Hi all,. .I completed my IR there in June 2000, and cannot recommend PAT enough. As arduous and nerve- racking as the IR can be, Mark, Steve and Anthony made the whole experience as pleasurable as it can possibly be. Lynn in the office was also a great help. I know that there was a bit of a backlog of CPL students around May when I was there but this was due to a combination of waiting for the second Sierra to come online and the weather. As far as the IR goes, availability of A/C or instructors was never a problem and I personally flew 3 trips a day in the sim, 1 trip everyday in the A/C plus a back seat every day (never underestimate what you can learn while back- seating). Steve has, in my opinion, got to be the most encouraging and proficient sim instructor around. (Steve- if you read this I hope your medical gets cleared soon and you are back flying around your beloved Alderney!). Before the IR, I had a phobia of the hold, due to IR rated pilots I know telling me how hard it was to learn. After 5 minutes, Steve had me so comfortable in the hold that I could have stayed there all day! The same goes for those NDB approaches. Mark is also one of natures true gentlemen, and out there in the aircraft I got the same excellent standard of training that Steve gave me in the sim. As Mark said "as soon as I've stopped you from chasing that ADF needle and over correcting on the approaches, then you'll be ready for test". With his wealth of experience, Mark can show you IFR flying techniques up there that will make the whole thing seem easier than what you thought it would be.
I think that the difference between an average instructor and an excellent instructor is the ability to quickly assess how an individual student learns (ie. thought process) and tailor the tuition appropriately. The guys at PAT have the ability to teach the same thing a number of different ways just in case you don't "get it" first time. Standard of the Duchess' are excellent.
And who cares if you have to pay a little more at PAT (if this is the case at all). As with everything in life, you get what you paid for. Sometimes signing up at a school merely on price is a false economy because it just may be that the A/C are substandard, or the instructors are only interested in the hours and don't have the inclination/ experience to have the ability to teach the hard stuff in a mutitude of ways. Thus it is easy to (and many do) go over the course hours. This eliminates the up front saving anyway. Thing about the IR test as well, is that you only want to do it once. The privelidge of going on test will cost 564 UKP, and another 5-600 for the aircraft hire. I finished up on hours with a first time pass at 260TT, so I couldn't have been happier.
No, I don't have any association with PAT apart from being a very happy and appreciatine customer who got the job done right, first time.
So that makes it 8 out of 8.
Cheers all, Gearupandorrf