PPL, Where is the recommended school ??

[Hermie]

Hi,

I'm sure anyone who is going to reply to this post will definitely have done their PPL, in the process or intending to !

Anyway, I'm intending to do my PPL. I come from Singapore but I'm not going to do it in Singapore. I know that the US, OZ and the NZ is alot cheaper compared to the UK and Singapore. Up till now, I cannot decide on which flying school to go to.

Basically, I'm looking for a flight school which is relatively cheap. These obviously includes the all the fees that might be involve during this whole process. That includes accomodation too.

So I'm asking any of you lads who can recommend me to a good and reliable flight school(s) where you lads have attended before. Your help will be very much appreciated.

Websites of the school if you have, do put them up too !

Thank You Very Much

Best Regards,
Herman :cool:

[Vedeneyev]

Go to the US definitely - all in, with flights and accomodation worked out a lot cheaper than the UK, plus you get the continuity of training due to the fantastic weather. I can only comment on the schools I've been to in Florida - two friends of mine did their PPLs at Naples Air Center (they organise discount accomodation which helps) - very friendly, efficient, and professional with reliable aircraft but not rock bottom cheapest. I also know of Ambassador Aviation (also at Naples - similar setup). I think the cheapest I've heard of is Ormond Beach in Florida - bit of a sausage machine by all accounts, and aircraft not great, but they get you the piece of paper you need. One other bit of advice - do the groundschool before you head out and get the exams out of the way so you can concentrate on the flying, then it should be a breeze in 3wks.

[Squawk 8888]

You might want to consider Canadian schools as well- our dollars are cheaper and our PPL standards are higher than the US so you can come out of it better prepared to turn pro. There are lots of private flying schools here, and several community colleges have professional pilot programmes that will get you to an instructor rating. There's also a degree programme at the University of Western Ontario but I don't know all the details. If you just want to come in, get licensed and go home quickly I'd recommend Alberta- more flying days there than anywhere else.

[Hermie]

Hey fellas,

Thank you very much for the reply ! Anyway are those schools you fellas suggested, are they ICAO contracting schools ?

I've check out the website for Naples Air Center. Looks pretty good but the Canadaian school Squawk 8888 is talking about, I can't seem to find out more about the school !

I've heard of Mazzei Flying Services, it includes accomodation. The frustrating thing is to find accomodation while you are there for a few weeks and you do not intend to spend so much money just on accomodation. Anyone of you know where to get cheap accomodation together with flying at the same time.

Thank You In Advance

Best Regards,
Herman :cool:

[A and C]

As a UK based instructor i see a lot of people who have just passed the FAA PPL in the USA and i find that the standard of training is very variable some are good but a lot of the guys are not happy with using a short (730m !) runway and the navigation skills are poor.

Given your base i would go to australia the cost is much the same as the USA but the overall training standard is very good.

I rented an aircraft from basair at bankstown (sydney)and found them to be good people to deal with (i think the website is basair.co.au)but i,m sure that the "downunder" readers of this forum could recomend a few more places to look at.

[BeauMan]

This is going back some years, so I don't even know if they're still in operation...

Back in 1993 I got my FAA PPL at Cushing Flying School, Cushing Field in Illinois (about 40nm SW of Chicago, location 0C8). Flying was done on C150 / C152's, and costs were $29/hr wet, plus $15/hr for the instructor if it was dual time.

As I already had 30 hrs of RAF/ATC Flying Scholarship time under my belt, and a little bit of follow up time as well, I didn't have to do the full course, but I ended up flying 25 hrs out in the US. This, together with the flights out, very basic accommodation in a farmhouse on the airfield, all books, test fees, a medical and my spending money for three weeks, cost me about £2,500.

Almost unbelievably, they changed their name about a year later to the fantastically ridiculous "Wanke's Wings" (Honestly! I've still got the leaflet at home that they posted to me), but as I say, I don't know whether they're still in operation.

Obviously, the costs would have changed, and I didn't feel that the US standards (for both the aircraft and instruction) were as high as those over here in the UK, but in this life you get what you pay for, and for a 23 year old on a tight budget who just wanted to get his PPL finished, it was a perfect place to go.

No matter where you choose to go, like someone else has said, get the books and do the groundschool before you go; if possible get the medical done early as well, so that you can just concentrate on the flying. I spent four months reading up and going through the FAA self-test books, which helped me to breeze through the groundschool on day one.

By the way, having got the PPL, a mortgage and kids stopped me from flying, but hopefully next year I'll be in a position to do it all again. So, if anyone can suggest any other locations, I'd also be keen to hear... ;)

[poetpilot]

Don't wish to be a total wet blanket but please, you should consider it a little bit beyond the apparent cost of the flying/tuition.........

You're doing right by factoring in travel, accommodation, subsistence, but also take into account the quality and speed of the training that you will be getting, and how you will be viewed in terms of a qualified, competetent pilot when you get back to wherever you will be flying from regularly.

You may end up paying over the odds in the long run when conversions, extra tests, mandatory dual time (maybe imposed by your local club), local paperwork, etc get lumped on top of your apparent "bargain price".

Be careful also of paying lump sums up front then ending up fighting the school for flights, attention and service. In extreme cases people have paid up front thinking they were getting a bargain and the school has gone bust - or have sat around waiting for instructors and aircraft to be available.

I just heard a tale from a friend in the US who was going on a cropdusting course in the midwest somewhere. He agreed the package (but luckily didnt pay up front). When he got there, the owner of the outfit was away, and he heard such terrible tales about overcharging, poor maintenance & lax service from some local ex-customers that he promptly hightailed it, thanking his stars that he hadnt parted with any of his money.

Obviously, personal recommendations are good, but it may also be worth establishing the solvency of a place before parting with advance sums of money.

You can see comments on some schools using the www.airnav.com/airports (http://www.airnav.com/airports) webpages. Select a city or airfield, scroll down till you get to the businesses on the field, and in some cases you'll see comments from punters - but some are obviously so glowing that they've been planted by the owners themselves!

You get what you pay for in this world. I sincerely hope though, that you get a good deal wherever you choose.

[ 24 August 2001: Message edited by: poetpilot ]