What should i do ?

[SM82]

I have had a bit of disagreement with my local flying school for reasons i wont go into but i have decided to leave as i dont feel like i should give them my hard earned money. My situation is i am very close to finishing my solo circuts and nav and then i have got to do whatever other excercises there are after that. Should i go now and change my flying school or wait until i have got everything done and i am ready for my skill test? The reason i ask is i dont really want to change my instructor so late into my ppl training and change to a new one were i feel i will need to go over certain things. (if that makes sense)

I dont want to change instructors (no problem with him) but dont want my current flying school to have anymore of my money!

[J.A.F.O.]

For what it's worth I'd say change schools.

Like you I felt my instructor was fine but the company he worked for wasn't.

I swapped just before my GST and all was well.

A new school and instructor may even be beneficial - a new pair of eyes, new ideas, can't really hurt.

[MyData]

SM82 - If you are not happy, and there is a suitable option nearby then I wouldn't hesitate to jump ship. The only criteria for me would be that the new school fly the same type as you have already trained on... well there are other criteria such as reputation, cost, quality of kit etc., but I'll take those as read if you plan to move there.

During my PPL training I had two schools and eight different instructors. The school change was forced upon me as the school decided to drop PPL students and I was the last one. I left after 40 hours as the availability of instructors was getting lower and lower. At the new school I took another 10 hours to complete the syllabus and get my licence.

Of 8 instructors (granted a couple were only for 1 hour each) I learned something different from each one. The fun part was that each of them had a different view on how a circuit should be flown. Nothing dramatic from each, but subtle differences. This was a concern at first, but upon reflection it helped as it made me understand more about the actions I was doing, how the aircraft was handling, what to look for etc. without following everything by rote. I was also taught different methods for approaches, flares and touch down, differences in cross wind landings etc. It wasn't until my final hour before my skills test that one instructor pointed out something that I *hadn't* been doing throughout my training and could potentially fail me.

Eight instructors might seem like overkill, but I have memories from all of them and learned so much more about flying than I could ever had if I'd stuck with a single instructor. Only one instructor left me cold: he was stern, aloof, bored, disinterested, and not at all interested in conversation. Fortunately I only had to fly with him on one occasion, but if he had been my first instructor I don't think I'd have my PPL today, I would have gone home never to return.

[SM82]

Mydata
Yes the other school i am planning to join does operate the same aircraft im training on now (PA38). They are also a very reputable company. Im with my current school for sentimental reasons really but management i feel do not treat their customers or staff correctly.
My main concern was starting with a new company at a vital time during my training
Thanks

[Fuji Abound]

If your instructor is sound and not the source of your problem you should stay with him. The school only provides the means for him to teach you and once you have your PPL you need having nothing more to do with the school.

Your instructor knows your strengths and weaknesses and you are far more likely to progress more quickly with him. In addition there is no guarantee that you will even "get on" with a different instructor, and in any event almost certainly he will want to spend a bit of time establishing your skill levels.

That said, if you still decide to change it isnt necessarily the end of the world. I think my log book records seven instructors - it just took a little longer :)

[SM82]

Exactly one of the reasons why im debating to leave or not.......ahhhhh what do i do ???

[dublinpilot]

SM82,

I'm not quite sure from your post how far through your PPL you are. Are you nearly finished solo circuits and nearly finished Nav? ie. nearly finished your PPL course?

If you think you have less than 15 hours to go, then I'd be inclined to stick with your current school. Not because of the school, but because you get on with the instructor. As Fuji said, there is no guarantee that you will get on with a new instructor.

By all means change once you've got your PPL.

If you're only 20-25 hours into the PPL course, then changing schools may be more appropriate.

But don't leave simply to punish your school financially, if it's going to hurt you even more!

dp

[SM82]

im minutes away from finishing solo circuts and done a couple of nav exercises dual and im ready to go solo for that also

[Gertrude the Wombat]

I'm with the more-than-one-instructor school. With one instructor, who is human and therefore by definition not perfect, you might only learn one way of doing some things; you might pick up any bad habits he has; he might be tolerant of some of your bad habits that another instructor would pick you up on; and so on.