Hour Building during the Winter
 

Hi All

I have just passed my final ATPL exams. I have 60hours left to do before i can start my CPL next year.

I have been looking at Fly-In-Spain in Jerez, €5300 for 50hours on a Cessna 150 with a room and rental car:
- | Fly-in-Spain | -
Does anybody have any recent experience with this establishment?

I am also very interested in FlyCorona in California which i will probably opt for and build hours in early February. They are quoting $76/hr for Cessna172 and I have heard some good reviews.

Any information on either school or alternative recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

You looked into Arizona ? I'm of there on Tuesday to place called Chandler hour building for 3weeks, looks a great place to fly and cheap!

Thanks. I have looked up Chandler and emailed them for more details. Anyone have experience with the club?

I am also going to Chandler in a couple of weeks (Thats if my letter turns up from the FAA in time).

I did quite a bit of research and they get many good reviews. My initial dealing with them are also very positive compared to alot of others.

There is an alternative if you want to go to spain. Avioservice have some aircraft based down at Barcelona for the winter. Technam for 105 Euros. PM me if you want the contact info.

donogca,

First of all, very very well done on finishing the old ATPLs :ok:

I don't have much to say, only I reccommend you at least weigh up the costs and benefits of actually staying in the UK to do it. I was originally looking at Chandler, and indeed AZ in general, however the total costs involved weren't worlds apart when you totted in flights, visa etc.

Just consider this - in the UK and ROI you will finally have a real opportunity (and excuse!) to fly all over the country and visit all the places you always wanted to, including some of the continent also. I did this last Winter, and can tell you that spending 50 hrs over the course of one or two months in the UK this time of year will really hone in those command skills and decision making when marginal weather rears its ugly head along route. One worry for me was, is 50 hrs going to be too much to see the UK and ROI and am I going to end up for a few hours just bimbling around? Simple answer... Nope! Not even close.

There is of course the obvious attraction that AZ is an entirely new experience (and I DO sometimes wonder whether I should have taken the opportunity), and you'll feel like you're off on holiday, which was one of the big pull factors for me at least!

I'm biased neither way, I just wanted to throw it out there.

Best of luck to you, whatever path you decide upon! :)

Agreed with the above. My 25 hours will work out about £110 an hour once I add in flights and accomodation etc. I could do this cheaper in the UK as a have a share in an aircraft that is £70 an hour.

I do however only have 1 week off work and need to get these hours in a short space of time. I wouldnt like to gamble on being able to do this in the UK during the winter. If you have plenty of time though it might be the way to go.

Good luck whatever you choose.

As another budget way to build hours consider Avioservice flight school - they will fly in Sabadell (Barcelona) this winter. Tecnam P92-JS wet price is 80Eur/h.

Thanks a milllion for the replies.

My initial plan was to complete the last 50 hours in Stapleford as I completed my PPL there and the Cessna 152 is £79/hour, a very competitive price in the UK.

I was speaking to a few friends who advised going to the states, as it's a great experience, a huge confidence boost and something you may never have the opportunity to do again. I am aware that after the cost of flights, accommodation, fuel surcharges etc the price of going to the states would be nearly the same as staying in Ireland/UK. I have worked out the costs and I will be inside my budget :)

I am going to apply for the piggyback licence today. How long does this usually take to come through from your experience?

Halfbaked_boy, cheers for the advice, delighted to be finished the ATPL's, the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to shine!!!

"Free" Added Value.
 

Well I applied for mine almost 3 weeks ago. I have been told it could be between 1 & 3 weeks from now. Im going 2 weeks today so its cutting it fine.

The first thing they do is to write to the UK CAA to confirm you have a licence. I thought sending and receiving this would be the part that slows it down but suprisingly it was done by email and the FAA request it same day you fax the forms to them. The CAA will also reply either same day or within a day or 2 as long as you have paid the fee. I would make sure you have sent the form to the CAA and pay the fee by Card and if you fax the forms to the FAA then this first part will be taken care of quickly.

As for the next part I will find out soon hopefully. Thanksgiving hasn't helped. I also then need to arrange an appointment at the FSDO and I dont know how quickly i will get that.

Do your hour building in the UK, it will sharpen up all of the skills you will need for the CPL course...

Cheers for your comments. I have done all my flying so far around the London area as Stapleford is nicely placed between some busy airspace. I have done 50hours there over the past year to keep current during the fun ATPL study! I would like to go to America or Spain to finish off the hours as id like the experience of somewhere different before I start the CPL in the new year.

cheers

I thinking of doing the exact same. Mainly for the experience in flying in the States. I just love the country! Having a tough time choosing an organisation though. So many out there. EASA and Chandler my tops at the moment. Thinking of heading out next summer with a non-flying mate.

I'd say go to Ormond beach- I did, got what I paid for.

Euro American School of Aviation - Price Page - Pricing Information

£60/hr if you do 50 hours.

Think the cost includes accommodation too. Don't listen to the people saying doing the hours in the UK - I did all my hours (including the FAA IR) up to CPL/IR in USA and passed JAR CPL and IR skill test first time with 19 hrs on reduced CPL course, and 30 hours IR conversion.

Back when I was hour building in FL many moons ago the following website was invaluable:-

AirNav: Aviation Fuel

Trips usually involved a stop at Okeechobee to fill her up with fuel as it was much cheaper than anywhere else at the time. On a subsequent hour building trip through California, Nevada and Arizona I basically used the above website as a road map. Had a list of places all in the back of beyond where I knew I could get cheap juice. The cheap ones are generally all self service so you taxi up and swipe your credit card just as if you were in your car.

This is the sort of thing you would pull up beside and swipe your card. Self Serve

Cheers for the advice.

I am thinking about doing the 50hours in Spain as I would like to do them early in January and don't have time to wait around for the FAA piggyback licence to come through.
I have emailed about 10 schools in Spain and "fly-in-spain" is coming out the cheapest.
Can anybody with experience with this school PM me or if anyone has any other advice about flying in Spain or recommends a different establishment please give advice. What are landing fee's like, airspace etc like?

Thanks again

Hi all,
I need your help. Can anyone post the link of Chandler?
Thanks.
Have a nice evening.
:ok:

I initially learned to fly and then did some of my hour building in Arizona. I was on an CPL course which did not include a SEP rating so I rented a PA28 from Chandler to do a SEP skills test with an examiner. My experience of the flying club in Chandler is limited to this, but they seemed OK, reasonable aircraft and the rates were good.

I have landed at Chandler quite a few times and have plenty of experience of flying in Arizona. Most of the bigger airports have good cafes, with one of the best being at Chandler. GA is very well catered for around Phoenix with loads of airports, most of which are free to land at and are generally quite busy. There are lots of light aircraft around and many are flown by fairly inexperienced students on solos so keep your eyes peeled!

In general the Phoenix area is a great place to build hours quickly as the weather is very reliable. The downside is that you won't build up the same experience of making more complex wx decisions and flying in the more challenging wx that characterises UK flying. The only significant wx issue I encountered in Arizona was the occasional crosswind and an even less occasional and normally distant CB. Oh and I did once divert around a duststorm on a solo!

Another thing to be aware of is that the RT is a little different from the UK and some would say a little less standardised. Check out All Airport Feeds | Live Air Traffic Control Audio Feeds | LiveATC.net where you can listen live to one of the Chandler Tower frequencies, as well as nearby Goodyear and also Phoenix International. Have a listen to them during local daylight hours to get an idea of what US RT is like and you'll also hear how busy the frequencies can get at times.

Thanks for your advice Potential.

I have been speaking to avioservice about renting there Tecnam P92 JS for 85euro in Barcelona
Has anybody experience with this school? Also, what is the Tecnam p92JS like to fly? Is it like a C152?

Cheers lads

After weighing up all the costs and considering the weather I have decided to go to FlyCorona in California. I have the flight booked for the end of Jan for 3 weeks.
I am renting a Cessna 172 for 60 hours at a cost of $53 Dry and planning to do some long trips and fuel up along the way.
I would be grateful if I could get some advice as to flying in America. Is there any good websites to brush up on the ATC phraseology etc. I have discovered Skyvector.com, it seems like a great tool.

Also, I would like to get a gps as back up. Can anybody recommend a cheap one? I may buy an Iphone (in desperate need of a new phone!!) in the new year and get an navigational App for it, are they reliable?
Sorry for all the questions. I am bit anxious about flying somewhere completely different but it should give me a good confidence boost. Thanks again for all the advice ;)