PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Help, I would like to obtain a PPL licence
Old 10th Mar 2019, 23:05
  #2 (permalink)  
TheOddOne
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Down at the sharp pointy end, where all the weather is made.
Age: 74
Posts: 1,684
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
I didn't start my PPL course until I was 33 and had some money left to me. I think that £9,000 for a PPL in a C172 is pretty good value (in the UK, at least) and it's good to see that they've given you an idea of cost against 65 hours. Hot-shot teenagers might do it in the 45 hours but it took me 58. This included extra hours because the weather got in the way and I needed refresher training for my cross-country flight and skills test. When I got my licence, I opened a separate bank account and paid a regular sum into it each month, straight from my wages, enough to ensure I could do the minimum hours each year. I kept this going all through the years of having a mortgage and bringing up children. Along the way, I did the UK IMC rating, night rating and eventually the CPL exams and flight test (failed the first attempt!) By then I was in my mid-forties with a good career in aviation but not flying. When that finished, I did the instructor course (late 50s by now) and have been instructing for the past 12 years - hugely satisfying but no money, but nowadays I don't need so much.
Go for it! When I started I had no idea where it would take me, just that I had a passion to fly which is stronger now than it ever has been. After a day's instructing in the PA28, I sometimes take the C42 microlight for a 30 min local flight, just for the pleasure of it.

TOO
TheOddOne is offline