I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. I have two flight schools that are operating from a nearby airport (EGNV) but I am unsure which one to pick. I have a
similar thread in the Private Flying sub-forum, but I can't seem to get proper answers so I hope that getting advice from FIs and Examiners (who deal with aviation as part of the daily grind) would be better than average-Joe-with-a-PPL.
The first one is
Teesside Flight Training which would've been my first choice if not for a
bit of questionable history. As a new guy, I'm not sure if this should concern me as businesses do come and go quite often in this economic climate. There is quite a lot of venom in the thread and in the linked threads, but this is obviously one side of the story --- and unless the others have been scammed out of money, I can't understand why there is such venom.
I did like TFT because of the location they had, very roomy and had a great view of the airfiled. Also, it was the very first flight school I visited (I was looking for St. George but missed it) and Shaun Wilkinson (yep, the very guy they're looking for!) was kind enough to explain things to me. We talked 1.5hrs on my first visit and well over an hour on my second visit, and has been very helpful.
I took a trial flight with TFT and flew with one of their FIs who is a captain on Flybe or something, or so they say. The FI was okay, I guess (as I've nobody else to compare him to). I was quite comfortable with him and he let me takeoff and fly; I was in-control 98% of the time we were flying. He only took over for the final landing as we had a bit of crosswind, but then I had control again once on the ground. I also did most of the pre-flight and post-flight checks.
The second school is
Durham Tees Flight Training. I've visited a total of four flight schools (three here, one in Newcastle) and since St. George is merging with DTFT and the other one is all the way in Newcastle, well....
So far, I've not heard of anything negative about this school but unfortunately, my visit there failed to impress me. Perhaps it was because I was talking to a "receptionist" who was all of 20 years old and was probably as confused as I was and couldn't answer my question? Perhaps it was because I felt like their flight school was cramped, especially compared to TFT? I'm trying to like DTFT and convince myself to stay away from TFT, but this morning I rang DTFT to arrange a trial flight and I had the mobile phone on loudspeakers and even my wife wasn't impressed by the "people skills" of the person who answered the phone. He gave his name as "Dale" and unless there are two or more staff named "Dale," he's probably the CFI of that school. If I continue along that "first impression" feeling, I'm really not looking forward to the trial flight, which I've already booked for September.
I'm going to give DTFT a few more tries, I will probably visit them tomorrow or Wednesday to see if I can chat with someone there and this is also the main reason I am spending another £170 on a trial flight instead of booking some groundschool lessons or actualy starting some air hours.
One advice I keep getting is not to pay anything up-front. So far, none of the schools have asked me to do so. "Dale" tried to get me to buy a voucher but I told him I prefer to pay on the day, and that was that. I'm not very sure about how paying for groundschool or exams work, but I will be sure to pay after the event.
Another advice I got was to "trust my instincts" but unfortunately, it is telling me that I will not be a happy student at DTFT, not unless something happens that will change my mind. Whenever I buy something (PC part, graphics card, car, or Warhammer 40K unit) or commit to something (phone contract, ISP provider), I try to learn as much as I can then "sell" them to myself. I usually sleep on it as well; I never buy under pressure or because someone said so. It took me 5 weeks to find a car that "felt right," and have not regretted the purchase. The problem is: I can't seem to "sell" DTFT to myself. To be honest, if it weren't for the linked thread about TFT's past, I'd very likely be well into my PPL now.
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So, with that long intro out of the way:
1. I wonder if there are ways to tell if a school or instructor is legit? One person suggested I go up to the instructor and ask to see his license, but as I can't tell if it is legit anyway, I'd rather go to a page on the internet that lists an instructor's name and his credentials.
2. I am under the impression by both schools that they can administer the PPL exams as well, how can I see if they really can do so?
3. Is there a way to check which courses a school is allowed to teach? According to the TFT website, they only offer PPL(A), PPL(H), NPPL, night rating, IMC rating, and Multi. According to the sign they have outside their building, they also do CPL(A), CPL(H), FIC, and IR.
4. On the front page of TFT's website, there's a line that says "
Civil Aviation Authority Approved School OCP 2256" is there a way to verify this? Google search turns up nothing that I could make out. DTFT has nothing like this I could find on their website as well.
5. Another user suggested that the ownership/management of a school has little or no bearing on my PPL pursuit as it is what the instructors teach me and how I do on my exams that matter, not whether the school is in-the-red or in-black.... provided I follow the first advice of not paying anything up front. So I guess if I make it halfway to my PPL and one school goes under, I can pick up my books and finish my PPL on another school. Is this correct?
6. Would it be a good idea to tell Shaun that I know about this thread and ask him about his side of the story? Or perhaps ask the guys at DTFT what they thought of their competition?
As my previous thread on this sub-forum was a lot more helpful than the one I posted on the Private Flying sub-forum, I look forward to what you guys have to say. Thanks a lot!