Hi,
I’d like to hear about your experiences of renting aircraft in Madrid’s GA airport Cuatro Vientos (LECU). I hold an EASA PPL(A) license with Danish and English radio certificates and I’ve previously had a few training flights with an instructor from Club de Vuelo TAS. I love the area – especially the mountainous area not far from the airport. My wife is from Madrid and I would like to take a flight once in a while around the area to the west of Madrid whenever we visit our family there. 😃
Unfortunately, Club de Vuelo TAS is quite bureaucratic and has a lengthy process for being checked out on their fleet (which consists of a range of Piper 28 planes that I have a lot of experience in). Do you know of any alternative flight school or operator where you can rent aircraft (preferably PA28 or C172) with minimal assessment prior to solo flight?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best regards,
Sebastian
I used to fly with TAS a long time ago. My last flight there was probably around 4/5 years ago at least, so probably things have changed, but it was the easiest and more relaxed option in LECU back then. There is a very good club with good aircrafts (no Piper in the fleet), AERIS, but to be honest I’m not sure that it would fulfil your requirement of ‘minimal assessment prior to solo flight’. In fact, if your intention is to fly just from time to time, I’d say you’ll be required to do a checkout flight every time in almost every school/club.
Other option could be Lecu Aviation. I have no first hand experience with them, but the rest of options are mainly CPL schools where renting, if possible, is going to be more bureaucratic than TAS. In general, they don’t have any interest in renting.
Not specific to LECU, but a general observation. If you visit an area as a one-off or very rarely, it is usually easier and more cost effective to fly with an instructor. This sometimes also opens doors to local flying with other pilots.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I’m a little puzzled why so many flight clubs require checkouts. My own club (Roskilde Flying Club in Denmark) does not require checkouts for experienced pilots with knowledge of the local airport so I originally thought that other flying clubs around Europe were operating a similar type of policy.
I really like Club de Vuelo TAS and have had multiple great flights with one of their instructors (Guillermo) in both EC-IJV (PA-28-161) and EC-IRJ (PA-28-181). Though, in order to fly solo, TAS requires some additional ground school in addition to checkouts by two separate instructors. This checkout expires if you do not fly in one of the club’s aircraft for three months – even if you maintain your currency on the same type of aircraft in another flying club. I obviously respect every club’s right to set its own rules but this particular requirement is rather strict and does not contribute to a higher degree of safety in my opinion. I regularly fly in Pipers as my local club owns a fleet of these, which are very similar (and some even identical) to the ones TAS operates.
I think I will reach out to LECU Aviation – it sounds like they operate a more reasonable policy. I’ll let you know what they say. 😃
Hi sbrandes and welcome. The truth is not only are most club presidents/manager terrified of people trashing their aircraft (rightly so, most renters have very poor currency) or making havoc at the airport/its surroundings. They also often like the income from a few more hours, particularly if the can also bill instructor hours. Many are not interested in renters who just come one-off for a couple of hours. The risk/revenue relation isn‘t good.
A bit of ground school at an unfamiliar place I normally don‘t mind. But dual checkouts (for a basic aircraft) is just money-making and I agree that one then has to say „no“.
I totally agree with you in that in some cases, (e.g. someone experienced that flies frequently and stays current, even if is other places) it makes no much sense to ask for a checkout each time he comes back. Unfortunately, at least in Spain, it’s difficult (impossible?) to find a club/school that is happy with that and doesn’t require a re-check. But I would say that in small ‘clubs’, basically one person renting his airplane(s), what counts is the personal confidence that the guy can have in you. So you can try.
If you don’t mind driving up to LEMT instead of flying from LECU, you have another option on the same lines as Lecu Aviation. Look at Air Team
What you mention about TAS is clearly not the way they managed it in the past. I know they’ve had several bad experiences in the recent past and seems they’re trying to avoid that from happening again (probably not in the most effective way, I would say)
