Originally Posted by
ComradeRoo
When I said that one should be wary - I had in mind that one should learn to fairly assess own performance, the overall picture and look for the second opinion if necessary. It is extremely hard for an early student, but in my view, it is the only insurance.
Yes it is hard for a student to assess their performance because most training is done in isolation from other students so it is difficult to compare yourself against others but also because with low experience it is hard to know what to look for when assessing your skill level.
Which means you rely heavily on the judgement of the instructor. If you suspect your instructor (or school) is not working in your best interests that is not good and I would say you should think about either requesting (politely) another instructor or try visiting another school and asking for a lesson just to see. It doesn't need to be personal.
You are the customer and deserve to be treated with respect. I would tend to go on personal interactions, is the school welcoming and friendly? Do you feel that the instructors care about your progress and are working to assist you meet your goals? (even if at times they get critical). Do you feel comfortable walking in and look forward to your time at the school? Do you feel loyalty to the school because you are treated as someone of value to them? Does the school (and do the instructors) come across as having a passion for aviation?
You are free to shop around if you aren't treated with respect. Similarly sometimes you just have a personality clash (both ways - there have been some students I really did not want to fly with and some students have asked not to keep flying with me - no one's fault - some people just don't gel).
If you find a school and instructors you like and respect, stick with them. And realise good instructors and schools will sometimes tell you (or better show you practically by letting things go wrong) that your current skill level is not quite where you thought it was and that can be deflating.
Also worth stating that even with good schools, there are times when lessons get cancelled at short notice, aircraft become unavailable and instructors get behind schedule and you may be inconvenienced, often for reasons that are not obvious nor always due to poor professionalism.
From the outside it may seem straightforward but juggling a reasonably busy school's bookings with customers, time slots, instructors, aircraft, weather, maintenance schedules, engineers workload, unexpected maintenance, students particular training needs, private hires running overtime, unexpected demand, cancellations etc is an art-form that takes experience (and a bit of clairvoyance doesn't go astray).
A lot goes on behind the scenes to make sure that most times a suitable instructor, a suitable aircraft aircraft and a suitable time slot all line up.
When it goes astray, flexibility from customers is always welcome and usually gets repaid in other ways down the line. It cuts both ways - good schools value good customers that treat the school with respect and so work at looking after them. Even schools that charge for exams
