Where is this flying school?!

[labamba]

Hello all,

I've got a few months off at the start of next year and plan to head south to do a PPL. Jan-March time, so Southern Summer :)

I'm looking for a friendly, relaxed, flying club, preferably with some other students there as well!

This place is on the coast and before flying in the morning I'll be able to jump in for a swim to wake up. During the day and evening I can pan out on the beach and soak up some sun between lessons. The temperature is around 25-30 and it's almost always nice weather.

There's some other stuff to do locally and there are at least a couple of nice bars to chat to the locals in the evening.

Where is this flying school?! :D :D :D

Any pointers for somewhere like this very welcome. Thanks in advance!

[michael penny]

Hi there, Kent International Airport Manston. TG Aviation:D

[Kefuddle_UK]

Why Sir! Methinks you speak of Bournemouth Flying School. Tis without doubt that the Ale is fine, the weather is the amongst the very best this Isle has to offer and the young ladies shall flock to your stories of derring-do!

[BRL]

:D Very good. I would say your talking about the canary isles. Loads of sun and loads of swimming etc and its only 4 hours away. Cheap too so i believe. I am sure someone here has been down that way training if indeed they do training down that way. Good luck.. :)

[essouira]

I can recommend some great flying schools in southern california but I think the place that best meets your requirements is Key West in southern Florida. There's certainly nowhere in europe that I would want to swim in the sea in January !

[Flyin'Dutch']

Not denying that Bournemouth has some fine ladies, in fact my missus originates from the area but to claim that the ales there are any better than on the rest of the English Ale is rubbish.

And anyone claiming that the sea in Jan-March is swimmable has other ideas than I have about comfort.

Southern Summer in that time of the year can only be found on the other side of the equator so will have to be SA or Oz.

Come on share the secret, Dutchie!

FD

[labamba]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. Kent or Bournemouth is not quite what I had in mind!, though I don't doubt their qualities as flying schools.

Canary Islands is certainly closer to what I had in mind, but really I want somewhere further afield.

So, east coast Australia? Carribean? New Zealand? Pacific? SA?

Where would meet the outline given above!

Cheers :) :cool:

[rustle]

A bit further south than Bournemouth.

http://www.southernskyaustralia.com.au/murrayfield.htm

Which is on the WEST Coast of Australia incase you were wondering.

[Sultan Ismail]

Virginia

No, not that one, the one in South Africa.

Virginia airfield is a single runway GA field north of Durban, the field elevation is at msl. fortunately there is a sand dune between the sea and the runway.

Circuits are always out to sea, which keeps you awake and very conscious of landmarks for turning base leg.

You should be able to find "Durban Wings Club" on the net.

Durban and Umhlanga are the holiday homes of SA, you will find no shortage of cheap accomodation, drinking establishments and whatever else you are looking for.

Going rates are:

C150 ZAR500 solo ZAR 650 dual

C172 ZAR600 solo ZAR 740 dual

These are typical rates for SA in the last month.

BTW, the exchange rate is ZAR14 to the pound sterling.


Another alternative is to base yourself in Midrand, North of Johannesburg, the Grand Central airport is home to at least 3 flight schools, and again rates for flying and accomodation are reasonable.

A plus about Johannesburg is the proximity to Kruger Park, Sun City, Victoria Falls and lots of airfields with various levels of ATC. An oddity that you will have to get used to, Grand Central is at 5327' amsl, you take off long and you land fast!!

Its a great place

[Julian]

100LL has more taste than the ale they serve in London and surrounding area!

[howzit...]

This isn't a plug for these schools... I just have the links

Durban (http://www.vfs.co.za/)

Port Alfred (http://www.43airschool.com/)

Both places have a good student scene going on and everything else you're looking for as well.

As for the schools, you will have to make your own decisions on them.

Good Luck

---------------------

It's a short dive into deep doodoo

[flyboy6876]

Hi Labamba

Try this one:

www.racwa.asn.au

Western Australia, best place in Jan - March. Good beaches, warm water and great flying weather.

[englishal]

I believe you must be talking about Maui flying club, Kahalui, Maui, Hawaii......

surfs up dude.....

EA:D

[Loop... Hole]

I agree with Sultan Ismail.. South Africa is a fantastic flying location. Durban Wings Club http://www.aeropages.co.za/FCdwc.html is wonderful, weather and people are great. As SI says, circuits are out to sea and inland it's all sugar cane fields. I stayed at Umshlanga Rocks just to the north and had a great time.

Good luck.

[Aussie Andy]

For morning swim then short distance to airfield, with stunning scenery, excellent people, good (enough) beer, excellent instruction and low flying costs I would strongly suggest somewhere in Australia, in particular somewhere on the north coast of NSW - like maybe Port Macquarie - about 3 hrs north of Sydney - perhaps e.g. Port Aero (http://www.portaero.com.au/).

I have no affiliation with these guys other than that last time I was back home in Australia (2 yrs ago), I was still in the midst of my UK JAR-PPL training, and my wife arranged a surprise hour's lesson for me while we were there as a Christmas present... I went up with a local instructor (name escapes me) in a C152 (first time in a Cessna) and did some circuits, then traipsed happily around the area for an hour or so - absolutely stunning scenery, mountains, coastline, beaches, forest, then back... wonderful!

Airfares to Australia can be v. cheap these days... try Qantas via Frankfurt for example... KLM also have some cheap deals I believe...

Go on, you know it makes sense ;)

[labamba]

Cheers to everyone who replied; great info.

I'm keen to go to Australia and I'm thinking along the lines of somewhere "central east coast" ie. in the vicinity of Brisbane. Certainly has the weather and the waves, now I just need to find a reasonably priced school.

Will check out the suggestions so far. Thanks again all.

[Aussie Andy]

Port Macquarie is about halfway between Brisbane and Sydney... other places to try are Coolangatta, on NSW/QLD border (but too close to Gold Coast, which is very touristy...) or Coffs Harbour, which is between Coolangatta and Port Macquarie.

I think these are the only three places on NSW mid-north coast you can fly... but better to check with the Australian guys on the "D+G" forums (Dununda & Godzone) here: http://www.pprune.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=2&forumid=91