Ladies and Gentlemen, I really appreciate your comments.
Biped, I think it has always been the general consensus that the airlines prefer the integrated student over the modular student, sad but sometimes true. However on saying that, I guess it depends who is sitting on the otherside of the desk interviewing you. If Captain Public has skimped and scraped, stacking shelves at Tesco to fund his flying training, then I would hope he would have some admiration for the prospective pilot
.
Morning Glory, could not agree more mate, this country is most definatley falling into this bull!!!! class system, sadly it does not only occur with this, it is everywhere you go. Unfotunately, I am not loaded, it has taken me a long time to save the money necessary to fund myself through professional pilot training, therefore I have to be shrewd with the old cash. There is no way I can afford somewhere like Oxford, but will be able to cope with the 'middle class schools'
.
Gin Slinger, could not agree with your comments more mate, thanks.
Ready Message, you train of thought coinsides with mine, sometimes it is easy to be cynical about the big outfits, however, in more ways than they can be a nightmare. I must admit, I have not trained with a big school, however, I have been to them all, and persoanlly I have never liked the atomsphere, but I guess that is just me!
I have always found the flight instructors attitude has played a large part in my desire for a school. I have recently been in the US hour building for the CPL prerequsite requirements. Whilst I was there I had to revalidate my licence, which took around 7 hours, and I think I learnt more in those 7 hours, than I did in my PPL course! Well, not quite, but my instrictor certainly put a lot of polish on my flying, in fact the mirror finish. The approach of the instructor was a lot more professional than I have been used to, and he got the best out of me, which I think is important for the student. But Anyway, I digress.
I think most people will agree that choosing your school is a bloody nightmare
. It seems a shame that people are forced to jump through hoops to maximise their chances of getting employment. I think I will channel my energies into getting to know the chief pilot at BA, Virgin etc etc
. At least that is kind of free
.