Cabair Biggin Hill, views/experiences.

[rogerthat777]

Has anyone here trained/training with Cabair Biggin Hill?

Any views on the school would be appreciated.

Their website is extremely bad at giving prices through their many schemes such as the PPL Builder or Platinum Plus membership, not very clear with regard to their discounts.

Links removed, free advertising

[MedusaThrills]

I havent personally flown with them, but it looks very professional. No mucky about or having fun sort of club.
Saying this I had a friend whos had a few lessons with them and loved it. Mind you it was only his first 2 hours .

The engineering firm that I work for actually does the 50hr check up's on the 152s and ive helped out with a few of them.

[Flyluke]

I did my PPL, Night rating & IMC with Cabair Redhill/Biggin.
It's a very professional outfit, though not the cheapest.

What REALLY matters is to get an Instructor that suits YOU. the first one I had was simply dreadful, and I nearly gave up after 10 hours. The second was awesome, and if he was still doing it, I'd recommend him.
I guess that the above sentiment is true of any flying school, but it is particularly pertinent in an establishment like Cabair, where most Instructors tend to be wannabe airline pilots, and are using Cabair to get the hours they need. (In return, Cabair use them by not paying them particularly handsomely!) Try to pick an Instructor who is really interested in instructing, even though his/her mind is set upon something else.

[Vino Collapso]

There are four other flying clubs/schools at Biggin Hill. Have you done your homework and visited the others?

Sometimes the friendlier atmosphere at a smaller outfit suits individuals better.
:hmm:

[smarthawke]

So if anyone saw a ruck of aeroplanes at a London airfield with their props tied up the other week they were all mirages....

[Dop]

So if anyone saw a ruck of aeroplanes at a London airfield with their props tied up the other week they were all mirages....
You can't fool me, Mirages don't have props, they're jets!

Seriously though, I used to fly with Cabair (the credit crunch having brought an untimely halt to this, sadly) at Biggin and always found them OK. I think they're trying to start more of a club atmosphere and are having more regular trips, from what I've heard.

I had a fun trip to Le Touquet with them last year, even if the weather on the way out might not have been all that nice!

[Roundouthigh1]

Did all my training from PPL to MEP with Cabair at Biggin. Like so many things in life it depends on your instructor but the guys down at Biggin are a great bunch. They are doing their best to make a club atmosphere and planning lots of trips. There are plenty of aircraft and the opportunity to build your experience as you gain your licence. My suggestion is pop in and see the team, the guys and girls on ops and CFI are a friendly bunch and happy to spend time showing you round and answering your questions.

[Rodent1982]

Surely hi-jacking someones thread to argue about moderation topics is just as bad as making unsubstantiated claims. :bored:

To answer the original question. No I haven't trained at cabair, but they are certainly very active at biggin hill.

I think their prices didn't include landing fees or examiner fees, which annoyed me somewhat. But at £20 ish to land and £8 ish for a touch and go it's hardly surprising.

Go check them out! Also I'd recommend having a look round a few of the others at biggin. Allouette, Classair and Surrey & Kent (or is it Sussex & Kent?)

Certainly a good idea to train at biggin though as they have a decent mix of aircraft and they (ATC) occasionally make you orbit, extend or quickly cut in front of jet traffic or traffic on the ILS, all jolly good experience and fun!

[Saab Dastard]

I have split the discussions about rumour vs. libel (http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/373036-ftos-rumour-vs-libel.html) off from this thread as the topics are quite separate, but both discussions are important.

All your posts remain, just in the other thread.

SD

[gpn01]

So if anyone saw a ruck of aeroplanes at a London airfield with their props tied up the other week they were all mirages....

WHAT? There's an FTO using Mirages for training ? I'd sign up!