This is a link to a review of the Katana's CTC McAlpine use in NZ for basic training...for anyone like me who's only just at Stage 1a it's a great way to jinx the whole process by looking this far ahead...
www.philip.greenspun.com/flying/diamond-katana
The review is on both the DA-20 and DA-40 (link at bottom of page) and is written by a student pilot in 2002 but I assume the aircraft at CTC will be similar.
It's very interesting to read about the aircraft, especially little things like when you go into a turn, you can neutralise the stick and you retain bank angle, as opposed to a Piper Arrow or C-172 etc where you need to keep the yoke angled throughout the turn.
Even from the very beginning CTC ensure you're trained on basic aircraft that mimic certain characteristics of airliners...good to know i suppose.
They also use the Beechcraft Duchess, as do a LOT of flying schools in the US. Regarded as a "hard to find" aircraft by one school, it's been around since the 70's but still has a reputation as a fantastic multi-engine trainer.
Also just found this interesting little snippet in regard to Ryanair sponshorship schemes:
"Once you have gained your Frozen ATPL (£45k-£60k_company offers facility to join and you pay for Type Rating (circa £20k) on a jet aircraft._ If they consider you suitable a job may be offered.
Has some partnership/placement arrangements with training providers such as OAT, CTC, Global Training Solutions. _ " - source
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:P...&ie=UTF-8.</a>
Yet another sign they could be on the "soon to be announced" list of airlines joining the CTC McAlpine Cadetchip Scheme? Could just be in regard to the CTC ATP scheme though.
Anyway, hope this is of interest to you all.
Regards,
Simon.