The FLYER Professional Flight Training Show 2007

[Cirrus_Clouds]

Finals19:

"AFT" ....are you referring to Aeros Flight Training or Atlantic Flight Training?


I personally thought the visit was worthwhile, even though I attended the one in November. Met some other pilots I've got to know since visiting the colleges - mainly from the OAT bunch, so had a good laugh and catch up.

I had already booked a visit to Atlantic Flight Training next week before even considering attending the show again, so meeting them at the show first gave me a bit of heads up. They've got some good ATPL Groundschool books (in colour), that come with Study CD and Exam question CD (all Jeppesan material); so something to think about along side other groundschool options.

Cabair, whilst a very helpful bunch, I felt their ATPL study material could be better in terms of presentation - just looked like old diagrams and solid txt (while being informative); there sure was enough information in them! I'm planning a visit to Cabair at Cranfield shortly. They have a new fleet of a/c as well as links abroad for hour building etc.

So far OAT (I personally found I got on with them best), Cabair are possible choices, but the main factor is to decide whether I want to do training in an analogue or glass cockpit and obviously COST.

Although OAT might be more expensive, but there seem to be lots of guys from the industry who work at OAT (after being told this from a recent visit to their college), plus the college has lots of links with the airlines, financial assistance, GECAT link, which all help towards that first job. I would be doing Modular.

There wasn't enough room in the seminar room sadly, so had to miss out on the IR discussion.


So far i'm still undecided over a number of things:


Whether to fly analogue (Seneca) or glass (DA42) for training (with the intention to fly a 737NG or A320)?

Would having glass cockpit experience reduce the chances of any job application for an analogue a/c e.g. 737-400 (I have currently trained on analogue to date - but since experiencing Glass.. "VERY NICE!")?

Possibly train at a FTO where you can do distance learning and fall back onto full time classroom study if needed, as you can't do that with Bristol?

Choosing a college that have "links" with FTO's abroad, so I would still have 1 FTO company on my CV when it comes to doing hour building (not sure if Atlantic have this)?

Do FTO's give preferential treatment to Integrated than Modular, or they both treated equally?


These are my immediate concerns that aren't exactly helping me make my decision where to go. I hope by visiting the colleges and students, I will be able to make a choice.