Having tried very hard (and largely failed) not to get over-excited and start looking into flight schools, training and even potential pilot positions way down the line, I was now in a position to up the rate of research and the first step was to choose a flight school. I live in East London, so to do it with as little travelling as possible, it really needed to be Clacton (where I’d done a test flight previously), Southend, Biggin Hill or Stapleford Abbotts. Looking at the websites and prices as well as the feedback on PPRuNe, I chose Stapleford. It also had the advantage of being very close to my parents place (15 mins), and in an area where I had grown up, so was familiar with some of the aerial sites I might see which I felt would help when we came to the navigation sections.
The airfield itself, has 3 runways (04/22 L/R (part paved, part grass), and 10/28 (grass)) and has a decent clubhouse, an aviation supplies shop, a VOR, and a well equipped flying school (approx 15 training a/c).
I booked my CAA Class 1 medical for 30th May as I am going on holiday from Gatwick that day so thought I’d save myself a separate journey. The Class 1 medical is a bit more expensive but is really a 2 in 1 – upon passing you have a Class 1 medical for 1 year, and a Class 2 medical for 5 years; more importantly it also tells you if you are going to be able to pass the Class 1 before you start paying for commercial lessons etc.
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