Bonus Aviation - Cranfield.

[nmcpilot]

Hi there, I have not made many posts on pprune as of yet, basically I am doing my ATPL theory examinations at oxford currently have 7 out of the 14, and will be looking to start my CPL/MEIR early in the year next year. It seems tough to find a place for a modular student to train. I went down to Cranfield this morning to check out Bonus aviation and if you ignore the state of the buildings they seem to be alright, seem to have a good instructor- student ratio etc.

Just wondering if anyone has had much expierience with them at all?? I know there have been posts about bonus before but nothing too substantial.. What I really need to know is... Is the training of high quality?? Is the fact I am doing my training at a smaller place like this rather than doing the Oxford modular route going to effect my hunt for a job?? How much flying were you able to get done each day? Were you able to do alot of backseating? And just your general opinion of them would be really helpful as I don't really know anyone who has been there..

nmcpilot.

[5 RINGS]

if you're not short of 1 or 2 quid, have a look at Cabair cranfield, modular students can find their own way!

a friend of mine trained with them and was fairly happy, IR first series...but I can clearly remerber Bonus leasing their twins to cabair on some occasions when cougars or seminols had gone tech...not what you want to hear when you're in business with Bonus though!

[nmcpilot]

Money isnt really the issue so much.. It comes down to location mainly. Cranfield would be an ideal location for me to finish off the training. Yes Cabair were my first choice but they have ceased doing modular training at Cranfield now and only do it at Bournemouth. :( I think Bonus are the only ones at Cranfield who do modular students at the moment.

[The Trailing Edge]

Hi nmcpilot,

Not exactly your situation but I recently completed an ICAO (New Zealand) CPL and IR conversion with Bonus. From start to finish I was extremely happy with the service that I recieved at Bonus. I was quoted a time frame of 4 weeks for the conversion and thats exactly how long it took, including a week of absolutely terrible weather which meant no flying. I also ended up under budget... always important!

I did the CPL in the Arrow and the IR in the Seminole, there were no maintenance delays and aircraft were always avaliable or made avaliable for the 170a and tests. The instructors were keen to help and most are willing to fly after hours to meet your timeframe. Both tests were avaliable in two days of booking.

Jo is in charge of the operational side of things, drop her an email and she will answer all of your questions. Also if you get a chance drop in and speak to Pete Godwin the CFI who can answer any concerns you may have, he is very approachable and keen to make sure everything goes well.

As you can probably guess I can't reccommend them highly enough. They also have the new FNPT II sim arriving any day for IR and MCC training. :)

[nmcpilot]

Trailing edge, thanks for the reply, I went and saw them this morning, although the facilities look a bit tired I did get the impression they do look after their students and are generally a good school. However you can't judge them by just what they say. Sounds like you reccomend them.. I guess my biggest worry is airlines frowning on me for going to a smaller sized school rather than OAT or Cabair, anyone think this would be the case?

[PAPI-74]

If you want to pass a sim ride in the future, avoid Cranfield.
pat.uk.com
Cran. only have a few routes. Far to easy. I know a few guys from Bonus and Cabiar who have failed the one chance of a job. They no longer fly.
OAT didn't seem to feel the place that I wanted to learn. Far to far up its own ar#e. Look around and see where you fit in.
Look at at least 5 orgs.
Look for a good sim...Stapleford have a good one so does PAT (FNPT2 not an old frasca...and yes it does matter).
Cabair will put you to the back of the foreign student queue.

[nmcpilot]

Stapleford and Cranfield aren't a million miles away from each other are the routes that they use that much different?? Do many people avoid Cranfield for this reason?? Also Bonus are about to get a FNPT2 sim I believe. Stapleford is a possibility for me, but when I went down to have a look I guess I was probably expecting more. I have been staying at Oxford for 4months now, it's good, I do like it here, but don't really want to spend 26grand on their modular CPL/IR course, plus I hear it isn't really that great anyway..

[PAPI-74]

...because none of them are regulated (apart from the CAA's audit) regarding customer service you have got to look really carefully. OAT isn't perfect. SFC has got the same routes as the test is done at CFD, but a good sim. It is a bit of a jeanes and t-shirt school and I think that this gives students a slack attitude. They also throw as many through the system as they can, giving you less time to learn IF techniques (not just passing an IR by numbers i.e. learning 2/3 routes off by heart). You will need to master SID's and Holds etc...to pass a sim check, not just a first time pass after 30 rotations to East Mids. Also, you will need to join the queue for the test at CFD. At PAT, you have better access to examiners, and can get a test the next day if you need. This is really usefull as you may get to test standard and go off the boil by test day.
Cabair have good links to Fly'MAY'Be, but again, the school is full of students after that job as well as 100's outside Cabair, so don't put all of your eggs...

If you do go to these FTO's, and it goes wrong, go to the CFI and tell him. You are paying good money to be trained so don't take any sh#t commander.

[nmcpilot]

Are you talking about Stapleford being a bit of a jeans and t-shirt place?? Seems to me that Stapleford and Bonus will be very similar considering Bonus will soon have the same sim and the IR tests are done from Cranfield anyway. Bournemouth is quite a way to go for me but it is a possibility.... However my main priority is to be the best and safest pilot I can be so I don't really want to goto a school where I am just a number, and like you said just learn the routes I need to know to pass the test...

[PAPI-74]

Yes SFC, in fact they are both like that.
If you want to get the best result, you may have to stay away.
The main aim is to tell the school that you want to learn to cope with SID's. If you get a sim check and sit there not being able to read the plate and set up your raw data, you will be laughed out of the building. Some interviews ask you to brief the departure and expect you to be able to talk them through the set up.
That is what you are paying for, not 25hrs flying to X and Y from memory.