I'm currently mid-way through a PPL at WLAC in Maidenhead / White Waltham.
The instruction, advice and support I've received from WLAC has been fantastic. It's a pleasure to walk into the place. All the instructors that you bump into are friendly (and you get to know them all very quickly) and the ops team are fantastic as well. It seems that most of the instructors know roughly how I'm getting on, even though I've only trained with one of them (apart from a ride with the CFI prior to a QXC).
Maybe the level of instruction and camraderie is similar at most FTOs - I don't know as I've only ever flown out of WLAC. If it is, then I'd be pleasantly surprised.
It's worth popping in to the FTO's before committing yourself to see for yourself how the place feels. At WLAC, people there took time to answer my questions, walk me round an aircraft I'd be training in, and generally seemed interested. I made a similar visit to Blackbushe, and stood waiting at the counter for 5 minutes before anyone came along to see what I wanted. Then walking round one of the aircraft, I realised that if the instructor was anything more 50kgs, we'd have trouble fitting in.
Sit and listen to other students in the bar etc - you'll soon get the feel for whether they're happy with the place.
LHR airspace isn't an issue at WLAC - they are close to the perimeter - but that's to the E of the airfield. N/W/S are all fine and it's not been a problem for me at all.
In case you think I'm evangelising the merits of WLAC, I can assure you that it's only because of my very positive experiences training there. I have no links to WLAC other than being a very satisfied PPL student.
WLAC = 01628 823272 08h00-20h00 daily.
Drop me a PM if you need any more info.
M
