Suggestions for PPL Lessons... what Aircraft is best to train in... place of study

[hayreece]

Im going to be doing some lessons for my PPL at a Flying School in Scotland, and I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice....

Firstly, what aircraft would you say that would be best to do the PPL exam in (if any) Cessna 152, or the Piper Warrior (PA28)????

Secondly, with the money I have to spend at the minute, I have the option to go to......

a flight school 90 mins away from me, and fly the Cessna 152 for 8 hours?
a flight school that is well known and has a good reputation, 60 mins away from me and fly the Cessna 152 for 7 hours?
or a flight school in Edinburgh that is 20 mins away from me, that is based at Edinburgh Airport (commercial airport) and fly the Piper Warrior (PA28) for 6 hours?
Feedback would be much appreciated, as in a bit of a dilemma!

Thanks,

[student88]

If you're not super tall, learn to fly in whatever is cheapest for you. The most important thing when learning to fly is your instructor. You have to be comfortable with him/her and they have to be good.

Have you any friends who have learnt to fly from any of the schools you are looking at?

These days flying is all about cost, something as marginal as £20 p/h can build up to almost £1,000 over the duration of the course. Thats why the right instructor is key, the better they are the quicker you learn and the greater chance you have of completing the course on minimum hours.

Finally, the most important advice I can give you and any other potential aviators:

DO NOT PAY UP FRONT FOR ANY PILOT TRAINING! PAY AS YOU GO!

Good luck, S88

[Trinity 09L]

Consider aerodromes - facilities. Tarmac (always available), alternate runways (no cross wind restrictons), big aerodrome (longer waits for ATC), aircraft/instructor availability (one or more aircraft),distance from home (weather changes?) 90 mins travel x2, + 1hr, thats .5 day. Lots of conundrums :rolleyes:

[BackPacker]

Secondly, with the money I have to spend at the minute, I have the option to go to......

At your age, and with only that much money to spend, I would not consider doing the PPL at all. Even if you manage to scrape enough money together to eventually finish your PPL, remember that you need to spend about 12 hours a year flying to stay reasonably current and safe. That's money that you need to have left over each year, no questions asked.

Yes, I know legally you can get by with less than that but practically speaking this is about the minimum. And even 12 hours a year will not see you far outside the local circuit anyway. So what's the point? You're just throwing good money after bad.

In your situation, I would consider other (cheaper) forms of flying. Gliding for instance, or an NPPL(M) on a flexwing. That's arguable even more fun than bimbling about in a C152 or PA28, and a lot cheaper. At the very least you'll find more folks your age in those scenes. The PA28/C152&up scene is dominated by 35+ folks who have a career and can afford the expense. (With the exception of 18-year olds on the ATPL track of course.)

[Redbird72]

If everything else is equal and the price differential isn't too large, I would go for the closer school. Doing a 3hr round trip just to chat to guys at the club and observe the stinking weather gets old fairly quickly.

It's not so bad when you first start and you can use duff days for groundschool and getting to know the club and it's members, but later on, it can sap your enthusiasm (and money).

[Genghis the Engineer]

And factor in the travel costs...

G

[bingofuel]

Also compare like for like. Check how each establishment charge an hour ,ie tacho / hobbs / airborne time / taxi time / airborne plus ten minutes etc.

It is amazing how some schools charge an hour. Also consider ground school fees, exam fees, and membership.

Then look at the instructors, are they teaching to hour build or as a vocation.

Cost is important, but value for money is more important. Go to the establishment you fee most comfortable with, and as mentioned above do not pay up front more than you are prepared to lose!

[shumway76]

It's all a compromise, and different between individuals.

I would personally take the following considerations (in order of importance):

- Location (distance from home)
- Total cost (if ground school fee is high but aircraft rental is low, I'd take it anytime compared to the other way around)
- Number of aircraft (of the same type I will be training in. No point going to a school which boasts having 5 different types of aircraft - that means you only have 1 aircraft to train on. That will mean lesser chance of availability due to other students or maintenance. I'd rather go to a school with only 1 type but has a number of it)
- Quality and availability of instructor (I know there are good & not so good instructor. Even if I get a not so good instructor, I'll take my own initiative to learn)

But remember, the above order is MY preference, yours could be different...

As for type of aircraft, I don't really bother, but I would prefer one which is cheap and there are many of that type in other clubs, just in case the club I learn in suddenly closes down...

One more thing - it costs a lot to get your PPL. It is going to continue to cost you $$$ AFTER you get your PPL if you want to keep it valid...

So unless you aim to make flying a career or at least make some money out of it in the future (where you need more than PPL to be paid a salary), you better have a deep pocket!