Originally Posted by Sainty43
Another thing they said is that doing your cross country Navigation is completely different to the Uk as the terrain is nothing like the UK??
It may come as a surprise, but even Florida has roads, rivers, lakes, towns, coastlines, VORs, etc. Not too many hills though, I'll admit. Everything tends to be a bit more spread out in Florida though, which I'd argue might actually make you better at nav than you would be learning in the congested UK where ground features come up more regularly. Controlled airspace is definitely less in Florida though, but navigating through or around it is more about planning than anything.
Originally Posted by Sainty43
I understand that to a certain extent they are making it sound like rubbish to keep me in the UK so they can have my money but I just want to make sure that if I finish my PPL over in the US I wont come back and find it completely different!! One chap who went out there 4 years ago gained his ppl there, came back and wont go up without an instructor because he says the it is completely different!!
Indeed, it sounds like they are trying to keep you and your money. Beware the school/club that not only rubbishes USA training, but also turns their noses up when you come back with your PPL and insists on all sorts of over-the-top and/or unnecessarily excessive checkouts before letting you fly alone in the UK. For everyone who comes back and "wont go up without an instuctor" (your words) there are plenty more who come back and little more than one or two hours with an instructor to familiarise themselves with the UK before being let lose on their own (myself included). For you, you should certainly fall into the latter category, having already done 30 hours in the UK.
Go to Florida and enjoy it, but be prepared to work hard in the time you are there - it is not a holiday.
Andy
PS: Hi Paris-Dakar, from another in the "class-of-95" at OBA who is still happily flying in the UK 11 years later!