Well, I'm impressed ..
A mate of mine is a Commercial instructor there and, having some time to spare, I visited a couple of weeks ago. I observed some sim training and was seriously impressed by the new kit, in particular the new DA42 simulator which is state of the art and seemed totally robust, in comparison with the flaky old FNPT2s and all the associated time-consuming resets/reboots I had to endure during my own integrated training.
As a ppl instructor myself, flying A320s for a living I've been giving the whole G1000 glass cockpit thing a bit of thought .. well I'm half way through the groundschool, anyway :-) .. and I think it is a very positive development in commercial training.
Understanding the very comprehensive systems (the manuals are almost the size of Airbus' FCOM4) and the software's functionality in some detail - including how to use the "other pilot" (automatics) sensibly and efficiently to manage workload are key skills that can be more readily developed. These skills are not dissimilar to those developed during MCC/jet orientation and key components of a type rating course on a larger multi-crew EFIS type. It gets you into thinking how best to get the aircraft to do what you want it to do, and checking very carefully that the result is as expected .. by looking for annunciators, mode selections, colours denoting armed and active modes, and those sorts of things.
Sure all these systems are an unnecessary distraction in teaching basic multi-engine handling, but flown manually it is just like any other aircraft and for the CPL and in particular the instrument training the new-format instrumentation must ease the transition to MCC and turboprop/jet orientation just by getting the student to think about and practice operating an aircraft in this way.
Clearly the significant capital investment made in efficient new aircraft and facilities tells you something about their commitment to professional commerical training, as well as keeping down operating costs.
I'll probably pitch up there to renew my single pilot ratings next time around, not least because the pricing seems sensible and also to complete differences training and get checked out on the G1000 flight deck while I am at it.
Do the whole lot in one place and there is really very little difference between modular and integrated routes, other than the fact that your learning curve during hour building *might* not have been as steep as it could have been !
As ever just my thoughts. All good stuff ..
Last edited by George Foreman; 1st Feb 2007 at 01:26.