Anglo American, San Diego, California.

[187nj]

Hi there.

Can anyone with experience of training at Anglo American for JAA-PPL share the positive and negative experiences with with me please.

187.

[jodieroscoe]

I did my training with anglo a couple of years ago and i have no regrets!! the place and the airport itself are absolutely fantastic and the weather is great, however I would recommend hiring a car as the airport is far away from where you stay. As for the training it is VERY laid back, so if your after something V. proffessional this isn't the place for you! however the instructors are very down to earth and get the job done! and v approachable which worked well for me.

[RingwaySam]

Thinking of going there myself. Just wondering if anyone knows the minimum age you have to be to go over the States on you're own for a month. Im 16 at the moment, 17 this month and im really considering San Diego just to get away from home for a while and get my PPL done rather than farting around with the weather over here.

Jodie,

Is accommodation you get with it far away. Obviously im not going to be able to hire a car (if im driving by then) as I think you have to be 21 or something. Might be abit of a pain if there is no Bus services etc.

[afterburner2]

The accommodation is about a 10 minute bike ride away, and the school will provide a bike for the duration of your stay.

[Hufty]

You can walk from the AAA flats to the airport in 30 mins.

The training is "relaxed" and "informal". If that is what you want then go for AAA. They seem to have a model and a style that works well for some people although I can't say I was impressed with them. I wouldn't go back.

[EIPCW]

"relaxed" and "informal" it was but they got the job done. Did my ppl there 2 years ago and going back next week for hour building. Defo getting the car this time

[MartinCh]

well, 21 for most companies for renting car. some prefer drivers over 25 or so. Or maybe I'm just confusing countries..

you could get US driving license as 17yo. Just that I don't think paperwork would be possible due to being there on visa waiver or M1 with short duration. US DL tests are primitive. All you need to know is some general knowledge, common sense and the meaning of 4-way stop :-P

Bikes are OK, but it ain't fun riding bike in summer. Maybe SoCal is better, I've only been to Georgia. Pretty sweaty after stopping (no fan effect of passing air). But for a month? Bike's just fine. If they don't have any spare bikes, buy one in some 'mart' and then just return it after month that you changed your mind. That's the beauty of US malls. It's broken? warranty.
It's OK? You don't like it. IT stuff got only 14 days return even in Wall-mart.
Underwear is not very returnable cos' of change of mind.
Bikes should be just fine. Or you can spare those 70 bucks anyway..

Some folks mentioned on other threads that AAA have nice cross country routes for students. Enjoy. I'm off to Oregon in June :-P not planks

[RingwaySam]

Cheers guys. Still looking really bu have always wanted to go to San Diego so quite fancy it. I also saw some of the cross country pictures and they look pretty good.

Will deffinatly keep this in mind, thanks :ok:

[ssm]

I cant say much about the JAA training at Anglo American, but did my FAA training from there. The friendly atmosphere and ease of approaching all the instructors was the highlight of my training. California weather is perhaps the best in the US for flying and San Diego as an airspace is perhaps the best to learn. Has a terrific mix of controlled/uncontrolled airspaces giving you the best learning opportunity.

Sameer

[Jimmy Macintosh]

I went there about 6-7 years ago with the intent of hour building.

I was never told about the marine layer, made most of the time unflyable as it never burned off (Very low 8/8 cloud, below circuit height) Make sure you pick your time carefully. It is known as the May grey or the June gloom. Most years it burns off by lunch but sometimes :(.

I managed one trip to Palm Springs (excellent) but made the three hour return trip incredibly expensive to sit on the side of an airfield, worked out to be about #600 an hour, pretty steep for a C-152.

They were very relaxed back then, good bunch of guys, but a definate "air of casualness" about them. I wouldn't go back, based on my experience. Mostly poor flying slot allocation and if you scream loud enough they'd bump someone else to get you a slot. Aircraft had a lot to be desired.

Don't know what they're like now though.

San Diego is a beautiful city and definately worth a visit.

[jonnyboy102]

I did my PPL there last year and was not impressed with their organisation. The place was a shambles most of the time with a lot of confusion about lesson slots, ground school, instructor allocation, etc...

Having said that San Diego is a beautiful place and if you're not too pressed for time you can have a great holiday while you wait (and you will be waiting around a lot at AAA!)