newbie help - PPL training around Pretoria?

[justin.schoeman]

Hi Everybody. I am a newbie here. Just stumbled on the site while browsing, and the information available is excellent.

Anyway, I was hoping I could get some information/advice from forum members. A few colleagues and I would like to do our PPL (or maybe MPL), and then buy a plane in partnership. The only problem with PPL training, is most of the flight schools we have found are on the wrong side of PTA, and would require excessively long travel at rush hour to and from school.

Does anybody know of a good school easily accessible from Pretoria East?

Also, any advice on planes to look out for. Between all our requirements, we are looking for a site-seeing plane/tourer. Personally, I would like some long distance capability. 100kts+ cruise, and some decent range.

Thanks,
-justin

(Mr. Moderator - I am not sure if this correct forum. If there is a more applicable one, please can you move this post?)

[ZU-JVR]

Superb Flight Training at FAKH (Kitty Hawk). Chris Burger et al. PPL on Jabi's. If you can't get hold of their contact details, PM me & I'll send it.

JVR

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Hi Justin

As Fanki said - Welcome to the pleasure dome...

Couple issues, What you wanna do with it and budget. That will dictate what/where you gonna fly.

[justin.schoeman]

Well, hardly managed to get into my office yseterday. Thanks for all the replies. SFDT looks like a good option.

As to the aircraft, that is still debatable. Between all of us, there are so many requirements .

Personally, I would like a second hand 4 seater with high cruise speed, and long range. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like many of the Jabs/Dynaeros are available second hand...

The next best option is a decent 2 seater. It would be great if we could find something 250-350k, but that doesn't seem too likely? Unless we go for an older Cesna, but then operating costs are very high.

Decisions decisions! If anybody has any personal experience with planes along similar lines, please let me know!

Thanks,
Justin

[justin.schoeman]

Does anybody know anything about the Qualt R200? What is cabin space like? Does it have a higher MTOW as PPL, or is 450kg the airframe max? Any examples in the Pta/Jhb area?

Sorry for all the questions

-justin

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Does anybody know anything about the Qualt R200? What is cabin space like? Does it have a higher MTOW as PPL, or is 450kg the airframe max? Any examples in the Pta/Jhb area?

Sorry for all the questions

-justin

Motorglider? Try the guys at St Francios (sp?) They had one a while back for R330K.

PS
You need to be a bit more specific. We would all would like cheap fast 4 seat tourer...
Second hand J400 Jabi's can be had for just below R500K, but new R550 so not really worth it. Dynaeros are R700K+ new and are new on market so 2nd hands will be non existant (Think there only 1 reg's in SA anyway)....

Second hand 2 seater jab's are plentyfull, but 105kts is top end and if you a couple cr@ps behind and couple meals ahead it a tight fit. Check out the Sting for faster machine....

I finished similar exersize last year. It took 18 months and I finaly imported a RV4 from USA.

• My needs analysis - mission
  Budget R500K (unless C210 which could double as charter)
  I fly alone 95% of the time;
  I fly to unimproved strips;
  Speed - More the better;
  Weekly 400nm trip so min 400nm range;
  Cheaper maintenance rather than cheaper aquisition cost;
  Dual purpose flying. (Business tool, but must be fun to fly)
  Resale should I stop flying (Sure )

I looked at (and flew most) of the following;
LS1/NTSC

• RV(4,6,7 or 8 ) Budget dictated RV4
  Yak 18T
  Sting
  Jabi J400
  Samba
  Glasair III (huge bucks, but 230kts )
  Rutan Vari Eze
  Bush Baby
  Cubby
  Baby Mig
  Zenair
  Cheetah

Certifieds (this would double as charter or training aerie to offset initial cost over R500K)

• PA28 180 (Best value for money 4 seater in certified market)
  C210
  C182
  C177
  PA32-300T
  Seneca
  C310
  Gruman AA1A

PPS
Welcome to pm or email me and I will share experiences I had. Some very frustrating, some funny, but very steep learning curve.... Bottom line. Define mission 90+% of the time, then Budget and this will dictate what aerie you buy. I have big family who love to fly so 6 seater would have suited them, but I would use it maybe 20-30hrs a year for fam trips and balance would have 5 empty seats while still paying for them.

By way of eg
To date I have logged 110hrs in the RV at same cost as 32 hrs in C210 would have cost.

my 2c. Try to best match your mission and budget and you will get more use and thus enjoyment from it.

PPPS
Mine maybe a unique situation as I have access to or own a share in a couple of aeries accros the spectrum

[Ratman]

:D Hello Justin, - my 2cents worth- go and have a flip in a trike before you think about committing to any old blik aerie from the 70's. Chances are you will love it - and discover that each of you could probably own one - and still fly together! Happy hunting.

[justin.schoeman]

Whew, things got a bit mad for a while .

Thanks for all the feedback. Looking at all the replies, I can see that I will have to do a lot more research ...

Perhaps if I could better define the mission, someone could give me advice on what the best planes are to investigate.

1) New pilot, so not too many nasties (predictable stall / spin / etc.)
2) At least 2 seater, but 4 would be great.
3) Low/Reasonable maintenance.
4) Good cruising (speed 100kt+ and range 600nm+) (and not a trike )
5) Sufficient MTOW to be able to take a passenger and a full load of fuel
6) Rough field capability

If anybody has any suggestions of which planes are worth a look, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Justin

[Bozz]

Justin
There is a flying school at Aerosud (Swartkops Airforce base).
They train on 2 seater and 4 seater Jabirus. There are about 8 or 9 Jabi's there at any time. You could go there and try out on a Jabi. They will do an intro flight for you for say 30 mins or so.
The normal hourly rate on a two seater is R520/hour.
Their phone number is 012 - 651 4451

I have recently done my 3 axis conversion there from a trike and it was quite well run.