NATIONAL PRIVATE PILOT'S LICENCE

Lydd Aero Club offers instruction for the National Private Pilot's Licence (NPPL) which was introduced at the end of July 2002.

The NPPL is aimed at recreational pilots who wish to fly within the UK during the daytime. In the light of this, it has a lower minimum hours requirement than the JAR PPL licence.

It also differs in the medical requirements, which are now signed off by your own GP rather than by a specialist Aviation Medical Examiner and are equivalent to the DVLA standards for a heavy goods vehicle driver. If you are happy to fly without passengers, or with a safety pilot, you can also get an NPPL with a medical standard equivalent to that of a car driver.

Since the NPPL is a national licence only, you cannot currently use it to fly outside the UK. You cannot add night or instrument ratings to an NPPL either, but you can credit 30 hours of your training time towards a JAR PPL if you wish to move on to that licence later, as long as all your instruction was carried out by a JAR instructor.

THE COURSE
The current requirement is a minimum of 32 hours flight training, in two parts:

1. Not less than 22 hours of dual instruction with a flying instructor, to include one hour of instrument appreciation
2. Not less than 10 hours of solo flying, including at least four hours of solo cross country flight, including one cross country of at least 100 nm with landings at two other aerodromes.
3. In addition to the training hours, at least two hours will be required for the practical tests (see below

Any additional hours will consist of either dual or solo flying, depending on the needs of the student.

Training is conducted mainly in Cessna 152 aircraft, but Piper Warriors are also available for training should the student prefer.

The student must have obtained a self-declaration NPPL medical certificate countersigned by their own GP before flying solo.

THE PRACTICAL TESTS
The NPPL involves two separate practical tests.

The first one you will take is the Navigation Skills Test (NST). This is a flight with an examiner which you do after you've completed all your dual navigation training. It is designed to ensure that you can safely navigate and manage the flight before you start to do the solo navigation part of the course.

Once the minimum hours have been completed you will be eligible to undertake the second and final test - the General Skills Test (GST). This will be conducted by a flight examiner, not your usual instructor. It has to be said that the majority of students are not ready for their skills test at the 32 hour mark, and at this stage you and your instructor will be working even more closely together to identify and correct areas in which you need a little more practice. However, as soon as possible after the 32 hours have been completed, the instructor - being satisfied that you are capable of passing - will recommend you to take the test.

The test itself is merely a demonstration, by the student, of the flying skills acquired during training. You will not be asked to demonstrate anything which has not been taught during the training.

THE GROUND EXAMINATIONS
In addition to the flying hours requirement, there are 8 ground examinations to be passed. The NPPL uses all the standard JAR PPL exams as follows:

Aviation Law
Navigation and Radio Aids
Meteorology
Aircraft General and Principles of Flight
Human Performance and Limitations
Flight Performance and Planning
Communications (written)
Communications (practical)