PPL in Florida-Total cost

I can't quote you a price as I did my PPL here in Ireland. But, there's probably a couple of things you can do before going out to the States. One thing to do would be try and have the exams done before you go out, or at the very least be ready for them with all the study done. Remember though if your going to the states it'll be under the UK CAA so you'll need to do their exams.

One thing that might be worth your while doing, is joining a club here first and getting a few hours under you belt before going out. You might not be under as much pressure when you go out there and it's a chance to figure out whether flying is really for you or not.
Another benefit of doing the few hours here is that you'll be well established in a club here and it might make it easier for you to settle into flying in Ireland. Chances are you'll be expected to do the same couple of hours anyway to get checked out if you arrive into a club here with your fair weather license.

In hindsight that's the way I would have done it. In the end I stuck it out with my flying club(glad I did in a way). The only down side to it was that it took so long nearly 3 years, but I could have got that down to a little over a year I'd say if I'd put a bit more pressure on myself.

Just one final point, I did my PPL at a flying club and not a school, Limerick Flying Club to be exact. From my experience and bank balance I'd high recommend joining a club over a school. Taking into account every single expenditure I had from my initial membership to LFC, my flight log, exams(including flight test), 55 flight hours, the whole thing cost me 7960euro. My average flight hour was just over 100euro/hr(130e and later 140e per/tach hr). These kind of rates will make hour building much more affordable than the 180e the flight schools look for. Having done about 20ish hours in the Pipers/Cessna's I much prefer coming back to the Tecnams especially for potting around Ireland and they're so much cheaper to operate.

Anyway best of luck with whatever route you end up taking. Happy flying.

Ireland is a rip off mate, 200quid an hour to fly is a bloody joke. They could atleast do something for you like charging by tach but instead you are getting whacked out of it the minute you start the plane.
Im also doing my ppl at the minute, i fly a lot when i can weather permiting and im trying to get it done as quick as i can but very hard tbh. Weather here is a big disadvantage thats the only thing that puts me off.
Half thinking of heading to states myself and get this done:rolleyes:

Bsal wrote: »

I don't see why not, the PPL exams are fairly simple.

You need to be signed off by the CFI confirming you have completed ground school tuition.

I'd imagine so, find the application form on the CAA and see if it has a section that requires a sign off by a CFI, if it does you have your answer.

cherrytaz wrote: »

I've done this up over the past few days to try and get as accurate of price as possible, what do yous think?

You could save yourself a few quid on the pick-up from Orlando Intl. by getting a bus. You could also combine your FAA class 3 and JAA class 2 with the same AME in Florida.
Bear in mind the package you are looking at has in the small print 'You must purchase prior to your arrival the EASA/AFE Study Pack. Failure to purchase the AFE Study Kit will result in a surcharge of 116 GBP in addition to the package price.'
Will they refund you the price of the written exams as you will have already taken them?

Also bear in mind any payments you make will be in dollars, not the Euro price quoted. The Euro hasn't been doing great against the Dollar. At the moment the equivalent Euro price is closer to €4550. If you're paying them by credit card the exchange rate may be less and you will be charged a fee....

Well done for getting a DC headset for €100!

I completed all my ground school exams in the Uk in one week. Took a week off work and went on a intensive ground school course. Flew out Monday morning and back on Saturday evening. Cost me around €850 with flights, accommodation, course cost, food etc.
If you would like details drop me a PM.
It may also me worth looking at the UK CAA courses in Europe.

• http://www.fly-in-spain.de/de/
• http://www.cosmoflightschool.com/

There are also lots of schools in England that do intensive courses. I did my PPL on the Isle of Wight in 4 weeks. ( i had ground exams completed and 10 hours logged from Ireland)
There were only 3 days out of the 4 weeks i didn't fly due to weather/technical issues with A/C.


I found when i worked out costs Florida was not any cheaper.


Also when you do get back to Ireland from Florida very few clubs will sign you off to fly without a few hours of training for Irish airspace and Weather.


any more questions just ask.

Stovepipe wrote: »

Hi there
You don't appear to have mentioned two important things: your passport and insurance. You have to have the ESTA(?) form filled in so now is a good time to check that your passport is in order. You cannot take the risk of going without insurance so get some good advice on this.Also, if you use a credit card issued outside the USA, they will charge you 2 to 3% for using it, which can add up, unless you happen to have a US-issued card. Do not ever, ever pay up front. Ever. Ever. Did I say ever? Pay as you go, ie, pay each day for your day's flights. Have a contingency fund of at least the price of a week's accomodation and a flight ticket home and a few bucks for grub and buses. You won't do it in 45 hours, more like 55 so budget appropriately.


regards
Stovepipe

I was under the impression that if you are going to the US for pilot training you needed an M1 Visa. I was also under the impression that if you had a visa then you didn't need to do the ESTA which I understood replaced the old visa waiver scheme.

Having to do 55 hours instead of 45 would make a fair hole in any contingency fund!

Would love if you kept us updated on your progess OP. The PPL is a distant dream of mine but if I thought it could be done close to the budgets advertised by the FTO's I would be very tempted...

Hi there
Really, you should budget as if you have to do 55 hours instead of 45. You won't do it in exactly 45 on the dot so it pays to have a buffer which is closer to reality. Most flying schools over there schedule the student in two-hour slots, so you can expect to fly about 90 mins of that, doing two slots a day, which changes as the task changes, ie, the dual cross-country, the solo cross country, night flights and so on.It helps if you have an hour or two done over here before you go, as you will be familiar with the early basics and it speeds things up.You will lose days to weather( too hot/too windy/too thundery), aircraft unavailability, instructor unavailability, sickness,etc,etc., so be prepared to hit the books on the slack days, in prep for your flight test.

regards
Stovepipe