Cheapest flying school in Scotland

[CZpilot]

Can you recommend anyone?

Thx

[Genghis the Engineer]

Do you want the cheapest school in an entire country, or a recommendation for a good school. It's unlikely that in any country the answer will be the same.

And as your profile says you're in Prague, it's pretty unlikely you'll find anything in Scotland cheaper than you can get in the Czech republic.

G

[Heston]

"Cheap" is not the same thing as "best value". This is true of most things in life, but particularly flying schools.

[A and C]

Buy cheap............. Buy twice !

[CZpilot]

OK guys, the point is that I'll live in Scotland for 5 years. So I decided that I would have do PPL there.




But all PPL lessons prices are around 7000Ł which is too expensive for me. In the Czech Republic it costs around 4000Ł.




I can only put in only, maximum 5800Ł. I think, this is impossible.

Thanks

[worrab]

No matter what anyone offers you - DO NOT PAY IN ADVANCE for flying lessons.

You say you have around £5800 to learn to fly. Do you have to do the whole thing in one immediate block of time? Could you spread the lessons over a period of time and add to your fund as it's depleted?

Scotland isn't the most expensive place in the UK to fly but I think you will struggle to match Czech rates.

[CZpilot]

I have to compare prices, because the rest of the saved money which I'll earn in Scotland will be used for next lessons, IFR, MEP, night etc.. In the Oban airport lesson costs 7500Ł (C152, 45h), for that money I have 70 hours on C172 in the Czech Rep.

But i think, i can be superb to start fly PPL during my stay abroad. So I dont know yet.

[xrayalpha]

We are no use for you since we train for the NPPLMicro. We are also not the cheapest either!

To be frank, schools in Scotland are spaced so far apart that traveling time and costs will eat up any saving.

One exception would be learning at Edinburgh Airport.

Of course you could go and stay for a few days and train intensively, but then you might as well fly home for a week!

[Dan the weegie]

It's not possible to train in Scotland for the kind of budget you have.
All of the Schools are moderately priced for the UK, in fact I might go so far as to say it was quite cheap to learn in Scotland but knowing how much it costs to get them into the air the minimum you will pay for the flying hours alone on the PPL course is about 6500.
I think you need to think carefully about waiting a little while longer and saving some more money - you don't have enough yet.

[CZpilot]

Yes, I think that's right. Probably I will have to wait for home.

[ChickenHouse]

I know only a very few people, which came along with spendings of the order of advertised total costs ... usually the real cost for a PPL is at least about 30% over the price in ads. If you are tight on budget and have the choice between Czech and UK, definitely go Czech as you won't find anything compared affordable in UK.

[hoggy87]

I learnt to fly at Moray Flying Club based at RAF Kinloss almost 10 years ago. You won't find any cheaper than this because it is not for profit and fuel is subsidised by the MOD. It's also a very interesting place to learn to fly and the instructors were great when I was there. They allow a number of civilians to join to bolster flying hours.

But frankly it depends on where you live. Scotland is quite a big place and transport links aren't great. Having said that I drove from the Aberdeen area 1.5 hours for every lesson.

[BroomstickPilot]

Hi CZPilot,

The UK has what is called a 'returning polar maritime' climate. In short it's wet. This is one of the various reasons why flying is so expensive in the UK, namely because of the number of possible flying hours lost through bad weather. Aircraft are on the ground when they should be in the air.

Furthermore, the weather is worse in the West than in the East and worse in the North than in the South. I should know this because I come from the North-west of England and have lived for years in the South-east.

The Czech Republic, being in the middle of the European continent, should have a 'continental' climate; (i.e. very much dryer than the UK).

Presumably, while you are working in Scotland you will be earning more money than you would have been earning in the Czech Republic. I would recommend that you save money earned in Scotland until you have enough money and some to spare to pay for the whole of your PPL in the Czech Republic and then do you PPL at home in one long full time course.

Enjoy Scotland, however, it's a beautiful place (despite the climate) and the people are hospitable and friendly - even to us English.

Good luck!

BP.

[magpienja]

Have you considered microlight types....maybe within your budget.

[Duchess_Driver]

And remember, 45 hours is the minimum. Average is a little higher. Add in flight test fees, hire for the test, medicals, books, charts and Groundschool....

I'd budget about 20-25% more than those quoted figures to be on the safe side.

[CZpilot]

BP, thanks for your answer, you're right, I think it's the best option

magpienja, microlight courses are for me unnecessary investments, it's more suitable as a hobby but for me it is useless to reach ATPL.