Hello Burger
I’m in a similar situation. I decided not to apply to CTC, (at least their cadet scheme) as there seem to be literally 100s of cadets in the pipeline ahead and CTC can’t place them all; I didn’t fancy spending 75 grand and finding myself at the bottom of their pile. Therefore, I decided to go self funded. I’ve been looking at all the ‘full-time’ courses as well as modular, and have decided that modular is not for me.
That leaves OAA, CTC (their iCP), FTE, Bristol Aviation and Cabair on my list.
I discounted the last one as the reputation is not as good as the others. However, I can’t really find much to differentiate CTC, Bristol, FTE and Oxford; lots of personal bias (comments like ‘I trained there therefore it must be best’). I have found some negative about Oxford in terms of what they promise, and some about CTC in terms of lack of resources; easy to overlook if you are on a sponsored scheme leading to a job, but no so if you are paying your own way. However, my overall impression is that all do a good enough job and the differences are minor and subjective.
Bristol is very attractive financially if you compare it with the others on a like-for-like basis. However, like you I could find out less about them than the others. Therefore, I contacted them direct (
[email protected], 01275 467576). This is what I discovered in talking with Bruce, searching on PPRuNe, and talking to ex-students:
·They have been around for decades trading as Bristol Flying Centre, and have an A1 reputation as an IR centre.
·The FTO was bought last year by an Irish plc and re-branded as Bristol Aviation, but is basically still the same.
·Bristol Aviation also took over Sigmar Aviation Training who are a small Irish FTO, and they deliver their Jet Pilot Programme for Sigmar Aviation Training.
·Bristol Aviation also took over Sigmar Aviation who are a flight crew recruitment agency.
·The Professional Pilot Programme is new, but essentially it is the same training as the existing Jet Pilot Programme.
·Bruce can put you in touch with past students of both Bristol Flying Centre and the Jet Pilot Programme, who give very good testimonials; both also come out very positively if you do a PPRuNe search; the training is rated A1, and Port Alfred and Bristol are rated very highly as places to train. There was one critisism about Sigmar Aviation Training and promises they have made to people about placement with CityJet. However, in fairness they all pre-date Bristol Aviation.
·The whole shebang is run by a guy who used to run Oxford and was the founder of CTC, so he has a very good track record.
The approach I took was that every FTO will tell you they are great, but I wanted hard evidence to support that. Bruce seems a pretty straight guy; no hard sell, he was very willing to provide past student contacts, and he invited me down to Bristol to have a look. I must say I’m pretty convinced now; seems at least as good as the other big FTOs, and comes with a 10 grand plus cost saving.
See you in South Africa!