So....finally which SCHOOL??!

[ncusack]

Hi;
There seems to be so many comments and questions on which school to choose but yet we still have no conclusion.

The bottom line is that every wannabe wants to train with the minimal cost. Money will eventually make or break the dream. So which school offers the best price on zero to Frozen ATPL training? AIRMED is the best I can see without going to NZ or OZ but then you cannot convert the license when you get back.

Any thoughts?

Niall

[Bucket]

NCUSACK, My dear fellow you really are looking for trouble and I truly mean that in the nicest possible. This subject has been flogged so much and so much manure has been thrown around concerning this very hot issue.

One would have thought that it would be a fairly cut and dried issue but is actully becomes so emotive and so, so subjective. I trained at Oxford (ex CAP 509) but it didn't get me a job.

Does that mean they failed me or that I didn't work hard. Nope. I did and they didn't.

Truly it is a vexed question. Please, if at all possible, try to discern fact from fiction when the replies to your thread continue coming in. There are some many half truths coming from both sides that making an informed decision ain't easy.

Keep calm and I shall watch this space with interest.

Regards

:O ;)

[redsnail]

Actually, every one wants to train with minimum hassle. That usually leads to minimum cost. It's a fine thing, you can go to the best school (whatever that means), have the best instructor and pure luck with the weather but not do any work yourself and fail.
You have to find a school that you are comfortable with and isn't going to go broke next week taking all your money.
What one person reckons is great may be horrible to you.
Only by visiting and talking to the flight schools will you answer that question.
Other questions are full time or modular? All inclusive or theory at place "x", flying at place "y".
So, talk to people, don't rely on PPRuNe, talk to former students - not just the marketing people.

[ncusack]

Thanks for the replies, and I agree to your points about this been a totally vexing questions. I guess I will just have to go with my gut feeling. I think AirMED is the best option but I haven't spoken to any ex airmed trainees. We'll see and I will keep it updated;

Niall

[aircharterservice]

An obvious point that has been missed by most wannaby's is that a FTO that also runs the largest fleet of light twins (hours building aircraft) in Europe, and that has a policy of recruiting new pilots from within it's pool of past students would make the choice of FTO simple. BFC has never dangled the carrot of "getting a job" after your training, but certainly most pilots employed by Centreline Air Charter, part of the BFC group did their IR at Bristol. Centreline now operate 14 aircraft on public transport with multiple daily contracts and a lot of ad-hoc work, accross bases at Bristol, Coventry Southend and Jersey. 9 PA34's, 4 PA31's, a Kingair and a Caravan, with plans to buy more of the same.

Hmmmmmm.........am I the only one who worked this out?

[mad_jock]

Very wise words aircharter service.

Ravenair is another case and also doing your CPL and FI rating with Tayside apparently sometimes leads to a FI position afterwards.

MJ

[ncusack]

OK but do these schools you talk of have anything of an Ab-initio course available or is it all modular?

Also anyone know how this can be done in the States whilst not having to do any conversion back here in Europe when you get back?

Cheers
Niall

[Fogbound]

Ab-Initio is from start to finish, this can be either modular or Integrated. a Modular provider may be able to do an ab-initio course!

As for JAA courses in the states, be very careful if going this route. You can do a JAA CPL with some schools out there. You can also complete IR flight training out there but at the moment I think you must complete the IR skills test back here in blighty!

Theoretically there should be no difference between students who complete JAA flight training course any where in the world, but in practice this has not proved to be the case. The differences in airspace and RT alone stand out.

I have seen a number of students come to us with JAA CPL's completed in the states. Although this course is to JAA standards and they are tested by a CAA Flight Examiner, we still see a big difference in the flying standards compared with a UK JAA CPL pilot.

At the out set it may seem cheaper to go the FAA route but do not forget the cost of conversion. It may also appear cheaper to gain a JAA CPL in the states, but this may add extra training costs upon your return to the UK for IR training, just to get you to UK standard.

[scroggs]

There is no definitive answer as to which school is the best; that depends on your personal requirements. You should try and establish the school that best meets your requirements by making a serious effort to visit all those schools that get close, and by talking to people who have trained at those schools to see if your judgements are confirmed.

The important thing is that you have the choice of many good schools, and you are the customer. Make that buying power work for you.

Scroggs

[carbonfibre]

Scroggs,

I totally agree with you, i have just posted a similar answer on another question, I have spent 3 months looking at schools for my IR, and spent the best part of 2 looking at CPL schools, this was after making huge mistakes with other flying, Live and learn as they say.

But as 80% of the cost comes in 20% of the flying, its worth the look

Whats good for one person is not always good to another, visit them , judge for yourself, some people like the military type school uniform and the like some dont, some prefer relaxed as they learn better and some like it drilled into them.

The best advice , depending what stage your at, Look before you leap, its worth that extra effort to do that

Good luck in finding the right school

:cool: :p