PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - PPL schools near South London (is distance an issue?)
Old 8th Mar 2011, 18:11
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Jan Olieslagers
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Ansião (PT)
Posts: 2,779
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The main disadvantage of a distant aerodrome is that more things can change while you are getting there. Only last week I left home in perfect flying weather for my a/d just over an hour's ride away, only to hear my instructor cancel the flight due to excessive wind and turbulence when I arrived. And right he must have been at 18 knots coming in just over a hill.
Not wanting to repeat the experience, I cancelled today's flight when I saw ever increasing wind speeds in the METAR's - and probably lost a valuable hour of fine flying in beautiful early spring weather.

So yes it is a good thing to be close to your home field. OTOH my previous place was only 45 minutes driving away, but its circuit twice as large, and training often interrupted by paradrop ("everyone leave the traffic circuit until all down") , or , worse, undisciplined helo trainers.

I think your first aim should be a place where you feel good while training in the circuit. For me, this requires good discipline most of all, and fair economy as a secondary point.
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