ATO wanted, to re-train PPL(A)

[Turb]

I am looking for an ATO which has experience in re-training lapsed PPLs. I have searched this forum but the threads which are more-or-less relevant are all a bit old.

I qualified in 1994 and held UK CAA PPL(A) (single engine) and RT (restricted) licences. I have flown 330 hrs PIC and 57 hrs dual, so just under 400 hrs in total, with my last annual stamp in 2002. I am 62 years old. I have flown 21 types but most of my time was in a Turbulent. I have flown to France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, both in the Turb and in a Cessna 172 with folding bikes in the back. I never did much local flying, I always wanted to go somewhere. But I am strictly a fair-weather flyer.

I am looking for an ATO which will help me plan a re-training course which starts as if I was ab-initio but then takes me through each stage at a speed which is appropriate to any residual ability which I might have. I expect to spend as much time as a novice on some parts of the training but I hope to cover other parts more quickly, and I don't want to be forced to spend several hours doing something which I can demonstrate I already know how to do. I want to end up with a licence which is valid for EASA and non-EASA single-engine aircraft up to 4 seats including 3-axis microlights. I need an organisation which really understands the licensing law (some people I have spoken to clearly don't) and will supply at least one reference from a person who they have successfully re-trained and re-validated.

The ATO could be near to my home in Gloucestershire or it could be literally anywhere if I can book three or four days' intensive training at a time (weather permitting) and stay locally.

I have found one possibility but I would like to cast the net wider before making a choice. Any suggestions?

I also need to study air law again - I have a feeling it's changed a bit!

[Jude098]

Hi
I fly out of Glos.
James Peplow (07855409512) has the only (I think) EASA ATO at Glos. He uses a PA28 Warrior and an tail dragger Citabria. Aircraft Differences Training - EASA Approved Training Organisation, Tailwheel conversion, PPL training, LAPL, IMC Rating, PA28, PA28RG, Warrior, Citabria, post PPL qualifications, safety pilot, complex aircraft (http://www.aircraftdifferencestraining.co.uk/)


Jude

[Turb]

Thanks Jude098. I'll speak to him next week.

[stevelup]

Speak to Phil Mathews - Cotswold Aero Club - 01452 713924

He is, to all intents and purposes, a legend.

[Johnm]

Another recommendation for Phil Mathews:ok:

http://www.cotswoldaeroclub.com/

[late-joiner]

Also based at Kemble and Oaksey are Freedom Aviation
Freedom Aviation - Flying Club Training Learn to Fly PPL IMC IR(R) and Night rating and Aircraft Leasing (http://freedomaviation.co.uk/#!/page_home)
Very good value.

[Turb]

Thanks to all who have replied. I am getting back in the saddle on Thursday, weather permitting. First time for 12 years. Now, let's see if I can remember... it's pull back on the stick to slow down and push both rudder pedals to brake, and if you are talking to a female ATC you have to say "dear" at the end of each transmission... or something like that. I expect it will all come back.

[Jude098]

If any ATC ended with "dear" to me as a female pilot I might have something to say back to them lol.


Where did you decide on?

[Turb]

So long as the Tower doesn't tell you to not bother your pretty little head when you just done a PAN call I don't think you should worry too much.

I am going to go back to my roots, tail dragging off a farm strip. It's your fault, sorry, suggestion :)

If you don't hear from me again it'll mean it's all gone horribly wrong. I will either have pranged the kite, or the instructor will have suggested I take up knitting, or my wife will have looked at the bank balance.....

[Jude098]

Had 1st flight in a Cubby. There's a share going at Glos :) But maybe the wife might check the bank balance.


Have fun

[Turb]

Re-training all done and signed off; class 2 medical done. Into the post tomorrow morning goes a letter with ten enclosures for the CAA to peruse. I hope they understand their systems because I do not. I have found the flying challenging and enjoyable. The paperwork has been a pure nightmare. I suspect it's not the CAA's fault. At the risk of being accused of talking politics I would hazard a guess that it's Europe that has fouled up the procedures to the point where a reasonably intelligent person like me struggles to understand them.

[Jude098]

Well done.
Where are you flying from now then?

[Turb]

@Jude - That's the next step. Three options:
1. Join a group. Most likely outcome. I have flown a lot of different aircraft and owned shares in a Robin DR400 and a C172 at different times - I would prefer a 4 seater.
2. Find a strip with a hangar and buy my own plane. Planes are not too hard to buy; the difficulty is finding the strip! If I do this it will probably have to be a 2 seater on a permit (or even something like a Kitfox) because I don't think I could afford the running costs of a 4 seater on my own.
3. Form a group to buy land and build a strip. The best group I ever belonged to was the Waveny Flying Group which owned Seething airfield. Owning your own place as well as the plane can be a wonderful arrangement and during my time the WFG was very well run by some very astute people. My home includes a field but it's only 200m long and the approach is awful. So I would have to hunt for a site. At the moment, if the location is right and the application is done right, it's possible to get planning permission much more easily than in the past. I have one friend with his own plane who is renting a field and a very poor quality barn at the moment and we have already discussed buying some land. But it's a lot of work to get something like that "off the ground" so an established group is the most likely option.

I'll start looking in earnest when I get my new EASA and NPL licences from the CAA.

[dubbleyew eight]

well turb good on you for getting back in the air.

btw I wouldn't dismiss buying a turbulent for honest enjoyment.

[Turb]

But my wife would object to sitting astride the rear fuselage and clinging on to me motorcycle fashion; also I'm not sure about the weight and balance. On second thoughts, for the sake of domestic harmony, I'd better scrap the reference to weight and concentrate on the balance.

[Turb]

Well I now have my new licence, but I have 4 complaints about the CAA.

1. My experience suggests that it is impossible to contact a real person and enquiries are fobbed off.
2. I read their website carefully and sent a cheque for £106.00 with my application on 23 April. After 17 working days - not the 10 which they claim- I received an ungrammatical email on 16 May telling me that the fee would be £160- in other words they wanted another £54. I telephoned the number provided and the person at the other end demanded £89. I decided to pay this because the email made it clear that if my application was not completed within 30 days it would be cancelled and I would be charged £108 as a cancellation fee plus a fee of £25 for refunding my original payment. I have therefore paid a total of £195 which means I have been overcharged either £89 if my original calculation of the fee was correct or I have been overcharged £35 if their calculation is correct. I wrote to the individual who sent me the email on 16 May but I have never received a reply.
3. My original licence included an SLMG rating - this has been omitted from my new licence.
4. I also had a microlight rating and this has also been omitted.

Throughout this very unpleasant experience the tone of all the CAA's communications has been condescending and borderline agressive.

I saw an article in one of the flying magazines a few months ago which said that following the red tape challenge the CAA was going to change its ways and become more user friendly. Does anyone have a copy of that article because it included the name of the relevant Government Minister and I want to write to him.

[Johnm]

The relevant government minister is Grant Shapps