Skyseeker -
Yes, BJUS (probably me, especially if you see it bounce down the tarmac a few times on landing) and yes, used to be Panshanger School of Flying. Alan used to be fairly heavily involved in Panshanger (which is still running, I think?) and then a few years back moved a little to the East to set up PSF at High Cross.
I found it through the Yellow Pages, but that was years ago. Don't think Alan's done much advertising lately - mostly word of mouth.
BigEndBob -
You can make a profit from only one or two a/c, but you're quite right - you need to be pretty careful about it. Cost of fuel goes up, then prices have to follow; price of lessons has to have a buffer to cope with exploding engines and bad weather. Yes, charge for groundschool. Why not? If an instructor is spending an hour on the ground teaching you how a wing works he's not in the air teaching someone how to climb, so he's not earning the school a full hour's flying lesson. You may not be able to charge as much (after all, no fuel used, no wear and tear on the a/c) but you can charge an element for the lost income. Even £20 for the hour, it's not that bad a deal for the student.
BEagle -
Have to confess, I've always wondered why it is that the aerodrome needs to be licensed. As an aside, if you learn how to get a PA38 into and out of a small farm strip it's likely to stand you in far better stead than if all your training consists of operating out of that 10,000 footer made of tarmac - how often is there a topic here on Pprune about 'I've always flown out of Luton and now I'm worried about flying into Sywell'? If the school itself is regulated (the instructors licensed, the examiners rated, the school subject to regular inspections) then the state and adequacy of the aerodrome will form part of that process anyway, will it not?
LB.