Some schools offer discounts for pre-payment. Often those
schools are just like the new gym/health club that opened
down the street. In two months it will be closed and those
pre-paid memberships will be gone. But there are options,
schools like Spartan or Flight Safety [just to name two] are
solid companies that have been in business and you can use a
bank and write a check every lesson or once a week. If
you've got the cash, you fly often and pay as you go.

The point is that unless you fly twice a week, your progress
will be VERY slow since too much time between lessons means
you spend moist of your time re-learning the same thing over
and over and don't get to the new stuff.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Bob Gardner" wrote in message
. ..
| I'm glad that prepayment worked for you. When an school I
worked for went
| belly-up, students with money on account were left without
any recourse.
|
| Bob Gardner
|
| "steve" wrote in message
| . ..
| Great advice!
|
| I deposited the entire amount ($2,000 in 1978) with the
flight center and
| flew an average of 4 days/week. This made it possible to
solo at 8.5 hours
| and get my PPL at 42 hours. I am not bragging, just
stating that what Jim
| recommended really works.
|
| Steve
|
| "Jim Macklin"
wrote in message
| news:0RLug.77284$ZW3.43169@dukeread04...
| Flying only once per month is a waste of your money,
you
| just can't make effective progress at that rate.
You'll be
| spending money and each lesson will be mostly review of
what
| you forgot in the past 29 days.
|
| Save your money until you can afford to fly at least
twice a
| week, three times is better.
|
| As far as Australian rules, I'm in the USA and we now
have
| certificates issued for Student pilot, you just have to
be
| breathing. Light Sport Pilot requires 20 hours total
time
| and allows you to fly Light Sport Aircraft 92 seats,
simple,
| like a Piper Cub. Recreational Pilot has many
restrictions
| on where you can fly and never became popular in the
USA.
| The Private Pilot certificate requires 40 hours and is
| limited to non-commercial, paid flying. The experience
| gained at each level is transferable and applicable to
the
| next higher certificate. Using a less expensive
airplane,
| with lower cost and performance saves money.
|
| Here are links to the USA rules
|
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text...61_main_02.tpl
|
| Google for Australian pilot license and see
| http://www.casa.gov.au/ for your laws and other useful
| links.
|
| Browsing they have these links
| http://www.casa.gov.au/fcl/learntofly.htm
| http://www.casa.gov.au/fcl/stages.htm
| http://www.casa.gov.au/fcl/fcl_req.htm
|
|
| --
| James H. Macklin
| ATP,CFI,A&P
|
|
| "Crash Lander" wrote in message
| ...
| | Hi guys and gals!
| | Just heard about this group from a regular here (I
think
| he's a regular
| | here!), and thought I'd take the opporyunity to ask a
| question that's been
| | bugging me.
| | I am going to start flying lessons within the next
few
| months, come hell or
| | high water, and have started investigating what is
| involved. Due to budget
| | constraints, the lessons will be fairly thinly
spaced,
| probably only 1
| | lesson a month, but maybe 2 or 3 in the first month.
| (Gotta love a decent
| | tax refund cheque!)
| | I live in Australia, so this question relates to
| regulations in Australia.
| | (Obviously! :-))
| | I have been told by a guy I know who flies for Cathay
| Pacific, that I can
| | learn to fly in an 'Ultra Light' and still nd up with
a
| PPL. By Ultra Light
| | he means something like a Jabiru, and not a hang
glider
| with a lawnmower
| | engine bolted on the back. He indicated that it would
be
| much cheaper, and
| | I'd only need about 5 hours in a Cessna to complete
the
| licence.
| | One flight school I rang, actually suggested I use
their
| Jabiru to learn in,
| | and I'd end up with a full PPL at the end, puely with
| lessons in the Jabiru!
| | Is this correct? Can it be done in this type of a/c
from
| start to finish?
| | (Talking only to PPL here, no IFR ratings or night
ratings
| or anything like
| | that.) If so, it seems like the way to go for me. The
| flight school said the
| | average cost would drop from around $12,000 to around
| $8,000 in total! The
| | flight school said the Jabiru, or Gazelle for flight
| instruction is $30
| | cheaper per hour than a C150, and $60 cheaper per
hour
| than a C172 or PA28!
| | If I can end up with a PPL from the Jabiru or
Gazelle, am
| I then still
| | licenced to fly the Cessnas, or am I only qualified
to fly
| the smaller
| | Jabirus or Gazelles?
| | Sorry for the dumb questions, but a guy needs to
start
| somewhere.
| | Thanks in advance,
| | Crash Lander
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|