Aerobatic Training South East
Hi All,
I'm interested to find out opinions of those who do aeros for fun or even for competition flying as to which may be the best option for me:
Currently I am halfway through an AOPA Basic Aerobatics course at Redhill. My instructor is fantastic, I've been with them from the start and like the way they teach. The aircraft is C152 Aerobat, and whilst it is underpowered for aeros, I am familiar with the type and as far as I understand it should help teach me energy management much better than a more powerful machine. So far so good. However, for every hour I'm in the air (Circa £215 inc. Landing fee) I can only log around 30mins aero time, and on a few occasions, 20mins IMC training time due to getting out of gatwick airspace. From rough calcs this will end up at around £3200 for an aeros rating...
On the other hand, I had a go in a chipmunk at the real flying company at shoreham, they gave a very rough figure of around 15 hours to do:
AOPA Basic Aerobatics Course
Tailwheel Conversion
Type conversion on a chippy.
As a very rough figure, it was £230ph inc landing fee which amounts to £3450 for all of the above.
I am very aware that cheaper is not better in the flying world, but whilst experience is the priority, value for money comes a close second.
My worry is that if I switch the chipmunk, I will lose the experience I have in the 152 as I will have to relearn the manouvers in a much more agile aircraft.
Plus, Last time i flew the Chipmunk, the controls didn't come naturally, as I have most of my hours in 152's, so I'm worried it'll take me a long time to feel comfortable in the aircraft.
Ultimatley i will be flying for fun, but i wouldnt exclude competition flying in the future... any advice on getting into that would also be good!
Cheers,