Flight Schools Advice

[182days]

Hi, im looking to start flying up to CPL and can do so in either Perth or Brisbane, can anyone recommend flying schools in either of these two cities?

[Michael123]

Hi 182Days,

If you are looking for a CPL, you should visit the Western Australian Aviation College based at Jandakot Airport in Perth. They share the building with The Royal Aero Club. Just ask at the reception for info. Good atmosphere there and always people available to help you.
I'm not quite sure if the Royal Aero Club trains for CPL as well.

Cheers,
Michael

[Led Zep]

I'm not so keen on the WAAC. :suspect:
RACWA does CPL and IR. There are plenty of operators at Jandakot all competing for your money. If you can, the best way to suss it out is to get there yourself and check it out.
You may find that you'll be far happier with a smaller school like Minovation (Phoenix was great...until it closed!). Most of the time, you're not treated as a walking wallet with smaller schools, and I really enjoyed the times I flew at Minovation. Places like the Royal Aeroclub WA or The Aeroplane Company can also be great, provided you can stay with the same instructor for as long as possible. It annoyed me no end when, after flying with one instructor at large organisations, another would insist that I was doing something incorrectly when I was flying as I was taught by one of their instructor mates. :*
I am not trying to turn you off the larger organisations (have had good experiences with them), but the smaller ones generally try harder to make you happy and work harder for your $.
However, exceptions to both exist of course.

[182days]

Thanks for the advice, i'll definately have a look around perth and get a feel for the atmosphere around those schools. Can anybody recommend any schools at Archerfield or know of any?

[Vic Hotel]

Hey 182days, I did my CPL training in Archerfield, at Flight Training Australia. FTA along with Royal Queensland Aero Club are both the biggest schools at the aerodrome and therefore have more instructors than most other schools and as Led Zep stated can lead to mixing instructors. I found that FTA had pretty good standards of training, and I believe RQAC to have about the same. However over the period of 2 years I was there I saw a lot of things that would put me off a school like that. They became very money-orientated especially on the admin side of things, and would forget very easily that you are the customer in the end paying for their service. They did have some very good senior instructors and if you can put up with the b/s politics then it is not too bad a school. Another school to look into is Bob Tait for your theory classes. Just don't let any school sell you the idea that after 2-3 years you will get into an airline, that is just not the case usually. I would suggest that you get a cheap fare to these places, especially Jandakot as I have heard pretty good reports from over there, along with greater employment opportunities in WA. If you have any questions just Pm me.

[TinDriver]

VH.....
Just to clarify things.......You were put off by FTA or RQAC with the politics and "money-orientated especially on the admin side of things, and would forget very easily that you are the customer in the end paying for their service" ?

[roger_ramjet]

If you're keen to go to Brisbane have a look at Macflite who do a cadet training program for ****** on the Metro 23. Not a bad option if you want to make a career out of it.
www.macflite.com.au (http://www.macflite.com.au)

[Andy_RR]

Not to CPL (yet!) but I did my GFPT at RACWA. I reckon they are a great place to start with. I had a 'primary' instructor and a 'secondary' instructor, so that someone was generally always available, although most of my flying was weekends. I think it's not beyond the realm of possibility to request/insist on consistency of instructors, however one of the good things about the RACWA was there was always a few friendly instructors around that you can go through stuff with over a coffee or whatever at the cafe. Great for getting a wider perspective on many of the issues and experiences.

For various reasons, I'm now working towards my JAA-PPL in the UK with a very small school. To be honest, I feel money is more of an issue in a smaller school because its easy to get the impression that they live or die on your patronage. Also, the availability and the breadth of experience and opinion can be more limited/limiting.

Whilst I think it's good to have a consistent instructor in the early days, I find it's worth remembering that you will fly with other pilots and they will have their own opinions on things. Don't get hung up on it and use the diversity to make yourself a more rounded (and adaptable) pilot.

A

[Lando Calrissian]

I finished up a few years ago at FTA and firstly I have to say, I cannot fault the training I received. The aircraft were in exellent condition, the flight instruction was first class and the testing officers were tough but fair. But I have to agree with V H that there is 'attitude' around the place. There are a lot of students and it isn't the type of place where the CP or CFI will get to know you and say hello and have a chat when they see you.

It's really up to you what you want out of your flying school; there isn't going to be one organisation to suit every single person. Probably best if you visited each one your interested in and hopefully you'll find the one which one suits you.

[Andy_RR]

...it isn't the type of place where the CP or CFI will get to know you and say hello and have a chat when they see you.


In my experience, it's absolutely the opposite at RACWA. The senior people were very approachable and often stopped for a quick shooting of the breeze.

[NZLeardriver]

Anywhere good for a MEIR, got lots of time in the US so just need a checkride maybe a couple of revision flights. Dont really care where either. Melbourne, Brisbane, etc

[scrambler]

In WA have you considered Chris Shine, Shine Aviation in Geraldton. A top operator and top instructor.

I have had some "money grabbing" experiences with a couple of larger schools, wanting to take you for longer than required flights and screw you fror your money. One of those is in Perth has been mention frequently above. I have also seen the CPL pilot product of this "professional" school and have reservations of there quality of instruction. One has to question a school which places more empasis on how many stripes to wear on your shirt rather than teaching you how to fly.

NZ Learner. Bini's Bini's Binis Moorabin. Do a search this topic is done to death every few months

[Led Zep]

Anywhere good for a MEIR, got lots of time in the US so just need a checkride maybe a couple of revision flights. Dont really care where either. Melbourne, Brisbane, etc

Ad Astral in Perth is the place to go in WA.

[Dry_Twotter]

I did my CPL with RQAC a couple of years ago. If you're after the quickest path to the right seat of an airbus or boeing, then i can't recomend them enough. They have very well maintained aircraft, a couple of great senior instructors and i recon the best theory instructor in the country, old sparsy

however,

If your more of a stick + rudder man like myself (or stick and rudder chick!) , then i recomend you wander up the road to mal beard. He has endless amounts of ag, low level, aerobatics, and tailwheel experience, and you will learn stuff with him that you wont forget in a hurry. Plus the aircraft he will teach you in cost 1/2 as much to hire for Twice as much pucker factor!(Supercub, decathlon etc.)

DT