Hahaha.... the problem is, all three schools have very helpful staff. To be honest, the best help I got was from the owner of Teesside Flight Training as I was able to ask a lot of questions and was swamped by the answers. Like I said, the guy was an older gentleman which I assume was the reason why he knows a bit more than the younger FIs on the other schools
By the time I got to NFS, I didn't have as many questions but the owner was still very kind enough to answer what I had to ask and show me around.
So if I were to decide by "helpful staff," there really isn't a clear winner.
If I were to decide by "building condition," Teesside Flight Training would be the top choice.
If I were to decide by "aircraft condition," NFS would win, I guess, as they had more aircraft, had a repair facility (they service the DTFT aircraft), and so on. As NFS is a good distance, I would say TFT and DTFT would tie as both had a few aircraft, well-worn but still going.
While it would seem that I would sign up with TFT, a quick search brought up
this topic right here in PPRuNe. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but it doesn't inspire much confidence in TFT if it is true. Anyone got insight into this? Or maybe have a read at the linked threads and "translate it to layman's terms" for a newbie?