There are a few places that offer an Aircam on amphibious floats - you can get multi land and sea at the same time for about £2000

Hour Building - Anywhere but Florida
 

Hi all,

I’m currently competing my ATPL’s and am on the hunt for somewhere interesting to buld about 75 hours. I want to take the path less trodden (but without putting myself in mortal danger in the process).

I would consider almost anywhere, self-fly bush piloting in Africa, Australia, South America or even the more ;conventional destinations of Europe, the USA e.g. Arizona and Canada. The only requirement I have is not to spend the time drilling circles in the sky above the featureless Florida marshland!

Cost is unfortunately still king with an absolute maximum budget of 15,000 GBP including flights and accommodation.

Wisdom from those in the know would be much appreciated, thanks.

1. Get an FAA IR
2. Rent a plane in Florida.
3. Fly it away from Florida
4. ....wearing a hood
5. ..... preferably at night
6. ....... definitely under IFR for at least 50 hours
7. Convert under CBIR rules with Zero minimums

Hello
I will be having easa ppl in east europe next month. Since i ve discoverd pprune, hour building in usa idea is making me excited thanks to you all. At first i was just interested in hour building, but after reading @rudestuff's posts, i will consider to have and IR on easa ppl (piggyback). Just looking for an option making it possible without student visa. (probably tourist visa wont help, i will need an m1)

So probably i will need to move like this
1. Easa ppl -----> 61.75 ppl paperwork
2. Rent a plane and fly 50 hours VFR
3 Have an IR on 61.75(not sure how i can do it)
4 Then fly 50 more hours IFR
5. Wearing hood, night etc
6. Conversion according to cbir in europe

it would be much appreciated if you could suggest an instructor or an aero club where i could finish this process easily.

Hour Building
 

Is there a limit on how many hours you can fly daily? Say I have a ppl with NR am I allowed to fly 4-6 hours (not continuously) in a Cessna 152/172?

Yes, you can't fly more than 24 hours in a day.

Why did I bother? *sigh*

Hour building California
 

Hi,

Many of the search results here are fairly old so wanted to see if anyone could recommend a place to hire aircraft for hour building on the west coast. Ideally I'd like to tour up the country so overnights are a must.
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Thanks Kai Tak. Have you used them previously?

Time building in USA
 

Hi everyone,

I am current planning my time building,sorry if it is already awnsered.Can i log hours on non-Easa plane,so i can use it for getting easa-cpl?

Anyone planning to do hour building next month?

Cross Country:

Has anyone done east to west coast of vice versa for the benefit of hour building?

How long has something like Florida to California taken?

How many hours could you burn flying something like that route?

Do you have an idea of the cost of it yet?

How many hours a day are you intending to cover?

How long will you spend on the return journey?

Thanks

Can I ask who you are using to rent the plane? I am interested in doing something like this later this year.

Flying Academy Miami
 

They seem organised but if you have time and want to save a bit of money, don't rent an airplane with this "big schools". You have a lot of small "airclubs" in Florida and also in San Diego Region which offers much better deals. That was the conclusion that I got when I was doing my research. Also try to take a look on Pilots Paradise. They are a small company but quite organised apparently.

FYI I am still planning my trip so I might change ideas :*

Good luck :)

As an Aussie, I've seen plenty of posts about how flight training in the US is so much cheaper than here. I'm not debating this - its factual. What I am interested to know is whether it is more cost effective for an Aussie to complete their CPL in the US. Whilst the hour building will save a lot of coin, there are additional expenses and hidden costs including:
- getting to the US and back
- paying to stay somewhere while undertaking the training
- loss of income from not having a job whilst undertaking the training

So, taking the above into account, is it more cost effective as an Aussie to get a CPL in Australia or the US? Thanks!

Don't know about the UK, but I've just came back from the US.
Flew 76 hrs, taking into account all of the above I paid 12200 USD (could have been less taking a cheaper plane as the C152, or cheaper accommodation or not going to Las Vegas or to San Francisco or whatever). Went heavily X-country. Price for 76 hrs in a comparable plane (not NVFR/IFR certified, US plane was both) in Italy is 16700 USD. Landing fees plus living/transportation costs at home not included, just the plane. I'd go back right now if I could.

So if you live in Italy and have the possibility just do it. No idea about flying related costs in the UK.

I am currently going through my PPL training in France. I am planning to do some hours building in US after the completion of my EASA PPL.

Since I am not an EU national (nor US) I only hold a tourist visa (B2) which I would like to use for going in hours building there. Do you think I have chances to face issues with that ?

Thanks.

seaman208, private flying, not involving a course of study, may be conducted by aliens admitted under a B-class visa or under the visa waiver program. A flight review will not be treated as a course of study.

YES and YES is the short answer. I did the research myself and i terminated my Swinburne Uni offer faster than Usain Bolt! What was appearing to me most after visiting a few flight schools over there was the ability to go from PPL to CPL with ME add on & CFI, II in less than 8 months. Ofcourse that involves alot of flying and hard work but when you compare how they do things in US vs Aus, in US they make things very simple when it comes to flying and they got no bias whats so ever on you! You also do more flying in US than Aus during your training plus after completing your course you will have about 12 months work rights (depending on your type of visa) and you can use that time to build significant hrs doing all sort of gigs as long as you got the right attitude! One of the schools (i didn't visit them just talk to them) told me they prefer hiring their own trained CFI students after completing their studies (including international students). They told me they can guarantee on that and they are willing to put it in writing!

Thanks to both of you for the information.

Hello, guys!
I flew in 2017 in Florida with a Cessna from Paragon Flight School, which is located in Fort Myers and I gave them a call recently as I want to fly again a few hours, and they don't do any rentals with their C172s anymore as they are really busy using them for training purposes only.
Is there anybody around that has rented an airplane from a flight school or a private owner in Florida and maybe could give me some advice on whom I should contact. I've seen numerous options online but some advice from somebody that has actually been in contact with them would be really helpful.
Thank you!

About first time US flying.
 

Hello guys!
About hours building in the US- how difficult it to fly in US?
I guess that I'll take an instructor for some few hours... but does it possible to fly there alone for the first time?

Usually you need at least a checkout (1-2 hours), but if you haven't flown in the US at all, it's definitely worth to fly some time with an instructor. It's not about piloting only. The airspace is different, the controllers are different, even the phraseology is somewhat different. For example, for me it initially was hard to understand the ATC. After some time you get used to it, but initially it is very frustrating. But the experience is really great. A lot of traffic, no landing fees almost everywhere, much cheaper flight hour, great infrastructure, great flight planning and weather briefing resources (for free!), everybody speaks English :)

Chandler Air Service
 

Thought I should write a review of CAS in Phoenix Arizona.

Phoenix and the surrounding area is an incredibly diverse and beautiful part of the world, with friendly people and plenty to keep you entertained. I would definitely reccomend it. The weather is almost perfect and offers beautiful flying for much of the year.

However as for Chandler Air Service I would hesitate to give them a glowing endorsement.

They were initially accommodating, well organised and structured and we were out flying within a couple of hours for the check ride. You have to do a mountain course which takes about a day and covers high altitude operations etc etc. The instructors were polite, friendly and helpful. The planes are ageing, but have GPS inside them which makes flying distance more pleasurable, especially with the countryside in Arizona being quite difficult to distinguish one area from another.

Unfortunately they also have a couple of odd procedures, as I found out after sorting my American licence, one of which is the necessity to write a flight plan which sits in their office. I found this a pain, as we know, flying in the UK is often ad hoc and changes depending on weather. I understand the need for a destination, but a full route including way points and fuel stops, really? Do you really need to quiz me about if I have checked the weather brief, got the Notams, destination info and have my route assessed by an instructor? I arrived carrying a document explaining I had met the requirements for the issue of a pilots licence that entitled me to fly, all that kind of thing is exactly what we are trained to do. Fair enough once, or go over the procedures, but every day? And to be told one day "you can't do that" and to re plan a route. Incredibly galling. Worse to find out the CFI has contacted air traffic while you're out to "check you're on an active flight plan". And due to the 365 days of good flying weather in that area, when there is a cloud in the sky within 500 miles, or the metar suggests a "prob30" of some gusty weather you will be told flying is out of the question. In the UK we would strap on our big boy pants and give it a go. Otherwise we would never fly anywhere. Twice I sat on the ground because of forecasts weather which simply never appeared.

That leads me onto my next problem. Fuel.

We know a PA28 carries roughly four hours fuel endurance in its tanks. CAS have a weird rule where you need upto a couple of hours fuel ideally in reserve. That limits the options you are given by wiping half an hour per stop, every two hours into a day's flying. It becomes a pain, and in odd circumstances, as I found with weather I was having to deviate back to Chandler for fuel instead of making the three hour leg down to Tucson as I intended.

On the subject of aircraft, the Piper I flew for the first few weeks, 11T, was recalcitrant to start. Initially they blamed it on cooler weather (a balmy 11/12°C). My comments about starting multiple PA28 in the UK in 0° were not appreciated.

After a week of flying, and almost getting stuck in Lake Havasu due to poor starting, the AC began to really act up. One morning I could not start it at all. It was wheeled into the hangar and I flew another plane. The next day it was suggested it was my fault for "running the auxiliaries without the engine running". I have never once had a problem here, and checking the lights and stall horn work are hardly unreasonable pre start items. A day or two later after some lunch en route the AC failed to start entirely, leaving me with no choice but to pray on the kindness of the engineers that luckily at Havasu very kindly attempted to start her with little success. Eventually they put it on charge and started it with some ether. (easy start over here).

Apparently again this was my fault. I now was incapable of starting an AC, despite having started probably a dozen different aircraft without issue in my flying career. And I deviated from my flight plan which earned me a dressing down upon returning after this delay left me unable to achieve my destination.

After this I swapped planes. And surprisingly, had no issues with starting. Not the service I was looking for.

On my final day, through no fault of my own, I was spoken to like a child and had no respect shown to me when I was in fact a customer. A very rude instructor.

In summation I would certainly encourage people to fly in Arizona, amazing airports, scenery, people and weather. America is an incredible experience and so cost effective. I would not however, encourage any person with something about them to use CAS. If you are low hours or don't feel confident then they would be perfect, they will hold your hand and keep you safe and you have no need to exceed your comfort zone, giving you good experience and loads of support. They will treat you like a student, perhaps as a flight school a difficult habit to get out of. Annoying when you're not a student.

If however your dream is to hire an aircraft and set off to discover America, which is perfectly possible due to the access you have to any airport, airspace, no PPR, no landing fees and fuel at almost every field, you will find CAS ludicrously restrictive and frustrating. Or end up ignoring them and doing it anyway.

About safety pilot-
Does the EASA accept the full hours that I logged?
Let's assume that I flew 50cc hours (25PIC and 25 as s Safety pilot).
Can I use and log the all 50 hours?

Quote of the Law if there is- will be nice :)

Thanks !!

​​​​​​
No Easa only accepts Pic as P1 so make sure you get all your own hours.