Flight schools in poland - other than bartolini

[asmith474]

Anyone have any recommendations for flights schools other than air bartolini? They are fully booked for a while so thats why im looking for something else in poland. Looking to do the full atpl

[KT1988]

I am very satisfied with Goldwings Flight Academy in Warszawa. The school got a fleet of 3x AT3, 3x C152, 3x C172, 1x Piper Seneca III (ME) and 1x Diamond DA-42 (ME) they have also ordered more AT3s but you are free to choose what you like better (I prefer Cessna even without the glass cockpit (AT3 got glass) ). As for the school itself you have to know stuff for the lessons (its not one where you can just pass all exercises and fly solo (or hour building if you already have a PPL(A) from some other place you have to do a KTP with an instructor to show how you fly) without knowing anything or handling the plane properly. And getting frustrated does not help risks are not taken so its a school for people who really want to learn). The atmosphere at the school is friendly and people like joking so it may not be perfect for very "stiff" people who take jokes seriously or understand them as insults. But its perfect if you like to have fun and learn as much as possible. The school even got now a HQ with complete rooms (with personal bathroom) for rent if someone is from abroad and do not wish to rent their own flat in Poland.

I do also know some people are satisfied with other schools at EPBC so you can visit all of them if you choose to visit Warszawa and see what kind of aircraft and atmosphere at the school you prefer. As for progress you can do it faster at the school than at an integrated course if you pass the ATPL theory quickly (I started in January 2018 and I will probably be done with all ratings + FI this year if I manage to pass last 6 ATPL theory exams in May and June sessions).

PM me if you got any more questions.

[saracen201]

I'm looking at Adriana Aviation and Smart Aviation. Similarly priced.
Any folks here with experience of these schools?

[asmith474]

any info??

[youngretired]

I've visited Adriana and what can I suggest you is to visit them before making any decision.
There was a negative comments about something named Smart in Poland but I'm not sure it's Smart Aero or Smart Aviation.
I've also visited Goldwings and seems promising. If you'r making any list to school visiting in Poland, better write Goldwings in it.

[jackrabbitslim7]

Do you know if you need to pass the ATPL theory exams in the same country you do your CPL ? I'm planning to stay in France for ATPL theory and hour building, and the pass the CPL in Poland or another country, but I'm not sure it's possible.

[Jolax]

Do you know if you need to pass the ATPL theory exams in the same country you do your CPL ? I'm planning to stay in France for ATPL theory and hour building, and the pass the CPL in Poland or another country, but I'm not sure it's possible.

You can take the atpl exams in one country and do the cpl-ir in another. Once you have completed the exams, just be sure to have your results certificate issued in English language.

[Victor Golf]

As long as it's EU it can all be transferred over as it will all be part of EASA, avoid the UK for now as we don't know the outcome of Brexit

[youngretired]

And the trick about doing ir/cpl in a country other than your license issue country is you/ATO have to find a French examiner at the end of the training so he can update your license. The other method is to transfer your PPL to that another country which it takes one to three months.

[ZaGaikokujin]

Can somebody elaborate about the flying weather in Poland? In other words, how many flying days / hours did you get out of the week depending on the season?

[IESS]

It always puzzled me when in schools with mixed fleet like Goldwings, what if the only twin you’re supposed to finish your training gets grounded for longer.
you may ask the owner of Goldwings about that and enquire what happened to the Seneca after it got it engine on fire a couple of years ago. :)

[IESS]

ZaGaikokujin

Weather starts getting bad around mid October (depending on the year the really good weather may last until November) and continues until mid March with lowest numbers btween December-February.
Speaking purely about VFR conditions, lowest what you get in let’s say mid-February is 1-2 days of flying weather followed by 3-5 days of waiting.
Usually there’s also a fortnight of good weather in mid January associated with the Siberian high when the temps drop down to -10 C at day and -20C at night.
From April it gets really good, best is May, then the summer heat and thunderstorm season come (still good weather) and it lasts until October (second best month after April IMHO).

[asmith474]

just looked at reviews for goldwings.... doesnt look good

[KT1988]

@asmith474: What kind of reviews? Those in google by anonymous people who did not visit the school who write stuff that PPL(A) takes 2 years to complete? Or stuff on the Polish forum from like 5 years ago that I can not say anything about since I was not there then. I myself started in january 2018 and were done with PPL(A) in June 2018 including theory, just had to wait a little until July for the official exam by ULC examiner. And recently there was a guy who did his PPL(A) in one month, yes you read me right he got done in one month with all practical flying. So the best advice is go visit the school yourself instead of reading posts in google reviews (there is a known thing that different schools in Poland like throwing some mud at each other, Bartolini skip being thrown at since they are full either way and people have to wait to start there, so no one fear they will take customers from them).

People on the internet can write absolutely everything about any company or business. Recently I read one guy say that pilots could bribe themselves past assessment at Wizz Air..... and when asked how do he know: did he work there?..... he answered that he just know and thats it. Another guy in Ryan Air assessment thread wrote its Ryan Airs fault he failed the assessment since he finished an expensive school so it was not possible he or his colleagues could make mistakes at the sim....... Soooo, just visit yourself and see, plus ask real students at the school.

@IESS: A mixed fleet is the best for the student I believe you can choose what you prefer if its the new AT-3 or a Cessna. For example I do not feel good in AT3 (it feels so fragile and easily influenced by the wind) while Cessna 172 is like perfect to me. Other people prefer the glass cockpit in the AT3. As for ME and IR training you can choose whether you prefer Piper Seneca III or Diamond DA-42. The Diamond DA-42 is available all the time from what I know (I started in January 2018) what happened in the past before the school got the DA-42 I do not know but its the past, just as its the future that there may be another DA-42. But right now there is a DA-42 available and it have never been in maintenance for much more than a week from what I know and people get done with their training in a timely fashion.

[asmith474]

has anyone heard of ventum air in warsaw ?

[KT1988]

@asmith474: I have heard about it but never been there, its also located on EPBC. From what I heard from people I met while waiting on my ATPL exams at ULC there are some satisfied students at Ventum too, they got mostly PS-28 cruisers and only one Cessna 172 for ME they got tecnams.

If you plan to visit Warszawa and EPBC you can visit both Goldwings and Ventum in one visit and see the aircraft decide which looks like what you would like to fly and what school seems to fit better for you. It will be much better to see what it really is, than reading anonymous google comments made by different schools about other schools.

[asmith474]

will do, thanks for the advice

[Victor Golf]

I finished in Bartolini in Poland not too long ago, my class was there for the winter so we seen the bad months

Instructors did everything humanly possible to get us to fly, they were just as frustrated as we were when we didn't fly due to weather

I finished all my training in 15 weeks with my own 2 week break in between, when you consider the weather and maintenance it's quite fast for that time of the year

Couldn't speak more highly about my time in Bartolini as they were very professional and helpful for me, I did all my practical training in Bartolini from PPL to CPL ME IR and was very satisfied with how the school was run and the training received.

10/10 experience for me

[avtomaton]

I am currently studying ATPL theory in Ventum Air. I can say they are good. Good airplanes, good instructors, friendly atmosphere. From my opinion SE flight hour is very expensive, but for ME/IR-ME seems reasonable.