Start Back, But Where?

[Guest OZiPilot]

So the time has come my and the wife have brought out first house.

 

I have been out of flying for Holidays and what not for around 2 years.

 

I have some GA time but it's just to damn expensive, I'm in Melbourne same distance from Lilydale and also Moorabbin. Not sure where i should go Melbourne Aviaiton YMMB or Lilydale Flying School, Both have same Aircraft and about the same rate.

 

Does any one have advice on these 2? or should i just keep keep going in GA but I would have to go to a school that has C152's to keep the cost down. (Tristar / Rvac)

 

Cheers,

 

OziPilot

 

 

[facthunter]

I was down at Moorabin the other day, for a seminar with AOPA. Think you would spend a bit of time taxiing there. Flying is still cheaper than when I started. You wouldn't get quite 2 hours for a weeks wage then. The quality of the instruction is important, (like the foundations of a house). Nev

 

 

[Eric McCandless]

So the time has come my and the wife have brought out first house.I have been out of flying for Holidays and what not for around 2 years.

I have some GA time but it's just to damn expensive, I'm in Melbourne same distance from Lilydale and also Moorabbin. Not sure where i should go Melbourne Aviaiton YMMB or Lilydale Flying School, Both have same Aircraft and about the same rate.

 

Does any one have advice on these 2? or should i just keep keep going in GA but I would have to go to a school that has C152's to keep the cost down. (Tristar / Rvac)

 

Cheers,

 

OziPilot

I am not the least bit qualified to advise on which school or RA vs GA. However, would your choice not depend on what you want out of flying as to whether you want to go RA or GA? e.g. 2 seats vs 4 seats, controlled airspace vs uncontrolled airspace, high performance vs low(er) performance, high MTOW vs low(er) MTOW, flying for pleasure or upgrade path to commercial, certified aircraft vs uncertified aircraft, cheap flying vs not so cheap flying ? Eric

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

If you only want to fly for pleasure go RAA, if you want to make it a career at sometime in the future go GA.

 

As for the schools, I don't know either of the schools personally, but would lean towards Lilydale, given its location and easy access to the training area.

 

Cheers, HH.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Welcome OZI . . . .

 

Lovely place Lilydale, . . . used to drop in there quite a bit when I lived in Ringwood East and later in Boronia,. . . not far to drive. . . . I went in to pick up 5 passengers there for a scenic / photoshoot flight up around Donna Buang one day, and found the strip a bit waterlogged, although it looked to be ok from the air. . . the Cherokee six slewed to a halt rather quickly. . . ( ! ). . . the trip was not possible that day due to the poor condx of the strip, and I had to go and retrieve the aeoplane back to Berwick a couple of days later when it had dried out a bit,. . . . nice to know they have a school there now though,. . . . . good luck with your flight training, Whichever way you decide to go. . . . . ( Pilots don't get paid much I'm afraid,. . . .they fly your bum off for nothing because they know you love it and won't complain too much. . . . . The RAAF could well be somewhat different of course. . .! ) Good luck anyway.

 

 

[metalman]

Yarra valley flight training at coldstream use a 152 as well as a tecnam for RAA stuff, good guys and the taxi time is very short.

 

Met

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Yarra valley flight training at coldstream use a 152 as well as a tecnam for RAA stuff, good guys and the taxi time is very short.Met

My frriend Mike did most of his training at a place called Halfpenny Green in the Midlands UK, this was a WW2 standard design field with three hard runways, but it is rather LARGE, so he computed that he had spent 20 percent of his training taxying and waiting on the ground for a clear runway. . . . it really does add up . . . . . . . Mind you, it makes you REALLY GOOD . . . at taxying. . . . . .

 

 

[Guernsey]

My frriend Mike did most of his training at a place called Halfpenny Green in the Midlands UK, this was a WW2 standard design field with three hard runways, but it is rather LARGE, so he computed that he had spent 20 percent of his training taxying and waiting on the ground for a clear runway. . . . it really does add up . . . . . . . Mind you, it makes you REALLY GOOD . . . at taxying. . . . . .

Good job it was at Halfpenny Green, if it had been at One Penny Green he would have had to taxi twice as far. .

 

Just my tuppenny pence worth.

 

Alan..

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Good job it was at Halfpenny Green, if it had been at One Penny Green he would have had to taxi twice as far. .Just my tuppenny pence worth.

Alan..

Too right Al,. . . . .

 

Actually,. . . . the Green has been a really AWFUL place for many years,. . .they once asked a guy in a twin who had an engine fire, if he could land somewhere else as they were about to close and wanted to go home . . . ( I swear that this is true )I converted my Aussie licence to a British one there in 1983,. . . but it became fairly obvious that the management were fairly unpleasant,, not interested in avaiation, just industrial estate management,. . . over charging for hangarage and tie down, and all aircraft, and especially pilots, were just a bunch of idiots to be treated as such and charged accordingly.

 

Once I'd completed the required Re-training, ( they thought that I didn't have much cross country time, bear in mind I used fly cargo and also ferry aeroplanes all over South East Asia, . . but they said , fair enough, but you don't seem to have a lot of time in VERY BUSY CONTROLLED AIRSPACE. . . . . . ( ? ) so they got me to do a really long cross country with two outlandings, . . . . which took a total of two and a half hours to complete. . . . Phew,. . . that got the sweat going. . . .and I only entered controlled air once, to transit a zone. . . . !

 

After being "Switched On" to Microlights in the late 1980s, I asked for permission to land ( 1n 1994. . . ) at the Green. . . , and was granted it. . . . . then when I landed, ( In my Trike. . .) the ( then ) airfield manager, who was a total prat,. . . said that they didn't accept MICROLIGHTS. . . . . . and after a rather heated discussion, ( putting it mildly. . .) and after I had allowed him to slide down the wall with my hand clenched around the neck of his shirt, I threw the £15.00 landing fee all over the tower in coins, and told him that as far as I was concerned, his mother and dad were not married. . . . they then NOTAMED the place "NO MICROLIGHTS" and this remained the case until 2006, when they found out that the county council would not allow them to use the site for Boeing 737 budget airline operations, they sold out to a new management team who were a breath of fresh air,. . . the new manager was a Trike Pilot,. . . .so it didn't take long for the situation to change rapidly.

 

We still call the place "FIVE PEE GREEN. . " but with half price landing fees for Microlights though, . . . It.can't be bad. !!

 

There are now MORE Microlights at the site than GA, by a ratio of at least three to one !!! And more and more GA people are defecting every year. . . . . .

 

( Usual long response to short comment. . . . .Sorry Al,. . . ! )

 

Phil

 

 

[Guernsey]

Loved the response,

 

Alan.