Youngster Learning To Fly

Have a look at www.fffoundation.co.uk

I’ve seen something about a flying lesson in the Argos catalogue – dunno how good it is though.

The lessons are contracted out to proper schools. You just buy the voucher from Argos, give it to the school and they claim their money off Argos.

The collapse of Red Letter Days (An ‘entertainment provider’ operating a similar scheme) left a lot of schools with a lot of debt. They may become a bit wary in future, though I’d guess that Argos is pretty secure.

The problem is the margin for Argos has to come out of somewhere so you will invariably get less airborne time for your money than by dealing direct with a school.

Moggy

Forgot to mention, I was an Air Cadet and won a flying scholarship, that gave me 30 hours flight training in a C150, I then just paid for 8 hours in a C172 to complete my PPL and be type rated in both!

Oh and it was a year before I got my Driving Licence, so I had to get the bus to Cambridge airport to go flying…..

So why is it essential for a teenager to learn to ride a motorbike?

(And everyone thought I was going to ask about the gun! I’m a good shot. I don’t need to ask about that.)

My Grandfather’s take on that was that all teenagers should be able to Swim, Ride & shoot, which I will be following with my own kids.

The biggest gain for me being an ex-biker, that has saved me many times, is being able to read the road surface, especially on that first rainfall for a while that brings up all the grease and diesel, you see too many car drivers not doing that…..

I’ve seen something about a flying lesson in the Argos catalogue – dunno how good it is though.

Not bad. You can buy all sorts of things from it – Beds, CD players, bikes – the list never ends! 😀

I’ve seen something about a flying lesson in the Argos catalogue – dunno how good it is though.

So why is it essential for a teenager to learn to ride a motorbike?

(And everyone thought I was going to ask about the gun! I’m a good shot. I don’t need to ask about that.)

IMHO cheap transport, teaches how to nurse an engine and stops ’em trying to borrow your car. They don’t get exposed to enough risk and responsibility these days. Thanks for all the advice about flying schools, everyone.

So why is it essential for a teenager to learn to ride a motorbike?

It’s a Darwinian thing. If they don’t learn road sense and defensive driving they don’t grow up to be car drivers who are completely unaware that bikers are vulnerable.

And if they are going to total themselves, then far better it’s before they’ve cost you all those university fees.

(Disclaimer: The above was a light-hearted response to Janie’s question. I apologise in advance if anybody has recently lost a relative in a bike accident. I didn’t really mean it)

Moggy

I will look for an flying school that is within reasonable travelling distance of Worcestershire.

You will probably end up choosing between Shobdon (Near Hereford), Wellesbourne (Near Stratford) or the one between Cheltenham and Gloucester that changes its name so often that I can’t even hazard a guess at what it’s called now.

There are several schools at each of the latter two to choose from. Visit them all and talk.

BHXLocal. Which school?

Moggy

Im learning to fly at the moment at Wellesbourne airfield near Stratford-upon-avon. To do my PPL, it cost just under 6K which is quite steep if you think about it but it should be worth it in the end 😀

So why is it essential for a teenager to learn to ride a motorbike?

(And everyone thought I was going to ask about the gun! I’m a good shot. I don’t need to ask about that.)

Many thanks for all these replies and ideas. I will look for an flying school that is within reasonable travelling distance of Worcestershire. Personally. I think it is essential that any teenager learns how to drive a car, ride a motorbike, shoot with rifle and/or gun and knows at least how to land a light aircraft. (Though I find some folk disagree with me.)

Steve Bridgewater informs me that the place to look is:

www.todayspilot.co.uk

Hint for finding the best instructor: Ask for the oldest instructor there. The young guys are often (but not always) just hour building for their Airline Transport Licence and have become instructors just to get free flying. They do not always care as much as the old boys.

Why haven’t I mentioned women instructors? Well they are always good, arn’t they?

All the schools offer trial lessons. It’s their way of letting potential customers sample the service.

Most are aware that less than 5% of trial flights ever translate into PPL students, so some can be a little off-hand.

Best plan is to do what Janie suggests, narrow down the choice to a couple of schools and then, if you can spare the time, visit them personally. In explaining what you are looking for you should get a reasonable idea of the ‘ethos’ of the school.

Final tip.

Beforehand, buy your nephew a pilot’s logbook. He can have the flight entered and signed off. It will count towards his eventual PPL hours requirement, but more importantly, it shows the school that you / he are a bit more serious than the average pleasure-flighter.

Moggy

Charley

The best thing to do may be to go to the nearest flying school to where you live so that it is convenient to travel. You will appreciate this when the weather is bad and you have to get to the airfield quickly to take advantage of a good-weather window.

You don’t have to give away exactly where you live, but if you give me a more precise location, I can look up your nearest school in one of the many where to fly lists.

Perhaps Key Publishing (Today’s Pilot Magazine) has a list. Send a PM to Steve Bridgewater, he’s one of the Editors and he watches this forum too. You can tell him I sent you. If you are anywhere near Oxford, that will be the first place he recommends.

Also, have a read of Today’s Pilot, Pilot and Flyer magazines and websites. They are full of ideas.

Good Luck
Janie

On a similar note (sorry to drag this off topic – if need be make it a new thread), how much does it cost altogether to get a PPL? I’d be interested in getting one myself

My friend’s son, aged 14, has recently started having flying lessons. He has been told that he can log dual time at any age – provided, obviously, that he is physically big enough to reach the controls. Solo flight is permitted at age 16 and the PPL can be applied for on reaching 17.

So, apart from needing to get himself several paper rounds etc. to help towards the cost of lessons, there are few reasons not to start as soon as he likes.

Thanks Rlangham. I’ve encouraged him to do that but he has a lot of hobbies (he’s in a football team) so he’s reluctant to commit any more time. Kids certainly get value out of the cadets: flying, shooting, visiting behind the scenes at RAF bases. I was in the cadets and now realise how much it cost -sadly never got the Nimrod trips but that sounds like great value for your £5.

If possible, get him in the Air Cadets, i was in there for about three years on and off till i left (got fed up of the officers – long story) and i managed to get three flights in a Grob Vigilant motor glider, two in a Grob Tutor training plane and two eight hour sorties in Nimrods, only costs about £5 a month and it doesn’t cost anything to go flying. I got my first flight after being in the cadets for less than a month, hadn’t even got my full uniform!