Just done PPL at EFT
I returned back from EFT on Monday after having completed my PPL in just 18 days!! I thought I'd share my experience of the Academy and indeed flying in Florida, and seeing as the topic of flying at EFT, OFT, OBA etc is a much discussed and debated issue I figured many of you would be very interested to hear of my experiences.
Also, I will try and give a complete overview of the whole process as believe me, it's not just about going to America and flying. You have to jump through many hoops to get your Visa, TSA clearances etc etc and this is something you must be aware of.
So where do I start. Well, originally I had booked myself to go out to OBA for my training. After receiving notification that my i20 form was in the post I started running searches on the web for feedback on this FTO and I was shocked to find so much negative feedback about the school. Now, I'm a realist and after doing more research about this, and after having spoken with OBA about my concerns I realised that much of this was probably down to the individuals who may have not shown the commitment and hard work required to complete a PPL in such a short period of time. However, I also know that there usually isn't smoke without some amount of fire so I started looking into other FTO's and made the call to EFT.
Right from that very first phone call I was impressed and felt more relaxed about EFT as my training provider. Mathew Adams, Assistant Chief Flying Instructor, was extremely helpful and professional and took the time to talk me through everything I needed to know. Over the next few days I made more phone calls to the school as and when new questions came up and each time my queries were dealt with professionally. I also spoke to Trevor Brackston who owns EFT, and Ian Poll, Chief Flying Instructor (he also did my Skills test), all of which were great and took the time to answer my questions and provide advice.
Decision made, I booked with EFT and paid my $500 deposit.
Within 2 days my i20 form had arrived from EFT (the i20 still hadn't arrived from OBA at this point!). This is the form you need to complete and take with you to get your Visa and TSA clearances. Once this is completed and you have applied for the Visa you are then bound to that FTO and your Visa will only allow you entrance to the USA on the basis that you will be permanently bound to that FTO during the period of your stay.
Now, usually you will get your Visa sorted and will then go for your TSA clearances once you arrive in the USA, and I believe this is part of the package deal that you get from the school. However, this process can take about 3 days before you get approval from the TSA to train, and so I wanted to jump start things and actually got my TSA approval done in the UK, at Farnborough airport. This had an additional cost of £170 (If I remember correctly) but meant I was able to get flying as soon as I arrived in the USA. What I will say is that getting your Visa and TSA clearances is a pain in the arse and takes ages to go through all the online forms, get the appointments booked in etc, and also costs a lot of money too (£300 to £400) so make sure you think about all of this, are organised ahead of time and get it done so that you can concentrate on the other more important things, flying and study.
So onto the actual bit you all wanna know about. Learning to fly at EFT. I arrived late on a Thursday night and was due to start flying on the Friday (without TSA clearance this would have been Monday at the earliest). The Academy looked nice and I was impressed by the accommodation which was large and clean, and more importantly was onsite at the airfield. To give you some idea it took me about 40 seconds to walk into the Academy and through to the Apron with all the planes. This was a big plus and you are given access to the Academy 24hrs a day and are allowed to go out to the planes whenever you want. I spent many a very late evening sitting in the PA28 going through my Engine Failure drills and running through other checklists to commit them to memory. This was a massive plus point for me.
Also, the Academy buildings were very nice, clean, professional outfits with a great free use study area with online computers etc etc, so all in all the facilities were excellent. Also, just across from the Academy was a Tiki restaurant (good food) and a PartsMart where you could buy your headset, pilots uniform, pens, kneeboards etc etc. Everything right where you need it!
So as I said, I was due to fly on the Friday. To my horror there was a problem with the plane that I was booked on and the flight was cancelled. I was very tired from the jet lag and this made me panic as it was not the start I was hoping for. Something else I didn't mention yet was that I had only 3 weeks 4 days to complete my course as my company would not allow me any more holiday! I was under pressure the whole way! However, I needn't have panicked as the maintenance team at EFT are awesome and get planes up and running in no time at all. We used the Friday for flight briefing and were booked in for the first flight on the Saturday now.
Once we got that first flight done on the Saturday things just seemed to fly by and I managed to get nearly 2 flights done every day. My instructor, Anders Waerling, was awesome and worked his ass off to get me through the course. He even came in on Sundays so we could keep flying and this made a massive difference. If you do go to EFT and get Anders as your instructor you're in very safe hands indeed. To be honest, as far as I could see all of the instructors were bloody brilliant, and they will all take the time to talk with you, help you with problems or questions and I have to say that by the end of my time I knew many of them very well and would consider them as very good friends. Look out for the Danish crew, Anders, Thomas Jensen, Martin, and Ronni. I think they're planning to take over the school and rename it DFT! :-)
Onto the planes. Well, as to be expected they're not brand new shiny things. On the contrary they look a little old, tired and battered, which might have something to do with the fact they are being hammered left right and centre by many different students day in day out. However, as previously mentioned the maintenance team are superb and do an amazing job of repairing and maintaining the planes every day. Some very clever guys indeed when you consider they are working on Cessna's, Piper's, Beech Duchess's etc etc. Also, the instructors are not silly and will not fly a plane if they are aware of an issue just because they have a student nagging them. They are very safety conscious and will have planes checked out before getting airborne if they feel it necessary.
Well I think I've given a pretty good overview of the facilities and instructors now, so onto doing an intensive PPL course in at EFT in Florida, or any other place in the USA for that matter. 'INTENSIVE' is the right word!!! DO NOT think it will be anything close to a holiday and DO NOT part with your cash if you are not prepared to work your ass of to get through the course. The instructors are not there to carry you and if you are not going to commit 100% of everything you have then you run the risk of not getting through. To give you some idea, I completed the course in 18 days, way ahead of schedule but during my stay there I did not leave the campus, other than to do my food shopping and drive to Starbucks for a well earned coffee here and there. When I had flights scheduled for 7am I was at the Academy by 6am doing my mass and balance calculations and pre-flighting the plane so that we were ready to fly at 7am on the dot. I was NEVER late for any briefing or flight and when I wasn't flying I was studying the Flying Training Book by Jeremy Pratt so that I knew what the next lesson would involve. If I had a Navigation flight I spent the evening before hand planning my routes and getting my PLOGs filled out and ready. I think you get the idea that this was HARD, and I mean HARD work. I was not there to play games or relax, I had paid lots of money and had a job to do. Because of my hard work and commitment my instructor showed me lots of respect and hard work and commitment too, and as a result we managed to get through the course.
I would easily say that this was one of the hardest and most stressful things I have ever done, and at times I didn't know if we could do it, but the hard work paid off and this was also easily the most incredible and rewarding things I have ever done.
Something else to bear in mind is that I had completed 6 of the 7 theory tests before I went. I would say that this is a must if you want to be able to focus on the flying and reduce your stress levels while you are there. The theory stuff takes up time so GET THEM DONE in the UK and you will have a huge headstart.
Sadly I heard stories of people who didn't get through but I was told that these were the people who didn't turn up to some lessons, were out drinking or partying during the week, and clearly weren't focused or driven. I find this astonishing, particularly when you consider the cost of these course. So if you are considering a PPL in Florida please do realise that it is very hard work and very exhausting too. If you put the time in your will reap the benefits and get through.
EFT is a fantastic FTO and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone, as long as you are prepared to work and are fully aware of what is involved.
All in all, a superb experience and you will thoroughly enjoy your training at EFT.