Flight Training at Essendon
 

I want to begin my flight training as soon as possible.

Ive decided to choose a flying school at Essendon Airport as it is in close proximity to Tullamarine.

Ive narrowed it down to two possible schools:

-Pearson Aviation?
-National Aerospace?

Which school should I choose?

Any previous students...if you could give me an idea on what the schools are like that would be great.

Cheers :)

Mark

Woomera Edit: I will give you the benefit of the doubt this time, Mark as you appear to be a newbie. We don't permit free advertising on PPRuNe.

Anyone who has trained or worked at either of those establishments would not have needed the links to give you their opinions. Therefore, they have been removed.

Woomera (Eastern States)

Go with National Aerospace!

Seem to be a good operator, has affiliation with Direct Air which has also got an office in Darwin

I would imagine it would be a good place to start the search for the illusive first job after you have completed training, given they are associated with both Instructing and Charter.

Best of luck with it, remember you are the customer!

Safe flying

Ratter!

Blatant Advertizing
 

Where is Woomera on this one? A blatant ad set up by a new ppruner - please... where is the consistency here? this thread should be *^$$ canned ASAP!
:yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk:

Hi Mary,

Take the post from wannafly how you like! However, there was a question in the post that i beleive is valid. If someone has done some investigation and has narrowed a choice down to two contenders then i think this person is serious about their training, who after all wants to find themselves spending an obscene amount of money with a company of disrepute, how many times have you seen on A Current Affair a grown man crying because he lost his life savings whilst looking to invest in real estate only to be shafted by a shonk!

That being said, i have never had nor ever will have association with either of the two companies named in the post but wannafly is looking for opinions from students that have been through these schools. I did my training at Moorabbin but have known some of the instructors that have worked for the said schools and was doing simply as the post requested....putting forward an opinion! I will concede that the inclusion of links to company websites was not necessary, however, being a new ppruner wannafly may not have the insight into what is or is not poor etiquette on PPRUNE.

I for one prefer to give each person the benefit of the doubt first, cynicysm is not healthy for the soul.

Wannafly, just to go one step further... i would say Moorabbin is a better place for training but it after all is your choice!

Safe flying

Ratter

Why is closeness to Tullamarine a reason to pick Essendon? It's a bl**dy good reason not to go there - think:

- airspace restrictions/clearances not available (wasted $$$)
- long transits to training area (wasted $$$)
- long transits to MPC/BSS for circuits (wasted $$$)
- large landing fees (wasted $$$)
- long taxis (wasted $$$)

Go to MB (still got large landing fees but far more flexibility) or one of the many satelite fields egs Lilydale, Colsdstream, Bacchus, Melton, Tooradin, Tyabb etc etc.

UTR.

Those in glass houses MaryG - 4 posts, common themes, how about celebrating your pprune beginnings with some positive thoughts.....

Is Moloney Aviation, Essendon Flying School and Galaxy still around?

Fair enough, this may well be an innocent and quite ligitimate post for genuine info, however the point i raise is that the anonymity we enjoy on this forum can allow profiteering if rulings are not consistent. For example, what is stopping you setting up a username, making a post like this and then using a more established username to give the credibility and promote the business.
I am not casting dispertions about specific users, just topics. I do however understand that we all want to know specific info on certain companies, so i'll swallow my pride on this one.
PS.I make no comment on either company mentioned - I have no exerience with these operators

WannaFlyRightNow,

A good narrowing down, Essendon is a great airport to learn from!

- airspace restrictions/clearances not available (wasted $$$)

It is extremely rare and ATC at Essendon are the best. If there is a restiction it will be weather related and you should be in the classroom or stayed at home.

- long transits to training area (wasted $$$)

10/15 mins but your instructor will ensure you will get the best training whilst in transit. It will start way before you crank the engine.
- long transits to MPC/BSS for circuits (wasted $$$)

As above

- large landing fees (wasted $$$)

Can't argue, amongst the highest - but learning to fly in a controlled enviroment I suggest is the best way! Therefore Best learning enviroment - Not wasted! and your cost will be on TOTAL hours to get your GFPT/PPL.

- long taxis (wasted $$$)

Not correct - Again ACT at EN are very aware of their traffic and delays are unusual - My experience at MB is that delays can be much longer due to traffic.


Anyway, The choice is yours - Enjoy your Flying wherever you decide,
Hopefully I'll meet you, :ok:
Paul Wright :eek:

National Aerospace
 

Well everytime I phoned National Aerospace a lady answered the phone and told me Connie was flying. So does that mean they only have one instructor? I was enquiring for a friend who has to renew his Instrument Rating in the next 2 months.

National Aerospace.
 

So how much are they charging to get experience through Direct Air? A colleague of mine told me they were fairly expensive and that any line experience one obtained through their links with Direct Air was outweighed by the costs.

Thanks to all those who replied with information regarding the schools.

I apologise for displaying the URLs for the schools. I did it in case people who are looking into flight training in the area hadn't heard about the schools and would like more information on them.

However it is a form of advertising and I should have read the disclaimer a little more carefully when I signed up.

I have read many threads on PPRUNE before signing up and I find that there are some people on this site who need to get off their arses, get rid of the 'pissed off old man' attitude and be slightly less condescending towards people like me who have a genuine interest in flying.

I have read so many posts where people are down right rude to "newbies" just because of the fact they are not as well informed as some of our more mature members.

If you really need to do this, get out of your chair and abuse someone to their face! It might be a little more difficult when you don't have the anonymity of an online forum.

Sorry to ramble on but I had to voice my feelings on this matter.

Cheers for your time. :)

wannaflyrightnow-try PMing Centaurus. He helped me get set up with a good outfit at EN. Sadly, they are gone but he may be able to point you in the direction of a good crew to learn with.

MBA747

sounds to me like your collegue, perhaps did not make the grade with direct. just call and speak to anyone of the crew and ask them:

1/ how they enjoy working for DAC

2/ how many hours are been flown by any one individual on their respective (current types).

you will find both answers staggering and that direct are an employer of choice (piston).

its like anything.......once you have completed your training and you are good at what you do ....it would be stupid for the training org or their affiliates not to keep you and put you through their ranks.

I no longer worry about the piston stuff but a lot of my mates do and i have some solid advice....

choose a flying org that has a path of progression. yes, it may cost a little more but once you graduate they will need you as much as you need them...what better scenario......

they train you , they employ you, pay you well and before you know it you have achieved your ultimate job. and guess what ?? you did it with one org.

essendon has one school , that can provide this opportunity from student pilot to employed commercial pilot ( i dare any of one of you negative humans to prove this wrong and name a better option at essendon).

any way, as one whom has been their, done that ( yes with this org from start ) i can give you what i have experienced for you r betterment.

take it or leave it. and by the way......you get what you pay for.

Molav got shunted from ES due to Mr Fox increasing the rents. They relocated to Penfield.

wannaflyrightnow,

If you are doing the whole gammet to cpl then maybe setting yourself up at a school in essendon is not such a bad idea. I did my ppl training with "Wings " years ago, it made for an excellent training enviroment useful for later on. Although Wings dont's exist anymore so i can't recommend them? Myself, i did my GFPT at Bacchus Marsh, you get great circuit experience with go-arounds (Gliders) the field has good cross runways and the training area is huge, pretty well all the way to ballarat, hope this helps

:)

My vote would be for an airfield outside of CTA (MMB or MEN).

Learn to fly first. You will be able to quickly learn CTA procedures later in your training.

The $$$ you spend should be on learn the basics, not paying for an operators high rents and landing fees (which is not the fault of the schools).

At least go and visit some other schools. (Can't see how being close to Tulla' helps!).

- Not being negative but if you ask a question you have to expect an answer!

If you're about to commence flying training, it's all well and good to be thinking about the practical side (i.e. the actual flying) but I've yet to hear anyone even mention the theory side of things, which let's face it, if you don't get through, you won't get anywhere.

I did do some training through National Aerospace at Essendon and I have since switched to a school at Moorabbin that is a little more supportive in that way.

I lost a lot of money paying for Computer Based Training (CBT) which was a complete waste of time. It was sold to me (and several others I have spoken to who have since left) as a new approach to learning and that it was more in depth than classroom theory, and that you can work at your own pace..etc etc.

The room that the computers are set up in is dark and depressing and and not at all conducive to learning. Basically you go in whenever you like and log in (that is if your logon hasn't been suspended - which meant approximately a week of delays before someone bothered to get around to resetting it - this also means that you have just wasted your time going in there in the first place).

You sit and watch a computer screen while it tells you the stuff your supposed to be learning. If you have a question - well you can't ask the computer can you - so you toddle off to find an instructor to help. Therein lies the next problem. If your instructor is not around to help you (possibly on a nav) you either have to ask another instructor - who is not necessarily keen to help you if you're not their student. So you either get some vague assistance or you wait for your instructor to come back (zzzzz) or forget about asking the question and continue on without finding the answer - not exactly ideal particularly if the query was crucial to understanding of the topic.

I found that gradually over time the gaps in my learning were increasing - to the point where I ended up ditching the computer based training - I self studied for the PPL exam and then left to do my CPL subjects with Lionel Taylor at Moorabbin. Through his teaching, I passed every exam first time and completed ALL of my exams in 4 months with very good results.

Find yourself a school that is serious about the theory and will provide you with all the support and assistance that you need to get through it. Computer Based Training is cheaper for the schools as it is one less wage they have to pay - they onsell it to you at a considerable profit to themselves. Look beyond the slick advertising and ask for actual success stories - how many of their ex. students have actually been employed by the big airlines (Qantas/Virgin).

Good luck with finding the right school for you.
:)

aahh..somebody from my era, I presume..???

What about John Archibald? He used to run a one man show out at Romsey and was very highly regarded. Is he still around?