In the US, Canada and Australia it is your right to be able to fly. No roads in some places!
In Europe it is a privilege to be able to fly.
What people sometimes forget is the small size of this place. (British Isles)
The British isles are a small land mass at around 95,000 sq miles (give or take), California, one state alone is over 160,000 sq miles, almost twice the size.
We are saddled with needless over regulation, needless bureaucracy, excessive taxes to pay for a whole host of irrelevant things and sadly,
we are now one of the most expensive highly taxed countries in the world and a country which has eroded away its freedoms through that big brother state mindset.
The government is too much in our lives and it appears that Socialism rules us.
My local airfield is Shoreham, and I have had a number of flights there now with instructors to help build my confidence of flying in the British isles,
and during these flights I have had a few touch & go's and have had to stomach the £8.72 each time I put my wheels on the tarmac, or indeed grass.
In the US I could do as many tough & go's as I liked and didn't have pay any extra costs for this. In a 2 hour lesson I could nail 15 landings easily and this is partcularly good at perfecting the all important landing phase of the flight. Also, if my approach looked unstable or I wanted to practice very important go arounds I could do this too and wouldn't have to worry about extra costs.
Whilst thinking about this, I decided that instead of doing touch and go's I would merely do circuit practice at Shoreham and instead substitute the touch and go for go arounds each time and avoid the extra cost. However, having looked at the Shoreham airport website I've realised that even a go around is subject to the £8.72 charge. Staggering!!
I question how many unstable approaches and consequently how may bad and potentially dangerous landings occur in the British isles because of not wanting to pay the 'approach charge'.
I argue that this does not allow a pilot to fly safely and relaxed, and I was taught that if any part of the approach is not right you should instigate a go around. I believe this is good and safe airmanship and that people should not be forced into making landings.
It also means that during the training phase you are restricted on your approach and landing practice because of the additional costs associated with this.
Take my 2 hour, 15 landing scenario: 15 x 8.72 = £130.8 just for landing. Lot's of dosh!!
I consider flying somewhere new now, having paid £22 to land C152s at Biggin in the past!
Redhill airfield charges.
Charges - Redhill Aerodrome
Popham membership is £125/year covering landings.
A quick google tells me at Popham I could get a C150 share for £2k, then £55/month and £35/hr - so at a sensible minimum of 30 hrs per year, renting at Shoreham would be £4,200, and a share would be ~£3,830 for your first year, and £1,830 for the second and subsequent years (with every chance of getting your £2k back one day).
We live in the British isles and we can land outside of the published operating hours (with prior permission) if we pay an extra £100 or so for the privilege!
Don't even mention the cost of fuel.......................I will......
Avgas at around £2 a litre has really taken the shine off flying!
Took a Citation into Norwich for a few hours last week. The aircraft owner got a bill for about £400 to land and be handled there and thats not a major airport. It does make you wonder how anyone can afford to fly in the UK or for that matter how the airports and their sub industries can manage to survive over here.
Durham Tees, the landing fee was fixed at £24.99. Compare that to Doncaster and Humberside - both £44 for a PA28 for landing, then there's handling at Donny too....
Cranfield, England Landing Fees.
I paid landing fees of about £30 quid (US $50) for a light single and nearly £50 (USD 83) for a twin.
When I last enquired about landing fees at Cranfield they quoted me £37 (USD 62) + VAT for a PA28.
I've recently done an IMC hold and ILS approach (during my IMC flight test!) at Cranfield - didn't land - and was charged £20 (USD 33) + VAT.
I was last there in June last year and I remember paying about £30 (USD 50) in a C152.
I paid £41 (USD 68) for the pleasure of landing at Durham tees valley recently, bloody daylight robbery!
For a PA28 it was around £40 (USD 67) weekdays
Being charged for exam sign-off!
Hi there,
Please can someone advise me, I am considering changing flight schools,
I have been informed by the CFI at my current flight school that the last four ground exams I passed have not been signed off and that they will charge me to have them signed off.
Is this normal practice?
I find this totally incredible as I assummed not only that each exam passed would be signed off after being taken.
The CFI then told me that their usual practice is to wait until the student complete's the PPL course and then they get them all signed off,any advice I would be most grateful for, thanks,
Have you paid the CAA fee to the school for each of the exams you've taken thus far?
If yes, then the school have recorded the pass on behalf of the CAA, else what have you paid a CAA fee for?
The only "sign off" you need is the record of exams on your licence application (CAA form SRG1105) and there's already a fee for that application (£181 - (USD 301) see CAA Scheme of Charges, Personnel Licensing, 28 January 2011), not a secondary fee for signing bits of it.
Could anyone please tell me what the EuroNav charges would be on something like a TBM 700 currently....
A TBM is about £50-£100 (USD 83-166) per hour.