Need advice on switching Flying Schools

[CaptainTC]

Hey, i need some advice on changing Flying Schools. The thing is, since July last year (2008) i have been learning to fly for my PPL down at Welshpool Flying School. I have logged only 5 hours to this date. This is mainly because every time i go to have a lesson (which i try and do as offen as i can) the weather is too bad to fly in. I'm not slagging the Flying School off or anything, its not there fault. Before i leave for a lesson i phone up to see if the weather is ok for flying, then by the time i get there the weather could have changed because it takes me over an hour and a half to get there from where i live. So ive wasted time driving all the way there. I feel like i'm not getting anywhere with gaining my PPL. Welshpool is a fantasic Flying School, with friendly staff, its just the distance i have to travel and the weather, and of course the fuel for my Car. So i have been thinking about switching and maybe going to Flintshire Flying School, because its much closer to where i live. They are a little more expensive than Welshpool but i am virtually paying that in fuel for my Car anyway. I heard Welshpool is quite low down, thus causing the weather to be not so good all the time. But not 100% sure if that is true or not?

So what i'm asking is, does anyone here think i should switch schools? Anyone here Fly at Flintshire Flying School? Are they any good?

Advice would be greatly appreciated.:)

Thanks

[julian_storey]

In my view, it's not the SCHOOL you should be selecting, but the INSTRUCTOR. The choice of school is much less important.

Go to the new school, find an instructor you get on with and ask him to instruct you. It's your money and your choice.

It's a while since I first learned to fly, but from my experience, I think you'll get better value for your money from an older, experienced instructor who loves what they do, than you will from a youngster who is only instructing because they have to, until they get an airline job.

Before changing schools though, remember that the weather in the UK is usually less than helpful to flight training in the Winter and you may be no better off if you change :)

[172driver]

If the wx is a persistent problem (and in the UK it tends to be), go to the US or southern Spain.

Btw, can't see what the wx has to do with an instructor, though :confused: (unless a post was removed here....)

[BRL]

(unless a post was removed here....)

Nope......

[polohippo]

Hi there, I know your problem well. I work at a school in Southern Spain and I will not mention the name as I don't want to advertise.

Loads of people are in the same boat as you and I think 172driver may be right. I instructed in the UK until January 2008 and I was teaching some people that had started their PPL as far back as 2003. That's an extreme case though, but many of my students have at least done a year before they come to me.

If you can get the time off work have a think about it but make sure that you can get a UK instructor, sweeping statement I know but in the USA they mainly use FAA instructors and from what I've seen and by going the FAA route 1st myself, the level of instruction is just not at the same level as the UK.

Anyway, whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck and hope that you achieve your goal soon!!

[CaptainTC]

Hi thanks for the advice, i am seriously considuring going to the USA to learn to fly. I havent ever really thought of learning in Spain. May look in to Spain aswell. I just want to get my PPL done. Its no good having lessons on and off all the time, it just doesnt help. The weather in the UK is awful for learning to fly.

[JUST-local]

With only 5 hours in the best part of a year its not really like changing schools!
You just need a flying school/club that is nearer or you need to be available when the weather is better!
I cannot speak for the weather in Welshpool (funny though only time I tried it was OVC !) It cannot be that bad if there is a flying school on site paying its bills.

There are really not that many days in a year which are unsuitable for PPL training, this is certainly true for the NW of England! I have cancelled very few lessons due to weather in the last 12 months and 2007 was even better.

I am unsure the USA or Spain is the answer, I have flown in both but most training was done here in the UK.
You need a lot of self motivation :zzz:, determination and a lot of patience in all levels of flying training (even more so if you are in a strange place with little support, somtimes no support!) and 5 hours over this time scale is showing a total lack of these essential qualities.

Get motivated (I found the flying training rates good for this) and get on with it!!! :D:D

[daveyb]

Hi Captain Tc,

I know how frustrating it is doing a ppl here in the uk, with the weather(wx) being crap and if its not the weather then the aircraft going tech (mx):(.

I started my training last summer and knew what to expect as im ex airline (flt ops) i have decided to finish my training in florida the school that im going to is a CAA approved i.e once completed i will issued a JAA CAA licence.

Again florida like any where in the world suffers from bad weather but is half the price of me doing it in Ireland.

you will also pick up cheap headsets/ flight bags/ knee boards etc over there for half the price you pay here.

best of luck with the training

[CaptainTC]

Hmm yeah i know what you mean, i have been to Florida three times. Once in the Hurricane season and it rained every day from about 1PM through to 5PM, but apart from that the weather there is perfect. The UK is overpriced for learning to fly. I may just have to go to Florida like yourself and continue on to get my PPL, i think learning in the UK is just a waste of time.

Thanks :)

[CaptainTC]

JUST-local said: With only 5 hours in the best part of a year its not really like changing schools!
You just need a flying school/club that is nearer or you need to be available when the weather is better!
I cannot speak for the weather in Welshpool (funny though only time I tried it was OVC !) It cannot be that bad if there is a flying school on site paying its bills.

There are really not that many days in a year which are unsuitable for PPL training, this is certainly true for the NW of England! I have cancelled very few lessons due to weather in the last 12 months and 2007 was even better.

I am unsure the USA or Spain is the answer, I have flown in both but most training was done here in the UK.
You need a lot of self motivation http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/sleep.gif, determination and a lot of patience in all levels of flying training (even more so if you are in a strange place with little support, somtimes no support!) and 5 hours over this time scale is showing a total lack of these essential qualities.

Get motivated (I found the flying training rates good for this) and get on with it!!! :D:DYeah well like i said, the weather is always putting the lessons off not me. Its not the fact i have no self motivation thats total bull****, its the fact of the ****ty weather here in the UK. And its not me cancelling the lessons its the school. I am not lacking self motivation, determination or patience.:mad:

[JUST-local]

Well I feel sorry for the school and the instructors at Welshpool if the weather is really that poor, anyone else struggle at Welshpool or nearby places with this mistry weather phenomena?

CaptainTC, No doubt with all this time on the ground you have done all the ground school exams and RT oral. :8

If you do not want advice why ask for advice? sounds like you know everything aready so why listen, readability 1!

Stop moaning, get airbourne.

[eharding]

Yeah well like i said, the weather is always putting the lessons off not me. Its not the fact i have no self motivation thats total bull****, its the fact of the ****ty weather here in the UK. And its not me cancelling the lessons its the school. I am not lacking self motivation, determination or patience.:mad:

It does beg the question though.....where do you think you'll be doing most of your flying, once the PPL course is a distant memory?

[CaptainTC]

How the f**k am i supposed to get airbourne if the bad weather is always forcing the flights to be cancelled by the flying school. I have recently spoke to my Instructor and he agreed with me on the weather subject. You missed the whole point to what i was saying. :ugh::mad: Bla Bla.

[BroomstickPilot]

Hi CaptainTC,

Fact. Welshpool is in Wales and Wales is WET.

This is on account of being on the Western seaboard of the UK not far from the Irish Sea, over which the prevailing wind collects vast quantities of moisture, before dumping it on the first stretch of land it encounters, i.e. the Western Seaboard.

Anybody who doubts this can look at the climate graphs in any atlas and see that this is the case.

You will be much better off anywhere dryer. Go somewhere relatively dry and do your PPL full time.

There is not only the USA where you can do this. You can also go to Canada, South Africa or even France or Cyprus.

You don't even have to go abroard. Why not do it in Central Southern England where there is the best weather in the UK, for example at Old Sarum, Thruxton, Denham, or Elstree?

Broomstick.

[CaptainTC]

Thanks so much for the advice. I agree Wales is wet all the time lol. I will have to go somewhere dry like you said. Thanks again.