Due to renewed acitivity I'd like to give my 2 cents on my cplmeir training at SA:
I had a good experience with the school. Poznan is a terrific place to stay and the facilities of the school are good. The planes are mostly new, yet used.
The practical and theoretical instruction is great, especially the IR sim sessions from KW are of high quality. The instructors and office staff are all very friendly.
I recommend the school for cplmeir -
but not to everyone. Here is why:
At this school you control your own fate; if you run in to trouble due to poor scheduling/maintenance/instructor availability/... - and you will - noone from the school (except some instructors) will take initiative to inform you, let alone solve it for you.
So be proactive and pragmatic if you want to get your training done, noone will hold your hand. So be on top of things from minute 1, don't passively wait and see. Don't expect to be taken care of - momma's boys look elsewhere.
That being said, the overall management (scheduling/administration/communications/...) of the school is a mess; displaying a total lack of anticipation. It is being run like a lemonade stand. Problems are being solved as they come but never grasped at the root.
However at a price of 17.5k I didn't expect anything more than good flight training, which I got plenty at Smart. I would like to emphasize (and to all the instructors' credit) that the flight training was outstanding.
I finished on time and almost exactly on budget, but it did require some initiative on my part. No hidden fees or whatever, everything was quite transparant (unlike for others?). So in the end I am a happy customer.
To the school:
Radically reorganize the entire management philosophy and run the place like a professional company. All the elements of a potential flight training goldmine are there.
PS. The message on the wall said something like 'if you are happy with your training post it on pprune' and not 'do not post bad comments on PPRuNe/Google' like a previous poster said.
At least keep the feedback honest boys...