Getting Private Pilot License PPL near London

[egrayton]

hi
i want to do my PPL however i cant seem to find many places around london which do it, so can can anyone on these forums recommend some good places where i could do my PPL.

From reading the BCFT brochure i get the idea that i can complete my PPL in 5 weeks (+ 3-4 days for night rating), is this possible with any places close to london and what kind of price will i be looking at?

In the long run i want to get my PPL done and start training to get my fATPL.
another question i have is do places like OAT and CTC accept people without them doing a skills assessment if they have a PPL?

finally in another forum i found this:
'Those of you who know about the industry and flight training will be aware that I have omitted one very good UK FTO. They have the best graduate placement of any FTO. I'm not going to name them, because if you put a bit of effort into researching pilot training you should come across them. I'll point out that they do not advertise in magazines, neither do they have glossy brochures with pictures of 737s. But then again, they don't need to.'

after reading this i did some research and BCFT is the place i came up with, am i correct or is the person talking about a different place.

hope you can help

thanks

[yellowsubmarine]

If you are looking for an FTO near London, my vote would be for Stapleford flight centre.

I had experienced some bad FTO's but found Stapleford to be professional and organised.

It is located in Essex junction 5 of the M11 if coming from London.

YS

[99jolegg]

What about Biggin Hill? Classair is good.

Even if you have a PPL, you'll have to go through the same assessment procedures that everyone else goes through.

As for the quote, I don't know where it came from. I was under the impression CTC had the highest rate of graduate employment (100%) but they have a large budget for marketing.

[egrayton]

thank for the replies

i was looking at course lengths and i saw that the oxford course takes 72 weeks while the course at BCFT only takes 47 weeks and you end up with the same qualification, so why the difference of more than 6 months?

also can you really do the PPL course at bournemouth in 5 weeks?
(as it says on their online brochure)
would you say the ppl course at bournemouth will be better than ones around london?

[greggx101]

finally in another forum i found this:
'Those of you who know about the industry and flight training will be aware that I have omitted one very good UK FTO. They have the best graduate placement of any FTO. I'm not going to name them, because if you put a bit of effort into researching pilot training you should come across them. I'll point out that they do not advertise in magazines, neither do they have glossy brochures with pictures of 737s. But then again, they don't need to.'



Assumed it was Oxford - but i just got a brochure from them and it does have shiny 737s ! Why dont you PM the poster and let me know.
:ok:

[AlphaMale]

I'll point out that they do not advertise in magazines, neither do they have glossy brochures with pictures of 737s. But then again, they don't need to

Sounds more like Airways (http://www.airwaysflighttraining.co.uk/) to me? I'm only guessing mind.

I've never heared a bad word about them and they apparently have many pictures on the wall of their graduates who have landed jobs with airlines.

And what their instructors don't know about flying isn't worth knowing judging by the link below.

CFI -Ex Navy pilot in single seat jets. Then 17 years with Cathay Pacific Airways ending up as a Check and training Captain on Tristar L1011. Over 4,000 light aircraft hours instructional time. Total hours 19,000 +

Plenty to read. (http://www.airwaysflighttraining.co.uk/instructors.htm) and it seems they have all been flying since the 60's and have a minimum of 10,000 hrs TT.

I've never seen an advert with a 737 on the cover or an advert in any magazine come to think of it, I only know it's a good place from word of mouth :cool:

[egrayton]

gregg i tried to pm the poster but they never replied and this was 2 weeks ago.

so alphamale can i do my whole ATPL course at airways?

has anyone here done their ppl at bcft?

[AlphaMale]

so alphamale can i do my whole ATPL course at airways?

I'm not sure, They are not an FTO like OAA where you can do the full 0-fATPL with them but they offer MEP, CPL, IR training as well as conversion training.

So if you have a PPL and 150TT/100P1 along with your ATPL exams via BGS for example then I don't think you'll go far wrong with them. I'm still considering them but it's a fair drive from where I based.

I'll be doing my PPL with B-F-C this summer and then spending 12 months with BGS for my ATPL's after gaining the requires hours I'll research the FTO's a little more (B-F-C / Aeros / Airways / Spain / US) and finish with my current employers.

Best thing to do would be ring Airways and ask if they'll train you for a PPL+Night.

Good luck.

[b.screw]

Round London, not sure. Couple of schools at Biggin but elevation can mean pants weather much of the time, Stapleford have a bunch of old cessnas, don't know about North Weald or fields north of the city.

School that doesn't advertise much sounds like it might be Airways, call them and see what they suggest.

:)

[egrayton]

thanks alphamale

but can anyone tell me why there is such a big price and course length difference between the bcft and OAT courses, because as i take it both are integrated courses which get you to the same license.

[AlphaMale]

why there is such a big price and course length difference between the bcft and OAT courses, because as i take it both are integrated courses which get you to the same license.

The difference is that OAT (Which is actually OAA) are integrated.

OAA offer a Integrated ATPL(A) APP First Officer course which is expensive at around £70k IIRC. But they do offer a modular course too - the Modular Waypoint Pilot Program.

BCFT don't offer an integrated course so it'll be cheaper and time constraints will also be a little different.

You can't compare Integrated OAT/OAA with modular BCFT. As you said you'll still get the same licence :bored: the argument of Mod v Integ has been going for years on here, some people like myself don't have a choice ... if you do have £70k to gamble with then it might be worth doing a little more research as to what you'll be getting for the extra £30k.

People will argue that OAT/OAA will do their best to get you an interview for a job in the RHS of a jet. And to a certain point I agree it might be worth it, if Oxford can get me a job n a shiny jet straight away then the £30k might be worth it due to the rewards I'd get being a pilot instead of an unemployed fATPL holder.

No need to go on about Mod v Integ here as it'll all been said in the Mod v Integrated thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=218620).

Good luck.

[HappyFran]

egrayton;

I'm currently at BCFT, doing the ATPL theory.
Got my PPL with them in about 8 weeks. (Oct -Nov 07) The problem of these quoted times is that they are always very optomistic :=:=. The shiney brouchures from the FTO's are always assume the best possible outcome in terms of availability and weather... and there lies the biggest problem.. It you were including this week in your 5 week schedule then you are a bit stuffed.
It is a shame they are not more honest / realistic but they are in a competative market and need to put up a very glossy front.

I think to get through the PPL in the summer is quite possible and I am sure many people do it. But if you are up North in Mid winter then it ain't going to happen. I believe a school in Florida was offering PPL in 21 days.. also read quite a few postings which were negative.

Many people say that the PPL training can provide a very solid grounding for Commercial training, I believe this is true, so why rush it like a dervish in the Jan sales :hmm:.

Anyway I can certainly recommend BCFT, the PPL instructors are all Commercial pilots and will train you with the Commercial goal in mind, as they will be the Instructors that take you through CPL/ME/IR.

If you have any questions specific to BCFT then send PM

happy to help :):)

[egrayton]

when i am studying at bournemouth for my exams will i be taught in a classroom for my ATPL tests?
so i will have teachers for the written work and i will have teachers for the practical work, so isnt it basically an integrated course where i control the time until i finish the course?

please advice if i am mistaken

[HappyFran]

On a Modular Course you move to a f(ATPL) by completing a sequence of modules;

PPL, NR, atpl theory, ME/CPL, IR, MCC = f(atpl).

There is some flexabilty but it is basically in that order. You can complete each module at any approved FTO that takes your fancy, and with some time constraints, can start and stop when you like or funds permit.

From an employability point of view it is probably desirable to stick with just a couple of FTO's and not have great time gaps in your training record. I think you have a max 36 months from atpl theory to f(atpl).

On the Integrated course you start from zero, hand over the cheque to your choosen provider and they will lead you through, starting with atpl theory and then the practical stuff and you pop out the end with a f(atpl) BUT not a PPL which may not be important to you, but does mean you are not qualified for recreational flying.

I think the reason you maybe questioning the differences is that the Jetline course run by BCFT is very much a 'sequential modular course' so it runs very similar to an Integrated course. So Yes Very similar but start and stop as you like.

There are a few others that offer similar packages, but equally there are a number of very good FTO's that run excellent modules but are not approved or don't have the facilities to run all the modules and therefore students have to swap around to complete there training.

The majority of FTO' s do not run classroom based training for the atpl but offer there own distance learning packages or may recommend BGS (Bristol Ground School), which has a very good reputation.

In the case of BCFT and Cabair (modular) (and some others) the training is classroom based, which suits some people, myself included, who lack the displine or attension span to work from home :\:\
So Yes BCFT is classroom based for atpl theory

[helianthusdd]

I think this's useful for our topic.
Flying near London with my Private Pilots Licence
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