If you live in Yorkshire and are looking for a flying school in Leeds, we would love to hear from you. Perhaps you want to book a trial flight, start your PPL training or maybe you just need a flying school for SEP renewal. We speak to Yorkshire Aviation Academy student Darren who tells us about his experience.
1. You recently booked some flying lessons in Leeds to complete your SEP renewal. Why did you choose Yorkshire Aviation Academy?
There are a couple of reasons, firstly the flying school’s location is perfect for anyone looking for flying lessons in Leeds area. It’s also great to fly out of a former RAF airfield which has lots of history. Another great reason is the facilities offered. Leeds East Airport, formerly RAF Church Fenton, has a long 1,800m asphalt runway and full lighting which offers year-round, all-weather training. The planes you can learn to fly in include a 4-seater Piper PA28 and the classic 2-seater Cessna 152. The airfield has also kept some original features including hangars, dispersal and the control tower. Yorkshire Aviation Academy offices operate out of the station HQ, very few flying schools can offer all of this.
2. Can you tell us about your experience at YAA?
I was looking for flying lessons near Leeds Bradford Airport and through some friends I heard about Yorkshire Aviation Academy at Leeds East Airport. It isn’t far from where I learned to fly years ago, so I got in touch and booked a couple of hours with one of the instructors.
I’ve had my Private Pilot’s Licence for years and even though it’s valid for life, the Single Engine Piston Rating (SEP) needs to be revalidated every two years. To keep this ‘current’ you must fly at least 12 hours in the last year before expiry, of which one hour must be with a flying instructor. Due to work commitments, I hadn’t been able to fly light aircraft as often as I’d like and therefore I wasn’t able to keep my PPL current so unfortunately, it had expired.
3. What exactly did you have to do to renew your SEP?
I booked a number of flying lessons and had to demonstrate my ability to fly safely and to a competent standard covering all the exercises within the PPL syllabus with experienced instructors. This included completing exercises such as: circuits, practice forced landings, stalls, general handling and a navigation sector. Once these requirements were achieved, a skills test was carried out with Tom who is one of the resident examiners. They are a great professional team and worked around my busy schedule and got me back flying light aircraft.
If you’re looking for flying lessons near Leeds Bradford Airport, click here to contact us today.
