Instructor Rating in Spain

[MOTHERGOOSE]

Hi,
Am trying to get an Instructor Rating ASAP but alot of the schools are busy till about late Jan, My Question is if i did one in spain, how would that affect my job prospects here in the UK,
Thanks in advance


Goose.

[porridge]

When in Rome do as the Romans do. So if you want to instruct in the UK I'd suggest you do your Instructor rating locally. Preferably go to a school who may want your services and ask them to suggest with whom to do your course.

[BEagle]

Quite so, porridge.

Someone after an instructing job sent me a CV. Pretty well all his flying had been in the USA (PPL, CPL, JAR-FCL FI Rating) and he would therefore have had virtually no practical knowledge of UK airspace, weather, rules and procedures etc whatsoever.

He wasn't even offered an interview.

[MOTHERGOOSE]

porridge,BEagle

Thanks for the reply, and point taken i do see what you mean , as for me i have done all my training in the uk,suppose just wanted to get the rating and try and secure some work before to long , schools are busy but i can wait thanks for the replies though.

Goose.

[Whopity]

The FI(R)course takes 4/5 weeks to cover the 30 hours flying and 125 hours groundschool.

I am told it can be done in 2/3 weeks in Spain! I wonder HOW!

[Tubbs]

If you can complete the course in 3 weeks in Spain at half the price and get a job in the UK then surely it's a no-brainer. I did.

[LEVC]

it took me 1 month , 2 and a half weeks ground school full time, and then 1 and a half week for the flying and test with the examiner.

But that is only at one given school in spain, does not apply to all spanish schools

[MOTHERGOOSE]

Thanks Guys

I see its a mixed reaction as to the merits of either doing it here or in spain, am glad some off you that have done it in spain have gained employment back here, it does seem value for dosh and time, might just dip in and have it done with.
Thanks for the replies.

Goose.
ps

For those that did it in spain, any schools in particular you would recommend.

[DFC]

BEagle,

Spain is not the other side of the Atlantic. Your attitude to European pilots flying in the UK only make the case for quicker EASA and Single Sky movement.

Unfortunately our industry is full of protectionists like the ones who advertise pilot positions where anyone with the right to work in the EU can apply (as they are legally required to do) but all applicants must hold a currect UK driving licence! Not many Spanish nationals would be UK driving licence holders for example!

Do your rating where ever you like in Europe and you will get a job cause most places I have come across don't ask where you got your rating - just the few protectionisis have a problem.

Regards,

DFC

[152wiseguy]

someone sent beagle a cv?? :}

[BEagle]

What's that supposed to mean?

Of the several CVs I've received from people wanting to instruct, the 'American' one I described above was the only one which didn't get an interview offer.

Another chap was due to come for aninterview, but failed to turn up and didn't even apologise. He asked again later; by then he'd had his chance.

[unfazed]

Beagle - didn't you send a reply saying "Have a nice day"

Sounds like you have a prejudicial attitude, why not at least see the guy to find out more (if he was qualified).

There is a lot of prejudice that is directed at those with similar coloured skin, but it is still racial prejudice in my book.

[BEagle]

This was a CV from a British, not American, person. But he'd chosen to do virtually all his flying (from what I could work out from his CV) plus hours-building in the US.

PPL - some Floridian instant PPL place. Then a handful of hours in the UK (about 10....)
Hours pre-CPL - again, in the US.
CPL and FI rating - in the USA.

No thanks. Low hours and no real practical experience over here.

[WrongWayCorrigan]

BEagle Bad Attitude. Laughable.

'UK airspace, weather, rules and procedures etc whatsoever'. Nowhere else in the world has weather or airspace.

[idle stop]

So to some up, in something like the words of Rogers & Hammerstein:

'The rating in Spain fails mainly in the paying'

[RVR800]

I can see BEagle's point of view

Most PPLs electing to learn in the UK would expect the person instructing to have substantial experience of the same.....

Given the choice I would do the same.......prefer someone with
UK experience

:O

[Miss Aviator]

Tubbs and LEVC

Which school did you both do your training at in Spain ? I am considering going there too.

Thanx,
Miss A.

[LEVC]

Aerofan in LECU (cuatrovientos), i believe there are British instructors employed there now.

Better talk to them and do a search cause i know there are British pilots having done their FIC there, try to talk to them, so you'll have 1st hand info and more updated tham mine (2003).

In my opinion the course is good the price can't be beaten, the acft availability very good and you wont find better value for the amount of money.

They have a website with the lis of prices.

i did the 1st 10 hours on C150 Aerobat , the rest in a bonanza, including the test.

Another reason why i liked the school is that they do not ask you to pay all at the begining, and that believe me is uncommon

Good luck

[Miss Aviator]

Thanks LEVC

For anyone else interested the website is:

http://www.aerofanfto.com/home.html

Although, my reason for contacting them is because I want to convert my ICAO CPL ME-IR to the JAR-FCL.

I thought that Spain would do that but I got a reply from a different school that it requires the same amount of hours as getting the ratings themselves and you only get credited with 10hrs ?

Anyway, different thread topic...

Good luck to all.

Miss A.

[WrongWayCorrigan]

I hope the masterful UK instructors now working in Spain have adequate experience of the Spanish weather and air space.

watch out for windmills.

[Dude~]

So are there any people who have done a foreign FIC and successfully got a job back in the UK?

Are there any employers who would be interested?

Most of my hours were flown in the UK, but I would consider going to Spain if I could save £2000 AND get a job back in the UK.

[Paragon]

On the Aerofan website it says they do 5 hours dual simulator instruction. How can you use a simulator for the FIC and how can you do the entire course in 3 weeks as it says?

LEVC, I was under the impression that the groundschool is normally run simultaneously with the flying syllabus, since you need to be briefed and give a brief before each flight. I am surprised you can do the groundschool in 2 weeks then go and do the flying.

[Whopity]

"i did the 1st 10 hours on C150 Aerobat , the rest in a bonanza, including the test."

Spinning in a Bonanza! or did they miss that out!

[Dude~]

Bonanza seems like an unnecessarily complex type to learn to instruct on? Think I'll stick to the UK and C150s;)

[LEVC]

-Ground school was done before the flying, then you do briefings and debrieffings when flying. check JAR-FCL 1 does not say anything about how to organize the ground school time, it states a minimum to be covered though (125 hours if i remember well).

-JAR-FCL 1 also states the FIC has to be at least 30 hours of wich 5 can be simulator (remember that with JAR's PPL training has to include simulated IFR , 5 hours with reference to instruments, so i guess that is the reason why they allow the 5 hours in the sim).


-Yes i did get a job in the UK.


Now guys i don't want to enter in the discusion if the FIC is better in Spain or UK, i just give you some info based on my experience, so you can eventually save some money and/or time.

Paragon, if you want to discus about the quality of the courses in diferent JAA countries , then you look for somebody working in the CAA or something like this but not with me,
if what it bother's you is that some people have , and will save money because their decision was'nt biased by
any prejudice against whatever that is not from your own country, there is nothing that can be said in PPRUNE to help you out.

Good luck with it in any case

[Paragon]

LEVC, I fear you misread the tone of my post. I am trying to decide where to do my FIC and am simply interested in the course structure and what to expect. If people have good experiences of doing it in 3 weeks on anytype of aircraft then thats great and I want to hear about it. I assume any course is conducted according to the regulations so that is not my point. As for simulator use, since I have not heard of other schools using one I just wanted to know what it was used for on the FIC.

I probably could have phrased my last post better.

:O

[LEVC]

Sorry if i sounded rude, i completely missunderstood you,

From my point of view if you trained in the UK it's ok to do it in Spain and save some money, as you are already familiar with flying in UK it wont be a problem adapting.

If you trained abroad then it may be a good idea to do it in UK.

In my case i did all my trainig in Sapin, but it was an english course in Airmed, did my FIC in Aerofan, and then landed a job as FI in UK, i needed some familiarization of the area but that was bsaically all.

Good luck and sorry again

[Paragon]

LEVC, Don't worry, it is notoriously difficult to judge the tone in posts. Thank you very much for your views, much apprecitated. Decision time now!