A) Info on where the cheapest plane hire is in Florida ?
this is pretty easy enough to find out...buy pilot or flyer magazine and have a mooch around
B) Opinions on weather to pick a school just on lowest plane hire price ? mmm...really depends on yourself...i went to a school to hour build who advertise themselves as being one of the cheapest around and in my opinion, this was reflected in their a/c and their customer service
Then i decided to go to another school, which wasn't the cheapest, but a friend of mine had good dealings with them in the past, so i gave them a go..they were fantastic....
C) What are the hidden costs ? you have to make sure you look into everything and budget for it, don't get caught out-....transport from airport/car hire/accomodation etc...then add 10-20% on top of what you estimate, just to be safe...
D) Opinions of people who have just done there hour building/recently ? I did hour building pre/post 911...it was great in the past, no hassles, but now it is a pain in the @r5e if you have a foreign licence, so you are better off just getting a FAA licence issued against ur JAA licence....i love flying in the states generally
I have been to a few different schools in Florida and the most recent one I went to was Britannia flight school in Lakeland.
The airport is controlled and they had a great set up there generally...i personally would recommend them
E) Does anybody know how to speed up the temporary FAA airmen license ? I have just done the first stage of the process-
You have to get a form from the FAA, fill it out and send it over to them. Then you must do another form for the CAA giving them permission to release information to the FAA about ur licence(this will cost £16)...
Once they have both confirmed all the details, you will receive a letter from the FAA. On ur application, u have to nominate a FDSO office (there's one in Orlando) tht you will visit for the issue of your FAA licence...You have to present yourself and your letter at the office and they will give you a licence...Be careful though!-the letter is only valid for 6months...
this link is a pretty good one and includes links to the FAA and CAA forms-
http://www.britflight.com/conversion.htm
D)Lastly, does not having a UK RT license yet affect my FAA license privalidges ?[/I]
No, not that i know of..
Whatever you do, I hope it all goes well for you, best of luck and happy flying
