GA / CPL / Instructors Rating in Spain

[SoundBarrier]

Hi,

I wonder if you guys and gals can help? I am a NZ citizen with a PPL and want to travel a little. Conventiently I have an uncle in Palma De Mallorca and I would like to spend a year or so there whilest studying for my Commercial License and Instructors rating. I have searched the forums and I still have a few questions...

1) Being an english speaker is this a problem with courses \ ATC?
2) Where is best to become part of a GA aviation community (clubs\schools etc)
3) Are there any serious considerations I should be thinking of before embarking on such a manouevre?

THANKS!

SB

[172driver]

In theory you should be able to do a JAR CLP anywhere in the EU

Correct. BUT mostly in the local language :sad: AFAIK all the theory exams in Spain are held in - well, Spanish. However, there are a couple of schools that have some sort of agreement with the CAA and do it in English. Not 100% sure how that works, but try Aerodynamics (http://www.aerodynamics.es/en/index.html) in Malaga and Fly in Spain (http://www.fly-in-spain.com/en/) in Jerez.

ATC speak English, although they speak Spanish to Spanish pilots and the mix can be, errr, interesting....

Other than that, great place to fly!

[SoundBarrier]

Thanks for the info so far. My situation in life has changed and therefore this could be a possibility...woohoo.

I'll contact the guys and see what offerings they have! I'll be sure to let everyone know what's going on!

[172driver]

Have you been into Gib?

Flown past it lots of times but never landed there. Used to be out of bounds if coming from Spain, although this has changed a few years ago.

[IO540]

Somebody on the PPL/IR group (http://www.pplir.org) did this stuff in Spain. The website contains the group magazine and all issues except the most recent 3 are open to non-members, so have a read. Or better still join up and get the lot :)

If I was doing any large quantity of flying (e.g. the whole 50/55hrs of the JAA IR from scratch) I would certainly aim to do it in Spain, due to the weather and the convenience relative to doing it in the USA (and one cannot do the whole JAA IR in the USA anyway). However, my understanding (3rd hand) is that the only English-language JAA ground school out there is contracted to the UK CAA; not sure what that actually means.

[LH2]

However, my understanding (3rd hand) is that the only English-language JAA ground school out there is contracted to the UK CAA; not sure what that actually means.

There are two schools based in Spain which operate under the UK CAA's supervision, as opposed to the local DGAC, those are Fly-in-Spain, a registered facility which trains PPLs, and Flight Training Europe, an FTO formerly owned by BAe. Both are based in Jerez.

I know there is at least one other school which offers integrated courses in English, but not sure if they accept non-sponsored students (they mostly train Chinese and Indians) in those classes. The school in question is Top-Fly, in Barcelona.

Two other outlets offer the possibility of doing the Instrument Rating, and perhaps FI rating in English: Aerodynamics Malaga in the Andalusian city by that name, and Aerofan in Madrid. I can vouch for the former from personal experience, and you will want to avoid the latter, again from personal experience and, particularly, according to my numerous Spanish contacts in the flying scene.

I've read rumours here that the DGAC might now be accepting theory sat in the UK, which if true would mean that it is now possible to do your CPL in Spain having passed the exams in Gatwick. Note that you can always sit your exams in Spain in English, but again according to my Spanish friends, interaction with the DGAC is something to be avoided at all costs (see the thread running on the Spanish Forum (http://www.pprune.org/spanish-forum/353643-licencia-atpl-espanola.html) re. pilots changing their licences to a different country for precisely that reason :))

But none of this has much relevance to the original poster, since he is not going to be living in any of the cities mentioned. For him, what I recommend is to visit his local training establishments and see what they can offer. Chances are there will be instructors willing and capable of teaching in English (at least for the practical part). As for almost everything else, best advice is to ask the local pilots.