Any recommendation on quality PPL program?

[cstam80]

All,

It is my first time posting my message here and reading this forum is a great way to kill my leisure hours. I am a PPL wannabe with zero experience and open for PPL training anywhere around the world. My current employer would allow me to take 2 months-2.5 months maximum off for my PPL training?(Very kind boss who is an aviation enthusiast himself!). So my question is any recommendation on quality Flight school for PPL training, that I could complete within the mentioned timeframe? Obviously, I did not want to trade off my training quality with time. Quality and Safety (make sure I do not overwork and affect my physical health during training) are always my foremost concerns. I have visit a website of a South Africa Flight school who claims that PPL training could be completed with 6 weeks, given that weather is good¡_¡_¡_any thought on this

Thank you in advance for sharing your expert insights.

Regards,

PPL Wannabe

[Whirlygig]

2 to 2 1/2 months is good; I did my PPL full time in eight weeks but lost days due to unserviceability of the aircraft (OK, I broke it!) and it was the only one!

The most important thing to consider is where you will be flying once you have your PPL and make sure that you know what has to be done in order to get your licence (obtained in one country) valid in your home land.

The rules vary from country to country but these are not international licences. Usually, one can obtain a licence in one country and then do a conversion in their own country. You will need to look carefully into this. Quite often the costs of doing this negate the savings made in the first place.

South Africa is good - I've flown from Virginia in Durban. Very professional, good instruction, fab weather. But I have no idea whether a South African PPL would be valid in HK.

Cheers

Whirlygig

[BroomstickPilot]

cstam80,

Since you seem to have both the time and the money, I would comment as follows.

Anywhere has got to be better than the UK! Flying here is far too expensive and bad weather can run away with months of your time. Last year I booked a whole week's flying six times (yes 6) in six months and had to scrub every single time solely because of weather. It has taken me fourteen months so far to re-validate my expired PPL. It has cost me a bl**y fortune and I am still not finished yet! I bitterly regret not going overseas to do it.

In general, the Southern hemisphere is better than the Northern hemisphere because there are fewer landmasses to interfere with airflow across the hemisphere. This makes weather much more stable.

If you can't go to SA, Aus or NZ, then the States or Canada are next best. Expect to spend about £300 on security beaurocracy to get into the States (consequence of 9/11).

There are other, less frequented places such as Cyprus, Argentina, Spain, etc. You will have to check this website for comments on those.

If you decide, as most do, to go to Florida, get advice from those who know the place about when to go to avoid bad weather seasons.

Read through the posts on this website about the various training establishments. There are some very good ones and some very bad ones.

A friend of mine went to Debenair at Titusville, Florida, and speaks very highly of them.

As long as you obtain your PPL from an ICAO country, you do not have to obtain a JAA licence on your return. You can fly indefinitely on your ICAO licence in 'G' reg aircraft (and probably 'N's as well). It is only if you wish to go for a CPL or ATPL that you will need a JAA PPL licence.

Do budget for doing about 15 or 20 hours dual on your return to the UK. Our weather is a nightmare and our airspace is busy and conjested. Put the two together and standards have to be high. Any UK club you join will want to satisfy themselves that you are up to it, coming in from abroad. Overseas schools have a patchy reputation with their UK counterparts, (not always fairly).

Good luck,

Broomstick.