I.F.T.A. Good or bad?

[Topgun 4122T]

Hi guys ,

I have being following some interesting posts recently and have even started a few myself in relation to flight schools in Florida . one thing that I have noticed Is that International Flight Training Academy always gets a roasting !! This is for a reason !
As a ex stunent of IFTA myself I have personally been ripped off by IFTA and would like to hear some interesting storys from some of you other guys that have also had good or bad experiences with this school as I feel this topic could help our fellow student pilots make that very important decision on where to go ...:cool:

[cjd_a320]

I know this is probabley against the general view held by most...

When I was there in winter 2000, I couldn't fault the quality of instruction by Steve Fisher. Didn't fly with John or Richard who where the 2 other instructors at MLB apart from the odd check ride.

I found Steve & Antonia very likeable, they even offered me a Job with them! Sadly illness prevented this.

Steve's instuction was first class, yes he's hard & he'd tell you straight to your face if your crap or avaition isn't for you. BUT he's a master at bring out the best in those who have Talent.

Just my views, you will just have to make you your own minds.

[Topgun 4122T]

Your reply Is interesting cdj_a320 as I am interested in hearing all views good or bad !
I would also like to add that you are about the 10th person that I'm aware of the Fisher has offered a job too ! me included .
Whats the problem there ? Is he really that bad to work for or what .. They lost the best instructor they ever had " tim " just reacently who i had the privilige of flying with ...

[carbonfibre]

I was'nt quite ripped off, i realised by the time i had done 12 hours that enough was enough, loads of excuses by the owner, who by the way if he owes you money is in Bournemouth as i write this i even know where hes staying!!

However i will always tell and inform of bad practices, because i have fell foul to 2 schools, one in the US already mentioned and one in the UK and by all accounts the one in the UK is far worse, who is now affiliated with another well known US cowboy outfit doing JAA, down to the owners and not the flying i think, makes the difference

But when i was at IFTA there were no happy people flying there, i think that says it all

Good flying everyone:ok:

[Flypuppy]

Is this the same Fisher family that were involved with Swallow Aviation at Gloster a few years ago?

[uniroyal]

affirm, what a piece of...

[lostconcern]

Just heard from a Danish student who is one of 8 at IFTA now doing their ATPL studies that the one and only staff member of the IFTA ground school , the CGI is about to leave.

I am glad that Tim left, he was a great instructor, far too decent a chap to hand around Capt F. My hat off to him for lasting this long!

Caution all prospectives for their ground school.

[cjd_a320]

Yes it seems things have changed alot since I was there in early 2000???

Although I have to say the ground school side was poor. Steve drafted in Ken Holden to teach some of the instructors ground course studies which I found very ad hoc & of poor quaility. Ken should of retired years ago;) . The whole set up of the student paying Ken's fees & picking him up from the other side of FL didn't sit easy with me, as did other things. Things my well of changed since then. Yes Steve will bill you every dollar he thinks is owed. I spent a lot of time flying with Steve both in training & non training roles, I couldn't fault his skills.


So to sum up: Expect to pay for everything , fly with Steve if you want the best instruction & aviod the ground studies.;)

BTW what happened to John Weller & Richard Goodwin???

Interesting Handel N4122T, I liked PFL'ing 22T into the private strip at Steve's!!!

I'm glad I'm out of the aviation world :D :cool:

[chipieflyer]

Just a quick question for Topgun 4122T. You say that as an ex-student you were personally ripped off by IFTA.

But there is another post from you a couple of weeks ago where you say,

"Just a coincidence ! ive never been to Ifta > and by the sound of it iI wont be going there either !!!! topgun"

when asked about the relevance of the 4122T.

Just wondeing whether you have or haven't been to, and therfore been ripped off by, IFTA. Just so a potential student can get an honest opinion of the school

[Topgun 4122T]

Chipieflyer ! To answer your question : At the time it was in my best interest not to be connected to IFTA but as I have my training records from there now , I don't give a f***.

[chipieflyer]

Fair enough, sounds like sensible way of going about things. Thanks for clearing that up.

[scroggs]

4122T In the interests of honesty, perhaps you would be good enough to explain exactly how you were 'ripped off' by this school? It's very easy to make derogatory claims about any organisation but, without details, it is very difficult for the reader to judge the validity of your dissatisfaction. In other words, what you have indulged in so far is nothing more than name-calling. Your claim in an earlier thread that you had never been to IFTA also undermines your credibility.

Only a month ago you were asking which school in Florida you should go to on this thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130935)

How about some more, and more truthful, information?

Scroggs

[Impressive_Wingspan]

Sorry for cutting in before 4122T replies but i can get the ball rolling if you like.

Day one: Student pays in full for CPL and FI course at the price agreed.

Day XXX: Four hours before the end of the FI rating (whilst taxiing out to the holding point) the student is told by the CFI that the course price has increased by £400, and he should think of it not as a price increase but "a tip" for the service he has received. When the student tells him he has already paid the course costs in full (and not overflown), is told by the CFI in a VERY unpleasant manner that he will not be doing anymore flying and therefore will not finish the course. Now there is a term which i would use for this kind of behavior, but i will let readers of this post come to their own conclusions.

OK £400 is not a massive amount of cash, but i know that this particular individual saved for 18 months to fund that training and played fair on day one by paying in full upfront. Why should he pay the extra if they had agreed the price, but he did, because he had to!

(Edited after reading a thread on another flight school, was my experience, my cash, and will identify myself if required)

[cjd_a320]

That is a problem :*

Steve used to wave my credit Cards fee's of 2% ect..ect.. & always played fair with me.

BTW I have no links with Steve, I've been out of the aviation world since May 2000 so I'm just telling people about my time @ IFTA as it was beck then...

Cheers

CJD

[MAX]

Without going into details I recommend people fly somewhere else. PM me if your are thinking of going there and Ill share experiences. The only plus side was Tim. Where is he going?

MAX:cool:

[Impressive_Wingspan]

The £400 wasn't a credit card charge, because i paid in full by cheque on day one. Like i said £400 isn't a massive amount in the grand scheme of things, but it does say alot about the person you are dealing with. He did have an amazing ability to bring the worst out in people, i really have never seen anything quite like it.

[Jude]

Mixed views abound, but when I finished my FI at IFTA early 2000 I completed on time, on budget. Steve Fisher's instruction was excellent, however he didn't suffer fools, if you were c**p you were told so. Hard work was required but if student's put the effort in so did Steve. Can't comment on the groundschool as i'd already done that in the uk.

[kronhjort]

As a current student at IFTA I can tell you that the Gound School instructor IS NOT leaving the school...
I'm one of the socalled 8 danes, and right now doing the second module on the ATPL's...

So far I have done my JAA PPL and my FAA IR at the school, and is has taken more time than they promised me from the start, but I cannot complain about the quality... Expecially the american Instructor Randy is good...

I think you have to be careful about these kinds of forums, because you never know, who is writing in here... So get in touch with current students before making any decisions....

Happy flying out there and good luck to you all!!!!

[seatrumpeter]

I was at IFTA twice, in late 2000 and early 2001. In both cases I had good experiences. I got my training completed on time, on budget (actually a little ahead of budget in the second case) and although it took some cajoling, I was able to get Steven to work with my a little outside the box (I had lots of time already, just needed training to proficiency so their structured course wasn't really appropriate).

I flew with Roy (where is he now?), Tim and once with Steven and thought all three were professional and knowledgeable.

There were unhappy people there OK, but to me that was more their attitude and approach, expecting everything handed to them on a plate. Go in with realistic expectations and I think it will be fine. I will be going back sometime soon for my IR renewal.

You can feel free to PM me if you want specifics. I have no affiliation with the school. I work for a US regional airline and live in Seattle.

Regards
Ray

[skill]

MY all time low in aviation was trainning at IFTA my hard earned money thrown away time and time again ,no examiner then waiting around then extra trainning waiting for examiner to arrive. Always finding faults with your bill ect. I am owed near £600.00 for a cpl test fee that they took from me to pay the caa but the caa never recieved it two years ago but long runs the fox i cant wait to have a holiday in florida and pay my respects.The only good thing i can remember about IFTA was tim&helen and roy also the guys i met out there who went through the same s - - t that i did .I was not trained by S.fisher and i can only report what mates have told me, one mate was told in the air he was thick because he had trouble with ndb's i dont fancy paying someone to tell me how thick i am the same mate left and went to EFT and gave great reports about them and is now flying 737's many more story's like that .

[African Drunk]

I had extra added onto my credit card after I had left, paperwork not sent onto CAA and am happy to identify myself. It might of improved but are you willing to take the risk?

On a general note don't believe that a individual who went bankrupt at least twice with his schools leaving many out of pocket(glos+cardiff) should be able to pass CAA financial checks.

[Desert Budgie]

I wander how many of you experienced this:

Me - 'Antonia, could I please check the credit on my account'

Antonia - 'Yeah, sure.......hold on, your account appears to be at zero, it must have gone through to Steven's computer.' !!!!!

I was sick for 10 days and when I got back I had no money left. I asked for a few days and Antonia finally asked me how much I thought I had left. I said $1600. I didnt really know, but it was somewhere around there. So magically that afternoon I had EXACTLY 1600 dollars on the account. That was the last straw. That coupled with many other things made me take my money and leave.

I heard screaming matches between students and Steven in his office while I was there. Theyd go at it for half an hour and the student would get his money more than not, so obviously they must have been due. And more times than not it was over their money going onto 'Stevens computer.'

If anyone wants any more info, just ask and Ill let you know. But as far as IFTA goes, Id stay well clear.

Take it easy guys, and happy flying :ok:

DB

[Topgun 4122T]

desert budgie ! very interesting and let me reassure you that your not the only person ive heard that from , in fact im starting to loose count !!!topgun

[shlaps81]

Just to tell my point of vue, I went there only for one month (01/2004) to get my JAA ME and FAA ME rating.

I was a bit scared before leaving with everything written here, but mainly I was quite happy, aircraft not too ****ty, tim and randy very very very very good instructor. people seemed more or less happy...

I don't who was it but not knowing how much you have on your account and not checking it like every 2 days is quite stupid, especially if you know you are at ifta and you know they become a little bit hungry when you r talking money.

65hrs + FAA ME + JAA ME in 30 days, on time, price as agreed... but of course be careful, chekc your account, go and talk directly to antonia or instructor and show them you won't at the very first time you meet them give a penny more than agreed and that you are motivated to learn !! if you go there believing it is easy and talk to them like dogs, they will treat you the same...

I am sorry for you guys begin ****** by them... hopefuly it did not happen to me !ç!!



steven only got me the JAA test,

[lostconcern]

Havent they been bought out or bought into by Pilot Training College, there is a press release I have seen via a google search dated August 2004 with this info. I will have a look and see if its around still.

['I' in the sky]

Lost Concern.

Did you ever look any further into this ? Or was it one of the other IFTAs ?

[lostconcern]

From a conversation with a current instructor there a while back after my post, he said that it had fallen through after the buyer had made some investigations and/or there was a disagreement about how much involvement the present owners wanted in the school and its future profit.