PPL Training School Profitable?
 

Hi ,

Thinking of getting my PPL along with the other relevant qualifications to be a flight instructor.

The questions i have are based on me buying a newish microlight and getting in with a localish airfield and offering microlight fixed wing training.


1: Is it profitable you think?
2: DO airfields welcome new companies offering training or the opposite?
3: Is it just a case of someone pays £100 or more for thelesson and i deduct the cost of fuel , insurance and maintenance and the rest is mine?
4: DO airfields offer free landing fees for companies operating from their airfield?

Matt

Q) How do you make a small fortune in aviation?
A) Start with a large one!

1) Not in the way you're suggesting.

2) Depends whether the airfield operator also offers training, in which case you probably wouldn't be welcomed, or they see you as a tenant who's going to have to pay them hangarage / landing / parking no matter how good or bad your business is.

3) Basically yes, but factor in the costs above and you'll probably have 50p to live on from your £100.

4) Not normally - how do you think they make their money?

Hi,

Ive have done extensive research now on that 50p profit out of £100 and i think your figures are way off.

Out of the £100 if i budgeted £15 for maintenance (as i can do most myself), fuel for the hour is approx 15lph which is about £22.50 , and insurance is a direct cost so cant calculate it per hour as i dont know how many hours i would work.

So if i put up say £10ph for the insurance i would soon get to the point where i wouldnt need to take that £10 out.

Eben taking £10 for the insurance , im still only on under £50 expenses.

Thats £50 per hour profit in my eyes and quite good in my books

Matt

Sorry, but me thinks your figures don't compute!

For a new(ish) 172 fuel burn is, erm, slightly more than 15lph. You'd be better off looking at 35 as a better estimate - even then it would probably be more. Oil?

Check out how much maintenance you can actually do yourself. Your airplane would need to be on a public CofA and that limits what maintenance you can actually do yourself. What about engine replacement?

How much would your insurance be? For a new(ish) 172 you'd need a few £10's to cover it, I'm sure.

Nowhere do I see any allowance for annual costs for the maintenance.

Capital costs?

Landing fee's / parking charges ?

Office rental - you can't brief from the back of a car anymore!

Think long and hard, and I'd be doing a significantly more research. If it were that easy then everybody would be doing it!

Duchess,

Im so sorry. I forgot to amend the opening post. At the time i was toying with either pPL training or Microloght Training.

My figures now are based on microlight training.

Could you please let me know your views now.

Matt

I fly the C42 and EV97 microlights and know several instructors, all effectively self employed, whether that is tied to a school or in effect running their own school with their own aircraft. None of them earn a fortune that's for sure.

In terms of costs, it really can vary wildly in relation to the cost of locating the business/aircraft as parking/hangarage costs can vary so much. Operating costs are more straightforward. Work on 15L ph of Mogas for fuel = £16, roughly £10 per tacho hour over the life of the Rotax engine before it needs replacement/overhaul, plus the cost of the 25/50 hr checks and Permit. Then there's insurance - not sure on costs but bound to be a fair sum pa for training.

And of course there's the capital outlay for the aircraft. A good C42 may cost £25-30K which could be several hundred £££ pcm in any finance payment.

All in all; parking/hangarage, insurance, maintenance, a few inevitable repairs, fuel, finance, perhaps the cost of adverstising your services... that's a lot of hours of instruction every month you have to do before you break even.

If it's microlights you are looking at, get the NPPL, build the required hours, do the microlight AFI course and build some instructional hours - then re-assess the situation!

ETA - the few people I know who do run a one man band outfit have normally been in the industry for years and have a well established reputation and the contacts that come with that.

Surely you need to have a CPL to be able to make money being a flying instructor...

Not for microlight instruction.

A very well used C42 will cost you 25/30k.... A new one will be 40K plus, remember it is a factory build for teaching.
There is no fortune in the instructing game, I know a few instructors and they do it for the love of it, yes they make a living from it, but no fortune.

Im not expecting to make a forune but i think 30k per annum is achievable.

Been told that PPL 25k is possible. Microlights 30-40k is possible and PPL(H) helicopters even more than that.

All the above basing on a good airfield with good community.

True?