Another reason why it's taken about 3 years for me to reveal that bad situation is because of the exact same reaction you've just given Irishrover. I would have been up to it had the groundschool been up to it. Simple as that really. They really were swimming against the tide in understanding what JAR wanted but some of that is because JAR had not long been implimented. I have been sitting on this one for far too long and if others who had the same impression of that place (and as I say there were many!) had the guts to stand up for what they believe in and face ridicule like I have today then perhaps the aviation training world would not be comparable to the second hand car trade. These places thrive on customers staying quiet for fear of ridicule by the likes of you. You do not help the situation for those going through training now by saying things like that.
Granted, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed (who would say they were?) but I was not the only one who struggled to pass the ATPL's there. I passed everything first time with BGS so hopefully that shows that something, somewhere was not clicking at Jerez. That is what I mean by choosing the right path for yourself. I did not cherish being treated like I was in the air force. Few did. To say that the management ethos was intimidating would be an understatement. If they were trying to install discipline then they were trippin' considering the determination and sacrifices the guys training there had made. What kind of people did they take us for if they thought we needed to be treated like subordinates? I don't need to be treated like that in order to learn about the chains of command and respect thank you.
As for golden handshakes - more myths and rumours about that aspect of the experience than Vages96! Nobody who left to pursue their training elsewhere told the truth about their business dealings and why should they? There was this noble savage notion amongst students that to leave for another school was in some way a failure. Just goes to show how brainwashed we allowed ourselves to become when we signed on the dotted line. We used to have a saying on campus - if you fart at the gates you've shat yourself by the time you reach your bedroom. Sums it up really.
I do not have sour grapes only disappointment that I chose the wrong route for myself. Anything I type here is for the benefit of others thinking of going through training and perhaps to get things off my chest over something I percieve as being one of the great untold stories of commercial pilot training. Shame nobody else who felt the same way had the bottle to say so but you get used to that after a while when you're climbing up the ladder. Alas these things will disappear like the shifting sands in an ocean's bed....
VFE.
PS: It is spelt sense - not
sence dear boy.
