Feedbacks about Bristol

[SAM310]

Hi all,

i'm a french student pilot arriving from the known aeronet forum. I'm pretty sure the questions i'm gonna ask has been asked before , but sorry guys your search engine is too complicated, however.

i almost have the ATPL ground theory, and right now i'm building my hours in the USA. I'm looking clooser to Bristol aviation for my CPL IR.

any feedbacks from this school ? the environment ? the FIs? the fleet ?

in order to save money i would like to start by the IR rating ( and of course the ME) and i'm wondering how much total time and PIC time i do need so i can start the IR-ME course

ME/IR single engine CPL packages (ME course, 55 hours IR course, 15 hr CPL course)

A) MEP Groundschool, 10 hours dual warrior, 5 hours dual arrow, 40 hours FNPT II sim, 21 hours dual seneca

£19,120

B) MEP Groundschool, 15 hours dual arrow, 30 hours FNPT II sim, 31 hours dual seneca

£21,670

thanks by advance, and i apologize for my bad english

[Eurotraveller]

Hi SAM310,

I did my ME-IR and then a SE-CPL with Bristol Aviation (it was then known as Bristol Flying Centre) in Summer last year, and I have only good things to say about them.

The ME-IRs are done on Seneca-IIs, they're old aircraft but I only had one cancellation due to tech aircraft during my whole course. A lot of the maintenance is done in-house which means the aircraft are rarely broken for long. The CPL is done on the Arrow or Warrior, again old aircraft but rarely seemed to be tech. There's a test centre on site which means no positioning costs to another airfield.

The instructors were very good, a mix of career instructors and those who will probably move on to the airlines but all were focused and dedicated and led by a good CFI.

The school shares a building with Centreline which is the air charter arm, facilities can get a bit cramped but are generally very good, I'd recommend a visit so you can see for yourself, if you're able to get down there.

To be honest the thing I was most impressed with was that the total amount I paid was very close to the amount I was originally quoted, and to the figures that were then on the website - if you work hard and keep your training on-track, it is my experience that Bristol are certainly not in the business of simply bleeding you for cash and they will do everything they can to help you get through first time with the minimum hours you need.

In the interests of balance, the downsides I can think of are that the weather at Bristol can sometimes be poor, with the 'hill' on which the airport is situated shrouded in fog when the weather a couple of miles away is OK. When I was there things were a little crowded, sometimes there were no briefing rooms available for example, but I think this was a short term thing caused by a late influx of students. I would expect things to be a little quieter now!!

Accommodation in the local area is certainly plentiful, if a little expensive in places, especially during the Summer months when loads of tourists flock to Somerset and the prices go up.

Best regards,
Eurotraveller.

[SAM310]

many thanks !

do you remember whay was the minimum hours required in order to get into ME R ? how many PIC how many total ?