Feel a Restricted coming on…

I got to thinking – I did my first three exams in May last year so if I don’t get my microlight licence by the end of May this year, I’ll have to sit them all again as they are only valid for 12 months! If I did have to sit them again, that would be the third time as, of course, I passed them all years ago when I got my original Private Pilot’s Licence. Apart from being really annoying this would be verging on the ridiculous. Having to cover the microlight syllabus completely from scratch is bad enough but this would be getting really stupid. 😯

What is it about the bureacracy in this country? In other countries you can buy a microlight and just fly it without any instruction or licencing if you want to. In this country, even though you are already a qualified pilot with several hundred hours under your belt, you have to go through the whole training gamut all over again as though you are a complete rookie.

I’ve arranged with Rosie to do my two outstanding exams, Meteorology and Navigation, this coming Saturday. It would be a fine thing if I failed either being as I used to regularly fly our Piper Cherokee down to Zurich! I’ve decided that I will then go for a Restricted NPPL(M) by the end of May. With it you can only fly solo (ie without a passenger) in good weather conditions to a distance of no more than 8 miles from your home airfield. This would not be anything like adequate for me in the long run, but the whole point is that it preserves the status of your exams. Then, after completing the necessary cross country flights at your convenience when the weather has improved, you can upgrade the Restricted to a Full NPPL(M) and enjoy the unrestricted privileges of the full licence.

If I don’t do this, there is no chance that I’ll be able to complete the requirements for the Full NPPL(M) by May, and quite honestly, I may even have a problem completing the Restricted in this timescale unless the weather takes a considerable turn for the better. 😕

So that’s my plan. I’ll let you know how the exams go on Saturday and who knows, if the weather’s good enough, I might even be able to fit an hour or so’s flying in. 🙂