moggi

Hi Guys,
I am about to book my Multiclass rating and IR as I join the herd out of the RAF. Has anyone out there got any experience of Multiflight at Leeds?
I would go to AFT at Exeter, but as I'm not yet entitled to resettlement I would be able to save on accomodation cost if I went to LBA.
Cheers,
Moggi

Thud_and_Blunder

Perhaps not quite the answer that would be truly helpful, but here goes: if they look after their students the way they look after the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, you couldn't ask for a better bunch of people to be with. I always enjoy my shifts at LBA, not least because of the excellent care and attention from the Multiflight staff. Very best wishes for the training.

Gezaware

Hi Mate
Did my ME/IR and MCC all at multi flight. Couldn't really fault the place. I had a dedicated instructor who was fantastic. The place is very swept up and there are plenty of aircraft and they give priority to the mil guys as they know time is an issue. I was a tad concerned about the flying as I hadn't had any feedback from mates as most had opted for exeter, but the whole experience was positive once you have got over the fact that as soon as the engines are running its £7.00 a min!.

Good luck

Ps my advice is do the MCC there as they will do you a deal as you have just handed over a wad to do the ME/IR. It cost me £2000 inc VAT. The sim is a King Air which is not cutting edge in itself but unless you targetting a specific airline and jet it is fine.

Feel free to PM me for any other gen

Lafyar Cokov

I would probably still recommend AFT. You can stay at self catering B&B's down there that cost about £9 a day. What I liked so much about AFT (apart from all the characters that instruct) is the fact that the price you are quoted is the price you pay - no landing fees, fuel surcharges etc, they know the rules very well and how they apply to Mil pilots and you will not fly one extra hour that you don't need to; also their relationship with the CAA examiners is second to none. Yes, the Duchess is not the most modern aircraft to fly and the Exeter NDB procedure is a bit 5H1Te but the atmosphere down there for a Military pilot is excellent - as the pictures on the walls prove!
(Obviously just my 2p worth.....please feel free to say I'm talking b0llo(ks)

fatobs

I completed my CPL and IR at AFT - they couldn't have been better, Brian and the guys know what you need as a military guy and will tailor the course to your needs and time constraints (As an observer I had to do the full course - CPL (28hrs) in 2 1/2 weeks then the CPL(IR) (50hrs) in a 2 week block followed by 2 1/2 week block to fit in with leave and will work weekends if required) if you PM me I can give you the name of a great B/B whcih was 5 mins drive from AFT and only £10 per night.

I did my MCC at Multiflight, again very good but was only there for a week, the guys training there at the time said that the weather played a big factor and was frequently very poor (the airfield is quite high so often in low cloud) but that the instruction was very good.

Hope that helps

Fatobs

Ex Mil

moggi

Did both my IR and MCC at Multiflight earlier this year and was very impressed by all the staff there. Only minor complaint was the constant crosswind at LBA lost me a couple of flying days.

Recusant

I recently went to Multiflight for a CPL/IR. I too highly recommend this outfit as it tailors the training to exactly what is required. You only pay for what is necessary.

Wee Weasley Welshman

Multiflight screwed me when one of their few twins landed gear up. They only offered pushing back my course by months and hiring in another aircraft was not an option. So I went to PAT in Bournemouth.

This was 1999 though so they may well have their act together now. But I never met an ex-forces guy who used AFT or BGS and had anything other than praise..

WWW

LFFC

I'm told that Multiflight are approved by the Career Transition Partnership and you can therefore use your Enhanced Learning Credits with them. Are there any other training outfits where you can do that?

Incidentally, don't forget that if you're still serving, your ELCs will double will in value on 1st April next year.

Alex Whittingham

The top rank IR schools are, in my opinion, AFT, Bristol Flying Centre and Aeros. AFT have a casual but professional approach, BFC have shiny aircraft and nice uniforms and Aeros lie between the two. If anything AFT have the edge for military pilots but all will offer you a first class service at a reasonable price, the difference only lies in the way they do it. Multiflight are only a notch behind the top three, suffering in particular from LBA's bad weather factor but, if I lived near Leeds as you do, I would certainly go there rather than travelling to the South West and staying in B&B. You should be able to use ELCs at any of them.

Trainspotter

I used Multiflight in 2002; having never flown the Duchess I started on a Monday and did the IRT with the CAA examiner on the Thusday!! I had the good weather week that year, but I can offer nothing but praise for the flexibility and helpfulness of Andy and Kate - especially with my tight schedule! I also lived near Leeds which made the whole thing work for me.

nora legov

Just completed the IR at Multiflight.

Would I recommend them? Definitely. In it's constituent parts:

Ops Management & Instruction: Steve Walshaw (Resettlement Rep) should be your first POC to chat with regarding dates and to set up a visit (07970 405698). From there, chat to Susan to book. She and Michael run a very efficient operation on the support side. You will receive a written quote via e-mail or post. The instruction, courtesy of Andy (CFI), Brian & Roger was of a high standard. They tailor the flying to what you need and are flexible with the programme and personal requirements. Try to book at least 3 months in advance to get the dates you want - they are becoming increasingly busy with CPLs & civvy IRs.

Aircraft: SoP Beech Duchess - a little archaic and far too many silly levers for my liking ("Sticky lever, Sir"?) but this is the standard 'mount' for most of the providers. They have 3 aircraft, at least 2 of which are normally available.

Sim: My only criticism of the place. Set up as a King Air cockpit, it bears little resemblence to a Duchess. There is currently no stick feel which means that, if you look away for more than a nano-second to find the trimmer (in a different place to the aircraft) and you breathe on the controls, you're in a U.P. People do complete training on this - and MCCs - but my guess is it would take a few hours to learn it's foibles; remember time is money. This was fed back to staff and they are looking at it. There is an old Duchess cockpit trainer there but it's no longer powered. This may change at some point, according to one of the QFIs. I hope so. Happily, you won't need much sim time at all.

Facilities: Opened this month, the new building is very swept-up and provides a good environment in which to work and plan. A HUGE bonus is the really excellent cafe, attached to the Multiflight building. Chef Richard does a top job and his home made soups are posh-restaurant class. Lucky Casper gets to wait tables alongside the lovelies Sue, Isabel, Rhiannon and Briony - stacks of personality. You get staff rates so everything is very reasonable indeed.

Cost: Very similar quote to that received from AFT at Exeter. Benefit for those living in north is that you may be able to commute and therefore avoid B&B costs. Multiflight is registered as an Enhanced Learning Credit provider. NB that, in Apr 08, if you registered at the right time you can start getting £2k dips vice the current £1k towards your course.

Weather: Yes it can get blustery and the cloud can be low but I was pretty lucky and lost only one day of flying in the 2 weeks it took to complete. Plan on 3 weeks - SoP again for most providers - but if they can get you done sooner, they will and they understand the limitations on time off for us mil chaps and chappesses.

Overall: A slick operation that, while still refining its service to military guys, offers a very good package of training at comparable prices to AFT in Exeter. For those living up north, it's a definite go-er. For anyone requiring more gen, please feel free to PM me.

Cheers

NL

moggi

Thanks NL for a taking the time to give such a comprehensive response. It was certainly useful - like many others no doubt I am waiting for the 2k ELC in April. If I think of any questions in the meantime I will PM if you don't mind.

Thanks again.

Moggi

herbaceous

You could got to AFT and stay at Yeovilton Mess, just under an hour drive along the 303.

moggi

I have had some first class feedback from a colleague about the training at Multiflight, including checklists from the Beech Duchess, the format of the training, how the test is run, how to fly a NDB hold civvie style, in short, all you would need to know before you go. Absolutely essential reading for anyone about to do their IR. Anyone who might be interested, please free to PM me.
Regards,
Moggi

moggiee

Cosford is also very handy for The Flight Centre at Wolverhampton.