HECs vs Upfront?

[cptn]

Hey,
So basically at the moment I'm in the Griffith Bachelor Course and completing my flying training. I'm extremely unhappy with the flight school so I was hoping for some advice on other schools that have HECs or is it better to get a job and pay for it as I go.
If that is the case, whats a decent flight school?

I've also heard that you can complete your PPL training by training in ultralights, then you just need a check flight?

Also has anybody heard of a Cessna college in NSW where you live on campus and complete your CPL there?

Cheer

[solowflyer]

Lots of previous threads on here about this subject if you do a search. I'm not sure how the HECS system works but I think you will find it more benificial to pay for it as you go. Never pay for flight training up front unless you want to lose your money.

Do your homework and don't be fooled into signing up to the many sausage factories with their shiny expensive aircraft. There are many smaller schools that will treat you like a customer and not just another dip shxt who is only there to get another hour in the instructors log book.

In my opinion starting in RAA (ultra lights) is a very cost effective way to do your initial training.

[maverick22]

cptn,

This is something which you will need to put a bit of thought in to, and really something which should be seriously considered before you start your training and make a big investment. I cannot comment on the hecs side of things as I have no experience with this.

At the moment I suspect you are completing a 150 hr integrated CPL course? You can get an ultralight licence through the RAA and then convert to a PPL as all the hours will count towards the PPL. It is more than "just a check-flight" to convert the RAA licence though, you still have to do a proper PPL flight test. To then carry on to the CPL, you can count your RAA hours towards this, but you cannot do this for a 150 hour CPL course. You must go down the 200 hour CPL route, which must include at least 100 hours in a GA registered machine. I won't go too much into the specifics, as there have been numerous threads on this subject already which you can use the search function to find. Also you are best actually going to a flying school and talking to them about it. The only other complication which you will need to consider is if you are currently completing a 150 hr CPL, you won't be paying GST on the flying training, however if you start flying RAA and do a 200 hr CPL, you will have to pay GST on the training (and pay back the GST on the flying you've done thus far??)

Finally, if you are going to go down the RAA/CPL route, do it at a flying school that deals with both types of flying. They will be able to map out a plan which will help you with your goals, and more importantly they will train you the same whether you fly in an ultralight or a GA machine. Some RAA only schools (not all of them) have been known for their poor standards of flying, which might mean more training will be required to bring you up to scratch when converting to a PPL at a GA school.

Hope this helps

[SgtBundy]

I did some digging recently and from what I could gather the only HECS/FEE-HELP places were the few Uni's that ran aviation studies courses i.e you have to do the degree along side the flying course, using their specified flying school. Off hand I think that was Griffith, UNSW, Swinbourne and somewhere else.

A common thread was expensive hire rates with these schools - fresh new planes and the rates to go with it, all of that you are lumping onto a debt with interest. Round figures seemed to be about $90k for the flying at most places. Most of the places referred to as sausage factories were cheaper, but not by much.
There are plenty of aero clubs that you can do the CPL course through at much better rates though. As pointed out if you can do the integrated course, it is GST free flying.

Yes, you have to fund it yourself which will probably slow things down, but even if you accumulate debt it won't be as much in the end if you do one of the smaller organisations.

I would say find some clubs in your area or somewhere you are happy to go and check them out.