Hour building and a holiday for the missus

[Ogie]

Anybody got any suggestions. I'm looking to hour build and she is looking for a holiday. We are on a tight enough budget and were looking to combine the two in and around July/August. If you have any ideas they would be very appreciated.

Thanks

[Keygrip]

Ogie - I argued with myself for ages - between moving this thread here and closing it altogether.

The linking of "hour building" to "Professional Flight Training" has always been extremely tenuous - but this one just doesn't cut it. Holiday for the wife?

Standby for a response or two with regard to "hour building". That's not what it's about.

If BRL is happy for it to stay here, it will.

[TheGorrilla]

Ogie, have you though of a flying holiday in Orlando, Florida?

[S-Works]

I always thought flying was for the fun and enjoyment of it not for the number of hours one can 'build'.

Are you building these hours for some sort of professional career or just to talk about in the club bar? If the latter perhaps I can suggest that you look to build your experience rather than just the numbers in your log book.....

If you would like to combine flying and holiday then Orlando has a lot to offer. Tailwheelsetc at Winter Haven are a first class bunch more aimed at the private aviator than the sausage factories at Kisimee.

Exit 68 on the I4 will keep your wife amused for hours........ In fact it keeps me amused, will have to stop by on Saturday.

[Pilot DAR]

Florida is great, though it can be rather warm in the mid summer! I was in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week, and watched Cessnas doing circuits from the downtown airport all day. perhaps there are rental opportunities there...

If you're comtemplating mid summer, come to Canada instead, much nocer weather than Florida. Either Ontario, or BC. There's all kinds of flying here, including tailwheel (for which we do not have an endorsement requirement) and float flying. You might find the costs very competitive with the US as well.

Pilot DAR

[Fright Level]

I wouldn't bother with Florida in July/August, it's too hot, too much TCU & CB activity, too sticky & generally unpleasant.

[Leezyjet]

Could give South Africa a try. Don't need to bother with Visa's like with the US either. A/c hire is roughly 1/2 what it is in the UK.

:)

[Whirlybird]

I don't know why you're all jumping on him. If you read keygrip's post, this was in the Professional forum first. It doesn't take a genius to work out that the guy wants to build the number of hours needed before he can do a CPL, FI rating, or similar. It's what people do! And I thought even on this forum pilots knew that.

Ogie,
You could do worse than contact Sue Burgess-Virr; details at Flying and riding holidays in the Limousin, France (http://www.nearlyheaven.com). She's a British flying instructor living in France, where flying is quite a bit cheaper than here...although I don't know how much with the present rate of exchange. You can fly with her, or alone, and she has a lovely farmhouse in Limousin, near Limoges, that she lets out, or a smaller 'gite'. She also arranges horse riding if your wife is into that sort of thing. If not, it's a lovely area, the farmhouse has a swimming pool, and Limoges is quite an interesting town. Worth a look!

[dublinpilot]

Why are people so grumpy here recently? If people didn't ask questions, then Pprune wouldn't exist anymore.:confused:


Edited for spelling.

[Will Hung]

Why not stay where you are and hour build, and I'll take the Mrs Away ?

Just a thought !!!!

[RAPA Pilot]

I think the question is perfectly valid. My wife and I did exactly this back in 1999 when I needed to hour build for my cpl. We went to Florida in Febuary. Fantastic weather. Flew all over the place for two weeks and had a blast. Recommend it to anyone...... and I'll even throw in the wife for a small fee which I will be more than happy to pay.:bored:

[172driver]

Actually nothing wrong with the question - keeping management happy is always a good idea in our hobby or profession :E

A bit more info on level of experience / reason would have been helpful, though.

Anyway: July/August probably not a great time for FL. However, a flying holiday somewhere else in the US might be in order. Also South Africa, although it's their peak season and getting there may be expensive. How about touring around Europe? If you can sort the required minimum daily hours from some club, then this might be 'just the ticket'.

Enjoy :ok:

[dublinpilot]

If flying to keep a non-flyer happy, then I'd suggest that you plan a trip which involves using the aircraft to get somewhere. Abandon it for 3 nights, then fly to the next place and repeat.

Too much flying will put a non flyer off. They want to go places, rather than spending time in the air.

This also has the great advantage of not putting too much pressure on you weather wise. If the weather isn't great one day, then it's no big deal to leave a day later/earlier to work around the weather. Your time table has flexibility built in.

Obviously with minimum hours, it might mean that you're flying long distances each day to make up the min hours, but this should suit both of you;)

Colm

[Ogie]

Sorry if I ruffled a few feathers with this one. Let me explain some more.
I am trying to get into flying as a career and at the min have recently gotten my ppl. I am looking to hour build for career purposes aswell as the enjoyment of flying. When I said a strict budget what I meant was we are currently trying to buy a house and get married and get me flying full time. What we thought would be an idea would be to head off on a holiday somewhere so I could get some good hours up and my fiance wouldn't be bored stupid on her own as she doesn't like the flying much.
Again I apologise for the lack of information and hope this clears things up a bit better.:ok:

[Utfart]

I suggest Western Canada in those months. Great weather, cheap dollar (yes, the other dollar), Loooong distance flights aplenty, english spoken fairly well :).

We'll be there again this year, Vancouver Island for me, but lots of other places are feasible too.

[Whirlybird]

Well, 13 replies based on minimal information and no response by the OP to clarify exactly what his requirement is.
Troll..?

All replies withing 24 hours. Maybe he works for a living with no internet access at work. Ever thought of that?

What is it with you guys? Grumpy is an understatement. Chill out!

[Ogie]

I did reply earlier but the moderators flaged me so it had to be checked by them first which is why there was a delay in my post

[172driver]

Tell you what, Ogie. If you want to keep your girl on side in your future job, which will probably mean being away a lot, make her happy, and show here that flying and having a good time can easily go together. As I said earlier, the US or SA are GREAT (and I mean GREAT) places to fly and sightsee and have a fab time. It may well give her a bit more of an insight into what you do/intend to do. Not a bad thing at all.

I think dublinflyer has it. Don't overdo the flying, use the a/c as means of transportation (which, after all, it is), and go places. Importantly, make sure you actually VISIT these places, not just the airfield ;)

Have fun :ok:

[SENFLYER]

Hi all,

My missus, my son and I are looking to do something similar to Ogie and we were looking at Canada but not having much success. Unfortunatley she's a non flyer/beach bum/hotel complex kinda girl and I like a little bit of that too. But on the other hand I want to do some flying somewhere there is a real enthusiasm for doing just that. Pilot DAR and Utfart any specific recommendations that could help?? East or West is no issue....

I'm just flying for fun at the mo, if I win the NL then I'll get serious..

Thanks Senflyer

[B2N2]

Flying you can do anywhere.
Nobody has asked what the wife would like to do....
Golf, tennis,wild water rafting, beach what?
If you wife doesn't like flying she won't be coming along I guess.
So you can fly 4 hrs a day (8-12) and spend the rest of the time with the missus.
SW Florida or SE Florida is highly recommended.
No CB's till early afternoon because of the sea breeze.
Plenty to do outside of flying also.

[Utfart]

When we lived in Vancouver I was a member of the Pacific Flying Club (google them), which was originally started by a group of airline pilots. Old(ish) but good aircraft, maintained in house, and flown from Boundary Bay airport. It was a great place to fly from, with easy access to the coastal mountains, the interior of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Washington State, and slightly further afield, the Rocky mountains. This is an area of truly stunning natural beauty.

I recall seeing an article in one of the magazines about a group of Brits that went for a vacation, had a check ride, took a short mountain flying course, and went on a pretty nice tour as well. I think they used PFC too, but there are many other commercial outfits to rent from.

It's not a tropical paradise, but there are beaches, golfing, hiking, shopping, sailing, skiing (yes, glaciers don't melt in summer), cultural events, and damn good beer.
It's a little embarassing to say, I was born in Vancouver, have traveled much of the world, lived the last 10 years in Europe, but I've never been to Eastern Canada. Maybe someone else can help with that. South Africa sounds pretty great too :)

I'm out of touch with the licensing requirements. I think you can have your ICAO license validated before you go, but check that carefully with Transport Canada's Civil Aviation department. I don't think there are any security issues, like in America, but again, check carefully.

[Ogie]

Thanks everyone for the advice and help. Will certainly take it all on board. Roll on the summer holidays :)

[Keygrip]

Ogie - you do your HB from Kissimmee, I'll take the future Mrs Ogie to Disneyworld.

You get her a ticket, I'll pay for parking (because I don't).

[S-Works]

I would suggest hour building from Winterhaven. The first words out of every school I encountered at Kissimee a couple of weeks ago was credit card and passport, what can we do for you......

The guys at Winterhaven were ace, none of this fuel surcharges, great variety of nice aircraft including G1000 Cessna's and of course Jack Browns seaplanes.

[A and C]

Check your PM,s for an aircraft & South of France holiday house deal.