Flying school around London

[bmxfreestyle]

Hey everybody
I am a student in london and I am planning to start my PPL, I have big problem in choosing the right flying school around london, because some aerodrome around london are difficult access by public transport such as elestree airfield and so on
So if someone can suggest me an aerodrome around london ( no more than one hour by train) which accessible by public transport as well as a flying school which has a good reputation and pricing.
by the way just to inform other people on the forum who are looking to do the PPL ground theory at metropolitan university, unfortunately I have asked and they are not running the course anymore

[A and C]

London flying

Before you commit yourself to any one flying school check out the prices in detail, if you get a very low price then it probably was a whole host of "add ons" (landing fees, fuel surcharges, briefing fees & VAT).

What you have to establish is the real price per hour, not the headline rate!

To help you I will recomend three companys that are honest about pricing, all are within London public transport & a short taxi/bus ride.

WLAC at White Waltham

BAFC (or is it now AFC?) at Booker

SFC at Stapleford.

Talk to these people first to get a benchmark, once you start phoning around the others and asking questions about pricing structure you will no doubt retun to one of the above for your lessons.
My recomendation would be BAFC at Booker (01494 529262) but all the others I name above offer value for money quality training.

[Grandslam]

What about HAC at Halton, only 40 mins to Wendover railway station from Marylebone.

http://www.haltonaeroclub.co.uk/

[jollyrog]

You don't say which part of London you are starting from. Spending 45-60 minutes crossing London will make a big difference to your travelling, so it would be helpful to know.

[oversteer]

Denham has two flight schools

Cabair
The Pilot Centre - The Pilot Centre - Denham Aerodrome

Denham station to the airfield is about 1 mile: 15 min walk or a short taxi.

[Snakecharmer]

The Tiger Club at Headcorn... someone's bound to give you a lift from Headcorn Station.. but it's not that long a walk anyway.

Tiger Club.Home

[bmxfreestyle]

First of all thanks everybody for your quick reply

@jollyrog sorry if I have not precised which part of london. I am living in the Queen mary university of london accommodation which is in east london ( Mile end )


@ A and C I will go tomorrow to see around stapleford and check SFC as well

Thanks

[jollyrog]

From Mile End, your easiest aerodrome is Damyns Hall. There a nice (several page) article on it in this month's "Pilot" magazine. It's 25 minutes up the District line to Upminster then a 10 min cab ride.

According to the article, there are flying schools there, but I know nothing about them.

[Rallye Driver]

I learned to fly at Stapleford many years ago. One of the big advantages is that the same person owns the airfield and the training organisation so there are no additional landing fees. That can amount to a big saving when bashing round the circuit.

[Kolibear]

I learned to fly at Stapleford many years ago.

I didn't realise the Wright Brothers had the franchise there!

How do you get to Stapleford by public transport? Its bad enough by car.

Southend is a long way out of London, but the train runs alongside the airfield. Buses run from Rochford and Southend stations and the trains are regular and quite quick. There are also 3-4 flight schools on the airfield too.

Earls Colne is is a similar situation, I think Kelvedon would be the nearest rail station.

Trains to both Southend & Earls Colne leave from Liverpool Street, rumour has it that a train station is to be built at Southend Aiport, but I first heard that 40 years ago & its still not happened.

[Red Four]

"rumour has it that a train station is to be built at Southend Airport"

Kolibear - have faith, I'm sure this this time next year we'll all be saying 'Why didn't this get done 40 years ago'. (Incidentally, it was first talked of in the 1930's when the airport was 'officially' opened).

[bmxfreestyle]

hey
Actually, I have tried to get to strapleford but is hard I had to take the tube from mile end until debden then take the bus which would take ages to get there.Anyway, its not a good deal for me so I decided to try south end airport, as a result its really suitable for me I have to cycle down to liverpool street station and take the train to rochford and then cycle to south end airport which takes 10 minutes by bike from the station(all outbound journey is about one hour and 15 minutes.
So which do you recommend me at South end Airport ?
-willow air-south end flying club -seawing flying club- flight centre.

[mack 1]

Classair at Biggin Hill, you will not go wrong.
Iris the owner does this for the love of flying, she is therefore cheap in comparison. The price does not have any add-ons, vat, landings,touch and go, exams, circuits all included. Very friendly place to learn.
Biggin is a good airport to fly from as once flown fron a large airport you can fly anywhere. Going from a small grass airstrip to a large airport can be chalanging for a novice. The other way round easy so long as you touch down at the beginning, before anyone picks me up on that.

[Redbird72]

At Southend, I would recommend Flightcentre or Seawing: they share a lot of instructors and both have a low instructor turnover. Personally, I would say FC's acft are better turned out and a little cheaper. Seawing is a member owned club; FC is a business with a fairly clubby atmosphere.

I don't have any direct experience of SFC or Willow Air, but neither floated my boat when looking for somewhere to learn - both Seawing and FlightCentre struck me as the more friendly and inviting places and were the only ones that gave me a chance to speak to an instructor before booking.

Obviously this is based on my own personal opinion and experiences and won't be true for all!

[Rodent1982]

Originally Posted by mack 1

Classair at Biggin Hill, you will not go wrong.

I'll echo mack above. Generally the cheapest school in Biggin Hill, and no add-ons what-so-ever. She does state in her information pack that if you have not completed within a year you may have to pay surcharges for increased landing fees, or fuel price increases, but I haven't and I've been 'studying' for just short of 2 years (through no fault of Classair).

Ground schooling is also included. Often Iris has invited me round when it's quiet to go through the Radio, or practice flight planning.

All in all, a great school, some great instructors, and a brilliant airport to learn from.