Training in North America or.... South Africa ??

[zapoi67]

Dear Friends,

I was planning to start ab-initio professional pilot course in Canada (or maybe US)... and suddenly I asked myself "why not in South Africa ?"

Actually I have no idea about the quality of SA training, the possibilities of JAA conversions, ....

If someone could help to clear up the picture... Thanks !!!!

[zapoi67]

Nobody has got any idea about the + and - of Canadian, respectively South African training ? Which one would be the best in view of JAA conversion ?

[daria-ox]

To be honest, I don't have a clue about training in South Africa, I could tell you a lot about training in UK but not S.Africa.
Search the forum & the internet, you'll probably find a lot of informations about training there. Just take your time. Good Luck with Searching :ok:

[Leezyjet]

IIRC both would basically require the same conversion to JAA as both would be ICAO issued CPL/IR's but the conversion training required would depend on which school you went to in JAA land and the CFI's opinion of what further training would be required to bring you up to JAA test standard after doing a flight test with them, and this would depend on the quality of training you received in the first place.

I would say more people have done the US route than SA route, however I wouldn't rule out SA.

The South African standards are very good, they have recently changed to more or less follow JAA standards, but are not actually JAA credited - and as JAA is now technically EASA it wouldn't matter anyway. Previous to this, they roughly followed the old UK CAA standards before JAA came along.

I can highly recommend Algoa in Port Elizabeth, I went there to do my PPL. They are the oldest Flying Club in South Africa and run on a not-for-profit basis unlike some of the newer more commercial schools. Also a great location for variety of weather encountered, and also in a big city with nice beaches, and mixing with the big boys from the start as the training is done from PE airport. Alot of expat's were there doing CPL/IR training whilst I was there - some didn't bother coming back to convert to JAA and got jobs either in SA or the surrounding countries.

:)