Hi All,

So PPL skills test is in sight as is starting ATPL, the question is now Hour Building!

Where, when, how many hours in each place etc ....

Arizona - Angel city flyers / Chandler
Florida - Pilots Paradise
San Diego - American aviation
South Africa - Stellenbosch Flying Club
Home club / Airfield - Barton

anyone with experience / advice or anything to chip in please feel free to contribute, looking for the best experience / most affordable options.

Tha ks is in advance!!

+1

And there’s a bonus for doing a float rating in Canada. Unlike in the US, a Canadian float rating requires solo flying. :ok:

I have considered Canada however I’ve just been unable to find any schools / locations / prices ... any info would be greatly appreciated!

Float plane ant rating would be fun also

This is exactly my plan, however the schools I’ve contacted and spoken with to a greater deal either don’t allow passengers or the aircraft is only available / aloud to be taken away for 2 days and 3 nights. Where did you do yours if you don’t mind me asking ?

I have looked into this but doesn’t it end up becoming more expensive overall ?

You could put it like that: about £-10,000 more expensive!

You should definitely do the maths yourself, but this is the cheapest way by FAR.
The most important thing to understand is what you need, what can be combined with what, and what order to do everything in. Plenty of people find themselves short of something down the line (usually night hours) and end up having to hour build twice..

The most expensive way is to hour build to 175, then do a CPL (200) hours THEN do a full IR (15 multi plus 40 sim reduced to 30 because of your CPL)
The next cheapest way is to do your IR first, and hour build to 185, finishing with a 15 hour CPL because of your IR (basically you replace 15 hours of hour building with your 15 hours multi, net saving 15 hours)
The CBIR is even cheaper, for two reasons: it's 10 hours fewer (45 vs 55)and you can do it all (or most of it) in an aircraft, which is much cheaper than the Sim. (The aircraft is free actually)
The downside to all of these options is that you have to fly 15 hours in a multi, that's where the expense lies. If only there was a way to avoid that... Well actually there are two: one is to convert a foreign IR the 'normal' way (10 hours SIM, 5 multi) - the other is to convert a foreign IR via the CBIR route which (as long as you have 50 hours IFR as PIC, again: free) requires no training, you can just take the test.
An FAA instrument rating might cost you £2000 (in instructor feed) but if (big IF) you are talented and spend your hour building wisely (you won't), at best your EASA IR is free, and at worst you save £2000 and break even anyway. Ok at worst you fail repeatedly and eventually die of old age...
When you take advice from an ATO, remember that they make money from you flying.

I have looked briefly into New Zealand however bar... maybe 1 outfit everywhere is similar in price to Australia - Astronimical

i have thought about using Poland for a few just before starting the CPL with the school I intend to use actually, could be a good idea 🙂

Thats great, much appreciated. £75 an hour wet seems to be the price to beat, best in the us seems to be chandler ... pros and cons to all I imagine. Example being would most hours in South Africa with various runway types etc look good in a logbook when it comes to job hunting down the line . .. . Or is it just about getting them in to tick a box!

Yes, it is about numbers...but not in the way you think. 10 hours challenging yourself in terms of environment/operation/climate etc are worth far more than 100 hours in the ‘Local area”.

Those that have “spread their wings”🤪 are generally far better situationally and operationally. I’d recommend doing a bit in all of the OP but then you’ll spend more money travelling between. Whilst cost is an issue it should not be the only consideration.