PPL in Auckland

[mrcarl79]

Hey,

My first post here, not sim related although I am an enthusiast of X-Plane. Basically I have come over from the UK a year ago and now ready to start my dream of studying for my PPL.

I have been to a number of clubs / airfields to get a feel for what is around. North shore aero club, Auckland aero club and a few others at Ardmore. So far from my initial chats etc my preference seems to be the Auckland aero club, I'm not looking for the cheapest just a good professional club with a social aspect as well.

They (AAC) use the newer Cessna 162's to train with, although I expect I can also train with other aircraft so I'm not just used to the 162's modern layout. Also they are based at Ardmore, which from what I can tell is a very busy airfield which I guess comes with pro's and con's.

Just wondered if anyone here had any opinions? prior experience? thoughts?

Thanks!!

[FlyingKiwi]

I'm an instructor at Auckland Aero Club so you can guess who I'm going to try and sell to you. You've definitely done the right thing in visiting lots of different places - everywhere will try to sell you why they're better than everyone else, so ultimately it's down to who you think is right for you.

Unless you're planning on doing the full PPL, CPL, MEIR, Instructor Rating sequence I would tend to avoid the flying schools purely because they're understandably less interested in people who are only wanting to fly recreationally (less money for them!) and to use a terrible cliche you do tend to be "just a number". One of the big attractions of the aero clubs is that they have a strong social scene, we do about two club trips per month at AAC where we'll fly to various places of interest around the country and they're usually very well attended and lots of fun. Also, by being a member of any aero club (apart from, for some reason, North Shore) you automatically have membership rights for all the other RNZAC clubs in New Zealand, so for example if you're a current Auckland Aero Club member and you go down to Queenstown for a holiday you can get members rates on the Wakatipu Aero Club aircraft.

The one thing I can assure you wholeheartedly about Auckland Aero Club is we really try and involve our students in all the club activities - there isn't a "old boys society" type scenario where if you're the new guy you get left out of all the events, our most recent club trip last weekend had pilots ranging from people who've been flying with the aero club for 25 years or more down to a couple of students who've not yet done their first solos and have only been flying with us for a few months.

That's my sales pitch, I'm sure you heard a similar thing when you were at the club!

[mrcarl79]

QUOTE (FlyingKiwi @ Jul 23 2012,12:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm an instructor at Auckland Aero Club so you can guess who I'm going to try and sell to you. You've definitely done the right thing in visiting lots of different places - everywhere will try to sell you why they're better than everyone else, so ultimately it's down to who you think is right for you.

Unless you're planning on doing the full PPL, CPL, MEIR, Instructor Rating sequence I would tend to avoid the flying schools purely because they're understandably less interested in people who are only wanting to fly recreationally (less money for them!) and to use a terrible cliche you do tend to be "just a number". One of the big attractions of the aero clubs is that they have a strong social scene, we do about two club trips per month at AAC where we'll fly to various places of interest around the country and they're usually very well attended and lots of fun. Also, by being a member of any aero club (apart from, for some reason, North Shore) you automatically have membership rights for all the other RNZAC clubs in New Zealand, so for example if you're a current Auckland Aero Club member and you go down to Queenstown for a holiday you can get members rates on the Wakatipu Aero Club aircraft.

The one thing I can assure you wholeheartedly about Auckland Aero Club is we really try and involve our students in all the club activities - there isn't a "old boys society" type scenario where if you're the new guy you get left out of all the events, our most recent club trip last weekend had pilots ranging from people who've been flying with the aero club for 25 years or more down to a couple of students who've not yet done their first solos and have only been flying with us for a few months.

That's my sales pitch, I'm sure you heard a similar thing when you were at the club!

Hi, Thanks for the post, nice to hear from another instructor from Auckland Aero Club. Yeah I tend to go with my initial gut instinct on things like this and do like to head out to a few places to show my face, and what you have said just enforced the impression I got yesterday when I popped in for a chat. So it does so far feel a good place for me to train, especially as the trips/social side of things sounds spot on and important to me being quite a newcomer to NZ Felt very welcomed yesterday as well on what was quite a miserable rainy day!!. I have a few more questions I will most likely email though this week at some point, and hopefully you will see me in a plane soon!! Carl