best way to get my PPL?

I trained in San Diego too, thoroughly enjoyed it but there was no way it was a holiday. Had an hour with an instructor when I got back and another hour with the owner of the aircraft and am still enjoying flying back in the UK.

A mate of mine learnt in San Diego, spectacular scenery etc. mountains the lot and accomodation nearby. They do things differently in the US though, so he had to relearn R/T (we are a lot more formal we Brits) and find out what an overhead join was. He trained in Cessna 152, 172 and PA28, backs up what Phantom says.

Bob

What are the most common aircraft to train in while in the U.K?

Here in the States it seems the Cessna 152, Cessna 172, and Piper PA.28 are the most common.

What about there?

Same

What are the most common aircraft to train in while in the U.K?

Here in the States it seems the Cessna 152, Cessna 172, and Piper PA.28 are the most common.

What about there?

I am on exchange with the Canadian Forces in Canada and currently completing my PPL at Rockcliffe Flying Club in Ottawa. Thoroughly recommended, apart from tying down the a/c in minus 30 temps!. Happy to chat about the Canadian experience if required.

Rgds

Jonny

Good book to buy.

Hey, I started the tread on the SA PPL however I did do some research in the US and I can recomend one book.

“Learning To Fly In 21 Days” by Phil Stone published by Nexus Special Interest

Fantastic book not about the technichal aspects of flying but the choosing of the place to go the steps he had to take, the differences he found and most importantly handy tips on what to ask before you go and what to bring.

Firstly, may I say MANY THANKS to all of you that took the time to reply to my question. You have all given me food for thought and I`ll need to make a decision soon. I`ll keep you posted!

Thanks again

My main argument is that, unless you have a pressing need to get your PPL, ie: to go on to a commercial qualification or the like, it is a bad move to rush through what is, by far, one of the most enjoyable periods of your flying career, your training.

Taking it at a relatively leisurely pace in the UK then you can really make the most of it, build friendships with local fellow flyers, generally have a great time and have something to look back on. Cramming it all into one three or four week session is a bit like trying to eat three packets of Jaffa Cakes at one sitting IMHO.

As BR points out, if you are going to stay current once you return there is no financial saving to be had, in fact you will end up spending more by going abroad.

But, it suits some people; in the end you have to make your own mind up.

And I’ll second what was said about flying in Oz. It is magnificent (But hardly a training for flying the crowded SE of England in UK met conditions)

Moggy

OK, well to pitch the other side of the “USA” argument, I did my PPL in the USA and there’s no way I’d do it any other way if I had my time and money all over again. I came back, did two hours with an instructor here (one hour checkout, one brief x-country / land away at another nearby airfield) and I’ve been flying here ever since. Learning in the US saved a lot of money, and gave the continuity of learning you’ll never get here because of the weather – when learning, how many times do things get cancelled, or you have to go back over old ground, just because its so long since the weather allowed you to fly? In three weeks in the USA, never did I have a lesson cancelled due to bad weather. Here in the UK, it can sometimes be three steps forward each lesson, two steps back in between.

I was lucky in that I was able to go to the USA the year before I did the PPL, and checked out a number of flying schools in both Florida and California. That gave me confidence that I’d made a good choice. Not everyone can do that, so ask around for recommendations – my experience is probably too long ago now to offer a meaningful recommendation. Having picked somewhere reliable and recommended by others that offes a UK/JAA PPL (not an FAA PPL), I see no real reason for the “Also I found it took many hours of instruction back in this country to get used to the differences.” stated earlier, other than I know a few flying clubs and schools here have been accused of looking down on US trained PPLs and try to milk them for as much of the money as they can that they didn’t get through providing training in the first place.

Having said all that positive stuff about learning in the USA (or indeed anywhere abroad), learning to fly in the USA is definitely NOT a holiday. A three week course will involve flying four hours some days, classroom and books in between, exam prep (do the reading/learning before you go), etc. It is three weeks of hard work. Don’t take “significant others” – they’ll be too much of a distraction!!! My three weeks in Florida was one of the best three weeks I’ve had away from home – hard work but good fun.

Going to the USA means visas these days – that involves paperwork, and a trip to the US embassy in London for a brief interview. Whilst not time consuming in itself, the elapsed time for the process to be gone through is not brief, so if you are intent on going abroad in April, start the paperwork and visa application process NOW.

Andy

1958Biggles, feel free to ask me about flying in Australia. Remember that we are in Summer right now, unlike the UK and USA.

We do have generally good weather all year round, but April/May/June is a good time to fly here. It won’t be nearly as hot as it is now but we still have clear blue skies, good flying weather, low terrain, vast distances, good scenery, and little traffic.

Your pound is worth a fortune here, so you could either hire and older aircraft and save some money, or pay a bit more and get a newer aircraft with modern avionics. $100 Aussie dollars is 39 pounds. $200 is 78 pounds, $300 is 118 pounds. That will give you an idea when you look at the websites for aircraft hire rates.

I haven’t flown in the USA but know plenty of people who have, and their flying is probably a bit cheaper again. I think it would be good to fly there, but if you want somewhere on the other side of the world Australia would be a good place. I can’t give you any advice on SA!

As for having a holiday, we have lots of good things to see and do – especially if you have a flying holiday. We have airstrips at almost deserted white sandy beaches (eg Moruya NSW), you could fly to Ayers Rock or along the coast heading up to the Great Barrier Reef.

That’s the good part. Now for the disadvantages. We have a bureacratic regulator can make flying here much harder than in places like the USA. We do have ICAO airspace but some of it is not standard, so you would have to be aware of some differences. We have way too much restricted military airspace, unlike the UK and the USA. We regulations which are generally more prescriptive than the USA.

However, if you have a UK medical that can be used here, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

Since September 11 we’ve had do to federal security checks and this can take some time, so if you do decide you want to come here I’d suggest getting that underway as soon as you can. You can’t fly solo until you have the security clearance.

Feel free to email me or ask questions. Here are some links to have a look at.

Flying schools:
Airborne Aviation, Camden (Sydney)
(This one is one of the expensive ones with new aircraft)
http://www.airborne-aviation.com.au/aircraft/

The same site has good information for visiting foreign pilots see:
http://www.airborne-aviation.com.au/aircraft/international.html

Curtis Aviation, Camden (Sydney)
http://www.curtisaviation.com.au/index.asp

Schofields Flying Club, Bankstown (Sydney) – they ask money for membership.
http://www.schofields-flying-club.com.au/

General Flying Services, Sydney and Melbourne
http://www.generalflyingservices.com.au/

Johnston Aviation Services, Port Macquarie (nice part of the coast between Sydney and Brisbane … and they do provide student accommodation and good training)
http://www.johnstonaviation.com.au/

There are plenty of other schools around, some cheaper. I’ve just listed a few. Of course there are schools all over the place – I’ve mainly put schools near Sydney.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority:
CASA information on the security check:
http://www.casa.gov.au/fcl/licence/index.htm

CASA information for foreign pilots:
http://www.casa.gov.au/fcl/overbr.htm

Best of luck!

If disregarding the cost, the best way is to do it in the UK, make yourself very available, commit to 10-15 hours per month at a well-run school with well-maintained aircraft.

There’s been several debates about this in the past. If you put “PPL” into the search facility, you will see many debates about this, both for and against the States. Partly depends on how quick you want to be and how much cash you want to spend over what period. There is an argument that to learn in the States is a false economy, as Vampire possibly alluded to.

I got my ppl about three years ago in Florida. If I were to do it all over again, I would save a bit longer and train in this country.

It was an amazing experience. The weather was good most the time, flying day in day out helped to learn quickly, and staying on site the whole time ment you stayed focused.

On the downside, the bills soon mounted up with some hidden extras but most importantly I found (in my case) the training not nearly to the standard you might expect here. Carb heat wasn’t felt very important for example. Also I found it took many hours of instruction back in this country to get used to the differences.

I’m glad I did it for the experience, but didn’t feel as competent as I probably should have been on return home.

And a holiday it certainly wasn’t!