Originally Posted by
alexeyAP
Are you sure about ATPL being 100k in loans? Bristol groundschool has ATPL(a) courses at £3k and while I appreciate that BGS is only the theory part I've mostly heard £50-60k quoted as a price for the modular.
Your flying costs are probably do-able for 50-60k, but this can vary wildly depending on where you train and how you go about your hour building etc. Also, don't necessarily go for the cheapest school you find. Visit the different places you're thinking about training at and look at feedback on here to see where you feel most comfortable with.
Don't forget to budget for the extras though as these quickly add up to more than you may initially think!
- Traveling to/from flight school.
- Living costs for any full-time portions of training when you are not working.
- PPL study material in addition to your ATPL's.
- Accommodation and travel costs whilst away for exams.
- Exam fees.
- Medical and any referral fees if anything requires investigation.
- Landing fees whilst hour building. Fly to new destinations to develop your skills. Burning holes in the sky in the local area is utterly pointless. A lot, if not most flight schools will include landing fees at home base.
- Equipment: Headset, maps etc.
- Issuing of your licence.
I've probably missed a few things, but you get the point! Costs will inevitably creep up year after year, so add a bit extra to account for this. The cost of avgas went up significantly for a few months last year which had an impact on things. When you're burning 25-35 litres of the stuff every hour, that quickly adds up.
I'm not trying to scare you, but it is very easy to forget about the things that'll drain your funds outside of fine in the air!