Got back from UKFT in Long Beach about 3 weeks ago .. what a waste of time!
Paid (stupidly
) up front for some hour building .. 50 hours in a 152 .. i was guaranteed a plane for the 14 days but decided since I'd just finished a whole lot of ATPL exams that I'd take my time and stay out there for 4 weeks and make the flying enjoyable rather than cramming it in the 2 weeks.
To cut a long story short .. I got on my flight back to the UK with 19 out of the 50 hours and no refund in my pocket.
For the first few days while I was getting checked out by the instructor there seemed to be always availability of a plane .. or if there wasnt he would make it so there was .. this tactic by the instructors was to play a great part of why I didnt come home with my hours.
Before I arrived in UKFT i hadnt flown for over a year and was very rusty so I knew extra help would be needed. The quality of the 5hr check out was appalling .. every time I came to land my instructor seemed to be overriding my control .. suffice to say that when he signed me off I dont think I had actually landed the plane once by myself (which I realised when I tried to land the a/c myself for the first time after I had been signed off). After he signed me off I ended up spending about 4 hours in the circuit practising my landings .. he had never practised pattern work with me which in a very busy place like Long Beach can be very difficult especially for someone as unexperienced as me.
Then the real fun began when I tried to start booking the plane for cross- country trips ..
The 2nd week I was at UKFT ..there was one 152 available .. out of 5/6 because all the others were in maintenance. and that 152 was between myself and many others who were trying to do their PPL's .. needless to say I didnt get the plane once in a 7 day period!
The rest of the time I was there it was cancellation after cancellation of all my bookings by instructors / maintenance staff.
The FAA had been in before I arrived apparently and grounded a whole lot of a/c .. goes to show the Rainbow Air / UKFT a/c are unsafe .. a guy even had an engine failure on his first solo while I was there!!
I approached the boss of UKFT in the 3rd week and he told me if the plane wasnt available I would get a refund as they hadn't upheld their side of the deal. He then conveniently went away on a trip and I booked up slots for my final 10 days so I could get the hours up in time .. In a 10 day period I managed approx. 10 hours because of my slots being cancelled.
After talking to different members of staff on site about a refund .. it became apparent that NOBODY knew who was responsible for my refund. Rainbow Air told me to talk to UKFT ..UKFT would say it was up to Rainbow Air and eventually I was told that the policy was NO refund.
I arranged my training through UKFT but everything was done through Rainbow Air .. I dont think the staff even understand how the whole business is operated.
I never signed anything that mentioned this no refund policy and by this time it was time to come back to the UK.
Trying to contact UKFT on my return has proven to be like climbing Everest. He wants nothing to do with me and will try any tactic to blag his way out of talking.
At the monent Im still trying to contact him while he sits with over $1500 of my money in his bank account!
My CPL/IR training has been delayed because of all this disruption and cost me more money than I ever dreamed of spending on hour building due to the fact that I now have to go elsewhere to actually get my hours!
PLEASE dont trust them .. they are thieves.