ppl in scotland

[captainmacuk]

hi folks,

just wondering where you guys would recommend for ppl,imc training in scotland

im looking to do about 3-4 hours per month,. .I know there are a good few about, perth, dundee, prestwick,

its just to find out if anyone has had experience of flying at these schools/clubs, im located closest to prestwick, but wouldn't mind travelling up to perth etc,

what are the clubs like?. .rates/aircraft/availability etc,

. .cheers

[captainmacuk]

hi me again,

I forgot to say that if anyone is flying in the areas mentitioned, would they like to carry an 18 year old wannabbee as a passenger,

if you dont ask you dont get,

through me an email if u want,. [email protected]

cheers

[BUDGIE]

Prestwick Flying Clubs right on your door step mate!. .All the instructors are airline guys too inc. training captains, so rest assured they know what the airlines are looking for and what standards are required. It all starts with the PPL, I'd go as far as to say this is the fundamental part of any flying training!!. .Rates are extremely good - alot cheaper than anywhere else that I know of in Scotland!. .IMHO that it's the flying club and not the flight centre which is on the north side. Your looking for the one on the south side.

Cheers . .BUDGIE

[Fox_4]

<a href="http://www.tayflyingclub.flyer.co.uk" target="_blank">Tayside flying club</a>

Based at dundee. good atmosphere, friendly instructors and good rates.

<img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[Rusty Cessna]

Have to echoe Fox4, although I'd say Tayside at Gelnrothes <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Rusty.

[g-okay]

Go to Perth, I did a RAF flying Schol there.Best 2 weeks of my life(so far <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> )Nice place, good aircraft, little time spent on the ground, good instructors (thanks GP), great views, open airspace. Should i say more!!

As for free flying CHEEKY G :) T, i may be flying up to Perth in the Summer so if a tenner finds its way to the fule tank we can go and look at the fields upsidedown,if you fancy it drop me an e-mail and i will let you know more.

Remember a flying school is not just for xmas! no no, i mean, not just for a ppl it will have a lasting impression on your flying. :) , mine did.. .uuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

G-OKAY

I also did my RAF FS with GP at Perth! (Now a PPL also)

I'll mail you for a chat...

FJW.

[ianbishop]

Have flown from Fife International (mustn't call it Glenrothes these days ) - seems a reasonably run, friendly place with reasonable number of aircraft that seem quite well maintained. My only gripe with Fife (after moving here a year ago from Bournemouth) is that the runway count / width / length is a bit low for my liking!!! The approach from the east is also a bit unnerving, having to do a 'jink' at around 400ft to avoid overflying housing est.

I've flown out of Perth a couple of times and quite like it, as it's a triangular field with plenty of options in the event of crosswinds, which probably improves it as a training field.

I've not flown out of Prestwick (have been there on the ground), but would probably recommend you learn at a 'big' airport, as it improves your confidence to juggle for landing slots / circuit position with 'heavies' and improves your RT a lot quicker. There's also a bit more room for touch and goes and the odd landing 'boo boo'.

Other alternate could be Cumbernauld - I believe they do fixed wing PPL training there, although it's again a single, narrow runway operation.

As for free flying, I'll add you to the waiting list!!!

Any further info reqd, drop an email to me.

[Edited for typos}

[ 26 February 2002: Message edited by: CircuitBasher ]</p>

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

Just to add to my above post (I was tired last night <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> )

I've trained at PIK, Perth, Fife, and Cumbernauld. I have to stress that flying from PIK is far more fun, and far more worthwhile than flying from one of the other 3. Specifically because you simply aren't allowed to mess up procedures at PIK - they won't stand for it. It sounds acary, but makes you a much better and more confident pilot right from the start.

N.B. Theres nothing to quite match hearing "G-**** After the landing 747 line up and wait..." or hearing ATC tell a Ryanair guy he is number 2 on the approach behind a PA-28 :) (although hearing that does tend to make you wish you were in something a little faster!

The 2 runways are both obviously very long. Indeed, some interesting sights are often seen at PIK because of this. Some of my personal favourites from days when I've been there myself are an Aer Lingus A330 doing touch and goes in the circuit, ditto a JMC 757, and a Go-Fly 737, and an RAF E-3D, and 6 RAF Hawks (managed to get myself sat in one after they parked next to us!)

As you can probably tell, I really enjoy flying from PIK and it is hard to see any advantages the smaller air to ground radio airfields have over it.

However, if for any reason you dont want to fly at PIK, may I suggest Perth. I did my RAF FS there as I mentioned above. The airfield is as professional as small airfields get. It has 3 runways, as Circuit basher mentioned. Also, their main runway, 03/21 (from memory), is plenty long enough for a light single without having to sweat at all! GREAT food from the little cafe behind the car park, with friendly service. Their fleet of C152's are OK too.

Next, IMHO, is Fife - although calling it "International" kind of stretches the imagination somewhat!

I had my 'nastyest' experience whilst solo in the circuit there last year! It had a lot to do with being complacent about the runway lenght available at PIK, and errr, landing when I really should have gone around. (For that reason make sure not all your circuits are flown at PIK! CBN (Cumbernauld) is only 15 minutes flying time so if you're feeling very brave then you could pop in there) (if you can find the bloody place - its errrr, how can I put it, well hidden in an industrial estate).

But, and again as Circuit basher says, I feel that the number of runway(s), and width and length of it limits it's appeal to me. Also, I feel the same about the bloody stupid noise abatement procedure. Having said that I've only been in there a hand full of times, and I know that Rusty Cessna enjoyed his RAF FS there a lot!

However, he hasn't been up to PIK with me... yet!

With regards to Cumbernauld. I do everything possible to aviod the place. If you want to know more drop me a mail and I'll respond personally!

Good luck in your choice, you've picked a beautiful area to learn to fly over. I live in London, but all my flying has been done in Scotland, I love the place! Maybe see you at PIK some day.

[flying snapper]

PRESTWICK FLIGHT CENTRE! The only place to learn at PIK. The flying club is nice but a bit difficult to track down an instructor at times. I have been learning at Prestwick for a year now and they have an extremely professional approach to students. Suzanne is the ops person there and can supply you with all the info you need. They are moving to new purpose built premises on the South side of the tower with a new hangar and pilots lounges and briefing rooms. This is due to new ownership of the company and the fact that the current accomodation is falling down!! Drop ion and have a chat...we are a friendly bunch!! :) :)

[mad_jock]

Preswick flying club gets my vote.

Not only are the instructors all commercial pilots but also they are some of the nicest approachable instructors about. They don't bother with any of the strutting about stuff.

In fact it was only after discussing the club with my caafu examiner, that i discovered that my instructor was not only a QFI in the RAF but was also a test pilot. And he also said that he had seen ppl's come out of Prestwick which could have sat there CPL and passed no problem.

PIK is great for training nice mix of commercial traffic with periods of calm if you need to do circuits. The tower are very friendly and can usually be found in pprune chat about 10pm.

MJ

[Rusty Cessna]

Have to say it depends what you are after.

I had already done my PPL at a rather busy ATC airport, and so really enjoyed doing my Flying Scholarship at Fife, learning on a small strip has its advantages such as precision, but then again Perth has a nice small grass strip too.

With regards to the odd circuit at Fife, I have to agree it is quite different to normal approaches (although it can be more fun) and so maybe learning on a skewif circuit isn't the best option.

As my good friend FJW says I've never been to PIK or Cumbernauld, don't intend to go to Cumbernauld for reasons that aren't important here, but I do intend to go to PIK, I hear it has a lot of benefits and its in a pretty cool place.

One thing I would say about the Tayside set up is (and this may not be true) that ive heard it tends to be a bit of a "sausage machine" for the scholars, and so a lot of instructor time is devoted to them, I gather at PIK you have the instructors time completely to yourself.

What I would say is, decide if you want a small or large airport, a busy of quiet one, one with a grass strip or not, and so forth, get sorted what you want from the place and them cross check it with the excellent comments above, especially FJW's, he's done a lot of flying in all these places.

Enjoy the PPL, I know I'm going back to the land of the scots as soon as I can afford to!

Regards,. .Rusty.

[Grainger]

FJW/Rusty;

Less of the cloak-and-dagger please...

If you have a legitimate gripe about EGPG, let's hear it...

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

Grainger,

In the interests of keeping this thread nice, friendly, informative and helpful for Captainmacuk, and anyone that has an interest, we will refrain from any further derogatory comments regarding any of the airfields mentioned.

As you are aware, we all have the freedom to express our personal opinions, whether they be good or bad. I hope Captainmacuk has read mine/ours and made his own judgement on them. Im sure he has.

Thats all for now, safe flying!

FJW.

[Rusty Cessna]

Grainger,

As FJW Correctly says, the thread was opened to answer a question regarding suitable training bases in Scotland, not to initiate a slagging match between peoples tastes and distastes for various aerodromes.

So in the interest of keeping the thread focused and helpful, lets desist with any further queries regarding my motives and judgment on EGPG, or any other airfield.

Best regards,. .Rusty.

[Grainger]

Precisely my point guys - the thread is here to offer helpful and constructive advice to CaptainMacs enquiry.

Saying "I wouldn't-go-there-if-I-were-you-but-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-why" is neither of those things and is also unfair to the facility concerned.

We all have bad experiences sometimes. Perhaps you should just put those down to experience rather than slagging the whole establishment.

[Grainger]

CaptainMac: The great thing about advice is that you can ask for it, listen to it, and then make up your own mind.

I have had excellent and very positive experiences flying at Cumbernauld. The staff there have been friendly, cheerful, professional and very helpful. It is a great location with excellent and varied flying in the local area, and centrally located close to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Prestwick so you can get a good mix of small and large airfield operations.

But don't take my word for it - go and visit the different flying schools. Get a feel for the amount of travel involved to each location. Talk to the instructors and students there. Maybe take a trial lesson.

Then form your own opinion and make your choice.

[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: Grainger ]</p>

[DB6]

My 2p's worth: go to the nearest school to you unless there's a good reason not to. It is a real pain driving 50-100 miles to arrive and find the weather has changed, bookings have slipped etc. (and it doesn't matter how good the club is, these things do happen). Only if you don't like that one try the others.

[mad_jock]

That last post sounds about the best advice.. .. .There is politics everywhere, sometimes its more about finding the right instructor for you than the actual school that you go to.. .. .I also found that being near by, if cash allows, means that you can pick up any cancellations if wx turns good, and the long distance people have already canceled.. .. .MJ

[chewinggum]

Why don't you try getting in touch with the glasgow flying club,a freind of mine has just completed his PPl there and can't stop raving about the place.The club is sittuated on the north side of the airfeild and has a clean modern clubhouse along with instructors who are available to fly with students unlike other clubs were instructors might be airline pilots, but have busy lives and may not be as flexible.However the club has intructors that do fly for airlines if that makes you more comfortable.Give them a call i think they also have a web site ...good luck!!!. . . . <small>[ 03 March 2002, 22:49: Message edited by: chewinggum ]</small>

[zzzz]

The best advice has already been given, visit all the schools, talk to instructors and pupils alike to get the best picture.. .. .The problem with training at fields such as Prestwick and Glasgow is that the thrill of mixing with the big boys (737s etc) soon wears off when you realize that you are at the bottom of the ATC pecking order and this will lead to delays on the ground (and in the air) and added COST! Also add on transit time out of the zone plus check if you will have to add on landing fees to the hourly rate, especially expensive when doing circuits.. .. .To add my 'peneth' worth I would stongly recommend Perth. It is worth the drive. It is a beautiful and friendly airfield, which is dedicated to flight training with 3 runways. No delays in uncontroled airspace, but with easy access to controled airspace if you so wish.. .. .There is a small and professional team there, far from a sausage factory (which you can find at other schools) and linked to the most established flying club in Britain, The Scottish Aero Club.. .. .All in all where ever you go there are some good schools in Scotland, and it is a great place to learn.

[Rusty Cessna]

Have to agree with ZZZZ, visit as many as you can and make an informed decision.. .. .Also I would just like to add that the reference to the "sausage machine" was something that I heard, my experience with Tayside has been excellent, going back in April!. .. .Rusty!