Originally Posted by
B2N2
You're more then welcome.
1. NO, not cheaper if you just do your Private. Maybe a little quicker but not cheaper.
Consider visa fees, accommodations and travel cost.
So for just 40-45 hours it will probably be a wash.
Substantial savings (can) come in if you fly more, Private and Instrument rating or even to Commercial depending on what your goals are.
2. Depending on what your goals are.
For EASA Private you'll need to take the written exams and a flight test, you can do this back home.
3. you don't need a First Class for just a Private, if you plan to continue then yes and yes.
4. DO NOT and I'll explain why. There are only 3-4(?) EASA "certified" schools in the US and they all have a spotty reputation to say the least.
In comparison you have a couple of hundred FAA Flight schools that are authorized to train foreign students which means you have much more choice.
5. Yes, but that is an easy validation if you go from EASA>FAA PPL. Process is easy but may take up to 90 days so do not delay in the application.
If your plan is to train towards a EASA "frozen" ATPL I would suggest you do 0-FAA CPL in the USA in about 6 months then bury yourself and pass the 14 EASA ATPL exams and do a license conversion.
An EASA fATPL is my goal... how much is the 0-FAA CPL route roughly? I'm working full time in the UK and so I can only really quit if I have enough money for the whole 6 months of training including accommodation and living costs...
Edit: I've dug into it and checked out flyeft's $50k EASA fast track course, as well as FlyingAcademy's $33k FAA course. Thing is they take about 9 months on average, so I would need to quit my job, get an M-1 visa and just study/fly in Florida for those 9 months. With the latter course the total cost would therefore be around $45-50k, and this won't include the FAA-CAA conversion, and the ATPL ground school and 14 exams. Factor in time and money for these, and it's 0-fATPL in 18 months and £43,000, unpaid/without work. Ouch. Not gonna lie, I don't have anywhere near that (saved only about £18k), but I can get an unsecured loan for about £30k since I have a good job - but I'd need my family to pay it off for 2 years until I'm an FO... double ouch.