PPL Training - North East Scotland

[B_Fawlty]

Being a resident of darkest Kincardineshire up here in Scotland, I would like to keep my training base fairly close by. I grew up close to Scone but my understanding is that Tayside Aviation (who I had a trial flight with from Scone a few years ago) no longer operate out of Scone and that the only training at Scone is for commercial or advanced ratings.
My preference is for Tayside at Dundee, basically because Tayside Aviation has been around for quite some time, I've direct experience of them and Dundee is also closer than Dyce (as well as being rather prettier in my view :eek:, not a common opinion I gather ;) ).
I'd be interested to hear what others in my rough locality have to say/recommend.
As far as the theoretical side of the PPL goes, I take it that I could go and buy one of those "kit" packages from a pilot store with the appropriate books and just start on that right away, the intention being to do the exams at a later stage i.e. about the same time I am actually doing flying training? Or is a significant amount of this material covered as ground school at the actual flying school? From what I've read on various forums, it seems to be the former, with mainly the more practical side of the theory e.g navigation, RT being dealt with at ground school.
Once again, any advice or comments will be gratefully received! :ok:

Fawlty

[Floppy Link]

that the only training at Scone is for commercial or advanced ratings

PPL training is still available at Scone with some ex-Tayside instructors operating with the Scottish Aero Club...

For further information and the latest prices please contact Tayflite on 01738 550003 and ask for The Scottish Aero Club

found athttp://www.scottishaeroclub.org.uk/


Or altenatively why not stay much closer to home and do your PPL(H) at Culter Helipad (http://www.hjshelicopters.co.uk/) :E

[DB6]

You have it just about right. Get in touch with Tayside (or check the website) as there are starter packages on offer. I instruct there part-time but can't remember the details. There is a very good chap there called Syd who does a series of ground school lectures - ask about them as well, as you don't get that everywhere. One other thing I will add, which is purely down to personal preference - you can train on the Grob 115D2 Heron (similar to the Tutor the RAF uses) for the same price as the C152 or Katana. You definitely will not get that anywhere else:ok:.

[silverknapper]

Floppy is correct, you can train for PPL at Perth through Tayflite and the aero club. Go and visit them both before you make any choices. Of the two I would personally choose Perth, for the following reasons:

Perth is a cracking airport, with 3 runways to choose from. Training at Dundee can be very limited by the cross winds there.
Tayflite are just over £10 an hour cheaper than Tayside.
A recent article in the Scotsman put a lot of uncertainty forward about the future of Dundee, in the short term. It doesn't make money as an airport and the council want rid of it quickly.
You can't beat learning in an aero club atmosphere. Dundee feels like being at school, especially with lots of air cadets running about.

However you can't beat visiting a place to get a feel for it.
I have trained at several schools in Scotland. The one I liked most was Highland aero club at Inverness. It may be too far for you but they are by far the cheapest of the lot and are an excellent school. Indeed a full PPL is £1130 cheaper than Tayside. You could make a weekend of it and pay for a B&B with what you save on flying! Also Inverness enjoys far better weather than both Perth and Dundee so you would make quicker progress. And they do ground school lectures for free.

DB6
A quick look at Tayside's web site says that the Grob i more expensive than the 152. Is this wrong?

[DB6]

Silverknapper, that may be the case now. It was the same price last time I checked but I know they were looking at that (after all, it is 160 hp with full inverted systems, yeehaa!).