u/luisjamesnelson

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at doing my PPL with Fly EPT in Palma and was wondering if anyone here has trained with them and could share their experience.

One thing I'm trying to clarify is the ground school side. I've been told they use the CATS Ground School system, which costs around £525. From what I've seen online, CATS seems to have a bit of a mixed reputation, so I'm wondering:

• Is the CATS Ground School package mandatory?

• Can you self-study using your own books, online resources, and question banks, then just sit the exams?

• Has anyone completed the theory without paying for the CATS package?

• How did you find the overall quality of the training at Fly EPT?

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has trained there recently or is currently training with them.

Thanks!

Hi all,

I’m currently working through my PPL and starting to plan the long-term path towards becoming an airline pilot in the UK.

My main goal would be to eventually fly for a UK-based airline. I understand that Ryanair is one of the biggest employers of low-hour pilots in the UK, which is why I’ve been looking closely at their requirements.

However, I’m now a bit stuck on licensing.

I’ve seen conflicting advice about whether it’s better to go down the UK CAA ATPL route, the EASA ATPL route, or to try and do a dual licence. From what I understand, Ryanair mainly recruits EASA-licensed pilots, but I only have the right to work in the UK, not the EU.

Because of that, I’m trying to work out:

- Is UK CAA alone enough for UK airline jobs in general?
- Is EASA still worth it if I can’t work in the EU anyway?
- Or is dual licensing actually worth the extra cost, or is it overkill for just one airline pathway?

I’m also wondering if it’s even sensible to optimise everything around one airline (Ryanair), or if I should just focus on keeping my options open for all UK carriers.

Any advice from people in the industry or currently training would be really appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on my training plan and whether it makes sense or if I’m overlooking something.

My goal is to become an airline pilot in the UK. My current plan is:

- Get a UK CAA Class 1 medical first.
- Move to Spain and complete an EASA PPL.
- Stay in Spain and build my flying hours up to around 250 hours because the flying and weather seem much better and cheaper than in the UK.
- While building hours, study for the UK ATPL theory exams through a distance learning course.
- Once I have the hours and ATPL theory completed, return to the UK to continue with CPL, IR and the rest of the training required for airline jobs.

The main reason I'm considering Spain is the lower flying costs and better weather, which I hope would allow me to build hours more quickly and cheaply.

My questions are:

- Is this a realistic plan?
- Will having an EASA PPL and most of my hours built in Spain create problems when I move back into the UK CAA system?
- Would I be better off getting a UK CAA PPL from the start, even if I'm doing the training in Spain?
- Has anyone here taken a similar route and successfully gone on to fly for a UK airline?

I'd really appreciate any advice from people who have experience with UK/EASA licensing and airline training pathways.

Thanks for reading!

Hi all,

I'm based in the UK and my long-term goal is to fly in the UK and eventually work towards a UK ATPL.

I've been looking at doing my PPL in Spain because it seems significantly cheaper than the UK, the weather is much more reliable, and from what I've heard it can be completed much faster due to fewer weather cancellations.

My current plan would be:

• Complete an EASA PPL in Spain.
• Stay there for some hour building and get to around 100 total hours.
• Convert the licence to a UK CAA PPL later.
• Continue my training in the UK and eventually work towards a UK ATPL.

I'm aware that converting an EASA licence to a UK licence isn't as straightforward as it used to be, but it still appears possible.

A few questions:

1. Has anyone here done their PPL in Spain (or elsewhere in Europe) and then converted it to a UK CAA licence?
2. Was the money saved worth the extra hassle and conversion costs?
3. Are there any hidden issues or downsides that I might not be considering?
4. Does having 100+ hours make the conversion process easier or more worthwhile?
5. If your end goal was a UK ATPL and flying mainly in the UK, would you still choose to do the PPL in Spain?

I'm trying to work out whether the lower costs and better weather outweigh the extra admin later on.

Any advice or recent experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently deciding between different flight training routes and wanted some advice from people with experience.

I’m looking at a flight school that I’m considering going with, and they require students to complete their ground school through CATS Aviation as part of their training pathway.

However, I’ve also heard a lot of positive things about EasyPPL, which seems more modern, cheaper, and easier to follow. From what I understand, I wouldn’t need CATS if I went down a different flight school route.

My question is:

Is it worth sticking with a flight school that ties me into CATS for theory?

Or would I be better off choosing a different school that allows more flexibility with ground school providers like EasyPPL?

I’ve heard mixed things about CATS (some say it’s solid but a bit outdated/overkill), and I don’t want to commit to a route that isn’t the most efficient or cost-effective long term.

Would appreciate any advice or real experiences from people who’ve done either path.
Thanks!

I’m planning to start my journey towards becoming a commercial pilot and I’ve found a flight school that I’d like to do my PPL training with.

The school offers a ground school package for around £500, which includes books, Zoom sessions, and all the training materials. However, I’ve already been studying on my own using the PPL Tutor app (about £20) and have completed revision for two of the subjects so far.

My question is whether it’s worth paying for the school’s ground school package for the remaining subjects, or if I should continue self-studying with the app and other resources.

I’ve heard that PPL exams need to be sat through a flight school anyway, so I’m also wondering whether purchasing their ground school course is mandatory, or whether I can still do all my practical flight training with them while studying the theory independently.

Has anyone here gone down the self-study route for their PPL theory? Were there any issues getting signed off to sit the exams? I’d appreciate any advice, especially from UK pilots or instructors.

Thanks!

I’m planning to start my journey towards becoming a commercial pilot and I’ve found a flight school that I’d like to do my PPL training with.

The school offers a ground school package for around £500, which includes books, Zoom sessions, and all the training materials. However, I’ve already been studying on my own using the PPL Tutor app (about £20) and have completed revision for two of the subjects so far.

My question is whether it’s worth paying for the school’s ground school package for the remaining subjects, or if I should continue self-studying with the app and other resources.

I’ve heard that PPL exams need to be sat through a flight school anyway, so I’m also wondering whether purchasing their ground school course is mandatory, or whether I can still do all my practical flight training with them while studying the theory independently.

Has anyone here gone down the self-study route for their PPL theory? Were there any issues getting signed off to sit the exams? I’d appreciate any advice, especially from UK pilots or instructors.

Thanks!

I’m planning to start my journey towards becoming a commercial pilot and I’ve found a flight school that I’d like to do my PPL training with.

The school offers a ground school package for around £500, which includes books, Zoom sessions, and all the training materials. However, I’ve already been studying on my own using the PPL Tutor app (about £20) and have completed revision for two of the subjects so far.

My question is whether it’s worth paying for the school’s ground school package for the remaining subjects, or if I should continue self-studying with the app and other resources.

I’ve heard that PPL exams need to be sat through a flight school anyway, so I’m also wondering whether purchasing their ground school course is mandatory, or whether I can still do all my practical flight training with them while studying the theory independently.

Has anyone here gone down the self-study route for their PPL theory? Were there any issues getting signed off to sit the exams? I’d appreciate any advice, especially from UK pilots or instructors.

Thanks!

I’m 20 and currently working part time for the next 5 months. After that I’m planning to go travelling for around 3 months.

I’m really interested in starting my PPL (private pilot licence) so I can make a start on my journey of becoming an airline pilot, and I feel like waiting 8 months until I’m fully back might be too long.

My current idea is:

•Start PPL ground school now while working part time

•Do the theory exams alongside my job

•Then go travelling for 3 months

•Come back and start the practical flying hours afterwards

But I’m unsure if this is actually a good idea.

My concerns:

•Will I forget everything after 3 months travelling before I start flying?

•How much of the ground school theory actually carries over into flying?

•Would it be better to just wait and do everything continuously when I return?

Has anyone done ground school first and then paused before flight training? Or is it better to keep everything together so I don’t get rusty?

Any advice appreciated.

I’m 20 and currently working part time for the next 5 months. After that I’m planning to go travelling for around 3 months.

I’m really interested in starting my PPL (private pilot licence) so I can make a start on my journey of becoming an airline pilot, and I feel like waiting 8 months until I’m fully back might be too long.

My current idea is:

•Start PPL ground school now while working part time

•Do the theory exams alongside my job

•Then go travelling for 3 months

•Come back and start the practical flying hours afterwards

But I’m unsure if this is actually a good idea.

My concerns:

•Will I forget everything after 3 months travelling before I start flying?

•How much of the ground school theory actually carries over into flying?

•Would it be better to just wait and do everything continuously when I return?

Has anyone done ground school first and then paused before flight training? Or is it better to keep everything together so I don’t get rusty?

Any advice appreciated.

I’m 20 and currently working part time for the next 5 months. After that I’m planning to go travelling for around 3 months.

I’m really interested in starting my PPL (private pilot licence) so I can make a start on my journey of becoming an airline pilot, and I feel like waiting 8 months until I’m fully back might be too long.

My current idea is:

•Start PPL ground school now while working part time

•Do the theory exams alongside my job

•Then go travelling for 3 months

•Come back and start the practical flying hours afterwards

But I’m unsure if this is actually a good idea.

My concerns:

•Will I forget everything after 3 months travelling before I start flying?

•How much of the ground school theory actually carries over into flying?

•Would it be better to just wait and do everything continuously when I return?

Has anyone done ground school first and then paused before flight training? Or is it better to keep everything together so I don’t get rusty?

Any advice appreciated.

I’m planning a 3 month backpacking trip and wanted to know if this route makes sense or if I’m going to be wasting time/money travelling back on myself.

Current idea is:

Bangkok → North Thailand → Laos → Vietnam → South Thailand → Australia

I’d probably spend most of the trip in Thailand/Laos/Vietnam, then finish with a couple of weeks in Australia.

Main things I’m trying to balance are:

•cheapest/most efficient route

•avoiding unnecessary flights

•still doing the popular backpacker route/social hostels

•Does this route make sense or would you change the order completely?

I’m planning a 3 month backpacking trip and wanted to know if this route makes sense or if I’m going to be wasting time/money travelling back on myself.

Current idea is:

Bangkok → North Thailand → Laos → Vietnam → South Thailand → Australia

I’d probably spend most of the trip in Thailand/Laos/Vietnam, then finish with a couple of weeks in Australia.

Main things I’m trying to balance are:

•cheapest/most efficient route

•avoiding unnecessary flights

•still doing the popular backpacker route/social hostels

•Does this route make sense or would you change the order completely?

Hi everyone,

I’m 20 and a UK passport holder currently planning my route into becoming a commercial pilot, but I’m stuck on choosing which licence system to go with and would really appreciate some honest advice from people in the industry.

My long-term goal is to eventually move and work permanently in Europe (ideally somewhere like Spain/Portugal/Greece). I don’t currently have any EU right to work.

I’ve been researching both routes:

•UK CAA training pathway
•EASA training pathway

From what I understand:

•CAA seems to align more with UK airlines (Jet2, TUI, BA, etc.)

•EASA seems to align more with European airlines (Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet EU ops, etc.)

But I’m getting mixed advice online about whether an EASA licence would actually limit my options as a UK passport holder without EU work rights.

My main questions are:

1. Which route gives me the most flexibility long-term?

2. Is it realistic to start EASA training as a UK citizen and still build a career in Europe later?

3. Would I be limiting myself too much by not going CAA first?

4. How difficult is it actually to get into EU airlines as a UK passport holder?

My goal is to avoid spending £100k+ on training and ending up stuck in a limited job market.

Any advice from pilots or people in training would be massively appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I’m 20 years old from the UK and currently a student pilot. My long term goal is to eventually move out of the UK and live/work somewhere in Europe, ideally flying there in the future as well.

I’ve been looking into different ways of getting EU citizenship or residency rights and originally thought I might qualify through Ireland because of my ancestry. However, after researching it more, it seems like it only works if your parent or grandparent was born in Ireland, whereas in my case it was my great grandparents who were Irish citizens.

From what I’ve seen, that means I probably can’t claim Irish citizenship through descent, but I wanted to ask if there are any other possible routes people would recommend looking into.

For example:

• visas/residency routes that could eventually lead to citizenship

• countries that are easier for UK citizens to move to

• aviation-specific pathways

•studying or working abroad first

• anything related to ancestry that I might have missed

Would appreciate any advice from people who’ve gone through something similar.

I’m 20 from the UK and planning to start my PPL in Spain soon. Long term I know for a fact I want to live in either Australia or America permanently, so I’m trying to figure out the smartest route from the beginning instead of doing everything twice.

Originally I was thinking:
- Do full EASA training in Europe
- Build hours/get into an airline
- Convert to CASA later

But the more I think about it, the more I feel like once you’ve built seniority at an airline and settled somewhere, you probably don’t want to move countries and restart.

So now I’m wondering whether it’s smarter to:
- Do PPL in Spain first
- Then move into CASA training relatively early
- Build my entire career in Australia from the beginning

The thing I’m trying to balance is:
- avoiding conversion costs later
- not losing seniority later
- but also not making early-career hour building/job hunting harder than it needs to be

For people who’ve actually done this:
- Would you still recommend EASA first?
- Or if Australia is the end goal no matter what, would you commit to CASA earlier?
- How hard is it realistically getting that first flying job in Australia as a low-hour pilot?
- If you could restart your career knowing you wanted Australia long term, what would you do differently?

Would appreciate honest opinions from people already in the industry.