OK,
So let's start with the basics. Nice pedantry on the picking up of "i'll" where it should have been ill. Did it not even occur to you that even the least erudite person would be unlikely to mistake "I will will" as the correct phrasing for ill will? I doubt it....just something to assert how very clever you are. Well done. Except that I wrote the previous reply on my iphone - which autocorrects "ill" to "I'll". Still, I'll go sit in a corner and consider myself told. Interesting to see if you even have the grace to apologise for that....
Anyhoo, that is a minor point.
I will accept that perhaps the implied labelling all comments as ****e is a touch strong, but perhaps not so much when considered in context of the subject of OAA. Either way, my intention was to not to imply all comments on PPRuNe were ****e, more that OAA illicits more clearly unfounded comment than almost any other topic, with the possible exception of Ryanair.
However, my original statement is nothing to do with it fitting "my mental model" - or more succinctly, perhaps it is...but my mental model is based on facts as I see them. Based on knowing the NJE cadets. Based on having gone there and spent a hell of a lot of time at Kidlington. What is YOUR mental model based on? I note you conveniently fail to answer the more salient point as to what your opinion is based on. As always with these type debates, they devolve to an intellectual arm wrestle. Lets stop that and deal in facts and opinion based on fact, NOT personal opinion, based on what you've read from other people who don't "know". You want to silence me, pick on any of the number of failings OAA has based on fact...not on crap conjecture.
I rather suspect that best case here is that you (The beak) are a serving pilot who chose NOT to go to OAA through any combination of factors pertinent to your own circumstance, perhaps relating on how they conduct their training, the costs, pure personal choice etc. This would at least partly validate your opinion, but it would hardly be unbiased, would it - you are projecting your decisions on to everyone else, regardless of supporting fact.
The worst case is that you are a modular student who has yet to complete (or start); who also chose not to go to OAA. Either way, justify pontificating on OAA if you haven't been there, or been involved with the schemes you are commenting on. THIS is the point. Opinions are offered as fact on the subject of OAA on an alarmingly regular basis, by people who CLEARLY don't know - who are choosing to propagate their own personal view and declare it as fact - perhaps in the thought that if it's repeated oft' enough, it will become fact. To provide some context, the tone and content of the normal OAA "opinion" is as monotonous and unsubstantiated as the 16 year olds who think OAA is a guaranteed passport to BA. Yet, you'd [rightly] rip strips off a 16 year old who said that on these forums.
Those that do know some of the facts (in particular on the NJE comments - witness ILPAS reply) know full well the opinions offered here are often wildly inaccurate. Yet still the bile comes...."OAA do nothing to support their students" "OAA and NJE have dumped all their cadets". Even your mythical figure of £80k - it isn't. It's £70k (which granted, could hardly be considered "cheap"), but it's another great example of how "the facts" don't make for nearly such a sensational story. All of which brings us nicely to the money comments. You are of course right, that it's far worse to be more in debt than less. I fully accept that perhaps my intention of the comment didn't really come across....my point was more that having spent £50k and not having a job is not really a great position either. The bailiffs will come for your home regardless of what that level of debt is and I doubt there's significantly many more that go any other route [than OAA] without taking debt.
You can have whatever opinion you like, but if you choose to post your opinion as fact (and absolute statements such as Baristas are exactly that) then I reserve the right to put forward a more illuminated opinion - i.e. one which has experienced the place in question.
FWIW - OAA has a number of negative points, all of which were illustrated to Anthony Petteford, a number of which he has acted upon, so it is not that I see the place as infallible. Far from it....but the point is that I would seriously suggest that most other FTO's have their crosses to bear also.
edited to say:
glad to see that so many are incapable of seeing my point that posting opinion and calling it fact is indeed ****e. Perhaps I'll start posting that airbii are made of cheese. It's a fact you know. someone who doesn't know anything about them told me so.
Mad Jock - No, I have no particuar blind faith in OAA - I am very aware of their limitations - however, my personal gripe is unbalanced arguments. And that's a speciality of this place. Flower it up with some reasonable English and you don't have to JUSTIFY (god forbid!) your comments, or provide a balancing argument...you just have to slate hard enough. For example - why is this thread about "where are the OAA grads". This implies that OAA grads are hit far worse by this crises than anyone from Cabair, FTE, CTC, Aeros, Atlantic, PTC, BFC and so on. This is not the truth...anyone that's just recently got their licence is ****ting it right now and as you correctly state, the objective is damage limitation.