Integrated with 101 hrs?

[What to do?]

Evening all

Is it worth doing one with all these hours? I would prefer to, but don't want to have to do loads of hours at great £££.

Also, I hear about 'preferred schoold' (such as BA prefers etc), which are these in the UK. I know Oxford's going to be on the list, but who else?

cheers

[EGBKFLYER]

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone (I'm sure you will) but if you have a PPL already, any further training is modular by definition. Integrated courses just slot all the training together and candidates can leave applying for licences etc til the end of the whole course since integrated training had dispensation from some of the 'you must have x before commencing' type parts of the syllabus.

All FTOs doing training of the sort you want are 'approved', in that they all comply with CAA's CAP 682. Approved in the BA case merely means that BA has a preferred supplier arrangement. At present they seem to like Oxford but that could of course be altered in the future. Broadly speaking, the schools most often mentioned in this area are Cabair, Oxford and possibly CTC (though they facilitate triaining rather than owning a bunch of aircraft). There are several others who offer integrated courses - a search on this forum will reveal loads of info...

If you're thinking about integrated as a way of gaining an advantage in the job market, once again a search will reveal what appears to be a raging debate on this subject! Either way, best of luck.

[flystudent]

preferred schools...

In past few months BA have called for integrated students for selection from.

Oxford
Cabair
Jerez.

Though I understand there used to be 5, one in the US and not sure who the other was

FS

[and the chap said]

If your heart tells you to go integrated, even though you have a licence with hours, then maybe that's what you should do. The school can still give you dispensation on the hours you have

I had a similar debate back in the summer of 2001. I had 103hrs (bizarrely enough), but couldn't decide between integrated or modular. I talked it over with a lot of guys in the industry and most of them agreed that for me integrated should be the way to go. Not wishing to fuel the classic debate, but that was my take on it at the time.

So I went to a well-known school in Oxfordshire and did the integrated course. I realised, as you may, that there were heaps of guys/girls doing the same course that already have a ppl with hours. For me personally, it was the best decision I could have made and I would go down the same road, if I had to do it again.

I’m currently flying the B737 for a well-known British airline and love it. Also have just been offered an assessment with BA (never thought that would happen).

Hope you figure out what to do chap…

[First Officer Finch]

Id say much safer going modular, you could still go integrated but you'd probably feel silly going through stuff that you have done thousands of times. Plus modular can be done at your own pace. Also, its a load of bull that airlines prefer integrated students. Good luck!:ok:

[VFE]

Know a guy who went integrated with 160 hours PPL and quit the course, never to return to training because he couldn't handle the workload. Main problem was that he looked for complications in the ATPL ground that weren't there and screwed himself over time and time again. He got paranoid that he was losing the plot and walked.

Think very carefully.

My vote would be to go modular.

VFE.

[Send Clowns]

and the chap said

I would suggest that in 2001 there were many people in the industry who were not up-to-date with JAA, were still comparing the modular course to the old self-improver route. It is nothing like that, and most of the recruitment managment seem now to be with the programme, although a lot of line and even training pilots will still give advice based on a misconception. One of the Captains I know in a certain large airline with a recruiter who is still a little out of date has spoken to said recruiter's boss and I understand that someone is going to be rebriefed, and the insistence on integrated should be dropped.

So I cannot see any reason at all for choosing an integrated course. As an employee of a modular course provider I may seem biased, but the origin of my feelings in this debate was the integrated school that tried to sell me a completely inappropriate course without ever mentioning that I could try a cheaper route with them.

[VFE]

Most integrated schools are miles away from the efficiency of Bristol Groundschool. The ground is probably the toughest part for a number of reasons. Yes, the CPL and IR are tough in another way but the ground sucks and for this reason I would advocate all people wishing to pass the ATPL's going to BGS or suffer the consequences.

Unlike most on these pages, I have experienced both modular and integrated so am qualified to comment.

Go modular.

VFE.