Ok, so let's set up a hypothetical school.
Our school will have 10 aircraft. 6 of these are old, knackered C172s. They have everything which is needed to pass a PPL and fly to PPL standards. They are well maintained, and safe, but if the ADF starts playing up we won't bother fixing it.
We also have 4 modern aircraft, let's say DA40s since they've been mentioned a few times. The DA40s are fully airways equipped, have dual GPS, two-axis auto-pilot, dual VOR/ADF with RMI and HSI.
Now, we'll offer four courses:
- Option 1: Basic PPL. Minimum time, 45 hours. Price, £85/hr. All flying is on the C172.
- Option 2: DA40 PPL. Minimum time, 45 hours. Price, £115/hr. All flying is on the DA40.
- Option 3: DA40 PPL+. Minimum time, 55 hours. Price, £115.hr. All flying is on the DA40. After this course, you will have a PPL. Although you won't have any more qualifications than for the basic course, you will have had additional training in "real life" navigation, including some longer cross-countries, possibly cross-channel (depending where the school is located), how to use the GPS and the auto-pilot constructively.
- Option 4: C172/DA40 PPL+. Minimum time, 55 hours, of which at least 10 will be on the DA40, learning to use the GPS, auto-pilot, RMI, HSI and so on, but the basic PPL syllabus will be taught on the C172. Price is £85/hr for the C172, £115/hr for the DA40.
Which course do you think will get the most bookings? Do you think that students would switch from one course to another as their knowledge and understanding of flying increases? (Let's not complicate things by introducing an IMC rating just yet.)
FFF
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