Club Pilot Training Abroad
Every year, we offer advanced flying holidays for our students and ex-students. The main objectives being to improve your flying skills, but you must have some fun too.
In ALL cases, you will need approval from our CFI before you can join us (we must make sure it is suitable for your level of experience).
Important: you must have had your parachute inspected and re-packed by a qualified and Licensed BHPA Packer less than six months before your departure date. We also offer this service at ParAvion - click here.
Take a look at our Testimonials page to see what our past students have to say about our holidays and training courses. There are also lots of pictures of previous trips in our Gallery.
This year we will be running courses for 'Club Pilot' training at our new base near Montréjeau in the French Pyrenees. This wonderful old French house is huge and can accommodate up to eight guests, so a group of six works well with a couple of instructors.
A modern conversion has been made with the pilot in mind and it has a nice big 'chill out' area that doubles as a classroom. There is a large TV, dartboard, a pool table, a fridge full of beer and wine and lots of books and DVDs for you to read and watch.
The house also has a sauna room, a gym and a swimming pool and patio area for you to cool down after a hard day's flying. The garden is big enough to practice your forward launches from the top and land by the swimming pool.
The dates for our 2010 holidays so far are as follows:
Destination |
Dates |
Places Left |
| France & Spain | 2nd week in June - 5th to 12th | 1 |
| France & Spain | 3rd week in July - 17th to 24th* | 4 |
| France & Spain | 2nd week in Sept - 11th to 18th | 3 |
We will add more dates as demand dictates.
*This week will be better suited to the more experienced pilots looking for good thermalling and small XCs (although open to all pilots).
Costs
If you are on a ParAvion Club Pilot Course (and have four day's course credit), there will only be an additional charge of £295.00 per week for your accommodation and transport etc. (no single rooms are available; the price is based on room sharing). Breakfast will be included in the price, but not lunchtime snacks or evening meals.
If you are a qualified pilot or have no course credit, then the cost is £550.00 per week. If you're not sure about this pricing structure, please call us.
Each evening we will dine out in one of several of the wonderful local restaurants, but as the house has a large patio and BBQ facilities we can also have dinner in the garden as a change if you want to (we'll do this on at least one evening anyway).
Non-qualified pilots; These places will fill fast, so be sure to call or email us to reserve your place if you're interested in joining us. Places can only be held for a short time - only the purchase in advance of your training course and equipment plus the extra £295.00 will secure your place. See our Course Details & Prices page for full details.
Qualified pilots; A deposit of £250.00 will secure your place.
Payments
We'd prefer you to pay us by debit card (call us), cheque or cash in order to save on extortionate bank charges, but for those of you that really want to pay by credit card we must pass those costs on to you.**
If you'd like to join our Holiday Savings Club and pay us a little every month toward your holiday to spread the 'load' (say £50.00), please call for our account details to enable you to set up a standing order.
If you'd like to pay a little at a time 'here and there', but not arrange a standing order, you can use the 'payment' section below (or send several cheques), but you must pay your deposit first.
In all cases, the full balance must be paid at least eight weeks before the departure date.
**All payments using the following links will incur a surcharge of 10% to cover bank charges (call us to avoid them).
| Deposit | £250.00 deposit for each week booked |  |
| Payments | £50.00 increments (adjust quantity to suit) | |
Flight Details
We will arrange flight times etc. and let you know the details; you will then buy these yourself. Previously, they have been with easyJet and cost between £100.00 and £150.00 return from Bristol to Tolouse (the sooner you buy them the cheaper they'll be).
If you want to fly from another airport then you may, but the risk is yours. If you are delayed and can't meet with the rest of the group at the arranged pick-up time, you will have to arrange your own transport to the house which is a little over an hour away by taxi from the airport.
Travel Insurance
You will also need Travel Insurance (to cover accident, rescue, medical emergency and repatriation costs) - as you can see; there is a link to the left of this page to premiums designed for just this purpose.
The cost is £22.26 per week and for a small additional premium of £4.45 they will also cover your equipment to a basic value level of £1500.00. If you want additional cover that's not listed, just give them a call.
If you don't already have one you must also apply for a European Health Insurance Card - follow this link www.ehic.org
Course Content
Suitable for new or low airtime pilots looking for their first introduction to mountain flying. You will start with high top-to-bottom flights (typically 2,000ft increasing to 4,000ft). You will be introduced to thermal flying and mountain soaring.
We will be flying in the Pyrenees; mostly on the French side, but we may also cross the border into Spain to fly at the world famous Castejon de Sos (this will incur an additional overnight accommodation charge of around 25 Euros). This is all dependent on the weather of course; we can't guarantee we'll go there.
For those pilots with enough airtime, you will learn how to improve your thermalling skills, join up the dots and fly small XCs. By the end of the week, you should have been able to complete your BHPA Pilot tasks and we can arrange for you to take your exam when you return home. If you'd like to take it while you're in France, let us know in plenty of time and we'll take the paper with us.
Please print, complete and return to us the following forms with your deposit. Be sure to print the T&Cs on the back and make sure you complete ALL fields.
Click to download as a PDF:
Please note: All deposits are NON-REFUNDABLE unless ParAvion cancels the holiday. If this happens, you will be entitled to a full refund.
