On my calculations last year (before the price rises on both sides of the atlantic) a US based hour building package came in at £61 per hour (hobbs), on top of that you have 300-400 flight (low cost airline), possible accomodation, food whilst there and spending money then your mortgage or rent payments for your house over here, in the end there was little or no difference and in some cases actually worked out MORE EXPENSIVE!!
This year I worked out in this country you can get a C152 for approx £69-75 per hour. If you join a no equity group this can be slightly less at £55 wet per hour plus monthly charges.
In the
US with the rises, you are looking at £64 (now $4.99 a gallon of 100LL) per hour (hobbs) (based
100 hours at £6397)..... in the
UK you can get
100 hours at £5920 (allow for slight variations) and this is for the same aircraft.
SAVING OF - £477 (without taking into account flight charges, out of pocket expenses etc etc!)
In this country "if you shop around" you can pay by monthly invoice or even by the hour. At OBA they only except a payment upfront for the full amount and if you have to return home for whatever reason you get stung for 25% "cancellation charge"!! Don't forget to add there flying restrictions also PPL or no PPL. It's their aircraft.
Experience of the UK weather and a country over run with airspace can be valuable experience to a newly qualified pilot compared to sunny days and open airspace (generally) in the US. People just think of the weather when they go to the US without taking into account other amenities.
SHOP AROUND. Flying schools will charge you £100-160 per hour and there is more restrictions due to training commitments as to where you can fly. But based on a school near me they are charging £130 solo per hour (£13,000 for 100 hours) - abolsute lunacy!!! However they are kind enough to give discounts for payments up front of 10%
