Good.Cheap.Flying school for uni student.

[FleetFlyer]

In order to avoid the 'CHEAP's not an option' naysers, the phraseology you should have employed was 'least expensive'. It reassures the professionals and those who have spent fortunes that you're aware of the potential costs involved and bolsters their self worth. Seriously, they work hard in a tough environment for poor margins, we'd all need geeing up if we were PPL instructors.

I got my microlight NPPL partly with the cheapest school in the south. My instructor was poor in many ways. I wound up completing at a different school and didn't enjoy 90% of my training at either establishment. I should mention that the second school I went to charged top dollar and expected top performance from me. My lack of enjoyment here was down to resentment at the poor standard of training recieved previously and the amount of catch up I had to pay for. The second school made me a good pilot and demanded high standards, which I was prepared to pay to attain because I wanted to be a good pilot. Now I'm free to roam and learn (it is definitely a license to learn) I've been able to refine my airmanship whith the support of a great flying buddies and good clubs. Putting up with crap training and facilities is often par for the course if you 'go cheap' but this doesent mean that you won't benefit. If you have previous experience such as gliding or flying with friends, or even just a flight sim obsession, you may well be able to get by (YES, GET BY), though you may not enjoy the experience. If you are not particularly good and need a good instructor to get you through, then getting by at a cheap school is probably not the best way.

I recommend going abroad as the cheapest way to a JAA PPL (£4500 florida vs £6-8000 Blackbushe/Elstree/White Waltham). Buy into a sydicate as early as you can as you can be trained on your own aircraft (insurance permitting) and save a lot of money. A lot of people on here will poo poo a US trained PPL but with the £2-3K you have saved you can do a lot of post PPL flying and training over here. For example, with £3K you could get a non-equity share in a CofA aircraft such as a C172, do your IMC rating in 10 hrs at £90/hr wet + instructor at £50/hr then fly for another 15 hrs, all for the same money that a fresh UK PPL would cost you with no extra experience or ratings. (this example ignores the minimum hours requirement for commencing th IMC course, which I've forgotten.)

Another avenue if money is tight is to go for an NPPL (SSEA) first and build hours on a syndicate owned LAA Permit aircraft. Your hours will count to anything you do afterwards and you get to fly cheaply (£45/hr all in for a small Jodel or similar you can go cheaper with an Evans VP-1 but you reeeeally have to want it to fly one of those.) You can then ace the rest of the PPL course at later date with the skills of an experienced pilot and the finances of an employed graduate. (assuming you're not reading media studies)

If you fancy a ride in my aircraft to get some airtime and you can bung me £20 for fuel then PM me and we'll talk. I'm not far from the smoke.

Apologies for all the brackets. (I just can't help myself)

EDIT;Oh, and beer, you have to buy me beer.