Random one here for the LB community…Is anyone here a pilot or does anyone who has their PPL or is doing their PPL know any decent flying schools in London? I know there are a bunch around biggin hill and that, but I’m keen to try to get some recommendations.
Also, to the same group of people, what are the benefits or draw backs to doing the PPL on a pay as you go basis vs a block booking basis? Do many people fail their PPL’s? or do the schools make sure you are good enough before you take all the tests?
Got a friend who is a PPL trainer/examiner. Works mainly out of Biggin. The only man I met with a proper retirement plan. When it was time he could quit as a senior London fireman, he’d got the new career in place. Nice bloke too. The bas*ard.
If your serious, give me a PM and I’ll pass you his phone number.
Can’t really vouch for any of the schools around London. But would probably be worth:
Getting a trial lesson or at least a couple of lessons to make sure you enjoy it before you splash out up front for a number of hours. Makes sure the school is secure before buying to many lessons up front!
When you decide on a school try and hang around the crewroom for a while and get talking to some of the members or other students. See how they find it, ask about aircraft serviceability, you don’t want to be stuck with a club with aircraft that are falling apart! On the same note how old are the aircraft the school is using, don’t be surprised if the aircraft are 15 or even 20 years old in some cases! However the newer the aircraft, generally the easier they are to fly, the faster you will learn.
Consider what sort of flying you want to do, try and get a school or club that represents that the closest.
Make sure you go with a school with more than just the one instructor, unless you are sure you are going to get along!
Try as best you can to get continuity of training, i.e. make sure you fly regular lessons, that way you’ll forget less and improve faster. Be prepared for having to put in work at home on groundschool, its not like learning to drive or ride! While on that point does the school have any provision for assisting with your groundschool studies?
Otherwise enjoy your time in the air, your lessons learning to fly will be some of the best and most enjoyable flying you’ll ever do!!
I know nothing about PPLs, aeroplanes or anything like that but I used to work with someone who jacked in the job to become an airline pilot. He did his PPL over here, but did most of his other training to upgrade his licence to the multi-engine,any weather,any time,commercial licence he required in Florida, and other US states where the aviation world is not so exclusive and is more competative. I don’t have the first idea where you would start looking for flying schools in the states though…
Hello, I passed my PPL Helicopters 4 years ago (at Biggin Hill). It’s a good place to learn but they have expensive landing fees. Rochester is a good airport with very reasonable fees. Make sure you know how much each company are charging and what the extras are, stuff like landing fees, books, exam fees etc will not always be covered. Also budget for having to do more hours than they say you’d need. If you’re doing lessons once or twice a week bear in mind that the weather can disrupt things and you may not fly for a few weeks which means you may have to re-learn half of what went on in the last flight. There’s also a lot of course work, exams and a medical to pass. I started by doing a trial flight, then getting the medical and doing my Air Law exam before I started the lessons. It’s a good idea to get as much paper work out of the way first so you can concentrate on the flying and Air Law is the most boring one! If you need any more info or what a chat you can send me an email. Cheers and good luck!
My other halfs at stapleford abbott? He pays as he goes for the lessons. Hes on to the landing and taking off on his own stage at the mo…got hours more to do yet though !! He been going about 7 mths now…saying that a lot of the days hes booked he has had to sit out cos the weathers been so shite !! So its early doors at the moment…but hes enjoying it…bluddy expensive hobbie though, i keep telling him he can always buy me a new bike !!!
There was a school based in Fulham…Vanson/Vanston Rd. I took my PPL there (many years ago) and was trained by a woman by the name of Monique Agazarian ( who flew a Spitfire along Piccadily on VE day sadly she is no longer with us but the school might still be operating from there. They had a simulator at that address too…worth a couple of hours on.
sadly she is no longer with us but the school might still be operating from there. They had a simulator at that address too…worth a couple of hours on.