PPL In London UK

[volar]

Have been looking at clubs and options for a PPL in London and immediately though of small regional airports in the vicinty....
( Southend airport have a few clubs etc )

Anyone who had previously no or little flying exp done a PPL in the M25 zone. Despite it being winter and horrid weather we surely must still get some decent weekend days that allow hour building?
Likewise if anyone wants to join me on such an expedition and share travel to and from ..

Failing that, i considered a 4 week intensive in Cyprus ( Pafos) for about 5KGBP next summer.

thanks.

[Grass strip basher]

I tried a number of clubs but ended up at White Whaltham just west of Heathrow. It isn't the cheapest but it really is excellent in my opinion.

I had tried one or two other places first but really struggled with instructor and aircraft availability.... WW were brilliant in this respect, could fly most days even at relatively short notice.

By car it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to from central london (assuming Chelsea aren't playing at home!) although I know others who take the train so public transport links are also okay.

The other benefit of WW is that it really is a club... so there is a social life, good food, a good bar, loads of interesting aircraft and very friendly people.... not many other clubs combine all these aspects. Its a nice place to spend time on the ground as well as in the air. I haven't found anywhere else near London quite like it in terms of all round package for a PPL.

Also dropped into Stapleford recently and they looked like a good outfit although not the same sort of atmosphere as WW. Also very easy to reach on the train from the city.

Only thing about WW is it really is just private flying, they don't have the commercial ATPL side that somewhere like Stapleford has.

PM me if you want more details,

GSB

[edymonster]

I achieved my ppl at biggin hill which is south east of london. It is also expensive. However there are many flying schools to pick from i did myn at EFG which i would highly recommend. The airport also is quite a luxury with a huge tarmac runway. It sometimes gets very busy which is all good practice to. Just type in biggin hill in a search enging and you should get a full list of flying schools there.

[Sans Anoraque]

I'd agree with gsb that White Waltham has an excellent flying club & facilities, but like all places in SE England, it's not cheap.

Heathrow's pretty good if you want a PPL at half the cost:cool:

[Champagne Anyone?]

A friend of mine a couple of years ago learnt at Fairoaks near Chertsey with the London Transport flying club. He rekoned they were the D's B's!

Dont know if they are there still but it would be worth giving them a try. The other Fairoaks schools were rather expensive in comparison.

You had to join the club but the subs were very reasonable as were the hire rates! PA28's I seem to remember him saying.

[Kentish Lad]

I would second EFG at Biggin. Of all the PPL's who trained at Biggin that I come across, EFG's are without exception the most spot on.

Biggin's not cheap, but by God will you get some experience (last time I flew in there to see Singh I was Number 2 to an RAF Jaguar with a G4 behind me on the ILS). Can't think of many aerodromes where you mix it up with that kind of traffic!

Good luck either way.

John

[wokkaboy]

I did my PPL with Cabair at Elstree, and although I'm a heli flyer, they obviously do fixed wing too.
I had a great time learning there and still self fly hire from them. They were very thorough and it's a good part of the world to learn to fly in as Luton and Heathrow are close. They also have schools in several other locations around the M25.
See www.cabairflyingschools.com for more

WB

[Kazakhstan]

I am currently doing my hour building at Stapleford where I will also be doing my CPL and IR.

DO NOT GO TO CABAIR! It has gone down hill.

Stapleford is a good airfield. They have loads of C152's and Warriors. The area is very busy with activity and we get good weather here. Also they have full capability for CPL and IR with their own sims and a new Diamond Simulator for the 2 twins they have just bought. Also you could live on the Airfield which helps and there are allways people to back seat with or even fly the right hand seat. I have started flying at Night and they have a lit runway and its nice and long. This place will make you a good pilot especially if you choose to go pro.

Places like Cabair and Oxford I would try to stay away from as Oxford is expensive and you might not get the best service and I have heard loads of bad things about Cabair from former students. I also believe that learning to fly in this country where we have to make do with things the best we can will make you a better pilot.

All the best.

Borat

[bluekieran]

I'm another Elstree flyer (see www.egtr.net for airfield info), have tried both Cabair and Firecrest there and am sticking with the latter (partly because they're cheaper, but mostly because I prefer their Cessnas to Cabair's Pipers).

I think though that which airfield is handiest depends on which part of London you're in. Elstree is the North London choice.