You have wanted to fly for thirty years. You've been putting it off. Now just give it a week.
Preflight is a concierge service for midlife professionals who have always meant to fly and never quite worked out how, or found the time to put it all together. I find the school and book the week. All you have to do is turn up and fly.
Most people who never learn to fly can afford it
What stops them is the deciding. Which country, which school, which licence, and what it actually costs once you add everything up. It is a small research project with an expensive wrong answer, and most people never finish it.
I did that research for myself at 51, and then published most of it here as part of Magenta Debrief. Preflight is the same work that I'll do for you so you can just get going. You just need to show up.
Tell me what you are trying to decide
A country you fancy, or the licence question you have been circling for years and never quite asked anyone.
I do the work
I read the school's own rates and find an instructor, then work out the season and a hotel near the airfield. Maybe you're after a full certification. Maybe you just want a few hours in the air. I'll do the legwork.
You choose how far to go
Some people want a call and a written plan to act on themselves. Some want the week arranged. A few want me there (a friend always helps in that moment when you start to doubt yourself — yes, we've all been there!). All three are on the price list.
I was the oldest student in the room
I got my pilot's certificate at 51 in Australia. It took me close to 40 hours, about double what a 20-year-old needs, and there is a small sting in saying that out loud.
I went in assuming I would be immune to the stress of an instructor's critique, and to the frustration of not memorising sequences quickly enough. I was wrong. There were weeks I felt defeated and could not remember why I had started.
An instructor explained it to me in one line, and it changed how I learned: more repetition, more of the why behind each thing, and a lot more patience with myself.
I also had a job, a family and a life that did not pause for any of it. Nobody warns you about that part, and it is the part I can actually help with.
When I was stalling on whether to start at all, my wife's advice was better than anything I have read since. Just do it already.
The long version of all this is a guide I wrote: Flying in midlife: how to become a pilot in your 40s, 50s and beyond.
Jabiru J160C, Murray Bridge, South Australia. Taught by Recreational Pilots Academy and Aeroviation.
Where you can go
These are the schools and clubs I have information on, read from their own published pages. I know some of them well, and a few only from the outside.
What I can and cannot tell you. Where I have only read about a school rather than stood in it, I say so before you commit. I also tell you which questions to put to them yourself. Telling you which is which is most of what you are paying me for.
Three ways in
All three start from the same research. The difference is how much of it I do, and whether I am standing next to you.
Ninety minutes on the phone, then a written summary: which country suits you, which schools to shortlist, and what it really costs.
Everything in the call, plus the week built around your dates. I book the school and the instructor, find a room near the airfield, and make the introductions.
Everything above, and I come with you. I am on the airfield every day, and I am the person you can ask the question you think is stupid.
These are my fees only. Flight school, airline and hotel are always paid by you, direct, at cost. Nothing is marked up, and most importantly, no school pays me a commission. You're my customer.
What the full week costs
| Preflight fee — one week, one person | from US$3,000 |
| Covers my time, my own flights and my hotel, so nothing is added later | |
| Flight school — about 10 hours dual, briefings, landing fees | est. US$1,200–2,000 |
| Your flights and hotel, both at cost | est. US$800–1,500 |
| Total for the week | roughly US$5,000–6,500 |
School fees are lower in Malaysia and the Philippines and higher in Australia. I quote the school's own published rate, and you pay them directly.
Questions people ask
Do I need a medical?
Not for the flying on this trip, unless you're thinking of getting a Private Pilot's License, which is a whole different commitment. Think of Preflight as an appetizer to see if flying is for you. The Philippines wants a Class 2 medical before it issues a student pilot license, and I'll tell you before you book wherever else a school insists on one.
Can my partner come?
Yes, and it usually works better when they do. They can take the back seat on the flights that allow it (four-seater aircraft, like the Cessna C172), and there is a week of other things to do while you are in the circuit.
What if the weather is bad?
Then we fly later in the week, or we drive somewhere the weather is better. You are paying me for my time, and I am not going to spend it sitting at an airfield watching cloud. We can also set up classroom sessions, if that's your thing.
What if I hate it?
Then you have had a good week somewhere interesting and saved yourself fifteen thousand dollars and two years. That's the point.
What if I only want advice?
Then buy the call. It is US$800, it comes with a written report with all your options, and there is nothing else to sign up for.
Tell me where you have always wanted to fly
One email, one call, no forms. I will tell you honestly whether I think it is worth your money.
alan@magentadebrief.com