I didn’t enjoy my RAF basic fixed wing flying training much at all. I soon gained the impression that we were all up for the chop unless we proved otherwise, that some of our QFIs would rather not be in the job and consequently treated students with more than a little disdain. I latterly suffered from sinus issues and was eventually sent to rotary wing training rather than continue on jets. I found that system to be a breath of fresh air (!) and my renewed enthusiasm for flying resulted in being awarded a trophy for highest aggregate marks, despite me being the second youngest on the course, which consisted mainly of already qualified pilots. I later became an A2 QHI then a QFI and my one aim was to be a more empathetic, better instructor than some of those I’d flown with at fixed wing BFTS.
Years later, whilst carrying out self funded training for my fixed wing CPL, I flew with an ex RAF instructor who I had never previously met but who dated back to my time at BFTS. I found him increasingly difficult to fly with, mainly because he never stopped talking and heavily criticising almost every control movement I did. Eventually, during a circuits sortie I told him I’d had enough, I wasn't learning anything and wanted to terminate the flight. He became verbally aggressive and tried to insist that I continued. I gave him back control in no uncertain terms, folded my arms and that was it. On landing, he began to verbally lay into me. I cut him short, told him that he was forgetting that I was a paying customer of the school, not in the RAF and told that I wouldn’t be flying with him again. After we walked in he went off to see the chief instructor. I was asked to go to see him a few minutes later. I put forward my viewpoint, which was that his instructional technique which might have been seen as acceptable in the RAF of twenty years ago wasn’t acceptable to paying civilian customers of the day. I received an apology from the chief instructor and later a rather contrite one from the instructor himself. I flew with another instructor (a retired group captain, who by coincidence I knew because he had previously been the station commander where I’d been a UAS QFI). We got along very well and he soon put me forward to my CPL checkride, which went well.