Hi there,
I have JUST got back from OFT, by just I mean less than a week ago! I did my Night and Multi there. Talked to loads of people who were there doing their PPL's. They offer a 3 week course but take 4 weeks as the chances are you will not complete it in 3. The apartments are down to 1 now and you will probably stay at the Four Points Sheraton instead. A very nice Hotel. Food is cheap on the strip between the Hotel and the Airport. Breakfast $3.99 and dinner $7.99. You probably won't need lunch but there is a 7/11 only 10 mins away from the Airport. The walk is the only problem as it is 1 1/2 miles each way. There is no crew bus so you have to get used to it. Don't bother training in the Katanas. Most days they would not start as they are having trouble with the batteries and they are grounded most of the morning. Nearly everyone there moved almost straight away to the Cessna 152 or the Piper Warrior. The Warriors are virtually new and are nice to fly although they have a problem with their struts and tend to lie low on one side or another which can be a pain. The Cessnas are quite old and I did not get to fly them. They have virtually new 172's there and they too seem okay. I trained in the Cougar (twin), they had lots of problems with it and I was lucky to finish the course there. The Airport is very nice and the Air Traffic Controllers are second to none and will almost always accomodate a circuit join from any direction, Even straight in! The only real gripe I have with them is the same that everyone else had. They are very lapse/lazy. If you don't hassle them all the time you will only get 1 or 2 lessons a day each lasting about 1 hour. You will need more than that to finish it in 3-4 weeks. Once you are up there, the instructors are great. Mine was very laid back but knew his stuff at the same time. There is one you will not want to be with as he has been known to shout and swear at students but I can't remember his name. Ask anyone there, they will tell you. In all, a promising school with 19 planes. As long as you give them a good kick up the backside now and again you should be okay. They are very keen on telling students to study the PPL Confuser and they will then be alright! Ground school is usually in the evening from about 18:30 to 20:00/20:30. It has been an experience that I was glad I took and one that I will always remember. It is easier to fly in the USA as they are so laid back and there is so much room. The radio traffic over there is also more easy to follow. If you do go there you will need a few lessons when you get back to England to get used to the differences. It is harder to navigate in America as everything is the same colour and so far apart! The CAA examiner over there called Pete is just the same as the most of them. Oldish guy, doesn't say much in the test but is a joker of sorts on the ground whilst out of test mode. You won't really find a school a whole lot better than OFT. If you want conformality and an "Oxford" type of teaching then there are others like Pan Am Flight Academy which will keep you in military check. Perhaps they are good for CPL level as they teach you to act like an Airline employee rather than a happy go lucky student. If you want to have a good time, make friends, work on the tan then OFT is probably the place to go. If you want a fully structured school that will tell you when to pee then perhaps not. I came away beleiving that it was all the students that "made" it what it was when I was there. On my last night everyone came out to the local Chinese with me to celebrate passing my exams and to wish me good luck in my career! They even raised their glasses. That will always stay in my thoughts. It was also a great opportunity for everyone to share stories and get to know each other. I will miss some of them and I was only there for a week. They ranged from being in their teens wanting to be Airline Pilots to in their 50's just wanting one last chance to grab their dream. Without other students to talk to it would have been hard to get through but at the end of the day it is up to you to acheive your goal. One tip from the people there, try to pass your ground exams before you go and then you can concentrate just on the flying.
I hope this helps you in deciding weather to go there or not, you shouldn't go wrong if you do, just make sure you get your name up on the board for a few flights a day, some peolpe went back without their licenses because of this and a week of bad weather. When I was there they had a heat wave and it was in the low 80's all week. (After the mist cleared by 11:00 it was time to fly!)
So, if you go have a good time and fly Virgin, you get 2 flights to choose from within 1 hour of each other. They fly from Gatwick (so do BA) and they operate the 747-200 fleet with modified TV seats!
Anyway, good luck and hold on to determination because that will get you through..............See you on the flight deck!
Feel free to E-Mail me should you need any more questions answered.
[email protected]
[This message has been edited by Trainee pilot (edited 21 February 2001).]