As I write this, I am reading a Pooleys Flight Equipment catalogue (http://www.pooleys.com/) in the cafe of my local aeroclub, watching the rain lash against the window. This, as you may know, is lovely weather for putting your feet up by the fire, but isn't any good for a spot of flying.
There are no aircraft flying today apart from the lonely foreign pilot in his R22 that is doing bad weather circuits - rather him than me in this weather, I tell you. The cafe is full of aviators who are entertaining themselves by talking about an avionics refit to their aircraft, their flying experiences and what it was like to fly on a day without rain!
Unfortunately, this is an all too common picture for those of us who are unlucky enough to fly on the Welsh Borders and for that matter, most of the UK - you get superb, unhindered, flying weather in the summer and lots of rain, snow and sleet in the winter.
However, the story doesn't stop there: the weather is only a small part of the story when it comes to general aviation in the UK. The rising prices of aircraft hire are forcing people out of aviation, especially the older, yet vastly experienced, aviators who maybe no longer work. These prices, coupled with the weather and the other costs associated with aviation - medicals, renewals etc.. are ultimately meaning airfields are quieter and in some cases are struggling to keep afloat.
This, I feel, is only the beginning of the end for British general aviation. As you know, UK airfields will be loosing my business - and ultimately cash - during hour building for my commercial licence as I refuse to pay over the odds, which now seems the norm, for old aircraft and, ultimately, weather which is unflyable most of the time.
Anyway, hopefully the weather will begin to pick up again soon, and we can return to clear blue skies and glorious, long, days of flying! In the meantime, stay safe.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Hour Building in the USA.
So, hour building. It's a vital part of becoming a commercial pilot - it enables you to gain the hours required to start the CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence) whilst also helping you gain much needed experience and confidence. But, with typically around 100 hours to get, it's not cheap - especially at UK prices.
These expensive prices can be avoided, however, by going to America - where a C152 aircraft can be rented from as little as $80 an hour. This gives a substantial saving which, with the overall cost of training, can only be a good thing!
As I am currently in a position to start planning hour building myself, I've been assessing the options. Top of my current list of places to go so far is Air America ( Air America Flight Center) in Daytona Beach, Florida. They are currently offering a C152 at a price of $770 (roughly £485) for ten hours flight time, wet (with fuel).
At this pricing, if you buy 50 hours flight time with them, it works out at $3850, or roughly £2450. If you were to buy the same amount of hours over here, assuming a ballpark figure of £120 per hour, it is a cost of a staggering £6000!
That saving of £3550 is money that can be spent on more hours over here, or put to good use somewhere else in your training - maybe even add it to your Type Rating fund!
Anyway, I shall update you with my plans as I figure them out. Until then, happy flying!
These expensive prices can be avoided, however, by going to America - where a C152 aircraft can be rented from as little as $80 an hour. This gives a substantial saving which, with the overall cost of training, can only be a good thing!
As I am currently in a position to start planning hour building myself, I've been assessing the options. Top of my current list of places to go so far is Air America ( Air America Flight Center) in Daytona Beach, Florida. They are currently offering a C152 at a price of $770 (roughly £485) for ten hours flight time, wet (with fuel).
At this pricing, if you buy 50 hours flight time with them, it works out at $3850, or roughly £2450. If you were to buy the same amount of hours over here, assuming a ballpark figure of £120 per hour, it is a cost of a staggering £6000!
That saving of £3550 is money that can be spent on more hours over here, or put to good use somewhere else in your training - maybe even add it to your Type Rating fund!
Anyway, I shall update you with my plans as I figure them out. Until then, happy flying!
Why the blog?
Hello, and to anyone who may be reading this, thank you!
Having written for blogs in the past, this is the first time that I've ever had one myself, so bare with me whilst I figure out how everything works!
So, the reason I wanted it set up the blog is to keep people informed with what flying related endeavours I get up to over the coming weeks, months and years. I want to keep this first post brief, so I'll just give you a flavour of what I am hoping to get up up to this year:
Having written for blogs in the past, this is the first time that I've ever had one myself, so bare with me whilst I figure out how everything works!
So, the reason I wanted it set up the blog is to keep people informed with what flying related endeavours I get up to over the coming weeks, months and years. I want to keep this first post brief, so I'll just give you a flavour of what I am hoping to get up up to this year:
- Start my ATPLs - I shall be doing this via the modular routing with BCFT at Bournemouth Airport
- Go to Florida and do some hour building - more in depth posts on this in the future
- Get a tailwheel rating and maybe take a look into aerobatics
- Kick-start a rather special adventure (think ice, snow, a few pilots and an aircraft or two!)
So, I hope I'm not too boring, and that you'll stick around and follow me about on my adventures as and when they happen!
Also, thanks to Lauren over at The Aerobatic Project for giving me the idea to do this!
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