Who Can Learn To Fly?

You can!
You must be at least fourteen years old before you can start logging hours towards your licence, sixteen years old before you can fly an aircraft solo and seventeen years old to obtain a Private Pilots Licence (PPL). There is no upper age limit!

Why Learn To Fly

Because it’s cool. Very, very cool!
Because it’s a life skill.
Because it’s the first step on the ladder of what can be a remunerative, and exciting career.

Must I be Very Fit?

Few pilots are athletes and you do not even need a medical certificate to start the training. However you will require one before you can fly an aircraft solo. Medicals can only be performed by a doctor approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA);
the nearest doctor is near Entebbe.

Must I be Very Clever?

No!
Not really. Flying is practical skill, though you will need to be able to do basic maths, and having a basic understanding of physics will help too.

Introduction

The aim of these notes is to explain Ndege’s curriculum and the methods and procedures involved to you.

At Ndege we use the American FAA Airplane Flying Handbook as our syllabus. This publication is available on-line. Every student enrolling at Ndege will be issued with a hardback book, Ndege PPL Course Book, which includes the FAA handbook as well as many other useful publications all under one cover.

Training can be carried out either on a Fuji FA-200 low wing, conventional training aeroplane or on an American Champion Decathlon aeroplane (an aerobatic, tailwheel aircraft).

Can Any Pilot Teach Me?

No, only a CAA-qualified Flying Instructor can teach you. All Ndege’s instructors are qualified by the CAA, having undergone a comprehensive training programme to standards approved by the CAA. They are regularly tested to ensure the quality of instruction.

Enrolment

Once a student has decided to learn to fly, usually after a preliminary/air experience flight, the student must complete a registration form and pay a modest enrollment fee. The student will receive the Ndege PPL Course Book which contains everything a PPL student needs to know. If the student is under 18 years of age written parental consent is required. In addition, you will need to buy a Pilot’s Flying Log Book.

The Lessons

The next step is to make a booking for a flying lesson.
Bookings can be made either by email or telephone. Each period is for a nominal 2 hours. The flight time is generally one hour with a pre and post-flight briefing. When booking, the student should state whether one period or two periods are required. Normally only one is required, but some stages of the course do require more.

Lessons must be paid for in advance, and there are discounts for block bookings.
Please ask us about this.

Commencement of Training

Now to the training itself: when you make a booking for a lesson the flying instructor will tell you what is to be covered. He (or she - our Chief Pilot is Emma, and she’s a girl) will refer you to your copy of the Ndege PPL Course Book on the flying exercises you’ll be practising and advise you on what to read up. Then, on the day of your lesson, you will be fully briefed on the lesson content before you fly. Following the briefing, you will get airborne and practise what you have learned on the ground.

At this stage you will not require any special equipment or clothing. To begin with, the School can provide a headset; you may however prefer to buy your own.

On return, you will be debriefed on the lesson and, indeed, be given the opportunity to ask any questions. You will also be advised as to the content of the next lesson and which particular lesson you should read up.

So you can see - ground and flying training go hand in hand. Learn on the ground: Practise in the air. If you can stick to that principle, and do a little homework, you will learn faster and most likely save money. The course is based on a minimum of 40 flying hours. The international average, however, is closer to 55 hours. Your instructor will maintain a set of training records on your behalf so that each flight is recorded - ground School training is also recorded - and a complete dossier is built up so that all the paperwork is complete by the time you finish your training and apply for your Private Pilots Licence (PPL).

In parallel, you will be keeping your pilot's log book up to date, recording all the flights. This log book will normally have to last for much of your flying life unless you go professional and fly thousands of hours. It is a legal requirement and will be submitted, on course completion, to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for assessment. So it is in your interest to look after it, keep all entries clean and tidy and to use a pen, not a pencil, for entries. In a few years’ time it will tell quite a story.

It is probably a good idea to keep a special briefcase or pilot's case to contain all your flying equipment and books. This will enable you to keep it all together and when you go flying all you have to do is to collect just the one case. As mentioned previously, no special clothing is required -basically you need the sort of clothing you wear when driving a car - sensible flat heel shoes are a must!

If you are a newcomer to aviation, you may be surprised at the use of the aircraft checklist. However, this document not only provides a means of learning but is also a safety aid when carrying out the many checks and procedures. Flying is statistically safer than motoring (very much so, in Uganda!) and we all want to keep flying safe. Later in your training you will find that some of the checks will have to be memorised -but that won't be difficult because they are all logical in content.

Whilst learning, the most important thing to do is to enjoy the flying - there is little point in flying if you do not enjoy it. It must be said, however, that the rate of learning will vary. So, do not be surprised if one day the trip will go well and on another, not so well. This is usually due to differing weather conditions and your state of mind, in fact if you think about it, you will be learning something new every time you fly, so if you find the pace is too fast just ask your instructor to spend a lesson consolidating what you have learned.

Although you will not need to take a ground examination yet it is sound practice at this relatively early stage to make a beginning on the understanding of the Principles of Flight. This means getting to grips with wing lift and drag, understanding various terms such as angle of attack, inherent stability, aileron drag, etc... For one thing, it will save time later on and for another it will enable you to learn more quickly and make you a safer pilot - the beginning of what pilots call ‘airmanship’.

Flying Instructors

Normally you will fly with the same instructor for much of your early training, but there will be times when you may have to fly with a different, perhaps more senior, instructor who will monitor your progress. As you will soon appreciate, this is invariably good for your training and will cause no hardship. On the other hand, if you think that your flying will improve or be more enjoyable with a particular instructor do not be afraid to say so when booking your next lesson.

Study For The Technical Examinations

In-depth study for the ground examinations begins with Airlaw. This examination like most of the examinations for the licence is fairly straightforward comprising a number of multi-choice questions and requires a pass mark of some 70%. Like all the examinations you can do most of the studying at home, or, if you wish, you can book a session with an instructor.

In addition, at this stage, or possibly slightly earlier, you should undergo a medical examination with a CAA approved Medical Examiner. Upon successful completion of the medical, and approval from the CAA security committee you will be issued with your Student Pilot's Licence. You should now have completed the statutory requirements for flying solo.

First Solo

This is the first real milestone on the road to becoming a pilot and, of course, there is only ever one first solo. So it will be a flight to remember. The first solo flight is quite straightforward; just one take-off, one circuit and one landing. Clearly, it will take place only when the weather is suitable. During the pre-solo stage on the circuit you will see how all the previous exercises come together. You will have learned how to use the radio and you will have learned several safety drills. Overall, you will have to convince your instructor that you can fly and operate the aircraft totally unaided -including what to do if the approach or landing is not quite right. In other words you have to demonstrate that you are in charge: the pilot must fly the aeroplane - not the aeroplane fly the pilot !

Training after first solo concentrates on two main aspects – allowing you to build your solo time to approx. 4 hours whilst improving your skills and widening your knowledge of the many different take-offs and landings; crosswind, glides, flapless and short field. You will also learn quite a lot about weather limitations.

Circuit Consolidation

“The circuit” is what pilots do around the airfield – a take-off, then three different legs that bring you back to a landing. The circuit is important because it utilises almost every mode of flight. Flights will be a mix of dual and solo depending on the weather and student ability. This means that sometimes you will book one training period - at other times you will need to book two periods. Your instructor will advise. You will learn rapidly during this period and, of course, will be preparing yourself for landing away at other aerodromes where conditions may be slightly different from those at Kajjansi.

More Examinations

Once the above exercises are under way the student should begin studying for the next ground examinations. There are ten in all under the new CAA regulations. Again, home study will take you much of the way, but for peace of mind it is sensible to take one or two ground sessions with an instructor. Some students make a point of taking most of the examinations early on in the course.

General Skill Test

When all training is complete and this includes all written examinations and the R/T Practical Test, it will be time to take the final General Skill Test. On satisfactory completion of this test application can then be made to the Civil Aviation Authority for your Private Pilot Licence.

And Beyond?

Many people are happy to have attained their PPL. And that is quite an achievement.

But a few decide to make aviation a career. If this is the case then once you have your PPL then you have just stepped onto the first rung of the ladder of professional aviation.

Finally, please note

In Uganda, as in America, there are two types of flying school. There are Approved Training Organisations (ATOs) and those that are not. Ndege is not an Approved Training Organisation because we can see no significant advantage to being an ATO in Uganda. (The only advantage of training with an ATO in Uganda is that Commercial Licence Applicants get a small discount on the number of flying hours they must have completed if they have attended an integrated, approved course.)

If you train with Ndege you'll still receive the same pilot licences, ratings, and privileges at the end of your training. The training we provide is essentially the same as at an ATO, but ATO training follows a predetermined format and requires formal ground-school attendance. We believe that this is fine for residential courses but not as good for part-time students who can benefit from flexibility.

Happy Flying!