After reading all the posts i have a few questions:
1. How many hours do you need to be regarded as a 'low-time' instructor? As far as i know none of the SAA Cadets are instructed by instructors with any less than 500 hours of instruction. And that is the MINIMUM requirement.They also have to be at least Grade II and are therefore mostly senior instructors.
"Flown with a couple of cadets who graduated from 43 in 2005. Not impressed. Low time instructors are trying teach advance skills - and failing miserably. I just call it the way i see it. The airline not too happy with 43 either!"3rd March 2006 22:36 REPTILE
Unlike many other flying schools, a new instructor at 43 has to work himself up in the system. he only teaches PPL's and after completing 4 of those, he can continue with the next phase, and so it continues. They are constantly being monitored by a quality control manager who has over 40 years of instruction experience. Failing miserably? I think they are doing very well considering some of the material they are given to work with. I don't know of any other school with such a good, structured system. Every hour flown has a specific exercise which has to be completed satisfactorily. No low-level flying with your mates to build your hours...
2.
"Also heard rumours that SAA aren't entirely satisfied with the training and a couple of cadets were washed during their intership with SAX. " Flyer 14
The Cadets are trained up to Comm standard and they are passed by External DE's who are not involved with the air school. So they definitely meet Comm standard. That is 43's job done. Going onto a Dash 8 is a lot to ask of someone with a brand new comm. They will obviously require extra training. Any person would in that situation. How much did you guys know after 200 hours? You cannot teach someone to be an airline pilot in 200 hours. Experience is something that comes with time
3. As far as the attitude issue is concerned... I have had the unfortunate experience of having an arrogant student from another school swear at me and my students and making racist remarks while taxying behind us, on frequency at Lanseria... His PTT got stuck and didn't realise it. This continued for about 5 minutes. I'm not going to mention the school, because- guess what- it's not a very well-known school anyway. So nobody cares. But when it comes to 43... What i'm trying to say is that you will find arrogant people everywhere. It is not the instructor's job to teach a person something his parents should have done. We can try but in the end it is up to the individual.I completely agree with STRONG MEDICINE
"maybe the problems not the organisation but the pilot that trained there!"
STRONG MEDICINE
In conclusion i would like to say that no flying school is perfect and there is always room for improvement. We know that there is a world outside 43. But you have to start somewhere, and in my opinion 43 is the best place to have your basic flying foundation laid down.
