British Airways Flying Club

[Student-PA28-161]

hi all and merry christmas

just a very quick question can anyone give me information about this flying club in high wycombe for example.

1. whats the staff like
2. what the aeroplanes like
3. etc etc

thanks and hope santa brings us all what we want like a CPL for me. he he or should it be (HO HO HO)

[AIRWAY]

Hello,

My limited knowledge of BAFC:

- Professional Staff, never had a problem to report.
- Small fleet so you have to book well in advance because not only they are always busy with instruction, but they tend to take the a/c away for trips.
- Airfield very, very busy, so make sure you are up to speed with RT.

[no sponsor]

I trained and now fly out of the club. Mostly career instructors, with the odd retired or current BA line pilot. You can be assured that the instructor you train with initally will be the same one you go back to for a re-fresh, check-out, night and IMC ratings.

Good training, although quite expensive for solo time when compared to other clubs. The location is appalling, since it is located on top of the Chilterns, and suffers from too low a cloud base quite frequently.

Well maintained aircraft, and if you have any problems they are fixed immediately; hence they don't appear to be fussy with the budget when it comes to making everything totally 100% wrt avionics, mechanics etc. In fact, this is the reason I still fly with them after I experienced some low-budget clubs.

The only other gripe is that if you don't phone up three weeks in advance for a slot on a Sat or Sun, then you have little hope of getting in the book for solo time before JH and the others beat you to it.

PM me if you wish for other info.

[A and C]

For training BAFC reprisents very good value for money, the price they post is what you pay ! IE no add on's like home landing fees, VAT , time talking to instructors ect ect.

They wont fly a detail if the Wx is not fit for the detail being flown and the aircraft are well maintained.

All in all it is one of the best packages for training that you will find in the southern UK the one thing that they dont do well is market them selfs ! as the inital reaction to any one looking at the price list would be to run away as the all encompassing price looks high but if you take a look at the others in the market you will fast find that the that the low hourly rate hides a whole raft of other add on charges.

[Dole-Queue]

Good school.

The wx isn't always great but I actually lost very few days, mainly because if I wasn't flying the deputy CFI was drumming information into me and reminding me of my lack of worth!

When I went to do the CPL training I didn't have to unlearn any bad habits and wasn't thrown whole new incredible ways of doing things I'd never seen before.

The airspace and area's challenging due to the amount of traffic going in and out and Heathrow lurking nearby but it's great to learn it from the start rather than find out where adrenaline comes from the first time you step out on your own.

In the end the foundations they laid down justified the six grand cost as I got away within the budget on the professional training, and when CPL & IRT's are costing 800 pounds a shot without the aeroplane it doesn't take very long to give that amount of money to the lovely people at the CAA.

DQ

[D 129]

Hi,

BA is a good club, not sure if they do CPL / IR courses though. No twin flying as far as I know. You may also want to look at Wycombe Air Centre - located about 50 metres from BA - which also operates from Booker and does offer the above.

Definitely worth a look - the ir flet is Cessnas and Duchesses so no PA28's.

D129

[Speedbird744]

I give them nothing but praise! I did my JAA PPL with them and the basic handling skills I learnt there enabled me to pass my CPL/IR.
And it comes back to how I was taught initially at BAFC. Fantastic club where I continue to fly the odd hour, they were also voted Flying club of the year, Flyer I think.

[Captain Ratpup]

Despite the undisputed professionalism of BAFC, they full short in the sense that they do not cater for commercial training nor, for that matter, the full instrument rating.

Wycombe Air Centre, on the other hand, can provide all the modular training you need to get your frozen ATPL. It seems prudent to get to know them as early as possible if you're thinking of places to train. As a member at both clubs, I speak from experience.

Despite what the big integrated schools might say, WAC are well-known and highly respected in aviation circles and this includes people who decide if they want to give you a job. I have seen many of their instructors move on to right hand seats over the last few years so the proof really is in the pudding.

Ratpup