INTEREST-free loans and other forms of finance are being made available for private pilots for PPL training and associated ratings.

Cabair flying schools, based around London's M25, and Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance have developed the finance packages. They are an attempt to draw new blood into General Aviation, and thought to be the first time such a scheme has been available to private pilots. Similar schemes exist for student commercial pilots.

Career Development Loans from the government are available for Commercial Pilot Licence courses which have recently started at Tayside Aviation. The Instructor Advancement Programme, led by Commercial CFI Captain John Stewart, will take candidates through from PPL to CPL with the emphasis on building quality experience "rather than hour-building for the sake of it". The 4-week, 25 flying hour CPL course costs £4755 to complete.

Tayside, with bases at Fife and Dundee, is approved for Career Development Loans to assist with funding up to £8000. For more information, visit: www.lsc.gov.uk or contact Tayside on 01592 753792.
In a final piece of training news, CTC has bought eight Diamond DA42 Twin Stars for its 'Wings' airline pilot course. The aircraft will be based at CTC's bases at Bournemouth and Hamilton, New Zealand airports.
W: www.cabair.com
W: www.taysideaviation.co.uk
W: www.ctcaviation.com