Flying in Florida for a PPL
An account of a PPL Mania reader
Added: 20 June 2005

As my 54th birthday approached I decided it was time to realise an ambition that I had harboured since my teenage years: – To become a Pilot!

My first foray was a trial lesson at a local airfield. This convinced me that I definitely wanted more, but the cost was punitive at £128 per hour so, after 7 hours, I decided to seek a more economical method of attaining my dream.

After browsing the adverts in a couple of aviation magazines, visiting a few web sites and reading through some aviation forums I chose Ormond Beach Aviation (OBA) in Florida. This was the easy bit as I hadn’t realised that there would be quite a bit of form filling before I could jump on a jet bound for a PPL course in the USA.

The first step is to get an I-20 form from the chosen school which acknowledges your enrolment and acceptance as a pupil (it makes no difference whether you’re attending for three weeks or three years, the process is the same). Then you have to register with Student and Exchange Visitor programme (SEVIS, the American student exchange program) and the Transport Security Administration (TSA, which administers the Alien Flight Student Program), which costs $130 and $100 respectively. Finally you must attend the American Embassy for an interview and M1 Visa, another £70 plus £10 for the return delivery of your passport with visa. Add to this the required books and pilot equipment to complete the course (£232)

Having successfully negotiated these hurdles I found a cheap return flight to Orlando (£181), paid my ‘school fees’ (£2,653 including accommodation) and booked a three week holiday from work.

I soon discovered that 3 weeks is a very short time to study for all the ground exams and absorb the skills required to safely pilot an aeroplane. Each day was spent studying, flying, or more studying. I didn’t find time to visit the beach or see much of the local area, but I did enjoy a rollercoaster learning curve which thrilled my senses, and occasionally overloaded them. I would have to recommend taking the ground exams in the UK to anyone contemplating this adventure. I would have enjoyed the experience so much more without this additional pressure. All of the ground exams have to be passed before the final skills test and there’s really very little time to spare from 21 days.

The experience is wholly involving and each day brought a new experience. Students are expected to prepare their aeroplane for flight, refuel it and top up its oil as required, and tie it down at the end of the day. Within a few days I experienced my first solo, practiced hours of taking off and, more importantly, landing the aircraft in various configurations (short field, grass runway, etc.), and was soon preparing for my solo cross country. Each time I progressed to a new stage I felt nervous that maybe I wasn’t ready to do this without the security of an instructor sitting in the passenger seat, and each time I made that step I felt exhilarated by the experience and thrilled at my accomplishment. The completion of my long solo cross country flight, getting signatures from staff at two distant airfields to prove that I’d found them and landed there, gave me the greatest sense of achievement that I’d ever experienced.

The course included five hours of flying at night, three with an instructor and two solo. The thrill of being solo, thousands of feet above the ground and looking down on Floridian lights stretching back from the beach line was an experience not to be missed. This was accompanied by landing and taking off repeatedly at/from a deserted airfield to qualify for my night rating. If only I could share the pleasure of these experiences, so many in such a short space of time.

I passed the last of my ground exams with two days to spare, and passed my skills test the following day. A very tight schedule which stops suddenly leaving just enough time to start thinking about going home (there hadn’t been time to think about home while the course was in progress). The anti climax is strange. Suddenly the pressure is off and there’s nothing to do but wait for transport to the airport and the journey home.

I met some great people while on the course. My fellow students were an inspiration, extremely supportive of each other and dedicated to achieving their PPLs. The local golf club was extremely comfortable and affordable for daily lunch. All of the instructors were exceedingly good pilots and most of them were good teachers. Were there any downsides?

The PPL requires 45 hours of flying time. I had expected to receive 45 hours training, but previously logged hours are counted by the school towards the qualification, so it’s best to arrive with an empty log book and declare no previous experience in order to gain the maximum benefit from the course.

An additional $100 propeller insurance is charged on arrival. This is so that you don’t have to pay for repairs if you manage to damage the propeller on landing!? It’s not compulsory but who would take a chance on having to fork out for a hefty repair bill? This is a hidden cost which wouldn’t have affected my decision to learn in Florida but did make me feel a little ‘milked’.

Overall I enjoyed a great experience, met some great people (aviators seem to be uncommonly nice people), and achieved a long standing ambition at half what it would have cost in the UK. I’m looking forward to putting my skills to good use when the CAA issue my PPL, and I’m also intending to return to the USA for the unrivalled GA experience of touring in a light aircraft (cheap rental, cheap fuel and no landing fees at any airport!).
 

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