Introduction And A Bit Of Help

[xmarksthescott]

Good Afternoon All

First post here. I am hoping I can get some help. If the questions are obvious, my sincere apologies, but I have been using the search function and the web to get as much information as I can.

I am currently in my final year at University studying Business Management. Despite being good at the subject I have never had any real interest in the subject, nor working in an office. To make things a little more unusual I am also a fairly well qualified strength and conditioning coach which has required a lot of home learning over a period of many years. So I have learnt that a lot of hard work and studying among other life commitments is definately possible. Growing up it was the dream to be a pilot, but my poor grasp of maths (or perhaps even laziness at that age) quashed my dream quite dramatically. Recently I have began realising that this should have never held me back and with a bit of dedication I can do anything I want to achieve. (Please bear in mind, that my maths and physics is not terrible, I got high grade C's at both at GCSE).

Anyway!

I know it may also not be the best time to get into the aviation industry, I have a number of friends at BAE and British Airways who can tell me that, although particularly for a pilot the times look pretty grim, at least according to the newspapers.

I am just hoping to get some advice. My home town is High Wycombe and I am looking at flightschools in that area. By the looks of it there aren't that many. I have the choice of Cabair both at Denham and Booker and also the Airways flying club, as well as the other Denham based flight school. Do you guys know of any others? Any recommendations on some over the other? I know Cabair has got a lot of bad press on here.

I have read that it is preferred that training all comes from the same school. If I was to do my PPL with Airways flying club for example, I am already setting myself up for a mish mash! How much does this matter?

I will be going down the modular route, as already coming out of University in debt, I will be looking to 'pay as I go' to avoid any further monetry trouble!

I have also looked at the Flying Academy in the czech republic? Any views on these guys? What happens if you take yoru exams in Europe? Are they the same as the UK? It does seem a little more cost effective!

I have never had any flight experience before so I am about to book an hour with Cabair, just to get a feel for it. Then after that it will be grad job hunting to fund the dream!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Again apologies if these are obvious questions that I could have searched for.

Scott:)

[fischerflyer]

I will be going down the integrated route, as already coming out of University in debt, I will be looking to 'pay as I go' to avoid any further monetry trouble!


Integrated is £70K upfront im afraid.

[xmarksthescott]

Whoops, what am I on about! I meant modular! No way I can afford integrated

Corrected Now :-)

Sorry

[EI-CON]

Hi,

I see you mention about joining a flying club for your PPL. I would highly recommend this. I started in a flying club and got my PPL there. It was and still is the most enjoyable flying I've done/do.

People in flying clubs are honest genuine flying people so there not looking for your money. There are also loads of airline guys and girls hanging around most of them.

If I was to ask anyone for advice I'd ask the instructors in my club. As I said they dont stand to gain anything from what school you go to etc. and all that I know just genuinely want to help.

So maybe call by one and do an intro lesson and mention your thinking about going the commercial route over a cup of coffee. :ok:

[welliewanger]

Hi,
First of all, sorry if I talk rubbish. A day on the beach and a few beers are taking their toll! Anyway, here's my two pence worth. I'm sure someone else will tell you I'm talking rubbish (this is pprune after all)

Employers do look favourably on a single training provider. Particularly if they're well recognized. I would strongly recommend it for anything after the PPL. Before the PPL, just make sure you're taught by a professional, not an enthusiast. IMHO some of the best instructors are fresh out of a frozen ATPL course. They've had SOPs drummed into them, whereas enthusiasts may have some dubious practices which may work for VFR PPL, but if you transfer them to bigger things may not work.

As far back as my memory serves, companies employing modular newbies have always required 500 - 1000 hours. Whereas integrated guys can get a job straight away. Like it or lump it, this is the reality. Don't expect to get a job straight away (except as a FI, which will teach you LOADS and be incredibly rewarding) Remember to factor this into your calculations.

Having instructed for Cabair, I'm convinced that their schools are excellent. However they do charge a premium for the branding. Is it worth it? Maybe so for the more advanced stuff, but at PPL level I'm not convinced.

All the best with making your decision. IMHO the biggest decision is modular Vs integrated. After that it's a question of which school is best for you (where will you be happiest and where will be most conducive to learning)

[charliegolf]

My tuppence worth:

Only go into it if when at the fATPL stage, you can afford to say:

"I don't mind, I had x hours of great tuition and experience building for my £x 000s of pounds. It was worth it. I'll always have the hours."

If you MUST get a job afterward (to live, pay back Ma and Pa or whatever), then don't do it.

It's a mug's game at the moment, and will be for a while. That's dour, but if you get an 'ordinary' job to fund flying for fun, your employer will probably be paying you, not the other way around.

CG

[Adios]

The PPL training is critical, so pick your school and instructor well. Poor quality here will haunt you the whole way through and make it much harder to pass the IR flight skills test. People who have trouble with the IR are the ones who didn't learn proper trim technique and proper straight and level flight during PPL and CPL training.

A single FTO is less critical than you think, but use just one for the CPL, ME and IR. Recruiters won't care where you do the PPL and probably won't care how you did the hours building, but buzzing up and down the Florida beaches is not a good use of the time. Use it for proper navigation exercises and go to as many different places as you can. You can pick a different school for the ATPL theory. Again, recruiters won't care too much where you do it, just the results you achieve. There are schools that do nothing but theory and it's fine to use them. The school you choose for CPL. ME and IR might not offer MCC courses, so again, it's okay to go elsewhere for this last bit. Some people also do a JOC, but I would probably save that as a possible way to get some refresher sim hours in a cheaper block after a year or so if the job search drags on and on.

The most important thing of all is to find a very good PPL school so you get quality for the formative stage. Don't settle for a mediocre one because it is near home. Don't start it in the UK winter. Visit a dozen schools if you need to do so in order to start learning what a good one feels like and which ones are run by washed up used car salesmen. If you read enough on Pprune, you'll find the schools with the best reputations. Even if one of them isn't near you, reading about them will help you recognize a good one when you visit it.