Hopefully going to Stapleford soon
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Hopefully going to Stapleford soon
Hi everyone!
I might be going to Stapleford Flight Centre to do my PPL in April... I will probably be going there before hand though, for a look around with my dad (who is funding this endeavor! haha)
Will anyone here be there in April? And if anyone has been there at that time of year... what's it like? Busy? Decent-ish weather?
Cheers!
I might be going to Stapleford Flight Centre to do my PPL in April... I will probably be going there before hand though, for a look around with my dad (who is funding this endeavor! haha)
Will anyone here be there in April? And if anyone has been there at that time of year... what's it like? Busy? Decent-ish weather?
Cheers!
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You have picked one of the better places to learn to fly, Stapleford is sometimes quite busy and the airspace around the north of London is usually very busy so keep a very good lookout and enjoy !
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Good school, you won't go wrong.
Circuits can be insanely busy on a weekend. If Alan Sugar is flying, land asap...your instructor will tell you the same thing.
If you can manage a Stapleford circuit you can manage any circuit!
Circuits can be insanely busy on a weekend. If Alan Sugar is flying, land asap...your instructor will tell you the same thing.
If you can manage a Stapleford circuit you can manage any circuit!
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You have picked one of the better places to learn to fly, Stapleford is sometimes quite busy and the airspace around the north of London is usually very busy so keep a very good lookout and enjoy !
I learnt at Stapleford about 8 years ago and if I had my time again, I woud have gone somewhere else.
The aircraft are old, tatty and the equipment on board is more often than not faulty - radios don't work, broken VORs, RPM gauges misread etc. On top of that, some of the receptionists are rather surly - I made the mistake of putting a defect in the aircraft tech log and got shouted at - "You should have written it on a post-it note and stuck that to the log. We can't use that aircraft until its looked at now!". Unbeliveable.
Why are you going to Stapleford? Geography? Try Andrewsfield - that's where I would go if given the time again.
If you can manage a Stapleford circuit you can manage any circuit!
Last edited by TractorBoy; 17th Mar 2013 at 19:42.
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The only reason I would go to Stapleford is for the great instructors. The PPL aircraft are tatty as 
, but then the positive on this is that you learn the basics very well, no relying on GPS. Receptionists are like marmite, either you'll get on well and have a laugh or you'll tear your hair out over them. I never really had an issue but I know they annoyed a lot of people.
, but then the positive on this is that you learn the basics very well, no relying on GPS. Receptionists are like marmite, either you'll get on well and have a laugh or you'll tear your hair out over them. I never really had an issue but I know they annoyed a lot of people.
Last edited by pudoc; 18th Mar 2013 at 12:58.
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The only reason I would go to Stapleford is for the great instructors
Then again, so does Andrewsfield (eg Carol Cooper is excellent). Plus Andrewsfield is about 20-30 quid an hour cheaper for a 152...
If you can manage a Stapleford circuit you can manage any circuit!
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I learnt at Stapleford about 8 years ago and if I had my time again, I woud have gone somewhere else.
I learnt at Stapleford over 6 months about 2 years ago. I found them both friendly and helpful. PS And yes - If I had my time again, I would still learn there. I'm thinking of doing my IMC next year, and Stapleford is my school of choice !!!
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I think you need to get around a bit pudoc and visit a few more private strips and other unlicensed fields. Flying at Stapleford will not prepare you for all of them by a long way. I won't name any because it could start a chain of, "Mine's more difficult than yours." posts. (That could be interesting though!)
My opinion is if you can manage keeping a decent circuit with all those aircraft doing such a range of different speeds, then following strangely shaped, noise-abated circuits at other airfields will become pretty easy. I've flown to places with interesting circuits and haven't had an issue.
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TractorBoy have you changed your mind over the last 6 years, because this was your advise about Stapleford in 2007 to somebody who was asking.....
For about 2 years Stapleford was my only reference point for aviation as after I learnt I didn't really do much for a while due to lack of money / bad weather etc.
As time went on I got increasingly fed up with flying - problems with booking an aircraft for only an hour at a time, having to reject aircraft due to faults, getting increasingly agitated with people behind the counter etc. When I was learning I was effectively insulated from all the problems I found later on as the instructor basically dealt with the admin side of things and I didn't really appreciate the problems there I'd encounter once I passed.
After looking around other airfields I found a totally different scene and approach to things and I began to realise just how bad things had been at Stapleford. There are so many better and more relaxed places to fly from. And I didn't go back to do my IMC there in the end either.
I also posted a negative comment about Andrewfield back then as well, which I now have totally reversed my opinion on.
I relocated to the dark side of the M25 and now fly with an excellent group there. If I hadn't, I'd have given up ages ago
Last edited by TractorBoy; 19th Mar 2013 at 12:54.
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Buy cheap buy twice !
In thirty years I have seen company's come and go some good and some well shall we say not so good.
There are things that I could criticise most of the flying clubs for but I would prefer to focus on the positive side, SFC have a record for honest business practices and produce well trained pilots, they have done this over a considerable time span, so they have to be doing something right !
To the best of my knowlage no one has lost money at SFC, that is more than we can say for Cabair, Cabair MK 2, Bonus, Firecrest, and a string of others that I can't recall at the moment but other no doubt can, some of who took full payments for flying courses knowing full well that they where about to go bankrupt.
There are others who I would recommend but see no reason for putting someone off when they say that they are starting training at SFC because the records suggest they will get value for money as a lot of others who have gone before.
At this point I should say that I have no connection with SFC apart from being a keen observer of the light aviation business over a number of years.
There are things that I could criticise most of the flying clubs for but I would prefer to focus on the positive side, SFC have a record for honest business practices and produce well trained pilots, they have done this over a considerable time span, so they have to be doing something right !
To the best of my knowlage no one has lost money at SFC, that is more than we can say for Cabair, Cabair MK 2, Bonus, Firecrest, and a string of others that I can't recall at the moment but other no doubt can, some of who took full payments for flying courses knowing full well that they where about to go bankrupt.
There are others who I would recommend but see no reason for putting someone off when they say that they are starting training at SFC because the records suggest they will get value for money as a lot of others who have gone before.
At this point I should say that I have no connection with SFC apart from being a keen observer of the light aviation business over a number of years.
"If Alan Sugar is flying, land asap.......your instructor will tell you the same thing."
This made me smile; not long after my son got his PPL and I was thinking about sending him to Stapleford to do his CPL, we decided to fly up there one day in the family PA-28.
Stapleford were using Runway 04 and my son made a copybook overhead join and called downwind. About halfway down the downwind leg came a radio call along the lines of:
"Oh God. I've just realised that there is another aircraft ahead of me so I suppose I shall have to extend my downwind leg."
My 17 year-old son looked at me in some consternation. I assured him that he was doing nothing wrong. I told him to carry on and to ignore the person behind him who was obviously the local a*se* ho*le.
We duly landed nicely on 04 and when we had got down to taxi speed I told my son to pull off on to the grass to the left so that "shag nasty" could get on with his ill-tempered day.
Seconds later, a Cirrus shot past our starboard wingtip and promptly swung to the left and plonked itself in front of us on the taxiway.
All was revealed;
I asked my son how it felt to have apparently cut Alan Sugar out of "his" circuit.
My son's response was priceless.
"Who the hell is Alan Sugar?"
Who indeed.
As a postscript, my son went on to do his CPL/IR at Stapleford and it all went very well. He passed everything (including his IR) first time and he is now in his third year as a 737 captain.
This made me smile; not long after my son got his PPL and I was thinking about sending him to Stapleford to do his CPL, we decided to fly up there one day in the family PA-28.
Stapleford were using Runway 04 and my son made a copybook overhead join and called downwind. About halfway down the downwind leg came a radio call along the lines of:
"Oh God. I've just realised that there is another aircraft ahead of me so I suppose I shall have to extend my downwind leg."
My 17 year-old son looked at me in some consternation. I assured him that he was doing nothing wrong. I told him to carry on and to ignore the person behind him who was obviously the local a*se* ho*le.
We duly landed nicely on 04 and when we had got down to taxi speed I told my son to pull off on to the grass to the left so that "shag nasty" could get on with his ill-tempered day.
Seconds later, a Cirrus shot past our starboard wingtip and promptly swung to the left and plonked itself in front of us on the taxiway.
All was revealed;
I asked my son how it felt to have apparently cut Alan Sugar out of "his" circuit.
My son's response was priceless.
"Who the hell is Alan Sugar?"
Who indeed.
As a postscript, my son went on to do his CPL/IR at Stapleford and it all went very well. He passed everything (including his IR) first time and he is now in his third year as a 737 captain.
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Does the airspace close when he flies or something?
I have many stories about ol' Sugar lumps but the more you hear the more you'll want to strangle him!
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Haha, pretty cool story, how long ago was this? Does Sugar fly there often?
Keep the posts coming! (try to keep them reasonably related to the original topic, though... haha)
Keep the posts coming! (try to keep them reasonably related to the original topic, though... haha)
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I am hoping that I am not hijacking the thread. It appears to me that the flying schools are usually have a fleet of 40-50 year old planes that you would not want to look at, let alone training in them.
Are there any decent schools in UK using newer, better planes or they are all in same miserable condition
Are there any decent schools in UK using newer, better planes or they are all in same miserable condition
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Baz76
Quote:-
I am hoping that I am not hijacking the thread. It appears to me that the flying schools are usually have a fleet of 40-50 year old planes that you would not want to look at, let alone training in them.
Are there any decent schools in UK using newer, better planes or they are all in same miserable condition
Perhaps aircraft such as the C152 are still the best for basic training despite the age, I see no reason that this should change for some time as most students would be hard pushed to keep up with an aircraft that was much faster, it exhibits all the flying requirements to demonstrate good flying technique and above all is robust and reliable.
The reason that some of them are in poor condition is that the market demands the very cheapest price and so only the essential maintenance gets done.
Some of the better training establishments charge a quid or two more and have 15,000 hour Cessna 152's that are in first rate condition.
I expect to see the C152 flying long after some of the new light aircraft have done their third recycling as beer cans.
I am hoping that I am not hijacking the thread. It appears to me that the flying schools are usually have a fleet of 40-50 year old planes that you would not want to look at, let alone training in them.
Are there any decent schools in UK using newer, better planes or they are all in same miserable condition
Perhaps aircraft such as the C152 are still the best for basic training despite the age, I see no reason that this should change for some time as most students would be hard pushed to keep up with an aircraft that was much faster, it exhibits all the flying requirements to demonstrate good flying technique and above all is robust and reliable.
The reason that some of them are in poor condition is that the market demands the very cheapest price and so only the essential maintenance gets done.
Some of the better training establishments charge a quid or two more and have 15,000 hour Cessna 152's that are in first rate condition.
I expect to see the C152 flying long after some of the new light aircraft have done their third recycling as beer cans.
Last edited by A and C; 21st Mar 2013 at 09:54.