I'm with IO here - its a personal choice - but keeping current in the UK is the problem regardless where you got the licence! I've not been able to fly for the last 4 weeks due to constant low cloud bases and light drizzle.
For me, I did around 7 hours in the UK, then I went to OBA - for a number of reasons.
i) It was cheaper - I'm based in Aberdeen - instruction here is near enough £180 per hour + £17 per landing/touch and go - it's almost impossible to do circuit training here as ATC won't allow it during busy times, and you end up orbiting for 20 mins waiting for choppers/commercial traffic, and the landing fee applied whether you full stop, or t&g. - Obviously - this is dependant on where you'll train, but for me it costed out at £12k for completion - I spent a total of £5.5k at OBA all in.
ii) The consolidated 4 weeks suited me better personally - I know people who have been training for 18 months and still not got the licence. That's not for me - I benefited from a more structured and regular training environment and I really found that flying every day for 4/5 weeks you really see great improvements to your flying - no 20 mins getting your air legs in as when I was training in the UK. Also, hanging round the club house waiting for weather to improve is boring as sin - especially at a smaller and quieter club.
The arguments about standards of flying etc are pointless - YOU are the student, ensure that YOU fly in a safe, competent and professional manner. Students from both sides of the pond can develop lax or bad habits and to be perfectly honest, a low hours PPL is much more likely to be less complacent than someone who's been flying for years in a group out of a farm strip.
The R/T is not sufficiently different (position & hold/line up and wait - not rocket science - Flight Following/FIS/RIS/RAS - not difficult) - the very very very busy Daytona/Orlando airspace prepared me perfectly for operating out of a resonably busy ATZ, and I've had no problems on my return. I've joined a group who have been perfectly happy with my flying, and my flying has been described as very professional by an instructor who was surprised i wasn't going to do the CPL.
The point is that it's up to you to get the most out of it. It's also up to you once you've got the licence to continue to learn, and battle the UK weather to keep current.
Whatever you decide - it's your decision - DONT base it soley on opinions from relatively anonymous forums either way. Also remember that people tend to complain about bad service, but very few people offer opinions on good service!
