George Tower
21st May 2004, 10:36
The African aviation forum is always dominated by at least one thread which is generally very negative about flight training in South Africa. I think there needs to be a thread which deals with all the issues and recurring questions that are raised time and again.
I believe the main issues are:
1. Payment & Cost related.
2. Length of time it takes to complete courses.
3. JAR related issues.
Perhaps it would be a good idea for those schools that actually provide the training to post on here and deal with the above issues. I know there is also a chap called Irv Lee who has a website that deals with many of the licencing issues and requirements for those seeking to exercise an SA licence in the United Kingdom. Perhaps he could comment and debunk some of the myths that develop.
Jetdriver
21st May 2004, 14:23
George,
Wherever possible we try and avoid the use of stickies. The problem with them is that they are like old notams, and either nobody reads the subject or the subject becomes so long that it loses the point. It is noteable that some of the forums have little other content than the sum of their "sticky" threads.
You are correct in that there are recurring themes on the forums, but it is usually the case that interest in them is promoted by the variety of the subject target. If a subject warrents enough replies it will naturally keep itself at the top of the forum. If it does not then it is torturing the point to force it there.
Sorry it's a "long one", but I was asked!
My 'general' statement is that I think UK training is great, and so is SA training which is still 'tight' in some of the areas where the UK training may have slackened off in the 50 years since they were (apparently) devised from the same source. When it comes down to training schools, all countries have excellent places, and I suspect all have the one or two bad apples spoiling the situation.
The problem in finding which is a good apple and which is bad has always been there in every country, as learning to fly is a bit like losing virginity - you only find out too late if you made the right choice! I've tried to do something about that - on the aviation side anyway, with a 'community' of SA PPLs in the UK, linked by newsletters, fly-ins, internal 'mentoring' by the more experienced ones, etc - which can provide the 'hindsight' as experiences are passed around (again, we are still talking flying here!).
Just to assure the moderators, this UKSA community is not a club, there's no 'fee' or commercial charge etc. It has info on the general theme of getting a PPL in SA and then flying in the UK - FAQ page, newsletters, where the SA approved doctors are in the UK, how to convert to JAA or NPPL, etc. It's called the UK SA Flyer Community (http://www.uksa.flyer.co.uk)
There's no advert for specific schools. The pilots in it have the webpage and are in a distribution list for events or to be asked to mentor a new SA PPL in their region (intro to their local club, joint flying, etc), or for advice they have the 'hindsight' other prospective SA PPLs need on actual clubs down there.
I do warn prospective students tapping in for info from ex-students on specific clubs that if they get a few good recommendations on the same club, that is pretty conclusive, but one single 'thumbs down' on a club may be right, but it may not be fair at all, as it could have been the pupil who just wasn't up to scratch. There is a famous school in the US where 'graduates' are completely polarised because some fit and have a great time and others don't.
Just to assure any UK schools reading, I'm not an agent for a SA school - I give general advice and facts as clearly as I can. I could teach PPL, but I don't - my income is from post-PPL mentoring where-ever a pilot learned - therefore prospective PPL students use me for advice. I never actually tell people they should learn in SA rather than the UK. I don't think I have the right to tell anyone they should learn in any particular country - it's really such a BIG decision, they MUST make it individually and the UK will be right for plenty of pilots, and SA (or Spain, or Oz, NZ etc) will be right for others.
So perhaps I will typically talk to one who concludes he/she should learn in the UK (not with me, I don't teach for the PPL, I let others do that). I'm in Central Southern England, and so many people I chat to end up learning at Thruxton, Old Sarum, Blackbushe, Goodwood and Southampton - whether the schools there actually know how many talk to me then go to them, I very much doubt!
The next guy along will have the same conversations and conclude (themselves) in their circumstances they want to go to learn abroad, and then I provide general info on various countries they might fancy, but nowadays I do have much more info on S.A. and do think the training there is good as long as the school is ok. The point being I'm not an agent, don't get paid by anyone, but I do have a vested interest in boosting the number of PPLs flying in the UK.
My general advice on choosing a school in the UK is in print, in the Flyer "Learn to Fly Guide", and I think it covers advice on any school worldwide too - sorry, agents, but I don't believe in paying an agent, and I don't believe in paying anything other than a small amount in advance direct to a school. I don't mind 'keeping in credit' with a school as long as it just means 'pay as you go' with the credit side being a small amount.
I first got interested in SA aviation when a guy came to my (UK) airfield for a rental checkout - brand new S.A. PPL and never flown in the UK. Until then I was only used to 'new to the UK' meaning 'American' PPLs. (ie: FAA or JAA in Florida licence) and had a general concept of how much pre-flight time would be needed to explain various things about the UK. I didn't have to spend much time before flying with this guy as he understood various UK concepts already - QFE, overhead joins, etc etc. When we went flying, all the 'little extras' were there too - engine management, various little things which signal "well taught" where-ever people learn.
To cut a long story short, I went with him to have fun in the SA National Navs - B'fontein 2002 - which meant I met "his club" which was Algoa at P.E. Talking to them, I realised a JAA examiner who was also a SA instructor, resident in the UK, would be useful, so Algoa asked the SA CAA to specify exactly what flaming hoops I should jump through to get my SA Instructor approval, and 3 months later, helped by Algoa's training and advice, I jumped through all the hoops and got the SA ticket - I had a great time, and was never asked to pay in advance other than not to let my account go below zero, which is a very good sign. I hear from others of equally good schools, but if you find a school which offers large discounts for large payments up front, alarm bells should ring which generally need further investigation
(editted for spelling)