Is there a current/past CTC/L3 cadet who is willing to let me see a copy of their Airline Placement Limited (APL) bond agreement please?

1. Get your maths up to speed. Basic gcse/ a-level stuff is crucial; re arranging formulas, arithmetic and trig are they key areas to be super hot on. The maths is the only thing that you need to have sorted beforehand to hit the ground running. You only get a couple of hours on basic maths the second day and then thats it, if you aren't comfortable with it, it can be really tough.
2. Don't touch PadPilot until you start the course, its utterly pointless. You might think you can get ahead but you can't.
3. Go buy Pukka Pads, coloured pens, highlighters, Post-It notes, a medium size whiteboard with drywipe pens, mechanical pencils and a big laminated world map for your room.
4. Go see all your mates/family beforehand and have a laugh and relax. I went on holiday before starting and it was great because I started nice and relaxed and in a good frame of mind.
5. Get to know your course mates on the first day. Having a social on the first Friday is crucial as its the only real time you can go out and have a laugh as a CP until Module 1 is over. Its astonishing how much the performance varies between CPs that gel well and those that don't. I got lucky and my CP really get on. Your course mates really do drag you through.
6. Keep positive. There is an awful lot of moaning that goes on that you will hear from CPs ahead of you. Most of it is attributed to EASA exam stress, but there is some discontent about the dreaded delays at the end of ground school. Ignore it all, you are 6 months and 14 exams away from finishing Ground school so your only job is to work hard and get good results. I have heard the word "sausage factory" banded about a lot, while its an unkind name there is an awful lot of guys and girls being put through the school, and the pace is relentless. Every cadet is all guilty of a moan at one time or another; just remember to not let it drag you down and try be the fattest and tastiest sausage in the whole factory!
7. Enjoy it where you can. Yes some things will seem so abstract that you wonder how on earth you will ever pass an exam on it, but the key is to keep chipping away at it and it will all fall in to place. The subjects are genuinely interesting for the most part and the instructors are genuinely great, you will have a laugh in lessons.

Good luck.

It seems to be yes. Although around the water cooler you hear of some pretty poor situations for some CPs. The powers that be are certainly aware of it, and the communication about the situation has been good. From the sounds of it the loss of Phenix came at exactly the wrong time, hence the ripples are still being felt. Two new flying training locations have just come online and are alleviating the delays.

More aircraft are leaving the maintenance contractor at Coventry and heading over. Again, things should be on the up from now on.

No, line training is on-the-job. You are working as a pilot so will get paid.

It's not getting better. If anything it's getting worse with the decision to train RAF pilots at what is already the most oversubscribed training facility. Students at Bournemouth have had weeks and weeks of delays and this ripples back through the system.

Even those on MPL courses are seeing huge delays despite needing to be at the airlines. Those of us on Wings have little hope of avoiding months of delays, without the option of getting a job in the meantime.

Wow what has happened to CTC? Sounds like a complete mess. What a shame.

The instruction is good quality.

Unfortunately management can't see in front of their nose, which results in huge backlogs at various stages. Then you get told of being stood down for some weeks or months. Then the company buys out a new facility and releases a press release along the lines of 'we are aware of the delays, this is us dealing with it'. Of course this doesn't help the people that have just been delayed as it takes time to get a new place up and running.

Then they convince many more aspiring pilots to join, then further overload with RAF people.

Repeat the process.

Quote:

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What's happening with the RAF ?

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The RAF cadets were only due to start in August 2018, so I would suggest any ‘Bournemouth woes’ prior to August are due to some other cause.

One hundred RAF students over three years according to the L3 and RAF press releases, to receive multi-engine CPL/IR courses, following basic flying training with the RAF. ..............

https://www.pilotcareernews.com/l3-t...or-raf-pilots/

It seems likely this group of students is being trained at Bournemouth on the DA42, on a hastily competed contract, necessitated by failure of the RAF to fund and procure enough crystal balls for their now civilianised flying training system (MFTS)

LFH

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Wow L3 are really milking the cow good.

Hey guys,

Anyone on here starting at L3 Coventry on the 9th of October in CP201? Trying to get in touch with anyone before the course starts.

Hi everybody,

if you join the academy now where do you perform the practical part? Is up to you or to them the choice of the location of the training?

Thanks.

It's not up to you. L3 place you where they can fit you in. If you're a whitetail (Wings) cadet, it could be UAE, Portugal, NZ or (if you really draw the short straw) Bournemouth.

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The RAF started in August and have drastically impacted the availability of instructors, especially now that there are two RAF courses running in the facility. The previous woes were down to a combination of factors; firstly, L3 switched maintenence provider which could not keep up with the workload and subsequently left L3 with 0-1x DA42s available for a period of time. The second factor is that nobody wants to be an instructor these days. The low hour requirements that allow cadets to get jobs with airlines is killing the instructor game across Europe and is affecting all of the 'big' integrated schools. Unfortunately, L3 keep taking on further contracts (such as the MOD) for what I can only imagine are marketing/prestige reasons and are subsequently having to use contractors/external schools just to handle the workload.

It's a mess.

Awesome. Thanks.

RAF students at L3 Bournemouth.
 

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The press releases for the L3/MoD contract referred to ‘100 students over three years’ for multi-engine flying, commencing in August 2018. They will have done elementary and basic flying training. Their L3 course is touted as ‘similar to CPL/IR with MCC.’

On the published numbers, that would suggest something like - Six or eight students on a four month course of 60 hours, with a course joining every two months. That would barely fit with the report above, that there are already two RAF courses running at Bournemouth, so perhaps an early surge has been agreed on the grounds of national security. Given also the apparent temporary shortage of DA42’s and instructors, that would clearly mitigate against the civilian licence candidates who have to provide from their own resources.

The problem for the RAF is that the competition for ‘ME flying training’ that L3 won, must have been initiated several months ago. This might be either to fill a perceived shortfall of contracted capacity within the existing MFTS arrangements, or because of an ‘unanticipated’ additional requirement for ME pilots because of recent changes to RAF equipment plans. Either way, one wonders why they did not simply try to expand the existing MFTS contract on the Phenom 200, bearing in mind the decision to go outside the established MFTS would have been made before the little bit of Phenom embarrassment in July.

So - Is anyone please able to say roughly -

• How many RAF students are on each separate RAF course at L3 ?
• How long each course is planned or expected to last ?
• What the course interval might be ?

LFH

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Thank you Seosan, that makes sense.

We are now also being told that because of certain shortcomings in the UK MFTS fast jet training process, a number of lucky RAF student pilots will be sent to Texas for their advanced flying training before attending the Typhoon operational conversion.

LFH

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