Oxford modular

[SplashDown]

Hi everyone.

I know its been done to death in this forum and I DON'T want to get into a Modular v's Integrated discussion either! I have also done quite a bit of searching in the forum but can't find anything recent regarding my question.

After rather a lot of late nights on PpruNe and talking with friends and family I have finally made the decision to kick off my ATPL training with OAT for both their ground and flight training on a full time basis To put it simply, I could not justify the price premium of their APP course v's doing all the content through modular. That said, I nearly signed on the dotted line for the APP and had already passed their 'selection' :hmm:

Anyway, what I'm really looking for is to gauge if there's any pecking order between current OAT APP students and OAT modular students? Looking at OAT's site, nearly all the APP courses kick off full with approx 18-20 students on each. Plus with their being approx 30 aircraft out at Sabena, do they manage to schedule to everyones satisfaction. I have spoken to current APP students and that is one of their negative points to put it nicely!

It would be good to hear from anyone currently going through OAT modular both ground and flight training to see how they are getting along. :ok:

Cheers
Splashdown

[Seany]

Woah........

30 aircraft out at Sabena? You are joking right.........:eek:

[SplashDown]

Seany,

I didn't count all the tails when I went out there but looking at the FAA registration database, Sabena have 9 Pipers and Tyler Aviation (The Oxford painted A/C) show at least 19. I admit though there ain't 19 OAT painted A/C in SDL. So okay 30 was a little steep - more like 15 :ugh:

So is there anyone currently going through OAT modular?

Cheers
Splashdown

[EGAC_Ramper]

Perhaps a post on their forum for "modular" may get a response??:sad:


Regards

[Mooneyboy]

Just like to make one point about doing modular at OAT.

I have been told ( by a source I can't remember) that the modular guys will be placed at the bottom of the priority pile. Meaning if some aircraft are out on maintence the other remaining aircraft get given to intergrated students. To add to splashdowns questions is the actually true since I'm also seriously considering doing modular at OAT in November.

Mooneyboy

[Seany]

Well currently Sabena have 4/5 Archers

there are 4 warriors flying and 4/5 arrows

Not so sure about mooneys comment, there are modular guys flying as far as i can gather as much if not more than the integrated guys!

Best trying to ask one of them though!

Sean

[Mooneyboy]

I hope Seany is right and that I am wrong because I might be one of the oxford modular very soon.

Mooneyboy

[EGAC_Ramper]

Indeed me too seen as I visited the HSBC this morning for a qoute of life cover and was informed my loan application had been all agreed!:O Can't wait to actually get things underway.


Regards:ok:

[Regis Potter]

Integrated vs modular priority is nonsense. You have a start & finish date & is anything, modular tend to do better because the CPL examiner is not usually a staff member hence has to be flown in specifically for the testing period.

The weather is great & aircraft are not a problem. You also tend to fly with a really experienced, dedicated instructor who specialises in modular.

[Mooneyboy]

Regis,

You sound as though you have either have gone through the process or knows the system. It is warming to know that there will be dedicated instructors to the modular students. Does this mean that there are quite a number of modular students and also how many modular students in the ATPL ground class?

Mooneyboy.

[ukts]

As a current Oxford student, doing my IR I'd like to put this all in a nutshell, the modular course is fantastic, having a PPL really sets you up for the ground school, I'd have found it tough going not knowing what say the effects of controls are and then doing my ATPL's in theory of flight, anyway Oxfords problem is not the number of aircraft or the amount of sims or even the number of staff (although very recently there has and will be walkouts from both ground and flying instructors) another story all together.

Their problem is the MAJOR lack of organisation, so many times both myself and my peers have been miss billed or billed twice, there have been mistakes made with the flying side of it, without going into too much detail it was at least a week and a half of being in Arizona before I could even touch an aircraft simply due to lack of planning and then I had to pay for an extension on my ticket home out of my own pocket, there is a serious lack of communication between Sabena and Oxford out there, so many times would we present a flight plan to be approved by an Oxford instructor and then when walking out to the aircraft to fly it, would be stopped by a Sabena instructor who would declare it unsafe, I've lost whole days of flying due to this, there are so many more examples I could use but for the sake of keeping this as brief as possible I'll stop here, although I know this isn’t a modular/integrated debate think about this, if you where an airline employer would you rather have a 23 year old guy who maybe has a degree and some experience in industry or an 18 year old guy with almost no life experience and an ATPL.

If I where to do it again, I would do the new LPP (license preparation program) basically the APP without all the jazz simply what you need to get the ATPL, I would do it with oxford simply because of their reputation and not because of their efficiency - compare the IR pass rate to somewhere like Bristol, you'll be surprised!

Remember - modular or integrated we all graduate with the same license.

[Mooneyboy]

Recently phoned up oxford and found out that the ATPL ground on the modular course is taught differently and seperately to the intergrated lot. This seems to prove to me that the modular get treated just as well as the intergrated students ( changing my previous thoughts to this point). All I need now is to sort out the finance, accomodation and then I should be doing the modular course on the 29th Nov. Just one question I forgot to ask oxford but are the ATPL books included in the £4800 price?

Also thanks to ukts for sharing your thoughts. What is the bristol vs oxford pass rate for the IR, just interested? I hope the organisation is sorted out and I will keep a close look on the bills.

Mooneyboy:D

[Dick Whittingham]

If you are talking bristol v. oxford pass rates for IR, remember that that is bristol flying center, no connection with bristol gs.

Dick W

[EGAC_Ramper]

Mooneyboy as to your question regarding the ATPL books,I asked the very same question while I was over visiting Oxford and you do get the books to keep so no worries there!!:ok:


Regards

[Mooneyboy]

I'm glad the books are included especially with the ATPL costing near £5k. I've seen the books, which look good quality and well written. Although I think after hundreds of hours of study at some point we'll be sick of them. If your going in Nov might see you there.

Dick W. I was asking a question about a post from someone else but I'm sure he was meaning the bristol flying center.

Mooneyboy:ok:

[EGAC_Ramper]

I'll be starting my course in March so maybe I'll just catch you towards the end of your ATPL groundschool!:ok:


Regards

[Mooneyboy]

The end of the ATPL seems a long way off. Been looking at the website and now everyone ( please don't quote me on this) seems to be getting jobs with straight away.

Does anyone know of an oxford student website which has been setup by modular guys. I'm still bloody undecided but things are looking up in the future in comparison to a few months ago.

Mooneyboy.

[SplashDown]

ukts, MooneyBoy and EGAC_Ramper.

Thanks for keeping the thread going :ok: Haven't been ignoring your responses, just been out of the country with no internet access!

ukts. Thanks for your comments. As I said in my original post, this isn't the first time I've heard that planning's bad. I guess I'm going to have to wait and see whats it like when I get out to Scottsdale.

MooneyBoy. Have you made your decision yet? If you have signed up to start GS in November I'll see you there!! Sent off my deposit for the theory and plan to do CPL/MEP straight after that in June/July followed by IR and MCC back in Kidlington.

As a side comment on the recent job announcements for APP students. If you exclusively look at OAT's site it all looks very rosey for the APP guys and girls getting jobs! That said though I'd suggest balancing OAT's site against www.mikechannon.com and his Jobs announcement page. The guys and girls who recently got jobs with BMIBaby were part sponsored by them so in my opinion, evens things out and still doesn't prove any beneift with the APP.

Cheers
SplashDown

Disclaimer "I sometimes mix the real world with the one in my head, which can lead to all sorts of nonsense coming out as fact".

[Mooneyboy]

I haven't yet been able to send off a deposit but I hope I can get it sorted very soon since I know they're very close to a full course. After that I just need to sort out accomodation and then I should be sorted.

Mooneyboy:D