Flight Instructors at Weston

notuslimited

Am planning on learning to fly and Weston is the airfield closest to me. I would be interested to know your views on the flying clubs there and specifically who are the good instructors.

cp251

I don't think there are any flying clubs there. Can anyone contradict me? There's the National Flight Centre, Skytrace and Flightwise all of whom are flying schools. With the NFC training up to CPL/multi/IR and the others PPL only.

I could name names of Instructors who are excellent but I could be accused of advertising and they would be embarassed and in any case some idiot would come on and say that he or she is an idiot and so am I for thinking that moron is a good Instructor. No one would thank me. I suggest you visit all three and talk to them.

There is one particular Instructor who can't tune into the Dublin frequency without many of his former students now with the airlines saying hello on frequency. It's funny to hear. He's good but doesn't do PPLs.

peter1892

It's been a while since I was out there (NFC were still called Aerial Advertising back then). What happened to the old Weston Club that used to be there?

cp251

Gone, basically absorbed into the NFC. They took on several of the aircraft for a while. But soon got rid of them. Not the Rallyes though. They were mostly scrapped or left to rot. Two of them sat in the car park for a while. One of was Darbys favourite, the all yellow EI-BBJ. All of Weston's old buildings and hangars were flattened except the old cottage and Darby's house which was used for a while as the NFC's headquarters. Rather ironic considering Darby's relationship with his tenants. Not always the most cordial but in the end the tenants took over the shop.

biggus

Have a serious go at flight simulator with a joystick. If you put in enough hours on sim and you inspire confidence of the instructor, you could land the plane on your first flight like I did. Unbelievable. Simulator is very advanced. Had to learn to look out the window rather than dials though !

Holsten

Hahah are you serious?!

Thats classic... gonna play more Flight Sim X then! :pac:

cp251

Well, yes it has it's place. But simming is not really like flying other than that the aircraft being simulated behave much like the real thing. But for getting an idea of how aircraft behave. It's good.

It's can't simulate how stressful, tiring, fun, scary or satisfying the real thing is. Half the time I can only enjoy flying in retrospect. It is my job after all. I do think simming has a place for people who can't fly for real or for people looking forward to the time when they will fly.

I wouldn't knock it as a hobby just because I'm lucky to be paid to fly.

Oilrig

Go to Florida, get it all done on schedule within a month

yhwh

Just out of curiosity where is darby now?

cp251

Retired to Spain, I believe. Enjoying the millions he got from Mansfield from Weston. Good luck to him.

Someone really ought to write a biography of him. If he was British he'd be Sir Darby now and a book would definitely be written. He was, still is a pioneer of Irish aviation, flaws and all.

yaeger

Just outta curisosity Cp251, what do you fly? i know you would probably rather keep it quiet! but aircraft type would be interesting to hear about.
Do you manage to fly privately also? Is there many ATPLers on here ?

O and regards notuslimited question? All the FTO's are of excellent quality, there isnt that many compared to say UK or US and you generally get a good standard of training. All the instructors would be well qualified to said level, some will have more experience then others but at the end of it you will be able to meet a specified skill level in order to pass flight test so they should all get you there. If by some chance you have a personality clash to change instructor,,,simple as that as you are a paying customer.

Just go out and visit the schools or various clubs and chat to them and see their aircraft. Whatever suits your needs then go with that.

cp251

I tend to be vague because I want to be anonymous on this forum. Call me shy:o Too many clues and I would readily identifiable because of the nature of my work. (Oops that makes me sound mysterious :cool:) But it's a Cessna now with an even more interesting type to follow soon. I don't fly privately at the moment, ironically because I can't afford to. Hopefully this summer though, because I'd like to take my wife and friends and family for the odd joyride. I think know if there any ATPLs here, mostly PPLs I think and a few CPLs like me on their way to the ATPL. I think most Irish pro pilots cluster over at PPRuNe. Some are found on the Flying in Ireland forum.

yaeger

Ok Cp251 your shy ! A commercial job on a cessna, with a new type on the way...can only be one place!....well all the best and enjoy it cos its the best flying you will ever do, and all the best with your ATPL endeavour.

One of the guys mentioned weston as it was years ago! does anyone else remember aerial and darby back in the 80/90's when it was a real joy to be out there. You could spend hours just relaxing and sitting there in the summer sun and chatting about the flying,,now weston has lost all club atmosphere or any atmosphere for that matter, and i dont care if they have themselves a bigger runway. I would love to see now over the warmer months them putting out a sitting area out in the outdoors, not sheltered behind a hangar but in view of the activities. In can be done in countless places in europe and around the world and in bigger operational environments so why not weston.
RANT OVER !

Hey notus...fill us in. Are you chasing the PPL or going on further? have you decided where to train yet?

notuslimited

Just the PPL...I am at the wrong end of 30 and I'm planning on going with NFC. Its something I have always wanted to do but job, wife, kids etc have always impacted my timing. My wife isn't too happy but she has relented. On a separate point...I recently stopped on the perimeter road at Dub with my son in the car (he's four). I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up he replied that he wanted to be a Pilot with Ryanair!! (I hope I will be able to afford to pay for his type rating). But you have to wonder what the aviation industry will look like in 20 years time with oil prices only going in one direction and with all the issues surrounding Peak Oil

peter1892

cp251 wrote: »

Retired to Spain, I believe. Enjoying the millions he got from Mansfield from Weston. Good luck to him.

Someone really ought to write a biography of him. If he was British he'd be Sir Darby now and a book would definitely be written. He was, still is a pioneer of Irish aviation, flaws and all.

I wish someone could just gather all the stories about him into one volume. Whether they're true or slightly exaggerated, well I don't care really they were always entertaining!

The notion of a captain with the national airline diverting a scheduled flight to pick up some sandwiches his wife made for him is just priceless

miju

notuslimited wrote: »

Am planning on learning to fly and Weston is the airfield closest to me. I would be interested to know your views on the flying clubs there and specifically who are the good instructors.

I was out at NFC today for my first ever lesson. Had a great time but instructor didn't really seem bothered about answering some of my questions.

Maybe I got a bad one.Still was great and can't wait to continue with training

Aidan Disney

Who is your instructor ?

Well what i think happens at NFC and most flying schools (happend to me) You go for your First Lesson, They bring you up fly and come back, Cant be bothered and you pay .. you go back they do the same, but when they see you to come back every so often, then they will actully be interested. Can you imagine how many students they take up and are really interested and they spend hours explaining stuff to the Student and the Student never flys again .. yano .. bit of a waste of time so they cant be arsed :cool:

miju

Don't think it would be fair to name names to be honest (especially given your a student there)

Aidan are you doing PPL now? If so how are you finding it and how often are you flying at the mo?

jmayo

From experience there was one instructor at NFC that I thought was nice guy and quiet good.
I won't name names but he used to do the tail dragger training and banner towing.
I have also gone for refresher flights for ppl revalidation and I found one of the "let's just say foreign" instructors good and friendly but another one absolutely a pain in the ar**.
I have flown in several different countries with instructors of many different nationalities and have been lucky 95% of time. Saying that you can always meet a complete eejit.

It is like everything in life some people are thorough, helpful, nice and personable, some people can teach people whilst others can't impart knowledge no matter how much they know themselves and lastly some people don't care about anyone bar themselves.

If you are having difficulties with instructor give it a little time to see if it resolves itself.
But then if it is not working talk to someone in charge and ask for a change of instructor.
You are the one paying, so the piper calls the tune.

Of course all the problems could be down to you, you could be the complete eejit Sorry I have no solution for that.

cp251

Knowing most of the instructors there. I can safely say most are excellent. However there is always the personality clash even if it's quite subtle. It's not that either party dislikes the other but there is no bond, I suppose. I suppose it's a bit like dating, some girls you like others just don't do it for you.

I've had to drop an instructor on occasion. You really have to sometimes or you end up spending more time thinking about your instructors reactions to you than actually flying the aeroplane.

Sometimes as JMayo say it's you who is the problem. There's always one that has the instructors diving for cover. 'Not him again'.

As for the first lesson. Well they fly a lot of intros, for many people it ends just there. They just add it to the list of 'exciting' things they've done. Boardsailing, bungee jumping, tandem skydive or walking down O'Connell street at 2am with too much driink on them:eek: . On top of that instructors are often busy people with long days, missed lunches etc. Sometimes the enthusiasm lags. You don't want to see another aeroplane. You just want to lie down in front of the tele with a beer. Imagine how enthusiastic you would be after yet another 14 hour day.

If you really want to be a pilot the first lesson shouldn't put you off.

Aidan Disney

miju wrote: »

Don't think it would be fair to name names to be honest (especially given your a student there)

Aidan are you doing PPL now? If so how are you finding it and how often are you flying at the mo?

Suppose

Yep, Im doing PPL at the moment, Working on going solo :cool:, I am finding it great, Stuff that you go through in the Ground School that can be ridiculously stupid and as a Private Pilot you may never use but in General its fine.

I fly once a month for an hour and 40 mins ground school but i laid back on it with the Junior Cert in a few weeks :eek: Finish last exam on June 17th and i fly on 21st

I find just about everyone great at National Flight Centre but there are the odd people who i would prefer not to fly with, I stick with the same Instructor and if possible the same plane.

Oilrig

Anyone remember Iona?

I second the motion for Darby to write his memoirs. I know a publisher if anyone can sound him out...

Skyuser

Oilrig wrote: »

Go to Florida, get it all done on schedule within a month

Really? Can you give some more details on that?

cp251

Stuff that you go through in the Ground School that can be ridiculously stupid and as a Private Pilot you may never use but in General its fine.

Don't want to pick on you but the stuff in PPL ground is probably the most relevent of any ground school you will ever go through. More than you realise. So pay attention, young Disney, or you get detention :D

Wait until you go for the ATPL stuff. Talk about irrelevant. I mean who ever needs to know the characteristics of a Polar Stereographic Projection? There are plenty of other examples I could give but naturally I have completely blanked them from my memory. But I do still remember quite a bit of the PPL stuff simply because some of it is actually useful.

Canacourse

I think You should consider Leinster Aero club. Very experienced & very good instructors in an up to date well maintained (Reasonably Priced) aircraft. I trained with NFC for a while before I deserted them and to say I was unimpressed with them would be putting in mildly. Flightwise are also very good.

http://www.leinsteraeroclub.com

celticworrior

hey i am interested in beginning my PPL at weston and am curious if anybody could tell me (A) the total cost involved in getting the PPL and (b) best time of year to begin (C) whether its best saving up and training in a short burst or across a longer time and finally (d) i have seen mention of florida as a cheaper alternative---can anybody elaborate.

thanks

diverdriver

In Ireland there doesn't seem to be a good time to start. Now might be good time. I know of someone at the NFC who got most of his flying done in less than 6 weeks in the autumn because he turned up every day and flew as often as possible. It's best to do over as short a time as possible but that depends on your time and money and weather. You could never do that with the likes of the Leinster Aero Club for example simply because of Instructor availability and the fact that their field was waterlogged a lot this winter.

Many people learn to fly in Florida or wherever, that works too. It is cheaper and the weather more reliable. But you really have to allow for six weeks over there.

The total cost is the number of hours you need to be ready for the flight test X the hourly rate plus exam costs and test costs. Very few people manage it in 45 hours. So budget for more.

yaeger

The likes of Leinsteraeroclub , Airport flying club and the others are all very good options once you have your ppl, but as they are clubs they have limited resources and really suit you if your pace is one lesson a week weather dependant. I think flightwise might be a little better set up for instructing but as far as clubs go I would recommend Leinster, lovely aircraft x 1, nice location near dunshaughlin and excellent availabilty of aircraft and the cheapest of the lot i believe. If you want to gain PPL faster in Ireland go to one of the FTO's or even faster again go to sunny climates. If you wanna enjoy your ppl go to Leinster OR flightwise/airport flying club/dublin flyers etc