Learning to fly

BTW cheechm, if you're near the South coast and want to come along for a spin in the right hand seat some time, drop me an email.
 
Best of luck mate :) I too hope to learn to fly when I complete my Cadetship and start working. The norm for the shipping industry is to work 4 months on, 4 months off, so I'll need a hobby. But I'm thinking I'll go down the joining a local flying club route.

A mate mine's brother gained some sort of training grant from HSBC, and travelled to the US a few years ago where he obtained his PPL, multi-engine rating, instrument rating etc, and now he lives in Dubai, flying 777-300ER's for Emirates. It's something I'd have loved to have done, but I'd be terrified about taking on the £60,000 or so debt he did, and possibly failing. :eek:
 
Good luck with it. I did my PPL a few years ago in Florida and then moved on to do my CPL + IR. Now flying freelance commercially on a light twin, great fun (but **** pay).
One day I want to do a trip from Florida all the way West to California, should be great fun...
 
my dad did it - flying lessons for "ultralight" classification is half the price of full ppl

you cant fly at night or in clouds but flying is flying!

flew a c42 ikarus and a eurostar ev-97

cost him maybe £6k to learn / pass
then maybe £5k for a share in a c42
then £45 an hour for fuel

http://www.flymac.co.uk/ at popham is the club he was in

they reckon 45 hours is about normal

was good fun - I did a landing and a takeoff myself out with him a few times, its pretty darn easy to actually fly - however its all the extra stuff thats complicated - map reading, weather, operating the radio etc WHILE flying that make it harder
 
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Moses said:
I could learn to fly for £9k? :eek:

What's the progression on from there, towards paying work, etc?
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You'll need 150hrs total, 100hrs as pilot in command before you can progress onto a CPL and then an instrument rating. If you are aiming for a frozen ATPL, there are also 14 theorey examinations to sit (slightly less for just a CPL).

As soon as you have a CPL you can start earning money for flying, but it would be pretty basic work. Getting a job without an IR would be tough. Hell, getting any sort of job is tough.

It takes anything from an additional £40-100k on top of you PPL, depending on what route you want to take.
 
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Terrain...Pull up..Terrain, low altitude :p


(P.S Before any pilots come along and say audiable warnings you dont get until the bigger aircraft, I know) :)

I would love to start learning, unfortunatly dont have the money to though. My dads friend's son got his PPL before he got his drivers licence in his teens.

Might just buy a wingsuit and jump off some high mountains, or stick on a copy of FSX.
 
A friend of mine went to ND to get his license two years ago, he said it was the best decision he ever made. Reckon he's busy getting a type license now.
 
Scuzi said:
As soon as you have a CPL you can start earning money for flying, but it would be pretty basic work. Getting a job without an IR would be tough. Hell, getting any sort of job is tough.
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This. To be honest, you have to be a bit crazy to go into the profession now. It is very hard to get established, unless you pay 80k to one of the big schools and pay another 30-35k for a Type Rating with Easyjet or Ryanair. The traditional self-improver route (where you start as an instructor on single engines, move onto a light twin, then a turbo-prop and eventually a jet) is pretty much dead in Europe.
I am doing it part-time and I absolutely love the flying but I have a desk job on the side that pays my bills. There is something to be said for just doing your PPL and to just enjoy yourself on days off. The profession is really not that glamorous any more.
Still, for me all the sacrifice was worth it when you get to overfly Silverstone while you are working and come home after a long day with the sun setting beautifully.

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Flying is going to be a hobby (which I hope I can support) rather than a profession. That's why the PPL is all I need. The course I'm on includes a night rating, and then I might go for IMC and/or multi engine. Who knows!
 
Anyone here got a MicroLight license and could tell me the involved costs of learning, through to eventual purchase of a MicroLight and then maintenance, hanger fees, permit costs etc?
 
KatanaDV20 said:
Nice pics FlyingPig - what airplane is that? :)
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Piper Chieftain (PA-31). I added some more pictures, also to remind myself how nice it can actually be.
To the OP: be careful with whatever flight school you go to. You nearly always pay more than what is quoted, especially in the USA.
Either way, good luck, it is a lot of fun. Aviation is quite a macho world so you won't often hear this but: it can be bloody hard, even on a PPL level. I remember being completely overwhelmed during my first 10 hours as it is a lot to take in at first. Still, as with all things, practice makes perfect and you'll never forget the first time you fly solo!
 
physichull said:
Anyone here got a MicroLight license and could tell me the involved costs of learning, through to eventual purchase of a MicroLight and then maintenance, hanger fees, permit costs etc?
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my dad has Ultralight licence
cost him maybe £6k to learn / pass
then maybe £5k for a share in a c42
then £45 an hour for fuel / mainanence

2nd hand microlights go from about £5k upwards
a c42 ikarus is about £40k :eek:
 
Jealous, I've always wanted to learn to fly and have a job doing it.
Hopefully I can sort myself out before I get too old for them to allow.
 
How much would it cost to hire a plane for a few hours once you have your license? I was terribly jealous of Scuzi who just took a wee trip to the Channel Islands last month.

Also, do you have to do refresher courses after a few years?

I'm seriously considering doing the same as the OP and getting the license but I'm not sure how often I'd be able to fly once I had it.
 
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