Hi can any body recommend a better place to go and learn to fly?
I have come across few schools and found one in Asia - Maldives, any idea about this?
http://www.aaa-fta.com/courses/cpl/
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Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
Your question is not an easy one to answer as it is almost impossibly subjective. What do you mean by "best"?
Cheapest? Best training program? Locales that will offer variable experiences? Best views from a Cessna Skyhawk?
In my opinion, the best place to learn to fly is dependent on what you want to do with your training. If you want to fly island hoppers in the Maldives for a living, a program in the Maldives is the best for that. If you plan on flying for a large commercial airline, perhaps somewhere that will provide you with variable climate and weather conditions.
I learned to fly in the United States. I started in the Desert Southwest and stopped my training in the Upper Midwest. From an experience standpoint, the US Midwest, gave me the opportunity to fly in all the seasons with all the associated climate and weather related aspects therein.
I have a former roommate who started and finished all his training in the Desert Southwest who's first domicile as a US Regional FO was Chicago O'Hare. You can bet that first winter came with a mighty big learning curve.
77H
Cheapest? Best training program? Locales that will offer variable experiences? Best views from a Cessna Skyhawk?
In my opinion, the best place to learn to fly is dependent on what you want to do with your training. If you want to fly island hoppers in the Maldives for a living, a program in the Maldives is the best for that. If you plan on flying for a large commercial airline, perhaps somewhere that will provide you with variable climate and weather conditions.
I learned to fly in the United States. I started in the Desert Southwest and stopped my training in the Upper Midwest. From an experience standpoint, the US Midwest, gave me the opportunity to fly in all the seasons with all the associated climate and weather related aspects therein.
I have a former roommate who started and finished all his training in the Desert Southwest who's first domicile as a US Regional FO was Chicago O'Hare. You can bet that first winter came with a mighty big learning curve.
77H
Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
Also, where are you from? EU national or not? Otherwise there are some good schools in the UK with pretty much guaranteed jobs at the end (Sponsored MPLs), as well as good exposure to different flying conditions. Otherwise I would recommend a bigger school in the USA or maybe try to get a scholarship from one of the bigger airlines in the middle or Far East.
Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
As TOGA10 says, nationality is important when making you choice. An FAA license is next to worthless if you are an EU national, so you will be more constrained when it comes to choosing a school in the US that does EASA courses.
My experience: I trained in Scandinavia, which meant flying in poor weather much of the time, including fog, icing conditions, thunderstorms, windy weather, rain etc. I even flew in the remnants of a few hurricanes, which is quite an experience. At my school we had a number of instructors and students who trained in the US in states where the weather was perfect 99% of the time, but completely lethal to fly in the remaining 1% of the time. These individuals really struggled in Scandinavian conditions, having more or less been taught that entering a cloud would kill you on the spot, because the only clouds you got in those areas were those gigantic hail-filled TCUs.
The downside was that I wasted half a year doing nothing at all because the weather was too poor to fly.
Of course you shouldn't aim for flying in dangerous or poor weather conditions, but some variation is a good thing.
My experience: I trained in Scandinavia, which meant flying in poor weather much of the time, including fog, icing conditions, thunderstorms, windy weather, rain etc. I even flew in the remnants of a few hurricanes, which is quite an experience. At my school we had a number of instructors and students who trained in the US in states where the weather was perfect 99% of the time, but completely lethal to fly in the remaining 1% of the time. These individuals really struggled in Scandinavian conditions, having more or less been taught that entering a cloud would kill you on the spot, because the only clouds you got in those areas were those gigantic hail-filled TCUs.
The downside was that I wasted half a year doing nothing at all because the weather was too poor to fly.
Of course you shouldn't aim for flying in dangerous or poor weather conditions, but some variation is a good thing.
Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
US Navy or Air Force, but I suspect that;s not an option. The othercposters alll have good suggestions.
Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
I first flew at SMO (Santa Monica) and then continued at HHR (Hawthorne, which is parallel to and a couple of miles southeast of LAX). I learned to handle radio communication, wake turbulence, and heavy traffic very well, and was not the least bit concerned by what was then the VFR corridor between north and south parts of West LA, flying directly over the LAX control tower. Someone who starts in the countryside may be a bit scared in the LA area for the first time. I had no trouble with parallel approaches with a 747 on the right of my Cessna.
On the other hand when faced with a narrow, short, rural runway I was very nervous, having only landed at HHR and SMO. As the British would say, swings and roundabouts.
Best choice is a wide variety of circumstances if you can find it.
On the other hand when faced with a narrow, short, rural runway I was very nervous, having only landed at HHR and SMO. As the British would say, swings and roundabouts.
Best choice is a wide variety of circumstances if you can find it.
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- Starlionblue
- Posts: 21730
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Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
Price wise: Probably the US. Florida is not only relatively cheap for flying, but for living costs.
Operationally: Find a place with both busy controlled airspace and small, quiet, uncontrolled fields. Florida has plenty of both.
Weather wise: A place like the UK is fine once you have your instrument rating, but there is something to be said for consistent sunny weather. Arizona, Florida, California and so on all have a nice climate. Plus you can fly in comfort wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
Having seen that, once you're past your PPL experiencing different climate conditions will give you good experience as long as it doesn't keep the airplanes grounded completely.
Teaching wise: There are good schools and mediocre schools all over. Once you've zoned in on a couple of areas, find a good school. Make sure they are responsive to any query you might have, and be very very wary of schools that demand large up front payments. I've seen schools that want US$40000 up front for a very mediocre program, and with no provisions for repayment in case of changed circumstances. Where I learned to fly, they asked for a few thousand US$ up front for the first part of my PPL, but once that was used up it was pay as you go.
Operationally: Find a place with both busy controlled airspace and small, quiet, uncontrolled fields. Florida has plenty of both.
Weather wise: A place like the UK is fine once you have your instrument rating, but there is something to be said for consistent sunny weather. Arizona, Florida, California and so on all have a nice climate. Plus you can fly in comfort wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
Having seen that, once you're past your PPL experiencing different climate conditions will give you good experience as long as it doesn't keep the airplanes grounded completely.Teaching wise: There are good schools and mediocre schools all over. Once you've zoned in on a couple of areas, find a good school. Make sure they are responsive to any query you might have, and be very very wary of schools that demand large up front payments. I've seen schools that want US$40000 up front for a very mediocre program, and with no provisions for repayment in case of changed circumstances. Where I learned to fly, they asked for a few thousand US$ up front for the first part of my PPL, but once that was used up it was pay as you go.
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- sierrakilo44
- Posts: 1260
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Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
The reality is, no where. Most world class schools, regardless of location have high training standards, it’s more up to the quality and reputation of he school rather than where it is physically located.
You may find it more advantageous personally to fly somewhere with good weather for your VFR training, and then with more adverse weather for your IFR training for exposure to IMC.
The Maldives, whilst probably some of the most beautiful scenery of any country in the world, isn’t renown for its flying training. Not at the same level as a European, North American, Australian or NZ flight training school.
I’m not sure about the quality of this school, however they mention having links with Sri Lanka and India. And that would be enough to make me think twice. India has a dodgy reputation with fake licences and poor standards.
You may find it more advantageous personally to fly somewhere with good weather for your VFR training, and then with more adverse weather for your IFR training for exposure to IMC.
The Maldives, whilst probably some of the most beautiful scenery of any country in the world, isn’t renown for its flying training. Not at the same level as a European, North American, Australian or NZ flight training school.
I’m not sure about the quality of this school, however they mention having links with Sri Lanka and India. And that would be enough to make me think twice. India has a dodgy reputation with fake licences and poor standards.
Re: Which is the best place on earth to learn to fly?
sierrakilo44 wrote:The reality is, no where. Most world class schools, regardless of location have high training standards, it’s more up to the quality and reputation of he school rather than where it is physically located.
I can only second that.
sierrakilo44 wrote:The Maldives, whilst probably some of the most beautiful scenery of any country in the world, isn’t renown for its flying training. Not at the same level as a European, North American, Australian or NZ flight training school.
I’m not sure about the quality of this school, however they mention having links with Sri Lanka and India. And that would be enough to make me think twice. India has a dodgy reputation with fake licences and poor standards.
I was offered a position as an instructor with them once. I got a better offer somewhere else, but they were clearly trying hard to gain western instructors at the time. The fleet looked ok. Can't speak for the quality of training or mentality though.
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