CPL Advice

[Gez6]

I have recently completed my PPL and the flight school has just offered me a JAA CPL course for £19,000.

It consists of 100hrs hour building, Night Rating, ME Rating, ATPL books and CPL. It does not cover the cost of taking the written exams and payment is half at the start and the rest on completion. There is also the option of doing an FI rating, IR and MCC rating for additional costs.

Just wondered if this sounded like a good deal and if there is anything I should be watch out for?

Thanks
-G

[XXPLOD]

Sounds about right. 100 hours at say £100ph, plus around £7500 for a ME CPL. Night rating is 5 hours, ATPL books can vary but almost certainly £500+.

Only advice is don't pay 50% up front. It'll take at least 6 months for the groundschool assuming you're doing it distance learning. They've a chunk of your cash for quite some time. Offer maybe 20% max up front and agree installments at certain points/hours.

Don't forget 14 x £66 for the exam entries.

Also, does the school offer the IR? If not think carefully. Views will differ of course but there are many who would recommend doing the CPL and IR at the same place.

[BoeingDreamer]

Why offer anything up front?
Your ATPL's will take you at least 6 months, if you do ATPL's in 6 months you will not have time to do 100 hours in this period.

Do some flying before, keep yourself current during ATPL's - the "offer" is nothing special, it is a normal estimated price.
Remember if you need more ME, CPL or Night time, this will cost you more. Prices they have given are minimum required, rarely stays minimum.
How much they offer the IR for?

ATPL's books are normally supplied with the ATPL course, do they offer ground school or distance learning? This is also extra £'s! So if you have to do the ATPL somewhere else, they will normally supply you with all the books you require. You must follow an approved ATPL course.

[Whirlygig]

DO NOT PAY ANYTHING UP FRONT.

If the school has made this offer to you, it smacks of cash-flow desperation. Pay as you go or only pay in advance if you are prepared to lose the cash.

Cheers

Whirls

[netlordr23]

DO NOT PAY ANYTHING UP FRONT.

If the school has made this offer to you, it smacks of cash-flow desperation. Pay as you go or only pay in advance if you are prepared to lose the cash.

Cheers

Whirls


That depends on the school. I paid half of the training at the start, and I didn't loose any money.

[flyvirgin]

It dont matter about the school, I still wouldnt pay anything up front,
Anything can happen in this day and age!:ok:

[wangus]

I never paid a penny up front. The 2 schools I used for CPL amd MEIR just made us settle up at the end each day of flying. No reason they shouldn't accept that philosophy. Or at worst, always be £1000 in credit. £19000 in credit......???:=Assuming the double dip recession does happen, there will be casualties. Don't become one of them.
I can put you in touch with a guy who will block book you 50 hour blocks for a lot less than £100/hour. Your quote isn't awful, but you could definitely beat it without giving up quality. Remember, people should be biting your hand off at the moment. Caveat emptor.

(Just a final thought, as your thread asks for advice. Are you sure you really want to go down this route? I was looking for the dream when I started training. Finished nearly three years ago. never a sniff of a job. Made redundant from a ground based role. Starting a "normal" job in 2 weeks and reluctantly turning my back on aviation, likely permanently unless a miracle occurs. Look at all posts by WWW, Weasly Wee Welshman. He must have a crystal ball somewhere because his predictions are correct, and his advice should be taken seriously.)

[MIKECR]

Absolutely agreed......do not pay hard cash up front! Flying school go's t**s up and you can kiss goodbye to your dosh. Seen it happen before to several people....albeit the particular FTO involved was run by nothing other than an absolute crook. The lesson was learnt the hard way though....dont pay up front!

['I' in the sky]

Might help if you said where the school was. No need to name it but is it in the UK or are those costs based on an overseas package ? Also if travelling abroad it puts even greater weight on the "Don't pay upfront!"