neighbour (who is an avid avaitor told me) informs me that the PPL is a license to learn - so inadvertenly the journey has just begun.

I was nervous on the day. 5 weeks prior was when I had planned the examination. We did the ground work but when it came to make the go/no-go call, I wasn’t happy with the weather as the clouds were too low - so I went with no-go. The subsequent dates (of much the testing officier and myself were both free) were no good either. During this time, I was exhausted constanly being on the “edge” of readiness, waiting for a good day to come.

Then, that day came. The morning had terrible rain, but following was an opening of the heavens, clear, and calm weather for me to do some flying. And then the day concluded with more terrible weather. Lucky me!

I passed. But I was borderline. I did manage to stay within the limits but only just.

In the debrief, I did get some feedback:

• not maintaining the correct altitude while travelling to and from the training area,
• altitude wasn’t perfectly maintained for turns, in the low flying area, and even in the circuit at times,
• during my force landing without power I was high on the low-key point but managed to save it on the base and final by being patient,
• I misunderstood the testing instructor on my short-field landing and landed at the wrong spot with a runway a lot shorter than had been mentioned; this meant I locked the wheels landing on a wet runway.

Advice I was given further was the maintain currency, focus on the fundamentals; in addition to this, don’t be afraid to book in duals with instructors to make sure bad habits don’t creep in. It’s up to me to maintain the disipline and to uphold professionalism as a pilot.

For ground work, I need to be careful in maintaining currency. The 90 days, 3 takeoff and landings must be done as pilot-in-command (PIC) so taking an instructor onboard already invalidates this PIC.

I feel absolutely elated that I got my PPL. I’ve only scratched the surface but I only realise how much pilots need to know, and this was a lot more than I had ever expected. I am filled with some trepidation - I now have some responsiblity. On top of this, what’s next?

I did say before the PPL is the license to learn; it’s also a big milestone and there is a temptation to just coast and relax. Sure, it’s fine the celebrate and enjoy for a while but it’s important to keep progressing and learning.

There is plenty left:

• Navigation
• Night-time flying
• Instrument rating
• …

Some overall learnings from flying so far:

• Keep learning, it never stops
• Be disciplined in everything you do (e.g. center line when on approach; wings are level before making a downwind call)
• You will always be mastering the fundamentals (e.g. effect of controls)
• Be hard on yourself, but realise perfection does not exist
• If you forget, you forget
• Focus on the present, mistakes in the past stay in the past until after the flight
• Checklists, routine, and being consistent are important
• Have a debrief with yourself to see what you could do better and keep doing what you did well

Before I go, I want to leave you with the paraphrasing of my wise father. When I was in doubts about getting my PPL, I would often think that this is a waste of money, but he told me striving for a PPL was in fact a good use of money.

Thanks Dad (also my first passenger)!

With my first passenger, my father!

Always keeping learning and until next time…

A different view