hi lads,
Read through a few pages of threads but couldn't find what I was looking for so thought best to post, apologies if this has been asked a million times already.
I have a couple of questions about acquiring a PPL licence and some general ones too! I always wanted to be a pilot as a child(I spose every child does
) , anyway through work I got the "first free flying lesson" and thought this could be the start. I did my trial lesson and I am giving it serious consideration, given the time that it can be completed over etc.
Is it possible to buy the books for the 7 or 8 exams somewhere online second hand like ebay? Not sure what these books are called if so, as I didnt know what the titles were to actually search for!!
Once getting the PPL how difficult and expensive is it to get the Instrument rating, night flying etc?! Why is it you can fly friends and rent a plane but not "fly for hire" i.e. fly for someone and get paid?! How difficult and expensive is it to go from a PPL to commercial, is it easy to get work afterwards and whats the return on investment as in how long is it before it starts "paying off"?! whats the most difficult exam and whats the pass mark for them all?!
Finally, the instructor I had today advised me never get a share of a plane or think about buying one (i couldnt afford that anyway!!) as the cost of keeping a plane on the ground is huge.....what about if you buy a share etc, how much is it then, surely its shared, and how often within a year would you expect to have use of the plane in say a 8 person share. And last but not least hte most naive question of all, I would love the idea of being able to fly to france or Eire for a weekend, but rent on a plane is huge, is there anyway to do this cheaply or on a 3 day rate or something?!
Thanks for any advice guys and appreciate that some of the questions are a bit silly!
Paul