I am still amazed that a government institution (TAFE) would:
1) Do business with a company that was as at the time, as ‘green’ as Soar
2) Do very little (if any) market research into the validity of the training that Soar were actually doing.. fancy selling commercial courses using aeroplanes with Rotax engines!
Not good enough. Particularly distasteful is how a previous CEO (according to a recent post) had boasted of making millions from this (alleged Ponzi scheme) company. I’m sure it wasn’t through good hard, honest work.
Heads should roll..!
Whilst these are only my personal opinions, I will note that;
1) Rotax engines are good engines.. alas, not suitable for commercial training.
2) The aeroplanes utilised by Soar (although not unsafe) were probably not the best planes for their desired market application.
3) The most recent management structure, and team at Soar (from what I heard, and what I believe to be the case), truly did want the company to evolve.
I know the current HOO, and I know him to be ‘one of the good guys’, shall we say.
By the time the place closed, I understand that a safety culture was being implemented, and bred into the company (no mean feat - particularly given its origins).
Unfortunately however, it seemed by that point that the horse had bolted.
A pilot in a company that I associate with is an ex-Soar student. He is an absolutely brilliant pilot, and an upstanding young man. He informed me that Soar was particularly attractive to the ‘main stream’ because it was a ‘free for all’. He told me of people who seemed like total losers being signed up, with very little discretion or vetting (if any). Also, and very importantly; Soar allowed training to occur part-time, a VET-fee course like this was previously unheard of.
What could possibly go wrong!?
I am sad to see the demise of another aviation company, but I am equally sad (and angry!) to see people that have been negatively affected by it.
Caveat emptor, (Latin: “let the buyer beware”), in the law of commercial transactions, principle that the buyer purchases at his own risk in the absence of an express warranty in the contract.
(These are my personal opinions only, ..and I was drunk when I wrote it too!).
Last edited by Superfly Slick Dick; 4th Jan 2021 at 13:04.