JSF
Martin is not in a hot kitchen and I don't think he's sensitive but simply giving it from the horses mouth. The old addage "If you want to make a small fortune in aviation then start with a big fortune" is probably still true. The only reason for being in business is to make a profit - If you love the business your in then that is a bonus. I'm sure he's accutely aware of putting all his eggs in one basket as a FTO and has the Charter/Handling business to smooth out the cashflow - a truely wise move. As an extra his charter business provides an opportunity to the odd lucky low hours pilot who does very well on the IR course to build hours on twin single pilot. Without his likes the British professional flying training business would be in dire straights.
I fully support his main point about not paying huge sums up front. His policy of keeping your account in credit for the planned days flying should be a regulation introduced by the CAA to all FTOs to protect wananbes. Until this happens I think the CAA should re-introduce the Assessment and give the payment advice to new pilots and get them to sign as having understood, as sooner later there will be a suicide if the present situation continues.
BFC and Bristol GS come highly recommended as I am with the former and have used the latter.