Originally Posted by
riverrock83
DST - welcome to the forum!
If I were you I wouldn't go as far as Dundee. Spending 2h40min travelling by car for every hour you're in the air, then finding when you get there that there is a problem with weather / airport / aircraft / instructor so you can't actually get up would be pretty tough going - your motivation could be tested!
If you're thinking of this as a hobby, then I'd look at a more club orientated location rather than simply a school. You'll find more people to chat to / help you / fly with, even at the quieter clubs. I learnt and still fly from Prestwick Flying Club and enjoy the chat and atmosphere - I recommend it but I'd again say it is probably a bit far for you.
It is worth thinking about where you want to take your hobby. Once you've finished your training, will you still have money to fly? Are you always going to hire an aircraft or join a group / buy your own? Do you want to fly out with others?
I'm a pretty new PPL but am in a group at Prestwick. If I wasn't in a group, I'd certainly be looking at 3-axis microlights. I hear very good reports...
Hi Riverrock,
I think I might take your advice on Dundee. I was considering their Summer School which would involve staying there for 6 weeks, but it's a lot of additional expense that might not be worth it.
I certainly want to be able to fly after gaining my PPL, and figured a co-ownership/syndicate/whatever-they're-called group would be my best option as it would allow going away for a couple of days and only paying for flying hours (from what I've read). Of course I'd need to actually find one, and I assume many will have minimum logged hours before joining.
I did see a
share based at Cumbernauld which might work for hour building, but from the page on their site it sounds like you pay for every hour you have the plane rather than just flight time. Hour building seems like a good idea though, and at £900 with a guaranteed buy-back it seems like a no brainer
initially.
Ownership would be incredible in terms of flexibility, but I don't have the knowledge or (I assume) funds to actually own and manage/maintain an aircraft. I've certainly seen some used-car-priced older aircraft online, but the maintenance expenses and other associated costs are unknown to me at the moment so I'm put off.
I'm self-employed (have a small software development company with my boyfriend writing iOS apps) so currently have the means, but who knows what happens in the future.