(National Private Pilots Licence)
The NPPL is a UK licence which is valid in the UK, RoI & with some extra conditions, France. It is normally issued with an SSEA(L) (Simple Single-Engine Aeroplane (Landplane)) class rating and an FRTOL (Flight Radio-Telephony Operator’s Licence). This allows you to fly an aircraft with one piston engine, weighing up to 2000kg, in reasonable weather, in daytime and to use the aircraft radio to communicate with ATC. To obtain this licence you must complete a minimum of 32 hours flying training – plus 2 skill tests, 10 hours of this must be solo and of that, 5 hours must be navigation. The flying course begins with the basics of making the aircraft fly straight and level, climbing, turning and descending. We then move on to take-offs, followed by control at low airspeeds (around take-off & landing), moving on to stall recognition, prevention & recoveries and finally landings themselves. once you’ve mastered all that, there’s some consolidation and solo flying to do. After that we go away from the airfield to look at rejoins, steep turns and off-airfield landings in the local training area. Then it’s on to cross-country navigation, wher we go and visit at least two other airfields, (we normally use Newcastle & Durham Tees-Valley or Blackpool & Liverpool). You will have to pass a navigation skills test before doing this by yourself, then it’s just some revision before the final general skills test. You will need at least an NPPL medical declaration, available from your GP (which requires that you meet the DVLA driving standards), EASA class 2 and LAPL medical certificates are also acceptable. From April 2015 the NPPL will not be acceptable to fly an “EASA aircraft”, such as those at most flying schools, it will still be able to be used for those aircraft with a CAA or LAA “permit to fly”. If you have an NPPL and wish to fly EASA aircraft after that date, you will need to apply for an EASA LAPL.
During the course you will need to pass 9 theory exams, all of which are multi-choice and require 75% or more to pass, there is no penalty marking. You may take all these exams here at CFT with our resident CAA approved examiner. You will be deemed to have successfully completed the Theoretical Knowledge requirements for the PPL when you have passed all the exams within an 18 month period, this time is counted from the end of the month of your first exam attempt. You may have up to 3 attempts at each subject here at CFT, then a 4th at a CAA test centre. You are also only allowed 6 exam “sittings”, a “sitting” is defined as attendance at an examination centre for a period of ten consecutive days. once you have passed all the exams within the 18 month/6 sitting window, they are valid for licence issue for 24 months from the final exam pass.
The exams are:
Air Law
Rules and Regulations needed for safe flying
Operational Procedures
Windshear, wake turbulence & some more legal definitions
Human Performance
Includes questions on perception, aircrew interaction and how flying affects your body
Meteorology
How weather works and the interpretation of forecasts
Navigation
Chart theory, effects of wind & altitude, fuel calculations
Flight Performance and Planning
Take-off and landing distance performance, weights and centre of gravity calculations, chart symbology
Aircraft General Knowledge
Technical stuff about airframes, engines, aircraft systems and instruments
Principles of Flight
Aerodynamics, what keeps us in the air and how the controls work
Radio Telephony
Phonetic alphabet, special phraseology
There is also an R/T oral test and a final skill test; these again are taken with one of our examiners.
