€32k for flight training

[aviofreek]

Dear all,

Just a quick one... Let's say we have a student pilot with enough hours and all the requirments done for JAA (EASA) PPL, appart for the Skill test and Theory exams (as they lapsed, for the 2nd time :ugh:).
Now, if by some miracle God dropped €32k into our unsuspected student pilot's hands and he wanted to spend it on finishing flight training (JAA CPL/IR/ME, f ATPL), where would he go and how would he do it?

I pronounce the games opened! :E

[magicmick]

I don’t think that 32k euros would cover everything but it will limit the exposure to debt and loan requirement. Depending on living expenses it should cover completion of PPL, initial Class 1 medical, ATPL written exams, hour building, CPL (including exam and licence issue fees) and possibly MEP but I do not believe that there will be enough in the pot to cover MEIR, MCC and optional JOC and TR. One big caveat is that the prices quoted by any training school assume 1st time passes in minimum hours, if you throw in extra hours, partial skills test pass(es) or skills test failure(s) then the bill will rise rapidly.

[aviofreek]

Well there are other FTOs around the place to get the whole shabang, rather than just UK ones and I was aiming more to those places... Got a very good quote with a school under Slovenian CAA (full EASA) and I personally know a pilot that landed a job with Ryanair with Slovenian license. There are a few "buts" though. Have to get the license converted to IAA and MCC done with a crowd in Dublin.

I would just like to "broaden my horizons", or shop around so to say...

[magicmick]

No problem, you’ve done a lot of research into this on behalf of our hypothetical student.

Does your research include food and rent in the country where he/ she will study, include in this the possibility of an extended stay if the course drags on longer than expected?

Will he/ she pay up front for the course, are there protections in place for their money if the training school folds in the middle of training?

Does your research allow for a contingency (say 10%) for extra hours and partial/ full skills test retakes?

If you can honestly answer yes to these questions then our student can go for it with the risks mitigated somewhat.

Obviously if they get into Ryanair they’ll be forking out almost 30k euros for a type rating but at least there’s a job providing they perform to Ryanair standards.

I believe that licence conversion to IAA is a paperwork exercise plus a few hundred euros.

[aviofreek]

Well let's say our hypothetical student is quite close to me... :}

I know all the things to look for and to ask about, but what I was actually fishing for were a few ideas/recommendations about some flight schools/FTOs that have a good reputation (I'll settle with acceptable reputation also :\).
Any thread I open is quite literally full of replies by people who need some sort of professional counseling/anger management (or both :ugh:) and it turns out there's no good school/FTO anywhere in the world.

To sum it all up, the quote I got is by far the cheapest and close to home (accommodation + food = sorted), been there already, so there should be no surprises regarding costs and people (unlike when you go to Spain/States/SA/or wherever and they might bend you over, pants down).
But as I got burned already, it's kinda hard to spend that money without shoppin around...

[magicmick]

Hopefully I understand you (and the hypothetical student) correctly, if there is an acceptable quote available from a reasonable school close to where you live that you have been to before and you can reconcile yourself with the chance that you may be paying a lot of money and still not get work then I’d go for it.

If you intend doing everything at the one school then you might be able to negotiate a better price, especially in these austere times but don’t accept discount if they insist that you pay everything up front.

At least flying in an area close to where you live there will be no language difficulties, your food and accom is sorted and being familiar with the area helps a lot with navigation.

Does the school offer training for the written exams? If not, I did mine distance learning through Bristol Groundschool who were excellent.

I’m not one of the ‘naysayers’ who will turn your reasonable question into a rant but ultimately only you can make the final decision about where you train but training at a familiar school close to where you live will save you thousands and will be the best way forward.

Good luck with your training.