PPL query

[pilotalex]

Hi ive just got my class 1 medical and looking to pay to do my ppl so i can then go into a cadent sponsorship, I have found a ppl course that has a two month course and has accommodation aswell through www.flyaft.co.uk i was wondering if anyone else knows of a place that does this sort of course.

Thanks

Alex

[benish]

You can do a PPL at just about every flying school in the UK!

[daria-ox]

To be honest, you can do your PPL anywhere in UK, in any flying school. Try and find one near you and have a look around, if you'll think its good etc, start your training there. There's not much of a point going to study hundred's of miles away from your hometown when you probably have few flying schools near warrington.

[pilotalex]

I know of the flying schools around me but none can offer a intensive course where i would be flying monday to friday all day, sorry if i didnt explain myself properly but thats waht im looking for, i dont want to be flying once a week and i dont have any comitments so i'll be happy to move anywhere in the UK. If any has any infomation it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Alex

[RTN11]

Bournemouth Flying Club might be able to offer something like that.

They are linked to BCFT which is where I'm starting my ATPL in 2 months.

[spittingimage]

Full marks for enthusiasm and I hope your training goes well. However, if I may make an observation that you may not wish to hear and that is that I would be wary of full-time intensive courses at the PPL level where you 'would be flying Monday to Friday all day'.

Students differ widely in their ability to assimilate their training. IMHO you will take things in better if you approach your training giving yourself time between sorties to really absorb and reflect on what you have been taught. You may well find it more demanding than you are expecting. I would recommend a maximum of two flights a day. I speak as an ex-instructor and examiner.

That said, I learned to fly at Barton on an ad hoc basis, just down the road from yourself. Never did me any harm !

Best of luck.

SI

[Storm_Surfer]

Hi Alex,

In my opinion, don't waste your time or money on a PPL. Go straight for an integrated course at either Oxford or Jerez. By the time you've done your PPL and applied for sponsorship etc you'll be flying around in your PA28:cool: on your way to getting a CPL and then the rest.

Sponsorships sounds great but you'll be working for not such a good airline and earning a reduced salary for the first few years. Work hard, get the correct training (maybe not the best, but best name), be a nice guy/gal and you'll laughing at the end. You will need some luck on the way, but everyone has luck, the lucky ones just take it.

All the best:ok:
SS

[BerksFlyer]

Storm_Surfer,

That was a really stupid post. I'm sure most people here will agree.

[bajadj]

storm surfer, thats really good advice!! you suggest he doesn't waste money on doing a PPL and then advise OAA or FTE integrated!!! yeah, those places save people a bundle!!!!


:D:D:D

[Rugbyears]

Thanks Storm_Suffer for kindly demonstrating naivety at its very best..!
:ok:

[BerksFlyer]

Just the sort of person I guess these integrated courses want - no flying experience whatsoever, but thinks he knows it all.

It is highly recommendable to get a taste of flying, and I believe a PPL is the best way to get a proper feel for it.

[daria-ox]

I don't think that any flying school will let you fly everyday.
There might be some, but although.. I don't think it's a really good idea.
You should take your steps slowly. :ok:
Take your time, it will make you a better pilot.
I know myself. I was absolutely rushing into starting my flying lessons, it ended up me studying & passing all the theory examinations first and then start the training. I went to Tayside Aviation school and one of the instructor told me its a good idea to fly maximum 3 days a week, not every day. Anyway it's up to you, but take people advice and don't rush into flying!

[Storm_Surfer]

Hi all,

I knew I’d create a stir. I’m not meaning to create argument, just to pass on some advice to Alex. In order to make any good decision you need to cover all angles, evaluating every possible route and making what you feel to be the best.

Berksflyer, I agree partly with your first post. Yes most people on PPRUNE wanabees would agree it’s a stupid post. Most pilots working for the major airlines, lets face it ‘we’ are the ones with the real knowledge and experience, would completely disagree.

Bajadj, you need to look at the bigger picture. 65k is a lot of money, which ever way you look at. Well that was the cost when I trained, now it is probably more. You could go a cheaper route and maybe get a FATPL for 40k. Start with a PPL doing the odd day here and there working your normal job. However in your normal job you’re not going to progress any further because that’s not where your passion lies. 5 years later you’ll have your licence, its cost you 40k and now you have to find a job, not looking that attractive to the big players:ouch:.
Or you could work your arse off for 2 years, do every bit of overtime you can and save every penny. Once you have enough for the course (plus the huge bank loan) spend 16 months doing your integrated ATPL. Allow 8 months for job hunting (you can start to work again), every airline will be potentially interested in you. That’s you in your first job within 4 years, earning maybe over 50k in your first year (yes it is possible):ok:.

Rugbyears, naivety at it best – I don’t think so. I can tell you a story which shows naivety at its best. I went into my local flying club a while ago. There was a fairly low cloud base, so no flying was in progress. In the lounge there were 4 flying instructors. One was a retired atc dude, he decided to become a flying instructor in his twilight years, fair enough. The other three were all around my age, late 20’s. They told me there final aim was to become airlines pilots and instructing was a stepping stone. All three at the time had more total hours than me, over 500. 500 hrs plus and not one hour in a jet:sad:, my 146th flying hour was in an A319, my 147th was in an A320 fully loaded with passengers:eek:. Yes the first 2 years or so I may be in more debt than them, but I’m probably nearly earning all their salaries combined. They spend their days flying around in PA28’s earning next to nothing building worthless hours. Airlines aren’t interested in single engine hours.

Berksflyer, and back you. I do not know it all, no one does and no one every will. I’m willing to take advise and learn from everyone. That’s the easy way, the hard way is to make the mistakes yourself. I gather from the anger in your posts you are a true wannabe:(. PPRUNE can be a very negative site. Meanwhile I am talking from real experience, I’m in my second airline job working for the airline everyone wants to work for. I am at the sharp end quite literally living the dream:cool:. If anyone wanted advise on how to get here, I’m sure people would want to hear it from the person with the experience.

Alex, finally back to you. Your job now is to do all the research you can and to make the decision yourself, for what you think is best for you. Get your medical out of the way, which you’ve already done, top move. Have a couple of trial lessons, to make sure you’re not scared of enclosed spaces or something silly. Then come up with the best plan to get where you want to be:confused:. Just don’t be short sighed look at the big picture.

To fly is a passion which can’t be explained, if you have it, trust me you’ll love flying. When I’m on holiday, I look forward to going back to work. Sad I know!

Anyway, best of luck to all of you, even Berksflyer.
SS

[bajadj]

Stormy, very eloquently put.

The issue I have is that hardly any of OAA's integrated graduates are being taken on by legacy carriers these days as the legacy's are more interested in poaching from the loco's and the charters via DEP. If you look at where the majority of OAA intergrated grads have ended up in the last couple of years then it's a one word answer "Ryanair". My point is Ryanair do not give a rats if you are OAA integrated or Florida modular. If you pass interview, sim check blah blah blah and you can pay for your 737NG type rating then you're in.

Going somewhere which is very expensive on an integrated course gets you absolutely no further than a cheap modular. On the other hand you could be the lucky one out of a course of 25 who gets taken on by BA. Those odds don't look so good to me though.

[BerksFlyer]

Storm_Surfer,

Most pilots working for the major airlines, lets face it ‘we’ are the ones with the real knowledge and experience, would completely disagree.

Not at all. You disagree, yet I'm sure others will agree. We all have different opinions and the way you went worked for you. However you can't deny that people who went different routes (ie. by getting a PPL first) have also made it.

The OP asked about getting a PPL in order to get a sponsorship (with the likes of Atlantic probably?), I take that as him having already made his decision. It is nice to hear another point of view, but maybe he isn't comfortable with the huge amounts of debt that you were happy to handle.

Afterall, it's a risk, even you would admit that?

5 years later you’ll have your licence, its cost you 40k and now you have to find a job, not looking that attractive to the big players:ouch:.


Again, lets not jump to conclusions or paint everyone with the same brush. Some modular students have completed faster than integrated students, some have taken much longer. As long as everyone gets to the position they want to get to, then all is good - is it not?

If only I could remember what thread I read it in, I would paste a comment from Ham Phisted (hope he doesn't mind being mentioned) saying that he trained as cheaply as possible, got a job with flybe., flew 220 sectors then applied and got into the airline I assume you fly for.

Training is just a means to an end.

I gather from the anger in your posts you are a true wannabe:(.

If you consider a 16 year old student to be such an angry wannabe, then you aren't far off - afterall I have been reading the negativity of Pprune since younger than most I'd imagine, hoping to research as much as possible whilst counting down the years until I can start training (hopefully a lot wiser than a lot who embark on training not even knowing what to do when they've finished).

Unfortunately, I've probably been indoctrinated with all this negativity. But then again I would rather know the downs aswell as the ups. As we know, most training organisations will only give you one side of the coin.

All the best,

BerksFlyer

[pilotalex]

Just a end note wanted to say thank you to all for your advice i had done the research and i believe this is the best way for me. I know that doing it in two months is going to be hard but i know ill learn it better this way.

SS's idea was thought about a while ago but i didnt like the debt idea,
to quote "Sponsorships sounds great but you'll be working for not such a good airline and earning a reduced salary for the first few years." In my eyes flying is flying as id prefer not to train i would because at least then id still be flying a plane at the end of the day, as for money as long as i have enough to live then ill be happy im going for it for the love of flying the money is just a bonus :)

Anyway i am now signed up to go away in August do do my ppl which before hand ill have plenty of time to read through my books.

Hope everyone does well at where they are and maybe see you in the sky's.

Thanks again

Alex

[Rugbyears]

Storm_Surfer...

Well done chap, a jolly large pat on the back..!

Having read through your further post, I am able to appreciate what you were trying to get across. However, I find your explanation of naivety rather nauseating, rather, I would attribute your situation to both good fortune and yes, most probably, extremely hard work.

I was not inferring your suggestion of the integrated approach to be incorrect, merely the fact that you failed to outline potential pitfalls in your proposition, in fact, I agree with what you protest - to a point. Although things may have progressed rather smoothly for you, there are those who are a great deal less fortunate, experiencing severe financial loss as a result of the integrated route. Of course, I would be foolish if I failed to acknowledge the fact there are just as many failures produced via the modular approach. My argument is not which approach is best. I merely take umbrage with the fact that you suggest this young chap proceed down the integrated route without highlighting possible ramifications. Surely, you are able to identify potential financial issues associated with today’s economic climate.

Feel free to disagree, I happily reiterate, your post demon straights naivety at its very best…! Not you, or indeed your approach, I merely [apology for use of word merely again, I like that word..!] consider you post naïve!:ok:

Yes, I too am a wannabe, I consider myself more fortunate then some, yet less then others. I certainly do not believe I am of greater or lesser importance than anyone else, as a result of only being a ‘Wannabe’. I have acquired financial stability through several years working offshore; due to good fortune I was able to establish a successful IT Consultancy Company during the early stages of the IT boom. Such good fortune has provided me with the means to pursue further activities and qualifications. I am now a qualified Psychologist as well as a Secondary School Teacher…I know, the explanation for children’s poor performance!!:eek::oh: I soon hope to add qualified commercial pilot to that list.:eek: Although there have been risks associated with most of my adventures, I have always carefully calculated the outcome. Too many people jump into the deep end, without having the ability to swim!!!

Best of luck!