Hi there

[Zander72]

Hi there, I'm Alex (or Zander, ha). I'm a 45 year old writer, gamer, dreamer from Victoria Australia, and I'm currently contemplating my options for flight lessons.

 

I've loved the idea of flying for a really long time, and never got around to doing anything about it (aside from a try it thingie I did 20 or so years ago). I think my ultimate goal is a PPL.

 

It's great to be here and meet fellow aviation enthusiasts!

 

Zander.

 

 

[red750]

Hi Zander, welcome to the forum. This is an Australian form although it's dot com. I'm from near Ringwood, where are you located?

 

 

[bexrbetter]

This is an Australian form

Forum.

 

 

[red750]

Thank you Bex, I missed that one.

 

 

[Zander72]

Hi Zander, welcome to the forum. This is an Australian form although it's dot com. I'm from near Ringwood, where are you located?

Thanks for the welcome! I'm in Glen Waverley. :)

 

 

[Nightmare]

Hi there Alex and welcome!

 

I embarked on the journey you're contemplating about two years ago. I went through RAAus, much easier on the wallet. Where am I now? I have my pilot certificate with cross country and passenger endorsements, and my own plane to be able to fly anywhere in Oz, OCTA. All up about $10K, not including the cost of my plane.

 

The path I took could also lead to PPL, but at this time that's not the way I want to go. Mind you, RPL plus controlled airspace endorsement is tempting.

 

If you look at taking a lesson per week or fortnight, you will do well. I found that the most difficult step with getting your license or certificate is the first one. I'd suggest you contact your nearest flying school of your chosen path (RAAus or CASA) and book in for a TIF (Trial Introductory Flight). You will not regret it.

 

 

[Zander72]

Heya,

 

Hi there Alex and welcome!I embarked on the journey you're contemplating about two years ago. I went through RAAus, much easier on the wallet. Where am I now? I have my pilot certificate with cross country and passenger endorsements, and my own plane to be able to fly anywhere in Oz, OCTA. All up about $10K, not including the cost of my plane.

 

The path I took could also lead to PPL, but at this time that's not the way I want to go. Mind you, RPL plus controlled airspace endorsement is tempting.

 

If you look at taking a lesson per week or fortnight, you will do well. I found that the most difficult step with getting your license or certificate is the first one. I'd suggest you contact your nearest flying school of your chosen path (RAAus or CASA) and book in for a TIF (Trial Introductory Flight). You will not regret it.

Thanks for the advice!

 

I was reading the other day that SOAR has a weight limit of 110kg, and unfortunately I'm a bit more of a faty than that. So I suspect I'll have to be giving recreational aircraft a miss - or, I just badly need to loose weight (I've done it before, and this might be the motivation I need... heh).

 

For the moment, this is on my backburner until after I complete the year at Uni (which consists of finishing my honours thesis and also one other assignment).

 

 

[Pominaus]

Heya,

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

I was reading the other day that SOAR has a weight limit of 110kg, and unfortunately I'm a bit more of a faty than that. So I suspect I'll have to be giving recreational aircraft a miss - or, I just badly need to loose weight (I've done it before, and this might be the motivation I need... heh).

 

For the moment, this is on my backburner until after I complete the year at Uni (which consists of finishing my honours thesis and also one other assignment).

Welcome!

I've just gone through a similar process. I'm not entirely new to flying, but all my experience is in the UK, and I stupidly never finished up and got my PPL before I left.

 

I too looked into SOAR and a few others. One big thing I learnt from visiting the schools around Melbourne is don't go by the websites lol. Flight instructors may often have a background in IT, but few schools are big enough to have a full time website guy lol. If you can get out of the city, it's worth it. Cheaper lessons as you don't have moorabbin's landing fees, and at Bacchus marsh(school's called TVSA)/lilydale/coldstream etc you'll be engine on to airborne in the shortest time; no paying to wait your turn/taxi. Lilydale and Coldstream use PA28's I think, and Bacchus Marsh use C152/172's from what I recall.

 

I did an intro flight at SOAR, and they were good, but a few warning signals went off in my head. I don't want to speak badly of anyone after so little experience but at moorabbin there's a LOT of choice - you really can just drive down there and pop into every school and have a chat on a day off. I've had quite a few people recommend Peter Bini, RVAC and Oasis at Moorabbin, though I'm sure others have more experience.

 

Best of luck with uni and flying!

 

 

[Nightmare]

Heya,

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

I was reading the other day that SOAR has a weight limit of 110kg, and unfortunately I'm a bit more of a faty than that. So I suspect I'll have to be giving recreational aircraft a miss - or, I just badly need to loose weight (I've done it before, and this might be the motivation I need... heh).

 

For the moment, this is on my backburner until after I complete the year at Uni (which consists of finishing my honours thesis and also one other assignment).

Still maybe not out of the question. The equation to work out weight limits is, The aircraft's Maximum Take off Weight (MTOW) minus Empty Weight(EW) equals the usable weight, which is what you can fit Pilot, Pax or instructor, fuel and baggage.Other than that, maybe look into getting a Recreational Pilots License through CASA in a Cessna 172 or equivalent. The dual rates are higher though

 

 

[Geoff13]

The weight issue was one of my biggest problems when learning.

 

I found many RAA schools have blinkers on when it comes to weight.

 

One school took me for a TIF and after I did a bit of homework I calculated after guessing the pilots weight that we took of about 80-100kgs over mtow.

 

Obviously they failed my safety standards test.

 

When I started to learn I was 130 kgs. It is possible with the correct aircraft, instructor and fuel load.

 

I found that once I started there was plenty of incentive to lose weight and keep going.

 

You do need to work out a series of questions to ask any potential flying school and you can only do that by visiting lots of them.

 

A Foxbat with and empty weight of 300kgs, a 130 kg student an 80 kg instructor actually still allows for full fuel tanks.

 

 

[facthunter]

Aeroplanes help you lose weight. You can't afford food anymore, (or good cars, bad girls, clothes holidays etc). Nev