PPL Training Advice
 

Hi all, im new to this forum and maybe this topic has been covered before. I am looking to start doing my PPL and working towards my commercial pilots license via a modular route as I still work and have bills to pay etc. I live in Scotland and weather is not on our side here at all so I was wondering is there anywhere that has better weather where I could maybe go for block periods of times to gain my PPL faster as im unsure how things now work with brexit etc.

I know in the past people could go to the likes of Florida and Spain etc but that was back when the UK was still part of Europe so has this changed. Any advice would be so helpful.

I haven't trained abroad so I can't really comment on that first hand, but I have spent a decent bit of time flying around the UK.

Yes, the weather in Scotland comes with its challenges, but if you're flexible, you can certainly make it work. If you fly in the summer, I would probably plan with the expectation that 60% of lessons will go ahead. As for the winter, perhaps 25% or less.

One thing that you probably won't be aware of at this stage is how easy the airspace is to deal with in Scotland. With the exception of the controlled airspace in the immediate vicinity of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, you can fly pretty much anywhere without stressing about who's airspace you're going to infringe which helps a lot, especially in your early phases of navigating with a map and stopwatch. If you're getting a UK CAA licence, you'll probably do most, if not all of your professional training in the UK, so might as well make a start on getting used to the weather. It'll prepare you for what is to come!

Also, Scotland has some of the best scenery in the UK. It would be a shame to miss out!

Fife Flight Centre Glenrothes or Phoenix @ Cumbernauld would be my advice.

I think it is the best to do PPL training in the state just to save cost, then do the professional training here to get UK commercial licence

If the aim is to save money, I'm not sure the US is quite the bargain it used to be. Whilst flying costs are certainly lower, daily living costs are becoming eye watering. Just as a side-note, if you planned to stay in hotels, you might find that budget hotels in the US aren't quite to the standard you'd expect in the UK!

That being said, if you wanted to do it quickly, it would probably be a good place to go. I can't speak for the admin involved with doing your PPL overseas. There might be some blogs on the topic if you search online.