Flying school ripping me off?

[df1]

piper C,

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I have to say that I did some flying 5 years ago at Wonderboom and was left less than impressed. I subsequently posted on this website about my concerns and received a mixed response - although I was actually only trying to get feedback. Eventually a forum moderator sent me a private message basically saying that you pay your money and you take your chance - "caveat emptor" - Latin for buyer beware. I pulled the thread. I lost money as I pulled out of that place, with little to show for it in the end.

I sympathise with you! It's very upsetting to be paying for something that you want to do and that you're passionate about and yet you get this horrible feeling that you're being cheated. Paying for refueling time of an aircraft is indeed a rip-off. I often found (still do) myself getting to an aircraft with a litre of fuel in each wing and trundling over to the fuel bay to fill up. I started to notice that I was the only one doing it as everyone else would simply benefit from my fuel. I try to put a stop to that by refusing to accept an aircraft unless it had sufficient fuel for the flight and I would offer to refuel to the amount I'd used at the end.

Your school, it seems, is trying it on! Don't pay for it. Taxiing around performing sundry duties on the tarmac is of no use to your log-book so you don't have to pay for it. Turn-backs for technical faults are arguable. They shouldn't happen at all, but they do, and I would say it's not a bad thing to have experienced one or two. When they keep occuring, though, there are likely problems that need addressing with the aircraft and the maintenance. I recall a Duchess that crashed with a lad flying and his instructor during inflight shutdowns (dangerous practice up around that density alt I thought?). Next week he gets airborne in a Cessna and seconds later he's back on terra firma except it's a public highway - obviously power-loss. The rudder flew off one whilst an Arrow had a total elec failure - at night - and belly flopped into some unattended airfield up north of Wonderboom. I had minor experiences by comparrison which included having my face shot blasted on finals by fragments of air-vent ducting and pulling the carb-heat control all the way out as it wasn't attached to anything!! This fleet was a pile of poop! My advice: if the fleet is unsafe don't fly - and it's a hard call to make when you're new to flying but trust your instincts - if it doesn't feel right don't fly! You're flying to enjoy it and enjoy it you should - don't feel awkward or bad or even scared. I found myself getting scared of the aircraft and before I realised the whole business of flying training was becoming an ordeal. You must avert this. Only fly if it's right for you on the day given variables; your health, aircraft health, weather and so on.

Cancellations cost money! No matter what your industry if your customers cancel it usually, but not always, has a cost on your company and we as pilots try to avoid them. Cancellations are however neccessary sometimes - ill health for example. Instructors should encourage you to assess your own suitability to fly given the prevailing circumstances and your decision should be commended. This is something that will be your trump card when you're flying for an airline as you'll be expected to make assessments of your crew as well!! Under no circumstances should your school charge you for a legitimate cancellation especially if you informed them of it in advance. Only in the case of persistent offenders should a penalty be considered. There are bullies in the flight training world and they don't stop at pressing young trainee pilots into paying for things that shouldn't have a charge.

Flights schools operate on a curve similar to the drag curve which is shaped like a bowl. When things are going well, their customers are all happy and their fleet is well maintained they are operating with minimum drag. When things start going wrong through inefficiency or bad luck they start moving backwards along the drag curve. Things start getting tougher as they try to get back to equilibrium, but with the "added drag" they find it hard and often impossible to get back. They may adopt some drastic measures including trying to charge for the unchargeable. Generally, the same problems which pushed them back in the first place are preventing them from moving forward! There they remain until they can either shape up or they drop off the curve altogether. A strange analogy you might think but I've seen some shockingly poor schools in all respects and the best place for them are the history books. I have no time for dodgy or unscrupulous schools -may they RIP!

With my bad experiences behind me I've since flown at various places in Europe and America and back in SA. My approach to these schools changed and I took more control over my budget, and flying, as a result. You still take a chance when you fly at a new place but always be prepared to review their performance as you would your own. Take a look at their facilities and their aircraft. Are they safe? Talk to other students; what do they say? What about the instructors? I always think you can tell a lot about a school by sitting and watching the instructors. Are they running around doing the funky chicken all the time? Are they rushed and pressured? Do they greet you with a warm smile or a vomitous scowl? Or, as I've seen, are they just as depressed as you may be if you stay there too long? Instructors often bear the brunt of poor efficiency and shoddy management so take a long hard look at them - there's a nice person in there deep down, I promise! Don't worry so much about staff turnover as it could be for a number of reasons and if a school has a good reputation it is bound to lose some staff to bigger and better organisations.

I know you don't get much in the way of luxury when you're training but you do get choice and you can choose another aircraft or another school. Don't be bullied and don't feel pressured to fly when you don't want to. When you're on top of the world wild horses won't stop you flying - when you're concerned or a little off colour you shouldn't and you're the expert on you so you make that call. As your experience grows then so will your confidence but never push it - it comes naturally. By virtue of the fact that you're prepared to fly in something most people refuse to go near you're well on your way so don't be rushed or pressured. Just enjoy!

I appreciate these comments don't entirely apply to your original thread but it might be read by people in similar predicaments. So, to whomever it may concern I hope all goes well.

df1

As an addendum, aim to discuss your learning objectives with the school, not only your instructor. I might seem unecessary but you need to hold them to your course plan and not just a CAA syllabus. I know three guys who fell foul of just doing it day by day with the instructor and got ripped off by a spiralling course cost which should have been fixed - in one case the school owner wasn't even sure what course the guy was on! Generally, many (but not all) pilots are not terribly business minded but if you treat your training as a business then go all out to scrutinise every erroneous or suspect fee you may avoid some heartache later on.