FI course abroad and Aerofan (Madrid)

[LEVC]

PPL

LH2 were you training people at Aix-en-provence?

In a french aeroclub i have flown a D120 for 75 euros an hour, which i can assure you is a bargain compared to the cheapest price you'll get in Spain.
Again this will only be a viable option if you don't mind learning some french and being flexible about dates and location.


There is a British PPL school with spanish base offering PPL traning under UKCAA, if you do a search of old threads you'll fin info about it (2 years old thread i would say).

[VNA Lotus]

LEVC

hello LEVC,

when you say you have flown at Aix en Provence, do you mean as a FI ??

I ask you that because my plan is to be FI in UK a moment to improve my english by the same time. I've got a french licence (CPL/IR) and will get a french FI.
Of course I thought to do the FIC in UK straight after my CPL/IR course but the french CAA does not recognise the FI from another state (even JAR). so it will be a problem if I want to teach in France after an UK FIC...
So I wonder if it could really be an issue about the language... I mean I am not totally fluent in english yet...
Did you have any experience as a FI in France or Spain ?

many thanks!

[LEVC]

French Fi

I never have worked or flown to Aix en provence, i did however fly to and from Aerodromes near Avignon.

The trouble is getting your rating endorsed on a french licence, if the FIC is done abroad, it wont happen.
i got aproval from french dgac to instruct in france on a spanish JAR licence but it took me over 7 months and a lot of "courage" as you say in french, not easy to deal with them.

France and Norway are the only ones causing trouble for licencing issues, the rest apply JAR's and you'll have no trouble working in them.


Ask to get your licence transfered to UK and then do the FIC, if you intend to work in UK i suggest, as others here, you do your FIC in UK, you'll polish up your english and get to know how they teach over there (some differences with the french syllabus for the PPL, not in the things you teach , but rather how you teach it), you'll meet people and make contacts that could be useful when it comes to find an FI job.

The UK CAA works very well, and their employees are helpful and reliable, of course there is always things to improve, but if you compare them to French or Spanish DGAC they are waaaaaaay better and faster solving things.

Getting a job as FI in UK is feasible for JAR FI's, of course your main worry should be to improve your english.

The only problem of transfering your licence to UK is that it will be more difficult to get a job in France afterwards (AirFrance wont let you in on a foreign licence).

[LH2]

LH2 were you training people at Aix-en-provence?

No. I'm a 110hr PPL, hardly in a position to train fellow aviators

I do fly somewhat extensively in France and I'm a member of an aeroclub in the South. I have also done my night qualification there.

i have flown a D120 for 75 euros an hour

Bargains like that are not unheard of, but like for like (e.g., comparing two identical C172s) most of the time the prices are around the same on both sides of the Pyrenees.

There is a British PPL school with spanish base offering PPL traning under UKCAA, if you do a search of old threads you'll fin info about it

If you are referring to Fly-in-Spain, that's were I did my PPL As I said in my previous post, I'm surprised there isn't more of them. Wonder why the likes of Aerofan haven't tried a similar setup (and there's my feeble attempt to get back on topic).

[LEVC]

ppl TRAINING

I guess the reason is that to do it your bussiness (registered facilitie or FTO)must be conducted in english territory on a fair percentage , there are other british FTO's/registered facilities training abroad , i remember there is one in Bigging hill that has some planes based in Aix-en-Provence, where they did some of the flying because the Wx was much better than the british Wx.

Then you have BAE Jerez, or whatever is their name nowadays, they are based in spain , and all their bussiness is conducted in Spain, not sure how they go around it to get the approval to do it like this, perhaps a special agreement with spanish and british authorities, one thing is for sure they train under UKCAA authorities control, and their students get an ukcaa issued licence when finished.

I guess if the spanish dgac made the decision to let PPL students do their theory in english (as they do with CPL and ATPL exams), would be very helpful for the GA industry in Spain (almost nonexistant apart from the CPL fto's) , i mean , good WX, cheaper costs (for how long? who knows, inflation is getting prices levelled with the rest of the EU, so it wont be long before this process is completed), and the possibilitty to combine hollydays with ppl training.

LEVC

[LH2]

I guess the reason is that to do it your bussiness (registered facilitie or FTO)must be conducted in english territory on a fair percentage

Actually, based on what I've been told by someone who did the research, I am led to believe that the CAA are quite accommodating in this regard. It is my understanding that for a British registered facility (dunno about FTOs) to operate abroad all you need is the agreement from the local CAA. It should be quite easy (Ok, nothing's really easy in aviation) for a British CFI to set up his own shop alongside a local RF and train under UK rules.

there are other british FTO's/registered facilities training abroad

Yup, look at all the CAA-blessed outlets over in the States.

I guess if the spanish dgac made the decision to let PPL students do their theory in english (as they do with CPL and ATPL exams), would be very helpful for the GA industry in Spain

In my view, one significant advantage of the UK system over Spain's is being able to sit the theory anytime you want at the RF's own premises, but I agree that it would be a big step forward if they decided to allow PPLs to be done in English.

[P.S. On an unrelated note, I flew out of Girona this afternoon and, for the first time in two years, I heard a local PPL from Sabadell aeroclub doing his calls in English. Big thumbs up to this guy ]