Flight Instructor course at OAA

[Fanor]

Hi guys

I'm interested in doing a FI Course and was thinking of Oxford aviation Academy. Just wondering what peoples experiences have been there ? Do they hire you if you qualify? And is the true cost £8k as stated on the website?

Thanks in advance

[taybird]

If you didn't do your initial training with them, or if you don't already live there, I'd recommend anywhere else. Average price elsewhere is closer to £7k and chance of future employment is exactly the same.

[Jean-Francois]

Just a piece of information...
FI courses in Poland is about 5-6k (in EUR) at Bartoloni air in Lodz... Check their website! There is also smartaero in Warsaw which is good as well!
I was in touch with Bartoloni air to start with them but I am no more convince to invest money on a FI(a) training! I wanna fly for a turboprop or jet company and FI is not sexy as it used to be... My point of view of course! I'd rather search for a specific training which would be valued by the airlines!

[Watt001]

Hi everyone, in Seagle Air in Slovakia the FI rating is about 4.500 EUR, which is about half of Oxford. Worth consideration, I passed it there, too, I can provide further information.

[Cows getting bigger]

Are there any UK flying schools employing FIs who got their ratings in Poland/Slovakia?

[Fanor]

Thanks for all the feedback and the advertisement for various schools.

I'm just trying to find the best training and post training employment chances. I know Bournemouth Commercial Flight Training where I did my training have the same course with a similar price tag and good employment chances. However as we know OAA have a great reputation and overall employment chances might be better.

[fwjc]

It does seem that the OP has made up his / her mind anyway. That last post was probably a waste of time. It's your money, spend it where you want to.
As for school reputation, ask around.

[mad_jock]

OAA have a great reputation and overall employment chances might be better

I suspect they will be slightly worse than having gone to one of the names in the training industry such as On track or Mrs Poolie.

[Cows getting bigger]

Despite my best efforts I'm about to fail my exams for the Diplomatic Corps.

I can't think of a worse place to do an FI Course. Oxford is a sausage machine and, at best, you will be trained to teach the 'Oxford Integrated Way'. This is fine if you want to stay with an integrated school where you will teach to a strict, stove-piped syllabus which has little to do with real world flying. I have seen two instructors 'progress' to Oxford and both of them have subsequently sent me CVs.

I employ FIs, quite a few of them. Firstly, I will always look at employing people that have been trained by our team - they are used to our ways, need little standardisation and have just gone through a 30hr, 6-week job interview. Next up the pile of CVs are instructors who have gone to one of the FI Instructors who have a very, very good reputation in the industry. From my perspective, these are Eva Ceh at Denham, Carole Cooper at Andrewsfield, Caroline Smith at Booker, On Track and one or two others. I know there are more but hopefully you get my drift - if any of the above called me saying they had a good graduate looking for FI work I would take that individual without interview. Conversely, if Oxford called me I would interview and insist on an assessment flight with our CFI/HoT.

Top Tip - don't get drawn in by the 'bling'.

[fwjc]

I'm laughing cos mad_jock and Cows Getting Bigger said pretty much what I had originally written and then deleted.

Oxford might give you a slight advantage if you want an airline job. In my experience it will look poor on your CV if you're looking for an FI job compared to an FI from the other places mentioned.

The two Oxford graduates I have flown with had very little situational awareness in the VFR environment. They may have been fine heading for Ryanair but their ability to fly a visual circuit and plan for separation in non-controlled airspace was not good. Even if your previous training was elsewhere, to choose OAA as a training provider shows no understanding or knowledge of the real world.

[Reverserbucket]

I thought they had stopped offering FI courses? Not core business and no money in it I was told. When they were running these courses a few years back the advertising was horrible - anyone remember the cheap looking stock photo of a greasy haired 'instructor' wearing a pair of Poundland mirrored sunglasses gazing up to the sky accompanied by some inspirational invitational...Increase your potential after 'graduating' to join RYR by paying some more cash and instructing as there aren't any jobs at the moment...or something similar? Not high quality and a real pity because they had such a great reputation and some great ex-CFS instructors on staff. The industry has changed so much.