FTA v AFTC
 

hey pprune,

i plan on starting my cpl mid year and have been thinking about heading over to Adelaide to do my training at parafield airport. What I am wondering is if there is any difference between FTA (Flight training adelaide) which runs airline sponsored programs and AFTC (Adelaide Flight training Centre) which is more focussed on individual training, are they essentially the same course run by the same company or are they 2 completely independent training centres?
Any insight into the operation would be appreciated

Michael

Essentially the same syllabus is taught at both.

They are essentially the same company, AFTC teaches the privately funded students and FTA concentrates on the Airline Cadets.

All facilities / aircraft are shared between the two, however in times of heavy aircraft movements FTA seem to get preference. Having said that AFTC do have a couple of dedicated aircraft.

Cheers

The Kelpie

Michael,
If you're set on doing your training at Parafield, I'd recommend also checking out Forsyth Aviation..

Whilst Forsyth might not have the vast fleet and flashy brochures of FTA/AFTC, I'd argue that you will get a much more personal experience from Forsyth's. Whilst I didn't train at Forsyth's, my experience dealing with the staff there for private hire was always positive. They've also got a few nice newer 172's and a 182. In hindsight, I wish I did train there.

Whilst there are some good people at AFTC/FTA, it is the proverbial sausage factory. Your booking will get bumped if an FTA student needs to use the aircraft (not saying thats wrong, but you have to remember that the number 1 priority of that organisation is to train the cadets for the various airlines they have contracts with!). And AFTC has a high turnover of instructors as they gain the experience to move to FTA, so expect to change instructors at regular intervals (every 2 to 3 months).

If you have any questions, PM me.

wishiwasupthere

don't get tunnel vision
 

I've said this allot to people that ask me about schools. My advice is:-

Step 1. to go to the airport, make an apointment if you can and talk to the chief flying instructor. Ask all the questions you want, you should take a list with you.

Step 2. Do this for every school on the airport (most important)

Step 3. Compare all the schools without the price tags.

With the information that you have gone out to get you should be able to make an informed decision on the best place to do your training. If you haven't done the research into all the schools I wouldn't be making it a 2 horse race just yet.

Good Luck!

I flew with ATFC from 2008-09. They were by far the cheapest flying school at Parafield. This is because AFTC is essentially an instructor farm for FTA.

I flew 3-4 times a week with no issues in regards to aircraft availability. However you will swap from the Grob-a and b quite a bit. Also I had 2 instructors during that time as one left to FTA. I think they leave for FTA once they have a grade 2 rating.