Stapleford
 

Hi all,
Can someone she light on how much the actual PPL will cost at stapleford.
They quote £5895 but thats just for the aircraft hire in a C152.
And it gets a bit confusing when they say this is:
"Each flight is paid for after the flight is completed and prices vary depending upon the amount of time actually flown, i.e. brakes off time to brakes on time".
How much for a PPL 45 hrs with all extras, from away landing fees and groundschool would the total amount to?
Cheers

I learnt at Stapleford and it took me tad over 50 hours flying time to learn. It cost me in the region of £6,700 all in, including all my own equipment and headset, as well as medical, membership fee and exam fees etc.

I didn't pay for any ground school courses - I tried doing the Air Law exam by self-study and found I coped OK, so I did them all this way. Staplefords ground school is pretty limited anyway.

You also get a discount if you pay up front - can be risky, but if you're happy to do it, I think it works out at 10% for the 45 hours.

I'm learning at Stapleford because the hourly rate is very competitive for around London, and the standard of training is high (IMHO) because they are strong on the commerical side. Also no landing fees, much cheaper for touch and gos. Downside is it can be very busy at weekends so you sometimes have to hold for 10-15 mins before departure.

I think total cost of PPL will depend more on your ability, and how frequently you can have lessons, and not have to revise/get back up to speed, than anything else. Its not possible to say it will definitely cost £X, most people go over 45 hours I believe. I'm budgeting £7k all in, lessons at weekends only over 12 month period (I hope).

Plenty of advice on other threads about paying up front or not, most people say no. I agree and pay as I go - brakes off to brakes on per lesson at Stapleford.

Has anyone done the PPL + course with Stapleford. 5 hrs on PA 28 and 8 hours ground.

If so how much was it, and was it worth it.

HB

I'd recommend Stapleford - no landing fees which can really rack up when you're training. They also have lots of planes. Fond memories.

Crazy suggestion but why dont you go and visit them and ask?! I wouldnt spend all that money without checking I liked the school, and they'll tell you exactly how much you're likely to spend out, no rumour just fact!

What they mean is that your lesson is not always going to be an hour, and therefore not the exact same price every time. As someone said, if you sit holding for 15 minutes, and you still want an hour in the air, your going to be paying for 1 hr 15 mins, or thereabouts so the cost is variable. Plus if you land away, you can never predict how long you may spend taxying or holding.

I did my PPL at Stapleford and took me about 50 hours including the test. There is a fuel supplement according to how much its gone up with each delivery they get. They cant amend prices each week so vary the fuel supplement.

I did find them excellent though and one of the reasons I chose them was no landing fees as many places don't own the airfield so have to pay for that too.

Not only are the instructors very good, but the examiners are also excellent. Very nice people and they want you to pass and will help you feel at ease flying with them.

I paid for 20 hours upfront at a time for a discount, I felt comfortable with that as they have been around for a very long time now.

Something my instructor often did was invite me to sit in the back seat when he did lessons with anyone in a 172 or pa28, provided they were happy with that of course. I found that hugely beneficial, you can sit back and take in whats going on without thinking about flying the plane.

I revalidated my PPL at Stapleford early last year, have flown into the field a couple of times as a PPL, completed my night rating there late last year, and am considering them for my CPL and MEIR. I'd summarise as follows:

Good points:

- Instructors I have experience of were excellent, with one exception who was mediocre (PM me if you want more details);
- Landing fees are included in the price which makes the pricing structure a lot clearer. Contrast with (e.g.) Biggin Hill where I did my PPL originally, and must have spent £500+ in airport charges/landing fees over the whole course;
- C152s are availalbe to train in - there aren't as many of them around these days and they are substantially cheaper than 4 seaters. You can always upgrade to 4 seaters after finish your PPL and want to start touring;
- The airfield is conveniently located for central London, even if you don't drive.

Bad points:

- The organisational side of things lets the side down. To some extent you accept this due to the low prices, but a few times I showed up for lessons to find a mistake had been made with booking, and I was without an instructor or aircraft;
- Most of the fleet are pretty knackered - although to be fair you will probably find that at most flying schools, given the capital cost of new aircraft and the general (sorry) state of the GA industry in the UK;
- The circuit is somewhat chaotic, and the main runway is 600m tarmac, 400m grass and sloping (although this could be seen as a good point as if you can master this circuit, and this runway, you should be able to fly anywhere!).

Overall I would recommend them, at least up to PPL level, based on my experiences so far. Definitely worth going down there for a look, speaking to some of the instructors, and going for a trial lesson with them to see how you feel about it.

And on costs.

I think the above simply means that you're charged brakes off to brakes on, so the price of individual lessons will vary depending on time spent holding etc. When I learned I found the lessons got longer (and more expensive) towards the end of the course when you're circuit bashing and doing practise nav exercises.

The total cost will depend on total hours taken. 45 hours is the legal minimum and not achieved by most people. Things that will affect it are: your aptitude; how regularly you can fly (i.e. the more often the better); how often lessons are cancelled by weather etc. From this point of view it's worth starting to learn in the spring, and blitzing it over the summer. If you start learning in the winter you might face weeks of delays between lessons due to weather.

You can download exam fees from the CAA website, and should also factor in study materials, whizz wheel, flight case, check lists, sundry expenses etc.

Wouldn't have thought you'd get much change out of £7 - 8k, all in.

Guys...the question was asked six years ago. I'm sure that the origional poster has already made a decision about whether to train at Stapleford or not!

Oops - that was a waste of 15 mins this morning! Hopefully the responses will be useful to others who may be considering the school.