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I remember trying to get some hour building done near my parent’s house in north London. Before the local flying school would allow me to solo hire their aircraft, they insisted I complete 3 hours of dual training with their instructor at roughly £250/hr.
I was a qualified private pilot, and although I was still a relatively new low hour pilot, I still had a licence and would question the true intent of insisting I did 3 hours with their instructors.
Was it for me to be ‘safe’ or was it for the flying school to make more cash from me for the higher hourly rate with an instructor (typically £210–£280/hr in 2026 depending on aircraft and location) vs the solo hire rate (often £150–£200/hr)? A lot of the success and failure of modular pilot training depends on how you scope and plan your training.
You could be the most gifted pilot in the world, but pick a school where aircraft availability is low, you won’t progress. Equally, pick a school where you are overpaying, and your resources won’t go as far. In this blog post, I’ll share some of the easy mistakes that can be made during your modular pilot training that could cost you and even de-rail your flying training altogether!
Mistake #1: Paying over the odds for your trial flight when deciding on Modular Pilot Training
The first natural modular pilot training step when starting your modular training is to organise a trial flight. The trial flight is an opportunity for you to see if pilot training is for you, check out your local flying school and see if you have the aptitude for flying.
What many prospective people wanting trial flights do is book through companies that would normally offer adventure or car racing track days. Third-party voucher providers often mark these flights up significantly — sometimes £300–£450 — whereas booking a trial flight direct with your local flight school is typically £150–£250, saving you £100–£200.
Mistake #2: Picking a PPL school that is not suitable for you
Many factors go into selecting your school for your PPL flight training. Choose the wrong one, and you could find yourself getting very frustrated and having really slow progress. An example is your days off work fall on Monday and Tuesday: but your flying school has limited instructor cover during those days.
Another example is that the airfield is notorious for poor weather – the higher the airfield elevation, then generally, the worse the weather is.
You don’t want to be grounded for weeks on end because of consistent low cloud or winds outside of crosswind limits to allow you to progress your solo hours. This is one of the many pilot training problems you want to avoid.
Mistake #3: Completely underestimating the ATPL theory commitment.
I got up at 4 am every day for 8 months, to study ATPL theory before work. At 8, I would then go to work. At lunchtime, I would study for 30 mins on my lunch break. When I got home in the evening, I would then do another hour or so if I had the energy to.
I would then go to bed early and then repeat the process again the next day. At the weekend, I would pause my study and instead go to the airfield to progress my hour building. There are no shortcuts in how to pass your ATPL exams – you just have to put the work in. If you put the work and the hours in, you will eventually get through.
Mistake #4: Not developing the necessary skills for CPL during hour building
If you spend all your hour building flying within to the same airfield 30mins from your hour building base for a cup of tea, you will struggle during your CPL. Hour building is meant to build your captaincy and polish your basic skills ready for CPL pilot training.
An example is that during your CPL skills test, you are not allowed to use GPS navigation. The luxury of having readily available GPS on an iPad poses the real danger that at the start of your CPL course, your basic map, compass & dead reconning skills will not be at the level that they need to be!
Mistake #5: Not being selective in your choice of schools for CPL MEIR.
I totally subscribe to the fact that you move in the travel direction of the people you spend your time with. If you want to get rich, spend your time around millionaires and copy their behaviour.
If you want to be a professional pilot, spend your time around professional pilots or in an environment with a proven track record of creating professional pilots.
My Multi Engine Instrument Rating (MEIR) instructor was incredible and had an amazing track record in that every one of his past students eventually flew jets. Flying a jet is not the be-all and end-all, but if you want to become an airline pilot, I’d say that a good place to start is spending time with a flying instructor whose students all fly jets.
When picking your flying school for your professional pilot training, you want to ask what past students have done. I did the Competency-based instrument rating on a part-time basis with a flying school in Leeds.
I had my issues during my instrument rating course, but my instructor did very an excellent job in arming me with the necessary instrument flying skills to eventually pass airline assessments. During my CPL course at Westair in Blackpool, airline pilots flew recreationally from there, and some of the instructors were current airline pilots.
I genuinely believe that I found the best UK modular flight school for my specific circumstances and requirements. Research thoroughly and find the best school for you. Remember, the most expensive is not necessarily the best.
Mistake #6: Starting pilot training without enough money or borrowing excessively
However you fund your pilot training, you need to be in a position to progress your modular pilot training at a sensible pace. You do not want to be midway through your MEIR and find that you run out of money.
The CPL IR MEP cost is very expensive so it may be worth budgeting contingency money in case you overspend for whatever reason (re-test, extra training required etc).
Stopping mid-way through your MEIR for example, due to money issues will set you back and the pause in your flying will mean that you need to re-learn most of the course once you return to flying. You do not want to complete the advanced stages of your pilot training ‘slowly’.
There is the flip side of the dangers associated with getting big pilot training loans. Getting into financial difficulties can completely ruin the enjoyment of flying, and your life for that matter. Think carefully about borrowing to fund your pilot training – even in a strong hiring market, large training loans can put real pressure on early career life, where your first First Officer salary still has to cover rent, type-rating bond repayments and living costs away from base.
Mistake #7: Not thinking carefully about which route you take (modular vs integrated)
Whilst I am a big advocate for modular pilot training, modular pilot training does not always work for everybody. I have met people who have said they could never imagine having to complete their ATPL exams and progress their flight training alongside a full-time job.
There are many different paths to get to your final destination, so pick the most suitable one. The 2026 hiring market is generally favourable for both routes — easyJet now runs a Low Hour Modular stream, British Airways’ Speedbird Pilot Academy offers a funded integrated path, and Wizz Air and Ryanair continue to recruit modular pilots through their cadet and direct-entry First Officer schemes.
Pick the route that fits your finances, your discipline, and how you learn best — not the one that sounds more prestigious. A structured, full-time integrated ATPL programme can be the right call for some people; for others (including me), the modular route works better.
Mistake #8: Penny pinching on your multi-crew course
Do the highest level of MCC course you can afford, ideally APS MCC. MCC forms the bridge between pilot training and airline flying. With UK and European airlines hiring strongly again, you want to arrive at the assessment stage as polished as possible.
You don’t want to throw away all your hard work at the final hurdle and find that you are underprepared for airline assessments because of a weak MCC course.
You only get one real opportunity with each company when airlines recruit, so try and position to be in the best shape possible for airline assessments. MCC courses play a key role in this aspect. I would even go a step further and say that without my APS MCC, I would never have got an airline job.
Mistake #9:Thinking that MCC marks the end of pilot training
After flight training, you need to keep your skills sharp and current while you go through the application and assessment cycle with airlines. This is expensive and a big advantage at this stage of the game is to be in employment to fund your flying to keep current.
Most people do not realise how expensive airline assessments can be once you add it all up. The airline assessment fee itself is often £300–£600 depending on the company, and on top of that you have simulator prep, travel and (frequently) a hotel — easily another £400–£600. Budget around £1,000 per attempt as a working figure, and check the airline’s current published fees before applying.
You will also then have simulator prep expenses to brush up prior to your sim check rides. This is on top of transport and hotel accommodation during the assessment process. You give yourself a massive advantage in airline jobs if you are working and can pay to get yourself into the best possible position for your assessments.
If interested in learning more about Modular Pilot Training, check out my pilot training guide on Amazon.
I would love to hear from you if you have any questions on modular pilot training or if I have missed anything. Please leave a comment in the section below.
Kudzi Chikohora is a B737 Captain and Line Training Captain (LTC) with over 5,000 hours of flying in Europe. He is also a qualified Type Rating Instructor (TRI). He holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, is a chartered engineer, and is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Kudzi completed his pilot training via the self-funded modular route and created kcthepilot.com to share honest, experience-based guidance on pilot training and aviation.
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