PPL at US

[mugen_rsx]

I am living in Vancouver Canada, and plan to get a PPL at US if the price is a lot lower than here! Can anyone recommand some schools to me.

Also would like to know, I have zero flying experience. What is the shortest time I can get my PPL in US? Thank you

[fly_sd]

How much does it cost in Canada? I can give you some prices over here if you want to compare as well as suggest some options here in San Diego.

I have a friend who is a flight instructor in Vancouver and it is a few years since I flew around with him over there and don't remember how much it cost then. Those rates are probably out of date now anyway. As for the shortest times - I only fly once or twice a week but someone else here who has done one of the "fast" training courses may be better placed to answer that.

Apart from cost why would you like to train here. I thought Vancouver was a pretty good place to learn (as I recall).

[The Swinging Monkey]

mugen

I can personaly recommend Orlando Flight Training at Kissimmi.
I did mine last year and had a great time.
Go for it. PM me if I can help with anything else.
Kind regards
TSM

[CherokeeDriver]

Stay in Canada. you won't have to do the Imigration nonsence then! I can't believe the US is that much cheaper than Canada. How much is your 100LL?

[Chippik]

Dont think in terms of how quickly you can do it. Doing these fast track type courses are not always a good idea. If you think about it the whole syllabus is crammed into a matter of weeks and trying to remember everything would be very difficult to say the least. The weather is also a consideration as well you would probably be flying in pretty good weather all the time during the course and not encounter different types of weather. You may find you might be doing some re-training back home to compensate for anything you havent experienced and that adds extra ££s (or in your case $$s) to what you have already spent, it is probably better to stay where you are and take your time over it.

[RatherBeFlying]

There are schools running three week courses and my feeling is that flying twice a day every day is a good deal more efficient than the usual maybe once a week format -- the maybe being weather cancellations.

Don't forget Calgary and Springbank. The weather is wayyyyy better than YVR; the prices may well be competitive with Florida and you can get exposure to mountain flying and the winter conditions. www.avcanada.net is a good place to look for where to fly.

When checking with a US flight school, make very sure that Homeland Security and Immigraton are OK with your taking training.

[Icerman]

Hello Mugen,

I live in Europe and did my PPL in the US. I did research on all JAA approved FTOs in North America and on couple of others as well. As result of my research my #1 choice was a flight school in Vancouver. However because of the weather you guys have there it would have taken several months to complete the course so I ended up going to the US. For you living there I don’t see any problem with that.

And the course didn’t cost any more than in the states. The total price was something like 5700USD. Some US flight schools advertise their courses with 38h, which brings the price down a bit. In Canada the minimum is 45h, I believe.

I am still considering doing my IFR rating in Vancouver, for that the weather should be just fine. :ok:

Good luck!
Icer

EDIT: But yes, as you can tell. I have never flown there myself, that was just the conclusion of my study :rolleyes:

[mugen_rsx]

I still have not decide where I will go! Actually, anywhere in North America is OK for me. I personally love to stay in Vancouver for my study, especially I am planning to do the trainning on JUNE, however, I really couldn't attend their ground school lessons. So far I know, only one school offer online ground school. I also heard of some stories about the extra charges or too many extra hours. Ended up with $3000 extra for a PPL. My budget is really tight, and I am unable to pay that much more.

I am looking for school that allow me finish within 4 weeks (2 hours a day). I see a school in US saying "PPL - INCLUDING NIGHT QUALIFICATION & RADIO TELEPHONY LICENSE. ALL COMPLETED IN USA IN JUST 21 DAYS". I read some feedback in here about the school, they are mostly positive in terms of the flying.

[fly_sd]

Personally I don't think anyone can say in advance how many hours it would take for a given individual to pickup a new skill like flying and so I would be careful about anyone who can promise to have you complete the training within a given budget. Here in the US many schools tend so specify prices based on FAA min hours but many are honest and say it is for comparision only. Of course a school or intructor may drag out the lessons to get more money out of you also so you need to be aware of that.

[The Swinging Monkey]

Mugen,

As you will have read, there are pros and cons to whatever decision you make.

In my case, the most important factor was NOT the cost, but having the weather, an aircraft and an instructor whenever I wanted. That simply isn't available in the UK, and probably elsewhere in europe.

I feel that beinhg able to fly 2 and sometimes 3 times a day was a bonus for me because I didn't need to keep going back and consolodating wehat I had done 2 weeks ago (as it was in the UK) I enjoyed the intense flying with guaranteed weather, and after all, when you are learning, good weather is a must. You will ahve plenty of time to learn about flying in cr&p conditions. Get your licence and then consolodate what you've learned back in your own environment.

Certainly when I came back to the UK, my learning curve went up considerably as far as weather was concerned, but at least I had the confidence to be able to fly the aircraft without any worries.

Good luck with whatever you go with
Kind regards
TSM

[mugen_rsx]

Thanks guys!

I really never thought of the minimum hours could get me the licence. However, hidden charges and many extra hours (like 20 hours more) is really unexceptable. Reasonable pricing is important. That's why I spent quite a bit of time searching on the web.

Monkey, i have similar thought about the intensive training too. Flying in a shorter period is really an advantage! That's why I applied my annual leave on June and will do a full time training!

[flz]

Hi Mugen
if you want some good advise stay right there in Vancouver, I trained at Pro.
Very good School the Instructors are very Professional & are dedicated & follow a systematic approach to flt training. That is my advice. "It's a great life"

Good Luck in your Flying training what ever you decide:)