Official News from Britannia Flight Centre, Inc.

[Britflightcentre]

September 11th, 2002

Dear all,

We are deeply saddened to inform all of you that the Britannia Flight Centre in Winter Haven, Florida will officially cease the acceptance of flight students as of September 11th, 2002. This inevitable closure is due to new rule changes brought on by the events of September 11th, 2001. Under these new rules, all students are required to enter the United States with a valid training visa. New licence conversion rules that the FAA came out with in July also make it impossible for students to come to the flight school for time building without any additional expenses.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our past students, instructors and examiners. You have all helped Britannia to become the success that it was over the past years. A very special "thank you" goes out to Margaret and Eric Shipley for entrusting us with the continuation of the Britannia tradition of providing quality training with personal care to each individual student.

It is unfortunate that we have to close our FTO, but we hope to return sometime in the future to provide quality training for future pilots. We wish the best of luck to all of the student pilots, FTO's and fellow aviators.

Sincerely yours,

George Orive and Jatin Gaur

PS: This letter is posted entirely with the prior permission of PPRuNe Towers and that the Towers wish the very best to Britannia Flight Centre in the future.

**LAST DAY OF OPERATION--OCTOBER 31, 2002**

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

George Orive and Jatin Gaur,

You two were a class act. The aviation community will miss you.

Best of luck in all your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.

[Alex Whittingham]

I'm sorry to hear it, Jatin, it will be a loss to the industry. Good luck for the future.

[spils]

Yeah, I'm also sorry to hear that - I really enjoyed my time over in Winter Haven.

All the best,
Spils.

[PFD]

George and Jatin

My thoughts are with you. I pray for the day when all this nonsense comes to an end.

Regards

PFD

[carbonfibre]

Jatin, George,

Sorry to hear the bad news, enjoyed my time and my exceptional night rating.

Last time we met was Ft Pierce?!!Jat

Good luck in the future

;) :D

[scroggs]

Another sad loss to the aviation training community. You have my sympathy and best wishes.

[Crosswind Limits]

I am sorry to hear that and wish you both the best for the future. Flew over Winter Haven many times when I was based at Kissimmee.

[David Balchin]

Oy! George, Jutin. Nooooo!
You can't do that,.... were am I gonna hire a good cheap PA28 (and wide-up George) from next time I wanna do the 'Bananas'?
I promised my bird I'd take her.
I hope you get things sorted in the future. and wish you all the best of luck.

[avrodamo]

I have done all my training with BFC, and its a real sad day. You guys had the best training enviroment by far.
Feel really pleased that im going to be one of the last people to fly with you.
George and Jatin.....See you in a few weeks !!

[Max Rampwaite]

Big shame!!

I've said for the three years or so that I've known them....the singularly best flying school environment I've ever had the pleasure to work at!.

[SPRINTING RABBIT]

:( Really sorry to hear the shocking news boys....you made a great team.
Loved doing my PPL back in Feb 99 with you George....even tho you didnt close the door on my first solo! Down to earth laid back instructors who really know their stuff are just not common.....hope things improve for you two soon.
best of British!
Chris

[SANDI]

George & Jatin,

Guys I'm gutted - you two are real gentlemen and deserve to succeed.

I have really enjoyed my flying with BFC over the last two years and my son Nick wants to do his PPL in 2 years time with you.

Can Nick & myself wish you all the best and - I look forward to the future BFC when you resume your good work.


John & Nick Rigby

[jonathang]

Sad to here you go, Heard many great comments about your FTO, was planning hour building with you.

JohnnyG

[onehunga]

J & G,

We had so much fun going to all those t*tty bars in and around orlando and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol too!! Look us up if in London and I will return the favour - DOUBLE. Oh well will have to find somewhere else to do some more hour building now.

Good luck.

David (kiwi)

[TAF Oscar]

J&G

I've recommended BFC to dozens of people since you helped me get my wings in October 2000 - training (and hour building) with you was like being part of a family, a unique experience I will never forget. You witnessed so many firsts in my flying career, your patience and sheer enthusiasm for flying was and still is an inspiration.

It is indeed a sad day - KGIF will never be the same - but you can look back with pride and satisfaction not only on all the Wannabees that you got airborne, but also the way you did it.

Bounce back soon guys, you deserve it.

TAF-O

Avrodamo - shame we can't make it a full B5 reunion, enjoy yerself you jammy git, and keep Nick away from the stinging things!

[njsmith]

Guys.

Sorry to hear BFC is closing down, I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere at BFC when I completed my PPL with you. Where are we all going to go now?

See you both in October for the last session of hour building at BFC.

Good luck to both of you Jatin and George, BFC is the best.

See ya.

Nick Smith

[GARDENER]

Yet another sad moment in aviation where politics and BS has got the better of good people. Last chance then for hello and goodbye to everyone at Britflight old and new. Without you guys I probably never would have fulfilled my ambition to become qualified as a commercial pilot.(possibly saved me a lot of money on the other hand!) Always very helpful and accomodating and most importantly made the flying fun, even after I wrecked one of your planes N66560 nice little Cessna even littler after I landed it for the final time-anyway this is about you ,thanks again to all the team and good luck in whatever you do- YOU WILL BE MISSED
PAUL HAND

[JohnnyPharm]

Why did you have to close down because of this factor? Most other FTO's in the US organise M-1's for you and it is only an additional £47 for the visa. Surely this could not have caused you to close down?

[Facts Not Fiction Pls]

There does not need to be any other excuse.

The Visa issue is a huge one and if a school does not have Visa approval then they are looking at a minimum of a year to get it approved.

The trouble is, George and Jatin are one of the few schools in the US who did it right. They continued the great name of BFC because of their "tell it as it is" approach. It is due to their high morals that the Visa situation has caused the closure of a great school. There are plenty of other schools out there that are gambling with their students money by telling them that they do not need a Visa. Students are being turned around at Immigration consistently because the schools are telling them to say that they are "on holiday". By getting caught in the lie (or ommission) this can give them grief down the road should they wish to return to the USA, not to mention the loss of money on a wasted journey. Future aviators should be warned that you need a Visa stating the school you are training at in the USA, same as most other countries outside the EU.

I tip my hat to the guys at BFC and wish them every success in their future ventures.

Facts.

[JohnnyPharm]

I'm sorry, I didn't realise it took a year for a school to gain visa approval.

[anawanahuanana]

Very sorry to hear the news. If it hadn`t been for BFC, I would probably have never completed my PPL.

I know I speak on behalf of Big Mad Gary from Glasgow,as well as myself, when I say you will be missed when it`s time for some hour building.

Thanks for the help and encouragement.
All the best.

Andy.

p.s: Appologies to Natalia. I still cringe when I think about the night I was a bit ill in Applebees!:o

[Sensible]

Good luck guys in whatever you do in the future. I shall fondly remember you all including Biggles the dog!

S

[Hap Hazard]

:( Did hours building with BFC when it was run by Eric and Margret out of Bartow. They were great fun and by the sounds of it the new owners are too.
Sorry to hear the bad news, all the best for the future, you helped to launch mine.

[G - HIGH]

Did my IMC with you guys back in Feb, with a planned trip to come back next year... Guess that won't happen. You guys were by far the most encouraging, enthusiasthic and professional people I met in a long time. Sad to see you go...

..And I'll miss all the good nights out I had there too!!

All the very best guys!

[Blindside]

This is a real shame, good luck for you both in the future. I had a great time last year doing my PPL.

cheers

[pjdj777]

I too had a great time at BFC when I was hours building and doing my multi with JC in 99. It ws still being run by Eric and Magpot Shapely, but George and Jatin were in the process of taking it over. Great people, good school, sad to see it go.

All the best for the future.

[JT8]

I too had a fantastic time with you guys doing my PPL a couple years back. Best of luck for the future.

Abid

[AndyGB]

I think I was the first of Britannia's prospective students to fall foul of INS at Orlando back in July.

I must admit for a time (especially when being questioned by the INS bods) I thought I had been deliberatly mislead. However in my dealings with Jatin once I had returned to the UK I came to realise how wrong I had been. He even offered to pay me something out of his own pocket towards the cost of a flight back to the US to attend another flight school.

I hope you guys get things sorted out soon and I look forward to visiting you one day in the future.

Andy Barrett

[JohnnyPharm]

What happened at MCO? Did you get turned back? I was thinking of going to FL for some training but don't want to get turned back. Will this affect your entry in future? I don't want to go and just say I'm on vacation. Was this the same scenario for you?

[AndyGB]

JohnnyPharm

See my post in the Flight Training in the USA thread for what happened to me and what the consequences were. It wasn't a nice experiance, but as I've said I don't believe I was deliberately mislead at all.

Andy

[PT6Driver]

Very sad news,
Did hour building and night rating in 1998 and yet more hour building 1999, just wish I had had the sense to do it at night!.
Enjoyed my time there and was happy to recomend it.
Wish all concerned the best for the future.