If I want to take up flying in the UK,what do I have to do?

Question

Is it essential to get a license by law?

Answer 1

My son learnt to fly when he was in the Air Cadets and did a course in Bath and at Swansea Airport and yes you do need a license.
Otherwise look up in yell.com for flying school.

Answer 2

if you want to fly in the UK learn to fly in the UK. The training and course may be the same in the US but the flying conditions are not. In the US you will experience clear skys and unristricted flying. This type of flying does not happen in the UK so as a new pilot you would suddenly be in a different world to which you trained in, also most schools that rent you aircraft would not let you use their aircraft unless you undertook at least 5 hours re-training in the UK to ensure that you are able to fly in the UK. We are blessed with lots of restricted airspace and many military zones that require careful navigation and a good understanding of how these areas work, you will not be taught that in the US. If you are serious about learning to fly then check out www.pilotweb.co.uk or www.pprune.org both these sites will be able to point you in the direction of a good school in your area. Beware though as there are many school, and standards will vary greatly. Speak to as many people as you can before choosing the school to get a rounded opinion. Most clubs/schools will be happy to answer any questions before you have to depart with any cash, you need to allow at least 5k for the flying and another 1k for medical, books and other items that all cost a fortune. you can have lessons without getting a license first but you must obtain a class 2 medical and complete airlaw exam before you are able to start the solo part of the course. Please have a trial lesson first or try a 3 hour block to see if flying is really for you. see you up there...

Answer 3

Yup, you need a license (and a medical) to fly legally.

In the UK there are various flying clubs around - some of which will offer discount if you pre-book your course. However you may also end up being shafted as I was when the one at Sibson was taken over by a new company and existing lessons paid to the old firm (Walkbury) were not honoured!

If you have the resources, then it will be MUCH cheaper to buy a package deal in the US, go there for a few weeks holiday, and your lessons, medical and accomodation will be around HALF of the cost of doing your PPL (Private Pilot's licence) in the UK.

You will then need to keep your miedical up and keep a few hours flying under your belt each year to maintain your licence.

If you do not have access to a friends aircraft afterwards, you can find that "wet hire" is around £100 per hour.

If that seems frighteningly high, (it is) remember that this is "power on hours", not the time you are parked up. so if you took the plane for a 45 minute flight to another airstrip, landed, wandered about and then flew home again later that day, you would be charged for 3 hours.

First of all, I would suggest you go for a trial lesson - see if you enjoy it. If you do, then get your medical done - pointless paying for lessons if you are medically unable to fly.

(manic depressives, drug users (including previous), alcoholics etc etc all need not apply. They are QUITE strict with who they let zoom about n the air. :)

Hope that gives you a little to go on.

Answer 4

Love the Brits, but truthfully, you're better off going to the USA to fly. This is for several reasons, all of which are about money.

First of all, it is cheaper to fly in the USA, mainly due to abundance of flight schools and cheaper AVGas.

Secondly, the air traffic system is free, whereas in the EU, it's private, and very expensive.

Even when you add in the extra cost of VISAs, housing and the like, it's still usually cheaper and ewasier to learn to fly in the US, and then change your license to a UK license.

Answer 5

alot of the American stuff that has been said is rubbish, the FAA and CAA operate different systems, I am a pilot, and was recently at the school i attended when a British pilot trained in America came into hire an aircraft, imagine his surprise when he was told that his licence and his exams where not able to let him hire an aircraft.... It meant he had to sit all 7 ppl exams and comms practical again. he also had to have an opc check and 10 hours of flight tuition cause he failed to pass, in it would have been cheaper for him to learn to fly here. the CAA ensure that we have the safest airspace in Europe if not the world. My advice to you would be seek out a school in this country.

Answer 6

I've ben considering this too. I would suggesty going on a search engine, searching for "private pilot lessons uk" and there are things on there. Try a 30-2 hour lesson first, see if you like it. Then the sites should give you more details on them. I found they are cheaper than i thought!

Answer 7

I have a UK (CAA) pilots licence and it takes a minimum of 45 hours to attain a licence. Its far cheaper to go abroad and get your licence, the US is a lot lot cheaper than the UK. It probably cost me around £6,500 to get my licence which was about 10 years ago. I did take some lessons in the US which are half the cost of UK lessons.

Answer 8

look in your yellow pages, you can take flying lessons just like driving lessons albeit a LOT more expensive around £70-£100 an hour they will sort out all the legal stuff for you

Answer 9

get the grades and lots of training and then you be able to fly a plane without any fuss

Answer 10

well since your a pars fans..it will be really easy..take a run and jump off a cliff

dont need a license for that