Aircraft class ratings and other newbie questions

[donkwong]

Hello all,

I am at the PPL stage and was wondering where do you get the aircraft class ratings? I have heard some people paying for it themselves (how do you know with class rating to get? Where do you go for one?) and some airline paying for the pilots (which ones still do that? And what's the trade off apart from the usual; work for them for xx years?). It would be nice if I can have some advice for the future, that would be great.

1. Medical Class 1 initial @ Gatwick (Done: I am not defective )
2. PPL (I'm here, any thoughts on this school: Private Pilot licence | Leicester Aero Club ? Should I pay all up front? They been around from 1909 but I am not holding my breath after seeing companies falling like dominoes in the last few years.)
3. ATPL ground exams @ BGS or CAPT + building to 150hrs (Any restriction on the plane that I need to be PIC of for the 150hrs?)
4. Instrumental rating (Got any good advice for a school that does this? I can't seems to find on in Leicestershire. ) + Night Course (Is this compulsory?)

Did I missed anything on the above list? I am in the UK and prefers to train around Leicestershire, but can be anyway in UK. Rest of the world might take some convincing. I am 22 years old if that helps.

[taybird]

When you do your PPL you will be given a Single Engine Piston class rating (SEP). If you do this on aeroplanes, you'll get a PPL(A). This allows you to fly most Single Engined Piston powered aircraft. Note that for helicopters this would be different. I think that what you are referring to is the class rating required for bigger, commercial aircraft. Because each aircraft is highly complex in its systems and operations, you can't just jump from one to the next. Therefore you have to do a type rating. The type rating is the training to get you competent and approved to fly one particular aeroplane, for example the A320, or a G550, or Dash8 etc. These cost a lot of money, from around £20k upwards. Some companies pay for this for you, others expect you to fund it yourself.

But way before you need to worry about that, you'll need to worry about the basic licence. If you go Integrated, course fees in the UK are £80-90k. Plus accommodation for at least 12 months, and living expenses. Then the type rating, if you choose to buy it, goes on top. Or, if you go modular, you can probably get qualified for £50-60k to which you could add a type rating.

PPL, I may be biased, but Leicestershire Aero Club is not about to go bust. It's not just a school / factory, so doesn't run on the same model as the likes of Cabair or PTC. I can wholeheartedly recommend the PPL, Night Rating, IMC and CPL training. For Multi-engine and Instrument Rating, there isn't anywhere in Leicestershire itself but again I can recommend Central Flight Training at Tatenhill which is not far away.

There are no restrictions, as far as I aware, rewarding what you use to hour build. It does have to be a real aeroplane, not a simulator. It's down to you to use those hours to best effect. There are plenty of threads on hour building on here. Use the search facility... Similarly you'll find lots of info if you search for ground school options for ATPL theory. Several friends have used ProPilot at Coventry, I used CATS, both no problem passing first time.

[donkwong]

Thank you taybird, do you know of a place with a list of all the IR teaching facilities in the UK?

Is this course: pilot licence commercial commercial pilots licence | Leicester Aero Club necessary for to get a (f)ATPL for airliner work?

My breakdown of cost so far:

• Medicals: £300
• PPL: £7,055
• IMC: £2,550
• Night: £750
• hours building: Not sure if I want to go to eastern Europe for this. It's ~£120/hr in Leicester. So
• ATPL theory: ~£2,700
• IR: ~£13,000
• CAA cost: ~£500

Comes to a total of £26855 which seems wrong, unless it cost ~£28,000 just for hours...

Best Regards & thanks,
D.W.

[taybird]

As I've said before, you need to use the search facility. There are a number of key items missing from your list, (CPL for example, Exam fees, test fees, licence application fees). Plus, you are assuming you'll do everything in minimum hours and that the price of avgas will stay constant for the next 2-4 years.
Just to give you a hand, try looking at the Integrated vs Modular thread at the top of the forum.

[AucT]

donkwong.

You are missing:

* CPL (Commerical Pilot License)
* ME (Multi Engine)
* IR (ME) upgrade if you do your IR in Single Engine.

Best scenario is to do ME and IR together after you complete your CPL! You can skip IMCR to save the money, but I dont want to open a can of worms and people tend to have different opinion about IMCR.

[donkwong]

Thanks AucT. Does this list looks complete:

1. Medical Class 1 initial
2. PPL + night, radio IMC ratings + hours to 150
3. ATPL ground exams
4. CPL
5. ME rating + IR (ME)

Have I got the list in the right order for minimum amount of time needed to get a (f)ATPL?

Best Regards,
D.W.

[mad_jock]

Also need MCC to apply for multi crew jobs.