r/flyingeurope

Dear r/flyingeuropa community!

I have been a follower and commenter in this subreddit for a while now. As I've passed an important milestone in my PPL(A) training recently, I thought it's a good time to do a post myself and share my thoughts and experiences. Perhaps it's helpful to someone or just stems a good exchange with fellow community members.

I signed a training contract with my local flight school (FFL in Essen/Mülheim EDLE) on 2nd of April. I am approaching the training next to my full-time job and to fulfil a life-long dream. Since then:

• ~2 months of online theory (CAT eLearning) followed by 10 hours in presence at my flight school
• Pre-test at my flight school across all 9 EASA PPL(A) theory modules
• Passed official theory exam for all modules mid-July
• First flight lesson early June, afterwards 4 sessions (3:30) in an FNPT II / ESIM as I am participating in a current EASA study researching to which extent simulator use can speed up the PPL(A) training (or make it cheaper)
• Intensified flight lessons from ~July with challenges to get sufficient FI availabilities during the summer/vacation period
• Took some BZF I lessons and passed my exam at the Bundesnetzagentur mid-September
• Full focus to flight lessons since I got my BZF I: Fortunately, managed to be declared solo ready after 10:19 in a Cessna 152 (+ 3:30 in ESIM as mentioned above)

I solo'ed last week Friday and it was just amazing - exactly 6 months after signing up. Had another pattern work flight lessons yesterday and did 7 landings, all well and smooth. Weather was kind with headwind on the runway.

Since I was ~12 years of age I have dreamt about getting into aviation. In recent years I got into flightsimming a bit, gathered ~400 hours in a virtual PA24 (Comanche) and am very happy that I've got through with minimum hours in the real-life training so far, incl. (very) good FI feedback. My flight school is changing FI's once in a while, I've worked with four so far.

If weather and FI availability permit, I'll hopefully finish my training by ~March 2027 and am already looking forward to my first trips. Local flights, gaining further confidence, short trips with my fiancée, with friends, and family. I am doing this for fun. I believe "recreational purposes" is the sophisticated term :-D

So far, I plan to get the NVFR rating in addition rather quickly. Everything else (BIR, MEP, ...) I did not really consider as relevant yet but I'll see what time and my desires bring when I've gathered at least 150-200 hours.

After getting my license, I plan to fly at least 35 hours a year by primarily chartering with my current flight school (C152II, C172M/S & PA28) - truly hoping that a few cheaper options will come up as I progress my training, meeting people etc. The big dream is to at some point spent a few weeks in the US and fly there as well. Hence, I went PPL(A) directly not considering a LAPL instead.

Happy to take any thoughts, questions, feedback :-) Perhaps there's also someone around the EDLE / Ruhrgebiet / Düsseldorf area with recommendations for good charter options?

Safe flights out there, everyone!

Is it possible to get into British Airways after ATPL training at Skyborne, or is that only reserved for the Speedbird Academy people?
And if not, how likely are you to get in after a couple of years at a different airline in the UK?

Hey, I’m currently doing my EASA PPL in Germany and I’m already looking a bit ahead at hour building afterwards.
I’m thinking about doing around 100–150 hours somewhere else in Europe, probably towards the end of the year. The idea would be to go somewhere for a few weeks and get a decent amount of flying done without paying German rental prices for all of it.
Has anyone here done something similar and can recommend a country or a specific flight school? I’m mainly interested in what you actually ended up paying, how good the aircraft availability was and how realistic it is to fly a lot within a relatively short period of time, especially during autumn/winter.
I’m also curious how this usually works when you show up with an EASA PPL from another country. Is it basically a checkout flight and then you can rent the aircraft, or is there more to it?
I’ve seen Spain, Portugal and parts of Eastern Europe mentioned quite a few times, but I’d be interested in actual experiences rather than just advertised hourly rates.
I’m not looking for the absolute cheapest aircraft in Europe if it means constantly waiting for availability. Mainly looking for something reasonably priced where I can reliably build a lot of PIC hours.

I want to take my class 1 medical soon. However, last night i was stopped and searched and they found less than half a gram of cannabis on me and gave me a community resolution.

are my chances over? im going to declare it on my class 1 submission form. im going to detox too and get private testing done to make sure i dont bring back a positive result

I live in a country where modular schools are mediocre. In short, you won’t get the right competencies.

I was looking to go a few months abroad to a good school to finish my CPLMEIR, but I got a full time job offered in corporate and since I’m broke af… I’m considering it.
I want to get flying full time asap, but a job while getting there is a huge help in stability.

The company offers working hybrid, which is a huge plus. Although I’m not sure if they would be okay if I work outside of the country, and starting when.. but law so far says it’s allowed.

The work contract would be only for 1 year, renewable. It’s not offering many vacation days, would be impossible to even get half way the CPL with only vacation days. And since you want to get it renewed, assume no vacation days.

Anyone here that did this: working full time and trained elsewhere? How did you do it? How much did you spend? How did you schedule it?
How did you manage things like travel costs, accommodation, etc efficiently?