28 Day (20 Flying) / 45h50m PPL(A) Completed at ANT, Blackpool

[JDA2012]

Hi all - some time after first posting here, I recently started, and then soon after finished, my PPL(A) at Air Navigation & Trading at Blackpool Airport. I would like to post both to express my gratitude to ANT and my instructor Russell Whyham, and to provide information and encouragement that a short-term, full-time PPL is possible in the UK even with the appalling weather we've had lately - 22 days end-to-end would have been quite possible had the weather held up for my planned test date. This obviously required some effort on my part, but would not have been possible without hard work and extensive support from ANT.

I did have a small head start of a 1-hour C172 AEF from Flight Academy Blackpool, taken last September, took a Class 1 medical last June (£428 with two additional tests) and paid £6495 up-front for a package covering 45 hours of flying, 45 landings at Blackpool, lesson briefings, all ground exams, R/T practical, skills test fee, APM Vol. 1 (Thom), CB-5 knee board, AME log book, C150 Pilot's Guide & Check List. I had 50 minutes of flying time left over on completion, which ANT kindly offset against the extra landing fees accrued (115 landings in total), leaving further payments of £249 for these and £191 for the licence issue.

I also received an NM-2 ruler, PP-1 protractor, Pooleys Spiral Flight Guide 2013 and Mile High Flare sunglasses as Christmas / birthday gifts from family/friends and spent £399 to purchase APM volumes 2/3/4/6/7, CRP-5W computer, CAA half-mil Ed. 35 Northern chart, Jeppesen Student Kit Bag, Sennheiser HME 110 & Pooleys headset bag from Proviation. Away landing fees came to £73 and finally I spent about £565 in diesel travelling between Manchester and Blackpool - a trip of 45-90 minutes dependent on traffic, ~2100 miles driven in total.

Training / course costs - £6817
End-to-end costs (with medical, kit, licence fee) - £7839
With diesel for car totals - £8404

Before selecting ANT I visited many FTOs in NW England (ANT, Westair, Lomac, Ravenair, Flight Academy Blackpool, Liverpool Flying School, Flintshire Flying School, Merseyflight, LAC, Manchester Flight Training) and investigated another few without visiting (York Flying School, Multiflight, Fly Blackpool).

I chose ANT due to their long history (est. 1947), competitive pricing, long opening hours, excellent onsite maintenance standard (trained in a very well-kept Cessna 150 Aerobat), comfortable building, Blackpool airport facilities (tarmac runways, ATC), convenient transport and critically that they offered upfront to attempt a 45-hour 3-week PPL provided that I would put in the required effort. I also learned after starting that it was a friendly family-run business, an additional bonus. Needless to say, I am very happy with my choice and cannot recommend them strongly enough.

A breakdown of my progress follows:

Day 1 (Sat 2nd March) - 3 flights, 3h35m, 3 TO&L, ground ex. 1-2/5 and air ex. 4/6-9
Day 2 (Sun 3rd March) - 3 flights, 3h, 3 TO&L, revision of ex. 1-9, intro to ex. 10, flight over my house and workplace
Day 3 (Mon 4th March) - 1 flight, 1h15m, 1 TO&L, ex. 10-11
Day 4 (Tue 5th March) - 1 flight, 40m, 4 TO&L, ex. 12-13, Air Law / Ops exam passed (83%)
Day 5 (Wed 6th March) - no flying, Met exam passed (75%)
Day 6 (Thu 7th March) - 1 flight, 50m, 4 TO&L, ex. 12-13
Day 7 (Fri 8th March) - 1 flight, 1h5m, 6 TO&L, ex. 12-13, R/T exam passed (93%)
Day 8 (Sat 9th March) - 2 flights, 2h20m, 16 TO&L, ex. 12-13
Day 9 (Sun 10th March) - 1 flight, 45m, 3 TO&L, ex. 12-13 + 2 flights, 40m, 2TO&L, ex. 18 in a PA-28 to/from Woodvale
Day 10 (Mon 11th March) - 2 flights, 2h, 2 TO&L, ex. 15-17
Day 11 (Tue 12th March) - 2 flights, 2h25m, 18 TO&L (10 at Warton), ex. 12-13, Human Factors exam passed (100%)
Day 12 (Wed 13th March) - 3 flights, 2h25m, 19 TO&L (10 at Warton), ex. 12-14, first solo completed
Day 13 (Thu 14th March) - 2 flights, 3h40m, 2 TO&L, ex. 18
Day 14 (Fri 15th March) - 3 flights, 3h, 3 TO&L (1 at Hawarden, 1 at Caernarfon), ex. 18, dual nav + 1 flight 1h, ex. 18, 1TO&L, solo local, 25h dual completed
Day 15 (Sat 16th March) - 1 flight, 1h10m, ex. 19, 1 TO&L + 1 flight, 1h5m, 1TO&L, ex. 18, solo local
Day 16 (Sun 17th March) - 1 flight, 20m, 1 TO&L, ex. 18 + 1 flight, 1h15m, 1TO&L, ex. 18, solo local, Nav exam passed (80%)
Day 17 (Mon 18th March) - no flying
Day 18 (Tue 19th March) - 2 flights, 2h40m, 2 TO&L, ex. 18, solo locals
Day 19 (Wed 20th March) - 3 flights, 2h40m, 3 TO&L (1 at Hawarden, 1 at Caernarfon), solo QXC completed
Day 20 (Thu 21st March) - 1 flight, 1h20m, 1 TO&L, ex. 18, solo local, 10h solo completed, Aircraft General / Flight Principles exam passed (92%)
Day 21 (Fri 22nd March) - no flying, R/T practical passed at Fly Blackpool, Flight Performance exam passed (90%)
Day 22 (Sat 23rd March) - no flying
Day 23 (Sun 24th March) - no flying
Day 24 (Mon 25th March) - no flying, back at work
Day 25 (Tue 26th March) - no flying, back at work
Day 26 (Wed 27th March) - no flying, back at work
Day 27 (Thu 28th March) - 2 flights, 3h35m, 10 TO&L (7 at Warton), revision of ex. 10-13/15-18
Day 28 (Fri 29th March) - 1 flight, 2h5m, 7 TO&L, skills test passed, 45h total completed

Special thanks to:
Russell, Grace and James Whyham at Air Navigation & Trading - Air Navigation & Trading Ltd. Blackpool - Flying Lessons at Blackpool Airport

Thanks also to:
Nick Ross at Proviation - >> Proviation Pilot Shop - Leading Flight Equipment, Pilot Supplies, Aircraft Equipment, Aviation Headsets
Ray Sheldon - my examiner and top chap
Fly Blackpool - Fly Blackpool - Trial flight lessons at Blackpool Airport
Blackpool Airport - Blackpool Airport | Official website of Blackpool international
Caernarfon Airport - Caernarfon Airport Homepage
Hawarden Airport - Welcome to Chester Hawarden Airport
BAE Warton - http://www.baesystems.com/location/BAES_020240/warton
RAF Woodvale - RAF Woodvale - RAF Station Homepage