J-Lyrique
If your mate with 188 hours was regarded as the best CPL student a CASA testing officer had seen for a while, then isn't this a tribute to the training organisation. The same organisation that you wish to denegrade.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't FTA the only training organisation at Archerfield with their own maintenance organisation? Yes, the sun may have weathered some of the fleet but as far as reliablity go they are up there with the best.
At the end of the day, if you want cheap flying training then Archerfield is not the place. The operators there cannot compete with other airfields given their high overheads.
However, if you want high quality training in a GAAP zone, then most of the operators at Archerfield are worth a go.