Completion of PPL - advice required

[andypandy007]

I started training for my ppl a number of years ago, i have approx 25 hours solo, 20 hours PUT, and have passed all of my examinations. I have not flown since march 2011 due to finances, but am now in a financial position to complete my ppl. I passed the final exam in march 2011 and understand that i have two years from passing the final exam to complete my training, so ive got until march 2013 to get my ppl or retake all the exams, not really an option.
I would like to complete my training within a week of restarting, i think that i only have approx 6-8 hours of training left before i'm ready for my skills test. I'm self employed so can make the time available.
The flight school i have used so far have not really impressed me, whilst the people have been very nice i think the course could have been structured a little better. Also since i last flew with them i have had no contact from anyone except a letter advising me that my membership had expired and costs of renewal. I would have thought that they would have been proactive in getting me back into training, and advising me of my deadline.
My dilema.
Do i:
1, Approach my current flight school, explain what i would like to do and see if we can work out a timetable to get me to completion, including exactly how much its going to cost me to get my ppl with them.
2, Approach another local flight school and put the same to them. i believe this flight school have better planes!
3, Complete my training abroad. Am considering approaching a flight school in Jerez, FTE | Pilot Training | British Airways | Flight School | Become a Pilot | Pilot School | FTEJerez (http://www.ftejerez.com/) to complete, Mainly because of the weather
How simple is it to complete a ppl with another training school? especially with one in a different country. Is it as simple as taking my training file from my current school to my new school? am i allowed to remove my training file or can i take a copy

any advice appreciated

[lenhamlad]

Also since i last flew with them i have had no contact from anyone except a letter advising me that my membership had expired and costs of renewal. I would have thought that they would have been proactive in getting me back into training, and advising me of my deadline.

I work at a small airfield and this subject (in general, not yours personally!) came up a couple of days ago. We get quite a few students who start their course, many get to solo stage, then for one reason or another they don't come back. You claim not to have been impressed by your flying school, yet you have done 45 hours with them and all your ground school and exams. You must have been impressed by them or you would not have spent all that money. It would appear however that you may be cheesed off by them not enquiring why you have not continued with the your lessons. In some ways you have a right to be so, but why did you not let the school/instructor know that for personal reasons you were unable to continue your lessons? Communication is a two way street.

You are a student with quite a few hours under your belt. I would suggest you start communicating with your old school whilst investigating costs etc with the other local school. Ask the current school about taking your file - it should not be a problem. But at the very least speak to somebody. I am sure you will get a hundred different answers here on PPrune but only you have the full picture and it is your decision.

[gasax]

Your expectations of what a flying school would do for you might be reasonable - if you were not talking about a flying school, pro-active, organised, business like? That would be quite an exceptional flying school. Unfortunately they are rarer than hen's teeth.

Can you change schools? Yes easily.

Do you really only need 6-8 hours training? Well your new school might agree but wwith that level of experience and a prolonged break I suspect they will spend a lot of time revised things you have forgotten - or possibly never knew.

You would like to complete your training within a week? Great ambition, might be possible - but see above. Depending on what you may or may not have forgotten it could be a long long week. Re-taking the exams is frankly no big deal - especially if you genuinely are that close to a ppl standard.

Your post seems to be setting a variety of criteria which simply complicate matters. Unless you have to have a ppl to gain a legacy or something the time is what the time is - try and enjoy the experience rather than just get it over and done with.

[MacSki]

How about looking up an alternative school locally to you and going and having a chat with them and if you feel appropriate a 1hr flight with an instructor. This would give you an honest but perhaps slightly biased opinion of your current skill level and give you an opportunity to consider whether returning to your previous school feels right or not.

My advice is go with gut instinct, if it feels wrong it is wrong in this case.

[foxmoth]

Do you really only need 6-8 hours training? Well your new school might agree but wwith that level of experience and a prolonged break I suspect they will spend a lot of time revised things you have forgotten - or possibly never knew.

I would go with this, probably at least 2-3 hours just getting you back to where you were so I should allow 10-15 hours to finish, given the weather though it should be no problem doing this in a week if you can do full time in that week - 2-3 hours a day is fine and at least gives good continuity.

[742-xx]

Interesting.
I think that I used the same school as you, and as you say it's not ideal.
I think that if you don't show a lot of interest (your break) they will just effectively abandon you. It's all about the money, I'm afraid.
But I suppose that they see a lot of people that just stop coming and they've assumed thats whats happened with you.

I had five different instructors, and it took me a long time to get my PPL.

A different instructor took me for a lesson, at a time when I was 'between instructors', and told me straight 'either start coming here once a week or stop wasting our time and your money'.
But at that time you needed to book four weeks in advance and due to work commitments I couldn't. But this didn't interest him.

I would check out another school, if only for a fresh start - a different approach maybe what you need.

Its a long road to a PPL and it's difficult enough without any additional hassles. But it's worth it in the end.

Good luck.

[znww5]

Personally, I would forget the whole idea of trying to cram the hours you think you need into a short space of time. I appreciate the exams deadline, but it's not a race, or at least it shouldn't be! I also seem to recall that the 2 year deadline applies to each exam individually, so you'd need to check that. The up side is that there will be plenty of time to re-sit any which have expired during the winter.

The average PPL student takes around 55 hours to qualify - and that's assuming that the training is uninterrupted. Eighteen months is a big break from flying for anyone, especially when you are low hours because you don't have the experience base to build on. I also get the impression (rightly or wrongly) that your previous training may have been spread out over a number of years, which would be a further factor to consider. You also don't mention whether you have completed the QXC, which would add further time to the equation.

Although it can be cost effective for ab initio or hours building, I can't see that training abroad would make much sense, what you spend on air fares and accommodation would be better spent on training nearer home. You would also miss out on training to cope with our very variable weather.

I would visit a few local FTOs to see what I thought of them, lay my cards on the table and if I liked them, I would suggest having a flight so that they can make an assessment. If I didn't like them, I would look further afield.

Good luck with the 'quest', let us know how you get on.

[Mickey Kaye]

Have you done the solo QXC?

[JUST-local]

I hope so with "approx 25 hours solo" VERY strange!

[dublinpilot]

I doubt any school is going to let you do your Skills Test without doing at least one recent solo cross country.

And they aren't going to let you do a solo cross country without doing a cross country with an instructor first of all.

So that's 3-4 hours without any refresher training for basic handling skills, stalls, PFLs and some circuits.

I'd be really surprised if you could finish everything in 6-8 hours after an 18 month break. It might be possible, but probably unlikely.

As for being told exactly how much it's going to cost to finish, that is impossible. Each hour of flight traning is expensive, and nobody knows exactly how many hours it will take to get you back to the stage you were before you stopped flying. Therefore it's not possible to say exactly how much it will cost.

You'll probably get to finish it a bit quicker with your old school, as systems and aircraft will be the same as you were used to. However you should also consider what will happen after completion. Will you continue to rent from them? If not, then you might be better finishing your PPL with whoever you intend to rent from after completion of your PPL, to avoid the need for conversion traning.

dp

[Pace]

A week is plenty if you choose the right school who can give undivided attention and if you are flexible and pick a week with forecast good weather.
I know of a PPL who did a complete zero to PPL in 2 1/2 weeks so people who say go slow are talking ???
I agree you maybe slightly over your forecast hours to complete as you will have to refresh some stuff but get it knocked on the head pronto

Pace

[andypandy007]

Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to respond, it is really appreciated.
I have just pulled my flight bag from the attic and checked my hours, i have 16 1/2 hours solo and 29 hours PUT, apologies for the mistake, i didnt mean to mislead anyone

I have also completed my QXC, although that was eventful!

Am still considering my options, at the moment completing with a local flight school is possible the best option, hopefully the weather will play ball.

My desire to complete my ppl by march 2013 is only to avoid retaking any exams. Once i have my ppl, if i never fly again (which i doubt) at least i'll have the satisfaction of achieving a childhood dream

"However you should also consider what will happen after completion. Will you continue to rent from them? If not, then you might be better finishing your PPL with whoever you intend to rent from after completion of your PPL, to avoid the need for conversion traning."

Very good point thank you dublinpilot

"I agree you maybe slightly over your forecast hours to complete as you will have to refresh some stuff but get it knocked on the head pronto"

yep agree thanks