Best modular ab-initio course to ATPL standard

[ask26]

I'm aware that you have the more expensive integrated courses for about £60k. However I was wondering whether there are any recommendations for a modular route but going through one school, that way when applying for jobs they can see some continuity in the different modules, ideally not spending more than about 35k, including the MCC maybe JOC in that.

There are quite a few around but I've heard some good things about Riverside, the OAT professional package but not much more.

Did others who got qualified go mainly through one school and if so, which? It would really help me out.

[Send Clowns]

There are not that many. We do one (BCFT), Cabair do, Multiflight sort of do one, although I believe they still subcontract the groundschool, and I think there is one in Coventry. Obviously any opinion I give could not be taken to be objective, but if you want any details feel free to send me a PM.

However don't rely on opinion here - anyone you talk to will have only seen one school, and may not be who they seem. Visit the places, talk to the current students. You need to fnd somewhere you like. Above all NEVER PAY UP FRONT FOR FLYING. You should be able to pay after you fly. I know people who have lost £20,000 paying up front. I lost some £2,400 - unfortunately that small section has to be paid upfront, and my timing was bad.

Good luck!

[ask26]

anyone else? or are there only these 4 or so....

[vee-en-ee]

Flightpass at Exeter will definitely do one for you, although they contract out some of the groundschool.

They also have good connections for RHS CPL work after the modular courses and airline connections I believe.

[WX Man]

Did BCFT for most of my training, they do modular "integrated stylee" type training. Certainly, from my experience, I can recommend them.

Send Clowns, he speak truth.

[ask26]

In different threads you mentioned that you did most of your course at BCFT, what elements did you to at Tulsa and was that part of Riverside or still BCFT?

Is the airspce similar to UK or did you need some adjustment when coming back?

[WX Man]

I was very lucky with the vast majority of my training.

After doing PPL, IMC and ME at Britannia Flight Centre in Bartow/Winter Haven, I did a PPL/IR groundschool with PPSC (under the guidance of the superb Roger Henshaw, who now heads up GTS in Bournemouth).

I never did the IR flight training, and instead went on to do ATPL groundschool many years later at BCFT. Apart from a few issues I had with some of the manuals (no school is perfect), I got on very well with the training and ended up with 1st time passes in all subjects, and an average of 95%.

Because I had already done an IMC, and had about 30-40 hours of IMC and ME time already, I reckoned that I should be able to get a credit on an IR course (otherwise 55 hours). No such luck mate, unless you've got a foreign IR to convert.

SO... I looked at getting a foreign IR, and then converting it, as a way of saving money. Because the FAA gave me credit on the IF and ME time I already had, I was able to basically do 'training as required' for an FAA IR.

HOWEVER... you can't add an FAA IR onto a single engine FAA Private (which I had), so I needed to take the FAA Multi Engine test (and therefore have a FAA ME licence) before I took the FAA ME IR flight test.

With me so far?

It was always my intention to do my IR with BCFT, so I chose a school where I could do an FAA IR at that would allow me to use the same aircraft as BCFT. I chose Riverside, and this turned out to be a very good decision.

I ended up doing a FAA CPL there as well, because the flight tests for the Private and Commercial Multi Engine are basically the same (except to tighter tolerances). The FAA CPL would then allow me to do 'training as required' when I went on to the CPL, thereby saving me MORE money.

So at Riverside, I did the FAA CPL and IR on the BE76. I converted the IR at BCFT, also on the BE76.

Adapting to UK airspace wasn't easy, but I was lucky enough to have a very good instructor for the JAA IR.

I did, however, go over-budget on the IR, and needed to cut back when I did the CPL. So I elected to do the CPL back in the USA at NAC for reasons of my own. This decision was one that I was repeatedly advised against, and one that I now regret.

I needed to get an MCC done pronto on my return, and I again turned to BCFT. However, there were no other students doing MCC at that time, and I had to do it elsewhere. I did my MCC at Oxford, and this was pretty damn good.

However good the training was, it still didn't land me a job, so I ended up doing an FIC earlier this year at East Midlands Flying School. Again, top quality training from Alan Cooper there and I secured a FI job almost immediately. A few months instructing, and I had over 700 hours. At which point, I was offered a job as Chief Pilot for my current employer.

Now that EVERYONE who has ever met me knows who WX Man is (who didn't before?!), I've got nowt to hide.

And your other question: conversion to UK airspace.

This was not easy. Although the training at Riverside was top quality, and Yuri (CFI) doesn't take any sh*t from his instructors, conversion to UK airspace is still a challenge. The biggest difference is in the test, because it involves going in and out of controlled airspace and filing a flight plan to reflect that. That's what I found most difficult (and it is, in fact, relatively simple compared to everything else on the IR test).

Sorry not to be brief, but I've got my reasons for making my choices- and hey, you did ask :ok:

[Examiner]

Send me a personal mail and I may be able to help you

[-IBLB-]

originally posted by WX Man
HOWEVER... you can't add an FAA IR onto a single engine FAA Private

:confused:

[WX Man]

What I mean is that you need a Multi Engine FAA CPL or PPL to add a Multi Engine IR.

If you start with a single engine PPL or CPL, you can do the Multi Engine rating and it will have an Instrument section to it. So you will end up with a MEIR.

Hope that makes it clear...

If I am wrong, someone please correct me!

[Charlie Zulu]

Hi WX Man,

The route I took to gain an FAA CPL/IR SE ME was:

FAA PPL - based on my CAA PPL.
FAA IR - Single Engine Only.
FAA CPL - Single Engine Checkride.

Then I went back to Florida a year later to add:

FAA ME which included an IR portion to allow my FAA IR to be used on ME aircraft. The FAA ME chekcride was to CPL standards as I had an FAA CPL SE already.

Incidentially if you have an FAA PPL/IR SE ME then if you upgrade your FAA PPL to an FAA CPL then you will need to do two checkrides. One for the SE and one of the ME. Ie, if you upgrade one then the other doesn't automatically get upgraded like it does in JAA land. I could be wrong though, but this is how I understand the FARs...

Best wishes,

Charlie Zulu.

[Nice flaps]

I did my CPL and IR with Flightpass at Exeter. They provide modular courses from ab-initio all the way through. Don't know about the groundschool as I did mine independently through Bristol before going there. For various personal reasons I have flown with a number of different schools in differing parts of the world, including the US, and the service I received at Flightpass, including the expertise of the instructors, was superior to anything else I experienced. And I got a job 3 months after completing with them, although I did have a slightly higher experience level than most fresh fATPLers.
Overall my training set me back just under 30 grand, although that did include a fair amount of hour building overseas. With modular training, you will pay a massive amount less for a far more personal service. Good luck
NF

[-IBLB-]

Charlie Zulu posted:
...

Then I went back to Florida a year later to add:

FAA ME which included an IR portion to allow my FAA IR to be used on ME aircraft. The FAA ME chekcride was to CPL standards as I had an FAA CPL SE already.

Incidentially if you have an FAA PPL/IR SE ME then if you upgrade your FAA PPL to an FAA CPL then you will need to do two checkrides. One for the SE and one of the ME. Ie, if you upgrade one then the other doesn't automatically get upgraded like it does in JAA land. I could be wrong though, but this is how I understand the FARs...

second part: You are correct.
and for the first part: i remember, i trained you :D

-iblb-