Yep - at £82 per hr for most its the most expensive service purchase they ever make. But its £62 for the aircraft and fuel, £10 for the owner and £10 for the FI. Take out the tax, the fact he/she gets little or nothing if not in the air and you are actually paying your bartender more per hourly service than your FI...
BEagle you are quite correct. I subscribed wholly to that. Many did not, do not and will not.
Which just goes to underline to Wannabes that you often as not get what you pay for. A fact that should often be borne in mind when looking for the cheap PPL. I speak as a man who during 1999 worked for a £2,600 PPL course provider.
Some of these issues are the ones that have driven me over the years to commend picking a local UK school with which you can develop a more significant customer relationship.
You are often far better in my humble opinion to train somewhere for PPL, Hours, IMC, Night, CPL and IR from the outset so that you can:
a) get the best (often CFI) instructor from day one.
b) At least suss out the poor instructors early
c) Develop a mutually beneficial student/instructor relationship
d) Be familiar with local SOP's and the local training area/ATC
e) Help facilitate getting a first Instructor job IF Mr Branson is not immediately forthcoming in his job offers.
I might add that I am not an adherent of my own advice and suffered as a result.
Good luck,
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