Women only flying school
Hi XX621,
1. Reading your original post, I have the feeling you were hoping for a serious response, which clearly you have not received from anybody. So let me try.
2. First of all, assuming such an establishment would not infringe gender equality legislation, (which is subject to doubt,) I have serious doubts whether, either a women only flying school, or a women only flying club, would be financially viable. Women pilots make up only a tiny percentage (is it 6%?) of the total flying establishment, and women student pilots would probably constitute only the same percentage of the student pilot population.
3. If a women only formula would work anywhere, however, that place would be the London fringe, as flying establishments in these locations seem to have fared best in the current recession with mostly little shortage of students.
4. It is not really clear why you would wish to see such an establishment in operation. Is it purely a question of women being able to train without being 'oggled at'?
5. Or is it the more substantial motive of ensuring that women students do not have to cope with male instructors, a few of whom may be inclined to bully them or try to 'put them down'? (I had one like this and he cost me dear. The club didn't even notice what a prize arsehole he was until shortly before he left and had done a lot of damage).
6. Or would there be better ground training arrangements to assist women students to cope with the more technical subjects (such as engines), which most of them will have little previous experience of? (Apparently, even the RAF had to simplify the teaching of technical subjects when they introduced women pilots).
7. If your reasoning follows my comments in paras 5. and 6. above, then I would argue that there are not a few male student pilots that would also benefit from this approach, and perhaps all that is needed is a school/club that caters for both sexes but where the management is extra vigilant regarding its selection of instructing staff and the treatment of its students.
8. As a useful addition, perhaps one very experienced instructor, other than the CFI, could be appointed as student mentor to whom any student, male or female, could turn if he/she felt his/her relationship with his/her instructor was unsatisfactory.
Well that's my two penneth.
Broomstick.