PPL training in USA. Experiences?
Discussion
I did mine many years ago in Florida with the added bonus of a 2.12 exchange rate. I learned with an English instructor who had up to three students at a time. He was a very good instructor and it all worked out fine for me. Trying to convert the US training into something usable in the UK is a different matter though. While I have flown in the UK, I haven't found it anywhere near as familiar as when I've flown in the US, which has put me a little on edge from time to time. Things are done very differently here and if I was doing it all again with the intention of doing most of my flying in the UK, I'd do it here in the UK (assuming cost wasn't an issue).
I've also had some not so good experiences in the US as well. I went to a large school for a multi engine rating but did some warm up work on a Mooney first, having not flown anything complex prior to that point. The instructor I had on the Mooney was dreadful and I was glad to be rid of him and with a different instructor for the twin. My progress accordingly directly related to the instructors...I didn't do so well on the Mooney, I did extremely well on the Seneca.
I've found the US to be a fantastic place to fly and for me I'm glad I did my license there. Most of my flying has been done there too however, so I have had a valid reason (other than cost) to train there. Not sure what his personal situation is, but being in my twenties learning to fly in Florida was one of the best times of my life. The only thing I would change if I was doing it again would have been to go in time for Spring Break (end of March I think?) when college kids from across the country head there to party. Nowadays I think Ormond Beach Aviation have a good rep and seem to do a lot with UK students although I've not used them myself. I've flown with another company based out of Orlando International who were very good. If he wants to go to a particular location, try www.airnav.com as it has a database of all airports in the US. The detail pages for each airport contain info (and sometimes links) to companies operating there. I don't think it's 100% accurate/complete, but it's way and beyond the most useful resource I've come across in that respect.
I've also had some not so good experiences in the US as well. I went to a large school for a multi engine rating but did some warm up work on a Mooney first, having not flown anything complex prior to that point. The instructor I had on the Mooney was dreadful and I was glad to be rid of him and with a different instructor for the twin. My progress accordingly directly related to the instructors...I didn't do so well on the Mooney, I did extremely well on the Seneca.
I've found the US to be a fantastic place to fly and for me I'm glad I did my license there. Most of my flying has been done there too however, so I have had a valid reason (other than cost) to train there. Not sure what his personal situation is, but being in my twenties learning to fly in Florida was one of the best times of my life. The only thing I would change if I was doing it again would have been to go in time for Spring Break (end of March I think?) when college kids from across the country head there to party. Nowadays I think Ormond Beach Aviation have a good rep and seem to do a lot with UK students although I've not used them myself. I've flown with another company based out of Orlando International who were very good. If he wants to go to a particular location, try www.airnav.com as it has a database of all airports in the US. The detail pages for each airport contain info (and sometimes links) to companies operating there. I don't think it's 100% accurate/complete, but it's way and beyond the most useful resource I've come across in that respect.
Have not done this myself but whenever this has come up for discussion on stude forums in the past the consensus has been to get all of the exams done in the UK and just do the flying in the US, and budget for some "acclimatisation time" back in the UK because the flying in UK airspace is a bit different to how things work in the US.
simonej said:
Out of interest, where and with whom did you do it?
The name of the company was "Florida Eagles" from memory; it was basically an English guy who wanted to build time for his ATPL so moved out there with his wife and bought a couple of old C150's for training. He did have a guy working for him at one point but I only trained with Trevor (can't remember his surname off the top of my head but could dig out my logbook if it was important). We trained out of Brooksville, about 30mi North of Tampa which was an excellent base for a multitude of reasons. I heard Trevor had sold up and got a job as a First Officer based back in the UK; that was many years ago.Trevor and his wife were somewhat entrepreneurial...students rented rooms in his house and they even rented out one of their cars (which was a nasty piece of junk, but slightly cheaper than airport car hire so good for poor students).
Cheers guys.
Interesting stuff UVB.
Consensus does seem to be that - given you choose the right school - it can be a quick and cheap (ok, cheapER!) way of doing things but, I agree, it would seem wise to book a handful more lessons on returning to Blighty to get used to the very different/busier airspace/procedures etc.
Interesting stuff UVB.
Consensus does seem to be that - given you choose the right school - it can be a quick and cheap (ok, cheapER!) way of doing things but, I agree, it would seem wise to book a handful more lessons on returning to Blighty to get used to the very different/busier airspace/procedures etc.
You might also want to consider South Africa.
When looking to do my PPL, the schools down there were about the same price as the USA. I prefered the ideal of seeing Africa and enrolled with 43 Air School. The training was fantastic, with excellent instructors and a very slick campus style set up based around their history as an air force traiing base in WW2. It is a stunningly beautiful country to fly over and their syllabus is based on the CAA PPL meaning conversion is pretty easy on your return.
When looking to do my PPL, the schools down there were about the same price as the USA. I prefered the ideal of seeing Africa and enrolled with 43 Air School. The training was fantastic, with excellent instructors and a very slick campus style set up based around their history as an air force traiing base in WW2. It is a stunningly beautiful country to fly over and their syllabus is based on the CAA PPL meaning conversion is pretty easy on your return.
If SA use the same airspace and radio work as the UK, then that's a definite plus.
The facilities for pilots in the US are excellent and I found the radio work extremely easy to pick up. Coming back to the UK, it all seemed somewhat cumbersome by comparison. I'm not sure that a handful of lessons would be enough to cut it, but it probably depends more on what you are going to do on those lessons and how well he can keep up his currency thereafter. When you start working the radio and gain a knowledge of airspace from Lesson One onwards, to then try and learn a different way of doing it over a few lessons is never going to feel second nature in the same way as learning it in the country in question from the start.
If he's going to fly in the UK, he should really seriously consider doing it in the UK (or SA if they do parallel the UK system). If he wants to have a great holiday from it too, it could be worth looking at NZ too as they have a lot to offer as well.
My general tip if he is going to do it overseas, would be to get started on ground school ASAP as that will make the process a lot easier - particularly if he is going to be time constrained when he's there. I did mine in between a job change so had 5 weeks in total; spent the last two weeks using up a 50 hour block (which I think I paid the equivalent of about £15/hour for....)
The facilities for pilots in the US are excellent and I found the radio work extremely easy to pick up. Coming back to the UK, it all seemed somewhat cumbersome by comparison. I'm not sure that a handful of lessons would be enough to cut it, but it probably depends more on what you are going to do on those lessons and how well he can keep up his currency thereafter. When you start working the radio and gain a knowledge of airspace from Lesson One onwards, to then try and learn a different way of doing it over a few lessons is never going to feel second nature in the same way as learning it in the country in question from the start.
If he's going to fly in the UK, he should really seriously consider doing it in the UK (or SA if they do parallel the UK system). If he wants to have a great holiday from it too, it could be worth looking at NZ too as they have a lot to offer as well.
My general tip if he is going to do it overseas, would be to get started on ground school ASAP as that will make the process a lot easier - particularly if he is going to be time constrained when he's there. I did mine in between a job change so had 5 weeks in total; spent the last two weeks using up a 50 hour block (which I think I paid the equivalent of about £15/hour for....)
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