Quite right let's not forget those two. I suspect that I lost more than most from those two shambles. So much for the aviation authorities duty/remit to monitor the financial health of the institutions they approve. I think the UK CAA's advice (only to pay for training using a credit card) is probably right.
I'm not implying in any way that US schools are less capable, just perhaps less inclined to jump through the b*s hoops that EASA is erecting. Like most EU bureaucracies EASA seems oblivious to the realities of industry. The FAA is far more pragmatic. Furthermore EASA's inspection fees are absurdly high. If I were cynical I might suspect that this is good old fashioned European protectionism at work.
Yes, I have personal experience of the pain some of these schools are having inflicted on them. For example in one recent EASA inspection (not run by anyone from the UK CAA) the inspector required the school to have classroom slides ONLY containing material from the books they use. So, goodbye to useful clips from YouTube, instructor's additional photos etc.
If that's good training practice I'll eat my Part-FCL.
Last edited by Graham@IDC; 27th May 2013 at 19:14.