Flight schools attitude

[skyreadycom]

Help!
I am trying to get my PPL but am struggling with my flight school. Not enough instructors, as a result I end up flying with a new instructor every time. Planes are in a bad shape and are mostly older than me (pre 72). And on top of that no one seems to care at the school? Anyone got any tips? Or should I just put up with it?

[splatt]

I dont think that you can get away from old training planes though some schools do keep their planes looking better than others. So long as the planes are maintained to a high standard then I see no reason to complain about the aircraft. If you do a good enough A-check/Pre-flight you should be able to spot anything major that is wrong with the aircraft anyway.

As for instructor availability I've been having that problem recently too. Mostly because a few of the instructors at my school are away on holiday so all the students have been lumped onto the instructors that are left. What I've decided to do is set aside a certain days every week that I want to fly and have asked my instructor to book me in with him every week on those days without even asking me. It's to his benefit too as he only gets paid hourly flying rates and no base salary so knowing that he has a regular student helps him.

Thats my 2 cents. Hopefully others will post too :)

[GusHoneybun]

Yup, not much you can do about the age of aircraft, it just depends on how much love a school is prepared to give them as to their appearance.
A usual question you would get asked doing trail flights was "How old is this rustbucket?" at which point you would reply "Oh, not that old" whilst knowing that it was older than yourself and the punter combined... Anyway.

It is important in your training to get continuity. It ensures that your standards are defined and not changed every lesson. It also allows the instructor to identify your weak areas and focus on methods to help.
As said above, try and book your favourite instructor a few weeks in advance when the bookings are still light. If you say to an instructor that you really like their style and would like to continue training with them, they are usually so chuffed with the glowing recommendation that they will make sure that they get to train you the next time, and the next.

However, if you're school is just messing you around then I would suggest voting with your feet. Go in and demand to speak to the CFI, explain your reasons and if still not satisfied, ask for your training records and enrol in another school.

[IO540]

skyreadycom

My "tip" is to gring through it, and when you are done buy yourself a decent plane. Or buy into a group operating a decent plane.

I am not kidding, either. It's the only way to do flying.

A pity the schools don't tell you that when you start.

[J.A.F.O.]

I must disagree, it is not the only way. If you're not happy handing over your hard earned to them then find someone else.

Also, IO, there are many who would say that buying an older aeroplane was the real way to fly.

[DRJAD]

I do not believe there is any intrinsic disadvantage in having differing instructors provided they are competent and conscientious. Rather, one could turn it into a positive experience by comparing and contrasting differences between them, understanding the commonalities underlying those differences, and using the exposure to a wider view of experience to which the multiplicity of instructors gives you access.

As far as elderly aircraft go, I recently took Mrs DRJAD and two friends on a round trip of Scotland and the Orkney Islands in a PA24 first registered in 1959. It had the best and most comprehensive avionics I have yet had the pleasure of using, was entirely reliable, performed excellently at the levels defined in the POH, and was a clean and comfortable aircraft. All in all, a pleasure to fly. A significant amount of the tour was, of necessity, conducted in IMC, and the aircraft performed faultlessly as a stable instrument platform.

It is not the age of the aircraft that you should fixate upon, but, as others have intimated above, the quality of the maintenance of the aircraft and its equipment.

[PSF2J]

Having set up and run a sucessful flying school, number one rule is for your school to look after you.

You should ask to be kept with one instructor, and they should go out of their way to keep you with one instructor, if not, go elsewhere. Being an Instructor as well, i know techniques are different. A maximum of 2 instructors really!

Age of aircraft is irrelevant. I've always learn't to fly in aircraft that are older than i am! As long as they good avionics and the aircraft are loved, what more do you want?!

Go to someone who cares; if you want the details of some schools which will look after you, pm me.

J

[englishal]

I dont think that you can get away from old training planes
A good reason to go to America, where $130 per hour will buy you a post 2000 C172SP with all the gadgets, including instruction.

[18greens]

The issue with instructor continuity is a real bone.

Are you consistent with the days you fly and book in advance or do you call at the last minute. People who plan tend to get better continuity. Instructors usually have standard duty days and finding one that matches the patterns you want to fly will increase the chance of continuity.

The other issue is that instructors get paid *all and will hop off at the first opportunity for a decent paying job in the airlines so no-one hangs around for long. The schools have little control over this.

Few people get through the whole course without at least one change of instructor. On the other side few instructors with 1000 hours will have got more than one or two people all the way through.

As for the age of the plane, when you learn to ride a horse do you want an old calm hack or a frisky 1 year old. Don't you want the plane to be more experienced than you?

[englishal]

As for the age of the plane, when you learn to ride a horse do you want an old calm hack or a frisky 1 year old. Don't you want the plane to be more experienced than you?

Or to put it another way, when you learn to drive, do you want a car that pulls to the left and wobbles when you break, or a nice smooth comfortable car, which breaks in a straight line :D

[Grainger]

...breaks in a straight line... I'd rather have one that remained intact !!!

[englishal]

You should have seen the one I learned in ;)