Group flying opportunities & questions
#1663874
Hi all,

I'm a newly qualified PPL who trained at Elstree (done about ten hours as PIC since qualifying). I have since moved to Edinburgh and am looking to buy a share in an aircraft to bring down the cost of flying. The cheapest rental options around here seem to be £150/hour or more.

Does anyone know of anything available? Main requirements/preferences:

- Fife Airfield would be best but open to Cumbernauld etc

- Would like something fairly simple since I'm still inexperienced. I think something like a taildragger is not the sensible way to go for now

- Two to four seats. I'll occasionally want to take more than one passenger but if a two seater is cheaper then I could use the savings to rent a four seater when required

- Low monthly/hourly rates. I'm happy to put in a reasonable amount of equity (probably up to £10k or so, depending on the plane, but obviously lower is better)

- Reasonable availability but doesn't need to be amazing. I'd be happy to share with 5-10 members I think since I can be quite flexible on availability. However, I'd appreciate a group that allowed me to take the place away for a few days from time-to-time.

Thanks
#1663887
I’m not based in that part of Scotland but if you are on Facebook there is a group called Scottish Pilots & ATCOs I could add you to. There was also someone looking for a partner at Cumbernauld a few posts below yours for a Pulsar. There is currently an advert on AFORS.com for shares in a PA28 Archer ll also based at Cumbernauld.
#1663893
Thanks, just sent a request to join that Facebook group.

I saw that post for a Cumbernauld partner but felt moving to a taildragger might be a bit ambitious now and I should probably build up more hours first. I'll probably drop a message in there anyway, just in case things change.

Thanks for pointing out the PA28 ad in Cumbernauld. It's definitely an option although the hourly rate is a bit higher than I'd really be looking for – it looks like a slightly more powerful plane that would be well suited to carrying 3-4 people regularly.

I also noticed this advert for a DA20 in Fife which could work: https://afors.com/aircraftView/44717. However, my concern is that the DA20 is pretty underpowered with an 80hp engine and also the hourly rates are surprisingly high given the engine. Compare to something like the following example which has a slightly more capable plane at a substantially lower hourly rate (and a bit higher monthly but fewer members): https://afors.com/aircraftView/41994. I could be missing something though.
#1663910
pierceglennie wrote:
I also noticed this advert for a DA20 in Fife which could work: https://afors.com/aircraftView/44717. However, my concern is that the DA20 is pretty underpowered with an 80hp engine and also the hourly rates are surprisingly high given the engine. Compare to something like the following example which has a slightly more capable plane at a substantially lower hourly rate (and a bit higher monthly but fewer members): https://afors.com/aircraftView/41994. I could be missing something though.



I was talking to someone about that aircraft (DA20), it's an EASA CofA, hence the cost structure.

Sportscruisers are usually Permit to Fly (although the one in that ad was EASA Permit) so much more economical to operate.

Andy
#1663933
I've just recently joined a syndicate based at Fife Airport, in an LAA Permit to Fly nose-wheel Eurofox.

We pay £75 per month and £30 per flying hour (including fuel), so this potentially is more up your street in terms of cost. The engine is a Rotax 912 and we use Mogas.

I'm also a new PPL, with around 58 hours and there is another recent PPL member with around 80 hours. We are currently a group of 6.

The equity share works slightly different to a traditional syndicate, but if you are interested, I'd be happy to point you in the direction of the correct person in the syndicate for more discussions.


Adam