FFTC

[paulvb]

As I can't find very much about Florida Flight Trainings Center on the board and I still cannot decide wich school to visit:oh: I was wondering if anybody has recent expericence with them?
Prices seem attractive, I wonder if the part141 ppl can be done in the hours they say, 40-45?

[paulvb]

Nobody has any remarks on them???

[hatallas]

i did all my training there and then instructed over there for a period of 3 years in TT, now read my lips:




DO NOT GO THERE, THE PLANES ARE CRAP, THE MANAGEMENT IS CRAP, THE PEOPLE THERE ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN UR MONEY, THE SCHOOL IS CRAP STAY AWAY FROM THEM, THERE IS A LOT OF ILLEGAL THINGS GOING ON OVER THERE? NON-AIRWORTHY PLANES FLYING, CFI THAT DO THEIR OWN STAGE CHECK, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WORKING THERE!

[vanHorck]

Wow..... and you stuck it out for 3 years? It sounds like you had a fall out....

[lauchiemb]

I think he got fired 'cos he was an idiot.

[hatallas]

no i only worked there for a year, and then got tired of all the illegal crap going on there, plus the school is going down its been 4 month with no new students !

ahahah some of the instructors have been told to go to other schools to try and steal some students, ahahah

[vanHorck]

So was it working for 1 year or 3 years?
Either way, your tone is too obviously bitter to be reliable.
It may well be true what you say but on your end things don't seem to stack up either.

Any other, less emotionally based informants?

[hatallas]

The owner of the school "Arne" is a man that is only interested in his money, well i should say the money he can take from you and every1 around him. That his weed, and soccer!

the planes are missing instruments, that are parts of the MEL, but for his standards, it is OK, they can fly. they fix some part of the planes with " tape".

$130 for an hour of 152 and $330 for a crappy multi engine that drinks more oil than an Irish man can drink whiskey!

the school is all smoke, the dispatch "center" looks great, and that is it, the class rooms are falling apart, CFI are always late, half of the planes are always grounded for the same thing weeks after weeks.

The school is a 141, but only 4 out of the 15 planes are 141 approved, but that doesn't matter since the chief instructor is not 141 approved himself, he might be now, but for the first year he got there, he sure was not.

CPL students don t even know how to do a cross country planning.
CFI s are teaching 100% of the IFR and CPL training, Some of them even do stage checks for their own students.
The binders, the 141 binders are filled up the day before the check ride!

then the housing, £900 a month for a 50 square meter place, with 10 year old furnitures, and with 2 bedrooms for 4 students, sometimes 5.
But that was in the past, it has been 4 month that the school does not have any new students. He lost the contract for the Italians, the Dutch, the Chinese did not want to bring their students after visiting the school, and the Indians are refusing to come back.

And there is also an other issue, as far as i know, out of 8 CFI, 5 of them are working out of a M1 visa, this visa does not let u work legally. and he has been doing this for the past well since the school opened.

But, if you have a lot money, want to spend a lot of time studding on Ur own because the group classes are just about watching a tape you can buy for 100 bucks, also like the smell of "sweat" and "salt" then be my guest :ok:

[stephenboyd9396]

I went to FFTC to do my training and I would advise everyone to stay away.

The owner Arne Kruithoff is a Dutch guy who runs the company terribly. He claims to be a Captain in an airline, but he has no medical as he is bipolar and a manic depressant. This on top of all the medication he is on, the FAA dont allow him a medical (obviously). This does not stop him from flying with you, which he insists on.

I want this to be informative piece and not a slagging down on them and for you to make your mind up on your own. But here are a few things that I can tell you truthfully about the company.

The planes are in a bad state of repair.

Be prepared for Arne to raise the prices of the hiring of the planes as your training progresses, starting from the day after you arrive. The C152 started at $58 per hour and ended with $112, plus he puts the price up for instructors.

He makes you pay in advance ie if you still have say $1000 of dredit left for flying, the day before your checkride he'll insist on another $5000 (honestly) and will ground you until he gets it.

He sends non-qualified pilots (students that are on their CPL part of the course) up with PPL students and gets these guys to fly ith them. And when you land, he signs your log book. I didn't let him do that to me but some people he had over a barrel and they were at this mercy.

The company is constantly being investigated for breaking the law. I honestly don't know how long the company will last as I know they survive by the skin of their teeth.

The accomodation is disgusting. Im ex military and i have lives in some holes, literally!!, but this accomodation is sub standard, cockroatch ridden, with furniture he gets from dump sites. On many occasions guys wold be in an apartment with 2 beds and 4 or 5 people would be living there. Exactly, they would have to sleep on the floor or the broken couch.

FFTC has a couple f packages you can do. One of them being a continuance training in Las Vegas with Vision Air. This is a 500hr mulit-engine hour building course. Arne claims it is part of FFTC, but this is not true. People have been stung for 10s of thousands of dollars having opted for this course and they have never got it. STAY AWAY!!!!

I would like to end on a positive note, but to be honest, that would be that I got my licences and left. I would go elsewhere personally.

[B2N2]

Shame really, FFTC used to be a pretty nice school.
At one point it seemed he was doing great with several overseas contracts.
Funny how things can change in just a couple of short years.
If even half of the above is true it's a pretty sad state of affairs.

[Barefoot Flyer]

I just wanted to post a quick comment on this tread as I read it prior to going to FFTC and it concerned me. I had no option but to go to FFTC as my company were arranging it. If it had problems in the past it has certainly fixed them. I found the premesis, aircraft and instructors all to be very good. I have no complaints whatsoever for the training I recieved and didn't get the impression any of the other students had any problems. Perhaps a moderator needs to have a look at this one as it seems to be a personal attack on one person. Arne is certainly not as previously described in the thread. If anyone is considering this school I reccomend they use them. I've seen some shockingly bad places and this is not one of them.

Regards