Changing Flying Schools

[murphyp]

Any help would be gratefully recevied?

Are you able to change flying schools half way through your PPL course?

P

[bladewashout]

Yes (in the UK, at least), its the hours and skills test that count, not where you did it.

They need to pass across to the new school all the information about your instructed lessons (the old school should have a folder on you), or (as I did coming back from training in the US), I just photocopied my own and gave it to them.

You need to make sure you get copies of any written exam pass certificates.

BW

[murphyp]

Thank you bladewashout

Thanks for the info, will investigate cheaper flying schools. Not to put to finer point on it. I wish to try and look for a cheaper flying school and I am currently at Biggin hill ..... expensive school, should be on the tip of your tongue...?

I plan to do the ATPL and go the whole way, so the cheaper I can do it the better - is it cheaper still in the US?

Paul

[bladewashout]

IMHO you get what you pay for. The experiences of others may differ, but for rotary I felt I got about 50% of the benefit from US hours as I do UK hours, down to the instruction and (for the course I did) the compressed nature of trying to get a ppl(H) in 3 weeks.

I think the fixed wing guys were a bit happier. Main thing is the weather is guaranteed.

BW

[Sensible]

You must have your training records and certificates of exams passed as bladewashout says. Make sure that you leave your current flying school the best of friends in case you leave with incomplete records.

Is it cheaper still in the US? You bet your life it is and a darned site quicker. The hour building can cost less than £50 an hour wet for a PA28

[conor_mc]

IMHO you get what you pay for.

I disagree to a certain extent. While going for the cheapest option will almost inevitably mean that quality is sacrificed somewhere in the training, I don't believe that the most expensive is necessarily the best. There are plenty of excellent schools which are reasonably priced.

[Scumbag O'Riley]

IMHO you get what you pay for.

Next time I pay £1 a litre for 100LL I shall fall down on my knees and praise the lord that it's superior stuff to that cheap muck they sell in the States.

[Hobgoblin]

Try giving Harvard Aviation at Redhill a go. Mrs Goblin is very happy with them ( and I have to say that so am I financially speaking! )

let me know and I'll pm their contact details.

[MLS-12D]

You can certainly change flying schools midway through. Probably this will involve a small amount of repetition, as the new school / instructor will want to review where you are in your training and may well want to polish a few areas of perceived weakness; but this isn't necessary a bad thing, as you'll benefit from a 'second opinion', and perhaps a different approach.

You should track down and read Diane Ackerman's book, On Extended Wings: An Adventure in Flight.

is it cheaper still in the US?

Sure. Other options that you should seriously consider are Australia, Canada and South Africa, all of which offer training that is at least as good as the USA (better, IMHO), without all the paranoid visa nonsense.

Make sure that you leave your current flying school the best of friends in case you leave with incomplete records.

Sensible advice!

[Gingerbread Man]

You can most definitely change schools, in fact, I run two alongside each other. I'm at uni, so in term time, I fly at Thruxton, and at home I fly at Nottingham. Doesn't seem to make a bit of difference, the aircraft are the same, and the syllabus is the same! The price is too, come to think of it. If anyone's interested (which I doubt) I prefer Thruxton - it's those PAPI lights that make all the difference. That and not having to dog-leg around all the little hamlets of Nottinghamshire in the circuit.

Happy landings

Ginge