Learning to fly costs and where can you fly after?

Soldato
Joined
27 Oct 2002
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London
Hi,

So recently I've randomly started wondering about learning how to fly. I'm sure there are a few pilots, people learning or those who have thought of this...so was hoping you could advise.

My main questions are:
- how much will it cost to learn how to fly a small aircraft, and
- where will i be able to fly once I've learnt (scotland, spain, france?)

I'd like to actually use the ability to fly to places not too far away, are costs of renting planes really high, or is it quite common?

Thanks
R
 
Soldato
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4 Aug 2009
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London
It will cost you thousands of pounds. it involves lots of expensive tests and lots of expensive lessons.

After you first get your license you will only have a rating to fly during the day in good weather conditions: you won't be able to fly through cloud or above it when you can't see the ground. To fly in bad conditions you will need to spend more money on lessons and doing tests to get an IMC rating. To be able to fly at night you will need to do a night rating, which isn't as costly or difficult to get as an IMC, not many airfields are open at night time so this only really means that you can fly in the evenings when it's getting dark.

As for range, it varies by plane, but a pa-28 or something similar will easily reach Scotland (I'm flying up with my girlfriend who has a PPL to Edinburgh this summer). To fly to Europe you need to get a European PPL rather than a British one, and the range on a PA28 is circa 500-600 miles depending on the state of service, quality of tune, temperature and taxiing times etc. You can go straight for a European license (which you would unless you're really unadventurous :p )

Once you have your license you need to keep it current by flying quite often, doing a certain number of hours per year, and most flying clubs will not let you out solo if you havn't flown in a month.
 
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Soldato
Joined
16 Oct 2005
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Scuzi and Blinkz are the guys you want to talk to.

From what I've heard you need to budget around £8000.

Also there's loads of threads similar to this if you search :)
 
Soldato
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Kent, England
From what I've heard you need to budget around £8000.

I thought it was far, far more than that?

Edit: Also, I think any kind of flying is quite restricted. AFAIK, you can't just go out and fly, you need a flightplan and set destination. If you could just go to an airfield, hop in a plane and fly wherever you like, that would be much more appealing...

Also, how much are planes, if you were to buy one? Talking about the likes of a small Cessna or something, would you be looking at a few hundred thousand pounds?
 
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Soldato
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Auckland/Edinburgh
The way to do it on the cheap is to go to America and do an intensive 3 week course. Costs about £3000 all inclusive. You'll then need to apply for a JAA conversion on your licence as well as paying the cost of obtaining a class 2 medical to then be able to fly over here.

I went to Ormond beach (http://www.flyoba.com/ppl.php) but due to the stinking weather never finished the course before I had to return home for work. Still got some hours to do over here before I can get my licence. TIP: check it's not hurricane season before you fly to America to do your PPL!
 

TS7

TS7

Soldato
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East Mids
I thought it was far, far more than that?

To become a commercial pilot you need in the region of around £50k - £70k. Ideally this is paid via a sponsorship from an airline.

However for what the OP wants, I think around that amount is what he would be paying.
 
Caporegime
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RE: Post PPL, I think it's as simple as finding something to fly, and an airstrip to fly from/to, pay the takeoff/landing fees and go do it. :)

A friend of mine has his PPL and pretty much on a whim just flies a plane he has shared ownership. :)
 
Soldato
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Frimley, Surrey or 38,000ft
As has been said a PPL will cost around £6k-£8k, mainly dependant on what type of aircraft you learn in and where you fly from (i.e bigger planes cost more and bigger airports are more expensive) Its a little confusing about what you can and can't do with the licence once you have it. To keep things simple you could fly a UK registered plane pretty much anywhere in the world. Although as was mentioned the standard SEPs have a range of around 400nm at around 120kts cruising speed, so it will take you a while to get any where far!

Am happy to answer any other questions anyone has, briefly popping out now but I'll be back online later.
 
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