From Ireland to naples

[Boeing737]

Hi, i aim this thread at people from ireland. I'm just wondering who from ireland had done their ppl in naples in florida.I was wondering if you could give me a gross figure on the money spent on training and a breakdown on the costs. How long did it take to acquire the necessary visas and how much did these cost?Did you find naples satisfactory?And is/was there any further exams etc required when you returned to ireland and wanted to fly on the jaa ppl attained in the u.s?
go raibh míle maith agat.

[FLYbyWIT]

Hey the search function will answer most of your questions in detail.
Naples for me was just fine. I spent 7 wks and did PPL/night/imc and left with about 80hrs. Only thing I would do again and strongly advise you to do is finish the PPL written exams before you go there. As My first weeks were spent studying when I should have been flying,so get them done. Really nice area to fly with busy airfields if you want that and of course real quiet spots.
I just loved Pahokee and immokalee /arcadia / la belle/ and of course a trip up to st.pete and Tampa and over to orlando and titusivlle where I went to see space kennedy centre. I just loved it there, Naples itself is a real nice field which can get real busy with bizjets which keeps you on your toes.Accomodation is mainly the Wellsley INN or one or two other accomodations they have but they all need bicyles to get there which you will end up sawing the b0%%0cks of yourself which is a common complaint. If you there for more then 4wks you be better going to the pawn shop and buy yourself a second hand bike for $50 as compared to rent it off naples for $70.
Visas took very little time, you have the advantage that you can walk into the US embassy down at Merrion which helps alot.Certainly no longer then a week or two from the time you get the ball rolling with naples,they send so forms to you etc etc thats the waiting then you only need a day with the embassy,cant remeber how much 70euro maybe???
All in all I spent about 6 or 7000euro which covered all flight /food/accomodation and all the flying. I was issued with a caa PPL and no it needed no conversation what so ever other then the obligatory club checkout. I reall envy you going there, I loved it and some musts are the above fields plus everglades/marathon.venice/page and Ft Myers just north of you to practice ils approaches all free of course or head to Marco island just south to scare the alligators. Ask away

[Boeing737]

thats great mate.thanks.slán

[normb]

Hi 737/WIT

I too am thinking about Naples for my PPL but am gonna have to work for a while first so I can afford it. WIT i'm just wondering, about doing the exams before going to Naples where/how often are PPL exams held in Ireland?.Am I right in saying that there is 7 exams in total. How much do the exams cost?

normb.

[birdlady]

Hi guys

If your thinking of doing the exams in Ireland I would make sure that they will be recognised by UK JAA system. Eventhough Ireland is still JAA its Irish JAA not english JAA ( if that makes any sense whatsoever). I came across this recently as I wanted to do my CPL in Ireland but do the gs through bristol. I was told to check with the IAA first to see if they would recognise these exams as the school wasnt sure if they would except it. It may be different with PPL and Im sure the UK CAA wont have a problem but just check first. Never got a reply but doesnt matter as I decided to do ICAO instead. Far better off. :E :ok:

[conor_mc]

Hi FLYbyWIT,

I've looked at the Naples route, and having budgeted on the side of caution admittedly, my figures would be significantly higher than what you spent.

Can I just ask when were you at Naples for your PPL - would the prices have increased much since? Also, did you stay at the Wellesley or the school accom? And was the 6/7000 figure you mentioned the approximate cost of your PPL alone, as in the context of Boeings question, or for your PPL/Night/IMC as in the context of your answer - if so, thats excellent value and I may well look again at the prospect of going there myself!!!!!

Cheers,

cm

[Boeing737]

Ok guys, i spoke to a friendly chap there last night who had been out in naples. AFAIK the gross figure to date on the ppl including flights, accom, food bike etc, is about $7500 or there abouts.ALso im prepared to study for the exams over there in naples.What i do know, is that the groundschool exams are UK CAA exams, not IAA exams. There are therfore three options, 1. Undertake the 7 ppl ground school exams in the uk 2. Underake the 7 ground school exams in naples 3. Find somewhere (if possible) to undertake the 7 ground school exams in the republic. Im going to get onto the IAA today and see if i can gain any info on option 3. Finally i have another question. I already have an IAA reference number (student pilot license) s/p3643... (for example) what happens if i go to naples, do i get a different number, i.e a british number?will i not be using my original irish number?many thanks,

normb feel free to pm me if you want.ill definately be heading out this summer after my college finals. :D

[Boeing737]

Hello again all.again i have a question regarding the uk caa ground school exams for a jaa ppl conducted in the us. For anyone who has completed the 7 groundschool exams in naples for the ppl, i ask, if you did NOT do the ground school exams or study before you went out to naples, i ask, how did you manage to pass all the groundschool exams in the 3 - 4 week period in florida?i should also say im completely at ease with cramming, (final year student) :D

[raceeend]

Boeing737,

I did my PPL at OFT and did it in 21 days including the theoretical exams. It is tough and I would advise you to study them all before you go. You don't have to complete the examinations, just be ready to sit them.

I didn't and ended up having to do it all in the 21 days, using the Confuser, wich realy helps in CRAMMING!!! and worst of it all, I'm Dutch and English is not my native language, imagine you doing it all in the same time in the Dutch language:D

So it is doable, but more easy would be to study in advance, it would give you a much better time in the states.

As you are going to spend so much money, you might as wel enjoy it!

Greetings from Amsterdam

:D André :D

[too_sleepy]

Hi
Just a quick note regarding the CAA/IAA PPL written exams.
Planning to do my full PPL in Ireland I signed up to a course with Flightwise in Weston. The ground school was fantastic and I passed all of the Irish written exams first time, I think there's 4.

A quick change of mind and off to Naples I went.
****The IAA written exams cannot be used towards a CAA PPL****

This is a fact.

Luckily for me my groundschool was very good with Flightwise so I managed to pass all of the 7 CAA written exams in Florida.

I would strongly recommend getting your CAA exams first, this would probably require a trip to the UK. Or do the Irish exams and attend a good ground school before you go. You might still get the exams in Naples without any prior work but you'll enjoy the trip and your flying far more with most of the work out of the way.

Once you get to Naples you'll have to do a silly little medical. It's about $40 and this is also a student license so you can fly. The IAA student license means nothing. On completion of your course, if you pass the skilltest, you then apply to the CAA for your license.

AT the very least get yourself the Trevor Thom books and the best money you ever spend will be on the latest PPL Confuser book.

Good luck,

[yak-yak]

Hi all,

For what it is worth it is possible to do the course in 3 weeks. it means very little socialising and lots of flying during the day (2-3 times a day) and study for your exams in the evening.
Read the trevour Thom books. They are a must. Also the PPL confuser, will get you ready for the exams.
When i went in November 2003, i was pretty exhausted after it, but i could not afford any more time from work so 3 weeks was all i had. i would have liked to stay the 4 weeks and be under less pressure but,...

It cost about 7k all in. A great place to learn. Getting the visa was no problem but when i landed in florida i was one of the first out to Passport control and the last to leave it.. All paperwork and visa ok, but they really do check and double check everything and just to be sure check it again...

I came away with my PPL, night rating, radio telephony license and 55 hrs. I believe the radio telephony is required as a minimum to fly in the UK. Not in ireland.

If your thinking about taking this to commercial level, then you will have to continue your exams through the UK CAA system. At the moment i am finishing my ATPL through distance learing at Bristol.gs. Then on wards and upwards for the combined multi/IR in January.:ok:

sin é..

all the best

yak

[too_sleepy]

Hi

That's the first I heard about having to continue down the CAA commercial route if you hold a CAA PPL.
Once you get your PPL 'issued in accordance with ICAO Annex 1' you can train anywhere.
I'll post once I find this in LASORS.

T

[Boeing737]

If your thinking about taking this to commercial level, then you will have to continue your exams through the UK CAA system.

Really?Is this fact???

:confused:

[Boeing737]

Hi again, does any body know this?i would like to find out here before contacting the IAA.Im going to be booking a place in naples very soon.:}

[pipergirl]

U can do a CAA PPL and because it is an ICAO licence, once u get back to Ireland, u can approach the IAA and ask them to issue a IAA licence against ur CAA one...then u can go down the route of doing ur commercial training in Ireland

If u stick with the CAA PPL, any further training will have to go thru the UK system

I did a CAA PPL in 2000 and went thru the UK system as the IAA were not JAR compliant at the time...But personally I wud rather go thru the CAA system as opposed to the IAA, that's just a personal thing though, don't know what others think about it

[Boeing737]

i see, so i can do the caa ppl, then approach the iaa and claim an iaa ppl against the caa ppl.then i can continue my training in ireland up and achieve the cpl/mep/ir?why would you prefer the caa system?Im trying to find out all i can!

[PaddyMcGinty]

Hey there.
Have a look at debenair in titusville, florida. I did all my hour building there and going back in a few weeks to do my IR and CPL. They are a very friendly school, like a real family atmosphere. The costs are very good also. Last year i got a 100hr block C152 for about 48 dollars an hour wet. They are now going to be offering JAR courses as well so that will benefit you. Dont bother with the exams in Ireland, the IAA will just cause hastle for you. visa issue will cost about 200 dollars and there is another fee you will have to pay to the alien flight student program of about 70 - 90 dollars. I presume your just starting training so make sure you have your Class 1 medical first! I'm Irish also but havent done any training in here, its just too damm expensive, go to a JAR approved school in the USA. Much cheaper!! We all have our diff ways of doing it, thats just my opinion. Good luck.

PMG

[Boeing737]

yeah i have the class I for the past 18 months.Thanks for the info.im just going to get the ppl then take it from there. Best of luck with your training btw!
regards!