I can assure you that my experience with Tayside are true. I have worked for airlines for 40 years and continue to do so for a well known airline as a B737 TRE. I am also involved with airline recruitment. I know exactly what the airlines are looking for and it is not a Mickey Mouse piece of paper. A proper degree obtained by effort is a different matter. The most impressive ‘customer’ that came through an LPC with me had worked in Tesco’s for 12 years stacking shelves in order to finance his dream. Now that is impressive, symptomatic of real resilience and character. Resilience is a big word in airline recruiting circles. An extreme case but admirable nevertheless.
Another Tayside anecdote: I was keen to fly the Grob with the view of revisiting aerobatics. This I duly did and allowed myself to be persuaded to purchase 10 hours ‘up front’ for £1k. Due to the day job (airline captain) it took nearly a year to finish the hours. Towards the end I was coerced to pay more because the prices ‘had gone up’. Left an unpleasant taste I can assure you. The anecdote I previously quoted I actually understated quite considerably. It also consisted of the aforementioned instructor moaning about me loudly to a cast of acolytes and unbeknownst to him in front of my then 11 year old son. This referred to me as ‘an arrogant airline pilot’, who knew? The psychological subtext you can guess and always a possible accusation for airline pilots @ flying schools. I believe that I am anything but arrogant by the way. Fortunately for him he had gone flying and I was unable to speak to him directly after my son, visibly outraged, had told me the story. I confronted the CFI with expletives deleted included. Hence an apology and the free flying offer I disdainfully turned down. These anecdotes are ‘unsubstantiated’ but you have my word they are true. The upshot is that my son finished his ppl @ ACS, Perth and I have only got good things to say about the standard of instruction. Caveat emptor I would say.
cheers