Seeking flying school recommendation

Henning S · #1 2nd March 2015, 04:27 PM

Hi,

I am currently considering getting a PPL and have searched the web for flying schools around Sydney but there are so many and it's very hard to compare their offers.
I live in the Eastern suburbs and the two airport that seem suitable for me are Bankstown and Camden. Camden is a bit further away but they seem to be closer to the training area and the airport itself seems to be less busy causing less delays while waiting for a take-off.
Can anyone recommend a flying school at one of these airports from your own experience?

Thanks heaps,
Henning

Tim B · #2 10th March 2015, 05:42 PM

It's so hard to recommend a particular flying school, without recommending a particular airport.
I am not a pilot, but I do travel past Bankstown Airport every day on the way to my work, and I can say that if you can fit your flying hours in during the week, Bankstown would be no problem at all. There is never a waiting time for doing circuits during the week. The weekends may be different when everybody has more free time and traffic may be busier.
It really is a matter of doing your homework, sitting out at the end of the runway when you would have spare time, to observe the amount of traffic, etc, and talking to the various flying schools. Good luck.

Grahame Hutchison · #3 10th March 2015, 10:23 PM

Schofields out at Bankstown (Sydney Flying Club) have excellent facilities and a good selection of aircraft, with traditional and glass cockpits, as well as a Redbird FMX Synthetic Trainer. I think the harder part is finding a good instructor you are comfortable with, and one that has reasonable availability (having to change instructors all the time is not good either).

If you can manage it, flying during the week is definitely quieter than on the weekends, although first slot on the weekend can be ok.

My other tip would be to have the money ready to go for the level you want to achieve (eg PPL), and then do it as quick as you can. This provides consistency during your training, rather than having to revise skills because you have not been our for a few weeks.

Henning S · #4 11th March 2015, 04:14 PM

Thanks for your responses guys.

Last Saturday I drove to Camden airport and visited Curtis Aviation. The guys seem to be very friendly and also experienced and I decided to take the first lesson straight away.
We flew over Warragamba dam and Lake Burragorang which provided beautiful views as an add on to the flight experience itself.
I am working during the week so only have the weekends in which case Camden seems to be the better choice compared to Bankstown.

I am considering Grahame's tipp and might take a week off of work at some point and do one week of intense flying to get to the licence (or at least to the first solo flight) quicker.

Grahame Hutchison · #5 11th March 2015, 07:06 PM

I did an aerobatics session in the Pitts S-2B with Tim from Curtis Aviation, they seemed like a good crew, and at Camden you are right in the training area (saves the flight out from Bankstown). Living on the north side, Camden was just too far to go for me, even Bankstown is an hour drive when the traffic is good.