which school in Beds

[chrisPPL]

I think this has probably been asked before but I couldn't find anything in the archieves.

I am looking for a school to start training for my PPL. I live about 15 miles south of cranfield so that see an oblivous choice. but which organisation. Also are there others I should consider.

[charlie-india-mike]

Chris

You could do worse than popping into Cranfield Aero Club and having a chat with the people there.

PM me for info on the ones to steer clear of at Cranfield

CIM

[Red Chilli]

I've flown with Bonus for some time now and always found them to helpful and professional :ok:

[sawotanao]

I've done a lot of flying at cranfield, would recomend Bonus Aviation too. Pm me if you want more info. Besta luck :ok:

[chrisPPL]

thanks I will have a chat with Bonus

[ALEXA]

Chris

I've sent you a p.m.

[airpilot]

Chris, have a chat at Flyteam Aviation. Operate C172'S and PA28'S both at Cranfield and Elstree.

[chrisPPL]

Thanks for all your help I shall be calling a few over the weekend

[Finals19]

Chris,

Pro's and cons of Cranfield...

Pros:

Bloody great runway!
Full ATC, with a varying sympathy towards students depending on who is on frequency!
Lots of traffic to contend with, which is really a good thing!
A huge wide circuit, so relatively plenty of time to get all those downwind checks done...

Cons:
Can be kept waiting for quite a while at the hold point when it is busy
Circuit can get a bit too congested sometimes!
Can be long taxi due to size of A/D

Some quite good schools (Bonus/Billins?) I would not bother with Flyteam Aviation though.

[Wrong Stuff]

Another vote for Billins from me. It's a very pleasant and friendly setup, but Richard Billins is very safety-orientated, has lots of practical experience and he runs a tight ship. I'd be happy to fly with anybody he's trained.

I've done a few hours in Flyteam aircraft as well. For rental they're fairly typical aircraft - sound but with niggles - at a reasonable price with sensible checkout requirements. For tuition they don't have the best reputation. They may have been unlucky, but they've been something of a serial loser of nosewheels on landing.

I was also recently up in the Cranfield control tower quite late one Saturday afternoon and a chap wandered in asking if he could be let into the Flyteam offices. Apparently he'd just landed from his qualifying cross country to find that everyone from Flyteam had gone home, locking his jacket and keys in the office. I always thought the solo students had to be supervised, but even if not I'm amazed nobody hung around to make sure he made it back safely.

[omcaree]

Chris

I must say it seems like ages since I flew from cranfield (in reality its only been about 6 months) but I can certainly recommend Billins Air Services. I did my PPL, night rating and IMC with them, never had any problems.

As has been said the only main drawback with cranfield is having to hold at times, either waiting to depart or waiting to rejoin. although i'm now flying from east midlands which is far worse due to commercial traffic. but cranfield ATC do their best to handle lots of aircraft and keep everyone happy.

I'm heading back to cranfield over easter (getting kicked out of uni for 4 weeks) so I might see you there. Good Luck with the PPL.

Cheers,

Owen

[Jinkster]

Try Bedfordshire School of Flying - Cabair.

www.cabair.com

Good Luck! :ok:

[airpilot]

I doubt it very much if this student had just returned from a qualifying cross country. I'm sure that a CFI with an examiner's authourisation would not be this derelict in there supervision duties.Perhaps this guy was returning from a private hire cross country.

[Wrong Stuff]

No - I had about 5 mins chat with him (while they called security to let him in to get his stuff) in which he told me about his route and I congratulated him on his achievement. I remember being very surprised at the time that there was nobody from the school there to greet him. If I'm wrong there must have been a massive misunderstanding between the two of us.

[Loony_Pilot]

I used to instruct at Cranfield, and all I will say I that you should be a little wary of negative comments about various schools, theres a large amount of bitchiness between some of the schools/clubs there.

The best thing you can possibly do, is go there at the weekend, spend all day looking around, chatting to the students, members, etc.

visit Taylor Aviation, Bonus, Billins, FlyTeam, Cranfield Aero Club, Cabair.. and whoever else has sprung up there recently

Get a feel for the one you like best, and go with them, prices vary greatly at Cranfield, and dont assume that expensive means better.
What you want is good quality instruction and a decent friendly atmosphere, dont be bowled over by glossy brochures, snazzy booking systems or anything pointless like that.

Also, try not to pay money up front!!!

PM me if you want to ask anything else

[gliderman69]

Have to agree loony pilot on that one

He was my instructor at Cranfield :ok: and I now have a share in a plane based there now, the plus of Cranfield is that it is a busy professional ATC enviroment, which sorry to say means that you can be stuck on the ground for upto 20 minutes waiting to get in the air. My club lets you off this time but check to see if all scholls discount long waits on the ground imposed by ATC.

Visit all, there is always some worst than other and some better than others and with all flying there is a certain amount of clickiness!

but important to remember

Dont pay up front as LP says!

Getting a feeling for which school suits your attutide and personallity if you dont get on with the instructors etc that could end up being expensive!

Gliderman

[Finals19]

I am fairly well versed on the incidents cited that took place at Flyteam, and on the whole I have to say that the instructors there were (past tense, cannot comment in the present) good guys. The nosewheel and related incidents were more to do with bad luck and perhaps some slight misjudgement more than anything else.

As has been said here, for rentals they are fine - the problem lies in politics behind the scenes and some questionable management. That is what brings them down. Shame really.........:(

[Wrong Stuff]

That's true - I've encountered some very experienced and helpful instructors there in the past.

I'd agree with all LoonyPilot's advice - turn up at all the schools, chat to the instructors and the current students and see which school you feel most comfortable with. Also, see if you can meet whoever will be your instructor as you're going to be spending quite a lot of time in a little tin box with him or her.

And don't pay up front.

Good luck!