Hi Malena
I presume you are thinking of the states because of cost and weather. That's all fine but have you considered South Africa for your ppl. I have just completed my JAA PPL here in Johannesburg with a school called Flight Training College of Africa. They were the only ones who offered JAA and they have gone bankrupt (two days after I finished my test - phew). As with FTC going bankrupt, I have moved schools and just completed my SA PPL. I have to say it was a far more fun licence to do and far more practicle. Because all our routes were JAA approved (in other words a JAA official came out and assigned routes) it was very limiting and not as challenging. I presume this is going to be the same in the states. The SA PPL, on the otherhand, depends all on the route your instructor wants to do so they will choose a route thats more challenging. The first time I did a grass landing and an unmanned airfield full stop landing was on my saa ppl test. This is where it can be slightly limiting. Plus, as Mike mentioned with the radio work, SA's is much more similar to UK's. Its an ICAO PPL so you can fly in the UK on it and it can be used to convert to the JAA CPL obviously once you have finished the appropriate hours (100 P1) and your JAA ATP theory. The school I am at now is called Pooleys in Grand Central and is owned by a bloke callled Lenard Edwards. He's a grade 1 instructor and holds an atpl so is very experienced. He used to run FTC so he is very familar with the JAA training.
Hope this helps and if you need anymore info, please dont hesitate to contact me
Birdlady
