PPL Abroad - Where to go?

km2806

Hi everyone,
I am reaching out to those who have gone abroad to get their PPL. I am trying to get it done here in Ireland but as expected the weather has gone against me the last 5 times I was meant to go flying. So in the last 3 months I only managed to only fly once, its very frustrating! 
I am considering on going abroad to get my PPL and wondering where people have gone or where would you recommend to go?
Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

California Dreamer

https://www.fitaviation.com

Melbourne Florida. About an hour from Orlando on the coast near Cape Canaveral.

Great weather and loads of options. The chief instructor is an Irish fella!

Stovepipe

points to note: the use of a non American credit card will increase costs by about three percent, as they will charge you extra to accept a foreign card......... do NOT, under any circumstances, pay up front. Pay as you go. Normally, what you do is lodge a thousand dollars with them and burn that off as you go. Check your receipts carefully. If you have your own headset, bring it and use it, or you will be charged for the hire of a headset. Read whats included in the PPL package first before you sign anything. Some schools prioritise Commercial students over private students, which means the PPL types can get stuck with the worst aircraft at the most awkward times. Most schools, to push you through, will schedule you for two flights a day. This is tiring as most lesson blocks are for 90 minutes at a time, in a two-hour slot, so be prepared by being properly fed and watered. Stay off the pints! Florida is a hot climate and you will need to keep hydrated.......make sure you have comprehensive health insurance before you set foot in America. Do NOT enter America without it, as the slightest encounter with the US medical system will hurt your pocket severely......when you are being assigned an instructor, try and get one who is a native English speaker, if you can. I was once offered an Italian instructor, whose basic English was very poor and his aircraft technical English even worse but the Indian guy I got was excellent. That might sound racist but it's hard enough to absorb the information if the guy's English is mangled and you are trying to listen to high speed Floridian ATC and a multitude of other accents over the radio.

PeteF

Also, if you're planning to fly mostly in Ireland when you return, check and ensure the school is registered to provide EASA training. It would be frustrating to spend all that time and money on a FAA PPL only to find out you have to sit all the written exams and possibly do a skills test again when you return home.

The list of current approved EASA ATOs is online.

Irish Steve

Re the comment about English speaker, there is another caveat to watch out for, a good few years ago, I went over to California to do a FAA CPL, ME and IR, but at the time, I already had a UK ME, and over 300 Hrs multi Engine time, so plenty of experience on light twins.

I got put with an instructor for the first day who practically sh1t himself as I did my "normal" departure, circuit and landing, we were in a type that I'd flown for a good few hours at other airfields, so I was completely comfortable, but he clearly wasn't, and on returning to base, I spoke with the owner, who apologised profusely, as he'd overlooked that I was already ME rated, and had put me with an instructor who had basically only just completed his ME instructor rating, so his total ME time was way low. I only flew with that instructor once, and the new instructor they put me with had "appropriate" hours, and we got on fine from then on, with no hassles. The American instructor system is different to the European model, so you can be put with an instructor who has not flown too many instructing hours, and if his/her total time is also relatively low, that can lead to issues with gaining the best experience out of the training.

All the other points are valid, and if you're going to Florida, don't understimate the cost of the charts and other manuals that you will need need in order to be able to fly solo around some of the more complex bits of airspace in that part of the world.

I did a lot of flying in various parts of the USA, some long distance trips as well as local stuff, and if you can do it, the experience you will get from that will stand you in good stead going forward, it's just not possible to do a 3 or 4 hour cross country flight in Irish Airspace, but it is very satisfying to see the arrival airport where you expect it to be at the end of a trip of that nature.

California Dreamer

Irish Steve wrote: »

I did a lot of flying in various parts of the USA, some long distance trips as well as local stuff, and if you can do it, the experience you will get from that will stand you in good stead going forward, it's just not possible to do a 3 or 4 hour cross country flight in Irish Airspace, but it is very satisfying to see the arrival airport where you expect it to be at the end of a trip of that nature.

For the hour building a great way to run up 25 hours is a flight from east to west coast. The great thing about flying in the US almost as good as the UK is there is LOTS of airports and landing strips that you can put down on in a pinch.

Stovepipe

yes, the variety over there is endless and the welcome is always friendly and you'll get to see aircraft you'd never see here except at airshows.

Dingle_berry

Irish Steve wrote: »

it's just not possible to do a 3 or 4 hour cross country flight in Irish Airspace

Why not?

California Dreamer

Dingle_berry wrote: »

Why not?

You’ll run out of land!

Dingle_berry

California Dreamer wrote: »

You’ll run out of land!

Planes are capable of turning? Dublin to EISG is 150nm, Dublin to EIWF it 160nm, (roundtrip and 150nm is all that's required for PPL) with EIKN, EINN, EIKY, EICK and several licensed aerodromes as well.

Stovepipe

Try Weston-Sligo-Kerry-Weston, or if you are feeling really enthusiastic and the weather suits, turn the corner at Bundoran and go up to Carrickfin, tea and pee, back down to beautiful Sligo and maybe go direct to Waterford, up to Newcastle and around the control zone to Weston. Plenty to see and do if you are prepared to work at it.