fly-in-spain jerez
Join Date: Jun 2003
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I have looked into this recently; not for the PPL but for the JAA IR.
The "general drift" seems to be that while every JAA country has a number of flying schools (and FTOs which you need for the IR), most of them are not geared up for processing "foreigners".
One thing is that the majority of Europe is simply not English-speaking. The N Europeans tend to be better in this respect, but e.g. the French are not keen on people who don't want to speak French (even if they can speak English).
The bottom line is that there are just a few outfits, mostly set up and run by Brits, Germans, or similar, which specialise in English speaking customers, and they tend to be in the warmer climates. No point in PPL training in say Germany as the weather will be just as crap as here.
FIS in Spain is one I had good reports on. Another is Egnatia in Greece (at Kavala airport) which I have visited in 2009 and 2011. If I was going to hang out abroad for some weeks I would prefer Kavala in Greece everytime over anywhere I have been to in Spain, but the impression I get (not having been to FIS) is that FIS is better organised of those two.
There are also schools in places like Cyprus.
The "general drift" seems to be that while every JAA country has a number of flying schools (and FTOs which you need for the IR), most of them are not geared up for processing "foreigners".
One thing is that the majority of Europe is simply not English-speaking. The N Europeans tend to be better in this respect, but e.g. the French are not keen on people who don't want to speak French (even if they can speak English).
The bottom line is that there are just a few outfits, mostly set up and run by Brits, Germans, or similar, which specialise in English speaking customers, and they tend to be in the warmer climates. No point in PPL training in say Germany as the weather will be just as crap as here.
FIS in Spain is one I had good reports on. Another is Egnatia in Greece (at Kavala airport) which I have visited in 2009 and 2011. If I was going to hang out abroad for some weeks I would prefer Kavala in Greece everytime over anywhere I have been to in Spain, but the impression I get (not having been to FIS) is that FIS is better organised of those two.
There are also schools in places like Cyprus.
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Hi Paul,
My wife did not finish in 4 weeks. She went solo but had not finished all theory on beforehand, so it was certainly not all the school's fault! It is a very hard way to do a ppl from scratch in 4 weeks, I would say virtually impossible.
My wife did not finish in 4 weeks. She went solo but had not finished all theory on beforehand, so it was certainly not all the school's fault! It is a very hard way to do a ppl from scratch in 4 weeks, I would say virtually impossible.
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thanks everyone more food for thought.
Vanhorck. how did your wife find it? did she get to fly every day? were the instructors helpful. sorry for all the questions i just want to make sure the place is good before i decide
Vanhorck. how did your wife find it? did she get to fly every day? were the instructors helpful. sorry for all the questions i just want to make sure the place is good before i decide
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Hi love it how everyone ends up repeating himself on these threads--mostly because it's the same questions being asked over and over. Anyway, to keep with the habit...
As I have written on the other threads, I did my PPL there from scratch in two and a half weeks--that's theory, medical, flying, skills test, and acquiring a passing interest in aviation which up to that point I didn't particularly have; and no, it wasn't overly taxing. So it's far from "impossible" if you half put your mind into it. Funnily enough, I seem to find that building a cordial relation with people you have to deal with in whichever capacity--even as customer--makes things so much easier for everyone involved. Let's put it this way: businesses want decent customers as much as customers want decent businesses.
It's all horses for courses though. If you are prepared to put the effort you can get this out of the way in no time, but if you want your hand held and somebody else to do the hard work for you, that's not going to (ahem) fly. The fact that the OP is asking for a telephone number when on their website (easily found via Google or this forum) there is all the contact info you need, leads me to think that training closer to home at a leisurely pace might be a better option.
As I have written on the other threads, I did my PPL there from scratch in two and a half weeks--that's theory, medical, flying, skills test, and acquiring a passing interest in aviation which up to that point I didn't particularly have; and no, it wasn't overly taxing. So it's far from "impossible" if you half put your mind into it. Funnily enough, I seem to find that building a cordial relation with people you have to deal with in whichever capacity--even as customer--makes things so much easier for everyone involved. Let's put it this way: businesses want decent customers as much as customers want decent businesses.
It's all horses for courses though. If you are prepared to put the effort you can get this out of the way in no time, but if you want your hand held and somebody else to do the hard work for you, that's not going to (ahem) fly. The fact that the OP is asking for a telephone number when on their website (easily found via Google or this forum) there is all the contact info you need, leads me to think that training closer to home at a leisurely pace might be a better option.
Last edited by LH2; 12th Sep 2011 at 20:33.
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Tend to agree with LH2 here. Why don't you just get on a RYR down there and check it out? Going to cost you perhaps 50/100 quid return and you may be able to do it in a day (at least ex STN RYR used to run two flights to LEJR/day).
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As one of those referred to by IO540 who had a good experience, its fair to say I was doing the IR not the PPL.
However before I made my mind up, I jumped on a plane and spent a couple of days there taking in the operation, hired an aircraft with safety pilot and got a feel of flying in Spain and also suss out Jerez for when I was not flying.
If you are trying to minimise the cost of learning to fly to the minimum possible, I can understand why you might focus on the cost of landings.
A personal visit may may cost a couple of hundred quid could be a couple of hundred quid well spent in terms of peace of mind.
Trying to do things on the cheap often leads to it becoming more expensive in the long run. Frankly if you cannot afford to visit, then I suggest you cannot afford to learn to fly.
If things dont work out it is not always the school's fault. Some students think they just have to turn up and they will pass. Some students are unrealistic in their expectations, and some students are just not mature enough to do it.
Making a visit says , you are really serious not just a pie in the sky wannabe, it also gives the school the opportunity to see you and get a feel about whether you would fit in.
If you do go, prepare a list of all the questions you have, it would be a shame to arrive home wishing you had asked this or that.
At the end of the day, you need to make your own mind up.
However before I made my mind up, I jumped on a plane and spent a couple of days there taking in the operation, hired an aircraft with safety pilot and got a feel of flying in Spain and also suss out Jerez for when I was not flying.
If you are trying to minimise the cost of learning to fly to the minimum possible, I can understand why you might focus on the cost of landings.
A personal visit may may cost a couple of hundred quid could be a couple of hundred quid well spent in terms of peace of mind.
Trying to do things on the cheap often leads to it becoming more expensive in the long run. Frankly if you cannot afford to visit, then I suggest you cannot afford to learn to fly.
If things dont work out it is not always the school's fault. Some students think they just have to turn up and they will pass. Some students are unrealistic in their expectations, and some students are just not mature enough to do it.
Making a visit says , you are really serious not just a pie in the sky wannabe, it also gives the school the opportunity to see you and get a feel about whether you would fit in.
If you do go, prepare a list of all the questions you have, it would be a shame to arrive home wishing you had asked this or that.
At the end of the day, you need to make your own mind up.
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Update on fly in Spain
I have just finished spending a week in Jerez. Instructors are great. The owner Hans is a bit like Basil Fawlty. After I returned to the uk I wanted to keep my skills up and asked FIS to send my ground school exam results to the uk flight school so that I could fly solo. Hans told me that I could not split my training and would have to either stay with them or move everything to the uk. I still had money on account with them and was planning to finish off with them but asked Hans to move my training to the UK given that appeared to be the only option other than stop training until I returned to Spain. I has already paid 250 euros admin fees and then Hans created a 250 euro cancellation fee which he used to hang on to the 95 euros in my account (I hadn't asked for it back as I was planning to go back and continue training with them at some point). Then followed a series of increasingly bizarre email exchanges with Hans telling me that he didn't see why I couldn't understand the situation. In summary FIS is very expensive and Hans is both disorganised and good at getting cash from you. Don't go unless he sells the business because everyone else there is great but Hans is not. Alternatively if you want that genuine Fawlty towers experience, start an email exchange with Hans. If he replies then you won't be disappointed.
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Interestingly, i'm looking at going to FIS next year to do my PPL, sans ground exams/medical which i want to get out of the way first in the UK.
I've emailed Hans and he's been very helpful so far and has given me plenty of info. I'm heading out there end of July though to check it out in person before i decide. The problem is i can't commit to the time for the training until next year.
I've emailed Hans and he's been very helpful so far and has given me plenty of info. I'm heading out there end of July though to check it out in person before i decide. The problem is i can't commit to the time for the training until next year.
