Donair Flying Club

[AJ-Ali]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in doing my PPL training with them.

Looking to see if anyone has a first hand experience or some information about Donair Flying club. They are based at East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington,
Derby.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[James1809]

Hi AJ,

I'm doing my PPL there at the minute and I'd highly recommend them, very friendly yet professional and you'll get into good RT habits thanks to ATC.

When you come to do circuits you may find yourself orbiting a fair bit and not getting in as many landings as you might with a smaller airfield due to commercial traffic getting priority.

Lessons are £135 an hour and membership is £85 a year, my instructor (a chap called Jag) is brilliant, can't comment on any of the others I'm afraid but I've not heard any horror stories.

Hope that helps :ok:!

[AJ-Ali]

Hi James,

Thanks for the info. mate i really appreciate it.

i'll start with them nxt month and hopefully will c u around.

my plan is to get PPL + Night Rating and IR.

Thnx again :ok:

[James1809]

No worries mate, if there's anything I haven't covered or if you have any more questions about Donair feel free to drop me a PM, all the best!

[Burnie5204]

Try not to hit the big grey 4x4s with the yellow stripes and disco lights or the yellow pickup with the flatbed ;-p

Don't be afraid to say Hi to us (after all, if it all goes wrong, and it does from time to time, the we'll be the ones who come racing over with the Fire Service to rescue you). We drop into the maintenance area every day to do the daily inspection and every day people from DonAir look at us like we're aliens from the planet zob (though admittedly some of the guys on crew do look pretty strange ;-) )

[EMA747]

I'm planning to start my PPL as well and living in Nottingham Donair is the obvious choice. I'm glad to hear they sound like a decent outfit.

At 30 years old and on a crap wage I think my days of training towards an ATPL are gone but I've always had the desire to learn to fly so I think I will go for a PPL and Night Rating and see what happens after that.

Hopefully I can pop over to Donair very soon and have a trial lesson just to check the school out before I hand over my hard earned cash!

Andy

[taybird]

I have had involvement with a number of schools and airfields across the East Midlands. They are all good but have their pros and cons.

Donair has the benefit of full ATC, which can also be a hindrance when you're first learning to fly and add to costs but they are a good school and great people.

Aeros at Tollerton are not cheap but they can do your IR and additional advanced flight training, which I don't think Donair can do. They have a number of schools across the UK.

Tatenhill are cheaper, but very good value for your PPL and Night Rating, and if you want to add the advanced flight training such as the IR, Central Flight Training are also on site.


I would strongly recommend you visit a number of schools before you commit to spending what can be quite a large wedge!

[howie87]

I'm about half way through my PPL with them (just done my first Nav flight) and can't recommended them enough.

Very good instructors and flying out of EGNX will help you get used to flying in class D airspace.

Sure, sometimes you're sat at the holding point a while before you get takeoff clearance and last time I came in we were 4th(!) to land but getting used to traffic and ATC is a worthwhile tradeoff and a good use of an extra 10 minutes in my opinion.

While not exactly cheap, their prices are fair and all the the facilities at the school are good.