Thank's for all your videos through 2024, wishing you and your family a very Happy Christmas and peaceful and prosperous New Year. Oh, and good luck with your IR training🙂

Thanks for the video. I would be interested to know the landing charge you had to pay. Back in 1974 when I flew into and out of Hawarden as part of my PPL cross country solo flight, I had to pay an astronomical amount.

I'm guessing it is an artefact of compression of recording and processing on KZbin, but I assume that visiblity is much greater in real life. When you call about traffic in the area, I have never yet managed to spot the aircraft from any of your exterior views. I assume that what you are actually seeing is so much clearer.

Thanks for the nice video (as always), best wishes for both your health and IR! As a French PPL+IR, I only plan for more trips than in 2024 which requires better weather and less mechanical issues on our airclub aircrafts. Unless I buy one. There are a few Arrows that are appealing but hangars are more difficult to find here

I’m a bit late to this video but thanks Jon for a very entertaining and informative year! Looking forward to 2025! In the meantime a very Happy Christmas to you and your family.

Come and try flying in Ireland if you think UK Wx is bad. I'm half way through getting my PPL in Ireland and I'm building an RV14. 2025 will be a year of progress hopefully....

I plan to fly my WW1 planes a lot more ... great video Jon, cheers

Thank for such a great mix of material over the past 12 months. Maybe a little more on Microlights… Happy Christmas

Hmmm…pilot not wearing a shoulder harness does not set a good example. Thankfully the aircraft makes up for that irritation.

Enjoyed the end of year review but from shutdown to sea the award must go to the wonderful Glenforsa airfeild in Scotland from landing to the sea 30 seconds max sorry Lee on solent

Glad you have finally bitten the bullet with it Jon. You will be amazed at the extra opportunities this will open up. I went through it in 2017 and it was amazing. I am sure you have this covered but take a really really close look at the regulations and make sure you are fully clued up on what you can credit in terms of the hours. When I did it, the magic number was 40 hours. Remember the legal minimum is 10 hours training in an ATO towards your IR. You will probably find it is more effort than cost too. That may sound odd at the moment but I certainly found that to be the case. Also, be prepared to get into the habit of calling out checks and knowing them (and the proper responses) of by heart as well. Doing them under VFR is one thing but doing them flying on instruments is a whole different ball game. The good news is there is a lot of stuff you can practise at home without having to spend any money! Really good luck and Merry Christmas.

Great video and thanks for all of them over the year! My goal in 2025 is to pass my PPL. I’ve completed my first year of training, approx 20 hours, with solo circuits and 3 exams. Onto cross country next year and hopefully much better weather and more hours! Good luck with your IR training!

Thank you Jon, it was a wonderful year to following you through the skies. I wish you and your family amazing holidays and looking forward to next year and exiting videos from your adventures in the sky.

Well deserved and congratulations.

I’m hoping to fly solo for the first time. 7hrs in to LAPL training.

I hope you've not actually lost subs but you've gained a Patreon backer today - proud of you mate!

2024, I have flown 58 hours. The most ever in my life. Oh and I started a KZbin channel for aviation. Almost at 1K subscribers 🎉

OK, PPR is terrible, but the no call IFR i could get use to.

Get my IRR finished just a few hours off now.

PPR is standard in Ireland, not unique to Britain. Conspicuity is a funny one, still haven’t got use to it flying in the UK! 😂

Well done Jon. So much easier and safer flying Class A. Your instrument approaches will be second nature. Who's your chosen provider for the exams?

Funny enough I also plan to do full IR through CB-IR route next year, and starting the theory in UK (7 subjects). I love flying IFR, and I wish to be able to jump into class A for longer trips, and also I plan to do some trips to Europe, so it will be useful. I heard somewhere that you actually plan to do it in US? Is that true? If yes, why?

looking forward to following your journey to the full instrument rating - be a useful resource for others looking to do the same. For me, I may try to actually get to the point of trying to fly myself - always something I have wanted to do, but never had the time or funds to do so.

Awesome machine. There used to be a Riley rocket version based at EGBO many years ago N80N - what a beautiful machine.

Always love your videos John. As an non pilot but as an ex mil controller, its great to see it from the other side of the fence as it were and your simplistic explanations of all things GA a great to observe.

At the open when you said (roughly) "In 2025 I will do something so many of you have encouraged..." I knew exactly what it was. I have flown all my USA requirements for instrument (actually much more) but time to crack the books. Ugh. Me and a buddy bought a DA40 end of January this year. I logged 125 hrs this year which feels about right. I don't do much over 2.5 hours each trip.

Hello Jon, as an old pilot, compared to you, I'm in my early 80's, I can tell you proudly that I held the full IR from 1984 until 2015. I only stopped renewing the IR because of the requirement to have a panel mounted approved GPS, and as I share a group aircraft, it was not in the interests of the other members to invest in one. My thoughts on the iR is that it very satisfying to achieve the rating, and on the occasions where the weather is suitable it makes a lot of the work easier. But the other side of having the IR, is that it puts you in the equipment arms race. After a few flights you'll quickly want ice protection, thunderstorm detection, oxygen, more horse power, and maybe another engine. Also equipment updates as prescribed by the CAA every few years. It get expensive. Me, I'm on the other end of the graph. I want blue sky, light winds, low fuel burn, while I wait for the inevitable loss of medical. I wish you well in your endeavours but I predict you will not use the rating as much as you'd hope to. I look forward to some trip videos when you get it. Best wishes for 2025

What a year Jon. Absolutely loved your coverage throughout the year. Great news to hear you have started studying for your IR and best of luck with that. You will nail it and that only means more content for your army of subscribers to enjoy!! Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year to you and your family. See you in 2025. Nigel.

I'd suggest an instrument rating should be used regularly. That way , IF you have to use it (weather not as forecast etc) it is much more muscle memory than rusty. I watch Pilot Debrief, by Hoover, and too many accidents happen to I.R. pilots who haven't (fully) used it since qualifying but think they still can. They then stray from VMC into IMC and suffer task saturation.

An IR makes life so much simpler. Check the weather, file the plan and fly. You’ll pick up additional route charges and might have to do some high speed approaches to slot in with traffic but having someone else do the handovers and not piddling about flying along narrow corridors makes life so much easier. Best of luck.

out of curiosity there was someone who looked a lot like you on my revision week with Bristol Ground School. I’m also doing an IR in 2025 but for different reasons.

Well done for reversing the diabetes, and well done for being an example for many. I'm chuffed to hear you did it. 😊

I started to learn to fly for an flexwing NPPL in September. Looking forward to passing my theory exams and continuing to fill my log book towards my GST this coming year. Your channel has been one of the reasons I finally decided to take the plunge into General Aviation.

I just completed my CBIR Well worth the journey Jon. Give yourself 12 months to get it done to avoid giving you stress. You'll probably need 30-40 hours if you use your IRR regularly. Best of luck mate.

I found you recently and have been catching up! Thank you for making UK aviation accessible to all of us who don't have the opportunity. You bring it to life in such a clear, honest and open way, truly high quality. Have a great xmas and new year!

Keep the incredible work up!!! You’ve got this 🎉 My plan is to do my Flight Instructor rating in the gliders!!!

In 2025 i hope to regain my PPL(A) and build hours in a microlight such as the Sting S4. It consumes about 16lt per hour plus "servicing" is really cheap. I refresh on a PA28 and I love it but the fact is that it is a 50-60 yo design and aerodynamically it is like a flying brick. You can see all these modern designs at places like the german exhibition, glass and carbon fibre and instrumentation like the garmin g1000 that makes them look like an airbus.

Definitely looking forward to your IR adventures this year! I’m looking to finally completing my PPL this year after a long break in training after Covid. 😊

👋 mr hut my mum used to watch ur channel she had her ppl use to fly m600 sls she 🥰 it sadly she pass way 15weeks ago I live in 🇫🇷 now the plane is mine I’ve taken my ppl last week and pass a ESA PPL I now flying her plane and I’m going to fly around the 🌏 so I can understand why u ❤ of flying, have a very very happy ☃️❄️

Very nice

You are most welcome Jon. Happy landings. 🛬🛬🛬

Merry Christmas John, I like "gear in motion" rather than "gear in transition"....Happy Landings in 2025

I'm not a pilot (unless RC models count! :D), but I'm an aviation enthusiast. I really enjoy your channel, watching you fly around to different airfields. The relaxed style and content is so watchable and interesting. I have a flying lesson "experience" flight booked for the new year, so who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to fly to some of the places you visit.

Got my licence this year!! 2024 will always be a good memory for me!

2025 is the year that I'll finally get back to training to gain my PPL or LAPL. I flew approx 20 hours as a teenager (20 years ago now) but couldn't afford to finish. I still can't really afford it now but I've decided not to put it off any longer! I had a great experience in a C152 this summer which reignited the passion. Maybe one day in the next couple of years I'll fly into Redhill and say hi!

You have a really good combination: flying skills AND a great voice and presentation skills. I have watched many of you videos, they are all great. Keep up the good work!

THANK YOU JON. Sometimes if flying is cancelled due weather, or I just can’t get up for what ever reason, thing into your channel puts me in the cockpit for a while, and that really helps .