Hi,
DAEFA called me for their cadet screening program, which I got back from about a week ago. I must say the whole experience was extremely impressive. The program contains a maths and physics test, a psychometric test, a psychomotor test, flight grading ( conducted on a SR22 sim ), an interview and a GCAA medical. They currently have two SR22s and I was told the rest have been paid for but not delivered yet. One EA500 should be coming early this year. The current batch has just about started flying now.

The instructors (those of which I interacted with) seemed very qualified and seasoned.

You're not just going to be flying over plains as there as hills/mountains in close proximity to the flight academy.

I will be starting my course with them on the 25th of this month.

I'd be glad to answer any other specific questions.

Cheers

Hi TmE,
I also passed my assessment.I shall start on 15th of March,i guess ill be seeing you there :O Gratz, as its going to be interesting year :ok:
Happy New Year everybody;)

Well done on getting through selection!

Did you guys like the facilities? What's on offer accommodation-wise?

Hi Mike,
Its very impressive facility. State-of-the-art classroom,library,briefing/debriefing rooms. Currently the apron is under construction,and it should finish soon. They have 2 CR-22s and they should recieve 4 more in coming couple of months.So total of 6 CR-22s for the first 1/4 of 2009. While i was on tour,they were on last phase of acceptance on B737 simulator.
Accomodation,its 3 bedroom villa which cadet will be assigned to their bedroom.12 month rent is $10000 USD,plus $500 USD refundable housing deposit.Complimentary shuttle service to and from the DAE flight academy is provided as well.
Cheers:ok:

Yes SR22.My bad :uhoh:
I guess i was too excited when i was replying to you.Couldnt think straight :}

Relax DoggyDip...whatever it was..CR, SR, or even XXXR :}...you have crossed an ocean to make your way down to the cockpit! :ok:

Good luck mate ;)

Congratulations to you too DoggyDip.
When did you go for your screening program?

I was impressed with the facilities. They've got one SR22 Advanced Flight Trainer.
One or two (im not sure) glass cockpit simulator(s) for the same aircraft.
They've also got one 737 simulator.

The thing I liked best best about DAEFA was that at the start of the course they pair you with another cadet known as your 'flying buddy'. You would always be flying together for every mission and also on the international routes. This way you can split your work and stuff. Makes things a little easier.

Another thing is that everytime you fly the simulator the flight along with each move you make is recorded. Then the instructor, you and your flight buddy can discuss what went wrong and how you could've done things better.

Cheers

Thanx TmE,my screening was on 16th and 17th of Dec'08. Yes their facilty is amazing.I personally dont know any flight academy that provides such program like DAEFA. Basically they make sure when you graduate you are ready to enter any airline,making it easy transition for you! :ok:
I'll be starting in March.To be honest,am counting days :ugh:

SilveR5,thanx for your support :O

Flying is my new year resolution

Cheers guys :D

My screening was on the 16th and 17th of december as well!
We went for lunch to that hotel where the cadets are staying currently. Were you there?

Thats strange.We had lunch at the academy! We were 5,they split us in 2 groups.I did psychomotor test then math and physics. We started about 9am. When did u start?

That was on day one. On day 2 we had lunch at the hotel.
I had Maths and Physics first and then the power cut while i was giving my psychometric and psychomotor test.
Were you working for emirates as a Flight Simulator engineer or something?

how do you guys put up with the heat when flying, do those planes have any special cooling eqp other than a wind nozze.

any guarantee?
 

Hi, i may be joining the DAE academy as well. But i am a foreign national ( Indian ), i would be cautious when investing such a huge amount.
Is there any guarantee for job placement on airlines?
How sure is it that there would be a returns on the investment?
Would appreciate if someone can enlighten on this....

any job guarantee?
 

Hi, is there any job placement guarantee DAE academy offers, once we graduate?

match.89
 

Hi there

Without a doubt, like any other FTO, there are not job placement guarantees! However, they promise to prepare students with decent practical and theoretical knowledge up to the minimum level of standards required by airliners.

They have made some agreements with certain employers in the region and elsewhere to place only those graduates who can meet these standards. To my knowledge, the academy is working hard to attract more airliners for similar agreements. I've tried to know who are they, but it seems that these are 100% non-disclosure agreements until now.

This might give you a bit of relief! because once you pass the admission procedures and assessments, you should expect the guys there to support you up until the end. One thing now I know for sure is that DAEFA don't want to risk its reputation by graduating failure pilots and end with them at nowhere! All the data I have gathered so far about the academy appear to be very consistent at this point.

Good luck...

Do they need to keep a minimum graduation ratio to keep their FTO approval ?
If it's like in Europe they can still refuse to let you do the exams if you're not good enough, and you'd still have paid the money. As such I don't see the point of screenings and assessments, they need to make money it's not a charity school.

The screening process is there to protect the student. DAEFA like most academies, try to ensure that only students who have a reasonable chance of passing the course, part with their money!

I would advise any student who is asked to part with their money without testing to think twice!

Why would one trust the school on this screening? The purpose of the academy is to train students against money, not to do job interviews. If it is like in Europe when students fails to have the required level the academy does not let them go through the exams, screened students or not, as bad students could compromise the FTO approval. The real screening is AFTER you pay the money, when the academy decides or not to let you attend the exams. These preliminary screenings (which also exists in Europe) seems more like BS to me. You basically pay for it and it makes you feel like you joined the NASA while you're just allowed to spend some money with them. The real thing is when you're authorized to proceed through the exams once you already paid the full course. Without such an approval from the school you cannot attend the exams, and the whole money is just gone.

SFLY,

The assessment of your skills & aptitude is intended to reduce risk to a number of stakeholders.

- Reduces YOUR risk of not being able to cope with intensive training, which may subsequently result in you failing, or not gaining employment post-training thus putting you into financial debt.

- Reduces risk to the FTO. On integrated courses of training, there is little room and few resources available to accommodate students who fall behind or need extra training because they aren't making the mark.

- Reduces risk to the airlines. Airlines who feed off the supply of new pilots from FTOs need some form of guarantee that they can expect new recruits to possess skill-sets and attributes that are sought after by the airline. Allot of airlines today will only consider FTOs have have pre-enrollment assessments in place.

Hope that helps!