Australia / other Country for Flying School
 

Hi Guys

I’m 17 and need some advice for my flying career. I’m planning to do Degree course (Bachelor of Flying @ UNISA) and get my Diploma in Flying (PPL / CPL / ITL) thru FTA. Since Childhood Its always been my dream to fly As a Captain on Cathay. I have a small Prepar3D simulator @ Home where I practice weekly. I have researched Australia but not anywhere in The US / Europe for Flying schools. The main reason for me to go with UNISA / FTA is that Cathay sends their pilots to train at FTA so I want to start thinking in the same way as them.

I have read some Negative reviews about working with them but its still not put me off my path as I love Planes and I would do a lot to get behind one of them. I am just worried that I have not checked out other choices. Need advice from some of your experienced people what’s the best course of action.

Martin

ATPL Courses in East Coast Oz
 

Gday all ,Whats the latest on ATPL courses . Who's got the good oil.??
Timing ,successes rate, price??

It‘s always been AFT vs Rob Avery. Both pretty good but I think AFT has the edge. Google both.

Hi Everyone,

My First post. Looking to learn to fly for recreation, aiming for RPL/PPL. Anyone care to share your experience with Sydney Aviators or Bankstown Flying School, or any other provider based out of Bankstown? I was also looking at Soar too because of their $599 deal for the first 3 flights, but it didn't take too much digging to notice they are in a bit of a situation.

Cheers,

Andrew

Hi Martin,
If you'd like some info on the Bachelor of Aviation at UniSA and training with the UniSA Academy/FTA, feel free to PM me, as I have gone down that route not too long ago.

TMG

Hi Andrew,

Camden is well worth your investigating. Yeah it's a bit of a drive but your lesson is full value - after take off as you turn crosswind you are in the training area. No 10 minute transit each way. It is class D so you learn how to deal with controlled airspace. Perhaps you should have a chat to the various operators there or PM me and I can recommend a couple.
Good luck!

Thanks mustafagander. Will have a look at Camden too. Yeh, it's a bit of a hike, it'll take me 1.5 hrs each way on a good day with multiple tolls. But if the operators there are more suited for me, will definitely consider. Will see how I go.

Cheers.

Hi TMG,

My mailbox was full so couldn't receive your message. Can you send me the message again.

Thanks
M

Peninsula Aero Club - Reviews?
 

I'm looking at returning to flying and doing some further training towards CPL.
Peninsula Aero Club was suggested to me.
Any feedback on them as a training school? There seem a bit cheaper and close to the training area and low traffic is a plus, however, I'm looking for some more info on their training staff.
Yes, I understand that their CFI died tragically in a mid air at Mangalore.
Their 'estimated' training hours seem to be a bit higher than other schools, so while their price is a bit lower, they might tend to require more training.
Any experiences you can give me? I don't mind doing the drive to Tyabb if it is the right place.
Any specific instructors that I should seek or avoid?
Thanks, A

I did some post-CPL training with them and can only recommend them, plus their rates are very competitive! Super friendly staff and members, great fleet selection that you'd be hard pressed finding around Melbourne at a single flying school (unless you go further afield), especially if you want to do some training on aircraft types that will make potential charter companies pay attention to your resume with just a freshly minted CPL on it.

There is also the subjective positive of being part of a club, rather than some organisations who's sole purpose it to produce a licenced pilot as quickly as possible.

Plus if you like warbirds then Tyabb is a GREAT place to hang around!

I think you'll find that's because they don't lie to you and use minimum hours like most schools do... they're honest. Which speaks for itself.

Never had a need to fly with the club but have had a bit to do with their members and they all seem very nice.

I popped in there briefly late last year to make some inquiries and found them to be very friendly and accomodating. Great area to fly around also.

Better than one of the sausage factories I'd say. Good mix of older very experienced, and younger instructors. Great place to fly in and out of. And as others have said, you can be part of a club with all the associated benefits including nice clubhouse and social activities (if you want).
Flying ops are commencing again shortly under an interim CFI I believe, after recent tragic events.

Can I suggest you go to their Airshow this coming Sunday 8/3..? I'm sure there will be plenty of people you can talk to (instructors and club members) who'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Agreed. I've been flying with them for a couple of years as a PPL hiring club aircraft. Great staff and service. Super friendly and accommodating. Highly recommended.

Australia job market
 

Hi all, I am seeking information about the job market for low hour ATPL holders in Australia. I am exploring the possibility of doing my flight training in Australia as I dream of moving to there from the UK.

You mean a low hour CPL holder? Plenty of threads on the topic

When I was in the UK a lot of students skipped the CPL exams and went straight to the ATPL exams which then gave them a “Frozen” ATPL so they could exercise the rights of a CPL until such time as they had the required hours for their ATPL to be un-frozen.
This might have been what Crusherrr was referring to.

That is exactly what I was referring to. Is this not common in Australia?
I would like some opinions on CAE Melbourne. In Europe CAE is regarded by many as the best flight training organisation and is known to have good relationships with airlines making it easier to secure your first airline job. Is it the same over there?

Year 10 Work Experience
 

Hey all,
As I am in Year 10 work experience is upcoming around June/July and is something I am very much looking forward to. I'm wondering if there's any possibility for work experience available in the aviation industry, e.g. at an airport, company office, air base etc. Maybe ASA has something to offer. Any tips regarding who to contact would be extremely helpful.

Thanks,
Qantas331

Advice for young Aussie future pilots.
 

Hello, i am currently in year 9 and i hope to become like a lot of pilots here and my friends would like to be pilots too. I am currently working on my RPL but i am confused about what to do in the future. I have seen bad reviews on cadet ships but i can see that it could be a quick way to get in the airline if well done. and i have been seeing university courses that is AB initio. i am just looking for advice on how to approach working for an airline and if i should work on any other licenses after my RPL. I am very confused and i can see too many ways to approach this but not know which ones are the good ways. I have a passion for aviation and i hope to be living my childhood dream one day as so a lot of other teenagers like me. We are asking for any type of advice for us and if we could get help. I am sorry to the current pilots that are affected by COVID-19, i guess we cant do a lot about it other than staying strong and being together. thanks and have a good day.

Maybe do an IT degree instead.

probably more likely.

There are plenty of plenty of paths to a career in aviation. A word of caution if you are looking at the cadet - airline route however is that airline flying not 'fun', it is usually rather clinical.

There are pros and cons to airlines and for me the pros outweigh the cons. If its a passion of flying the aircraft is what you have, then dont hurry to airlines as that enthusiasm will be quickly tempered.

Enjoy whatever road you take, but for most of us our time in GA or the military was where we had the most fun, and made our best friends.

Cadetships were not available in my time and as much as I'm sure I would have taken one if I could have, Im quietly glad I couldn't.

thanks for the advice Lapon. one way or another i still enjoy flight.

Source unknown:

One fine hot Summer’s afternoon saw a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield. The Instructor was getting quite bothered with the student’s inability to hold circuit height in the thermals and was getting impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna 5,000ft above him and thought "Another 1,000 hrs of this and I qualify for that twin charter job! Aaahh.. to be a real pilot.. going somewhere!"

The Cessna 402 was already late and the boss told him this charter was for one of the Company’s premier clients. He’d already set MCT and the cylinders didn’t like it in the heat of this Summer’s day. He was at 6,000ft and the winds were now a 20kt headwind. Today was the 6th day straight and he was pretty damn tired. Maybe if he got 10,000ft out of them the wind might die off... geez those cylinder temps! He looked out momentarily and saw a B737 leaving a contrail at 33,000ft in the serene blue sky. "Oh man" he thought, "My interview is next month. I hope I just don’t blow it! Outa G/A, nice jet job, above the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for.. aahhh."

The Boeing 737 bucked and weaved in the heavy CAT at FL330 and ATC advised that lower levels were not available due traffic. The Captain, who was only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums had slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible inflight diversion, and arrange an ETA that would helpfully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The Company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was going to take a damn pay cut. The F/O’s will be particularly hard hit as their pay wasn’t anything to speak of anyway. Finally deciding on a speed compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the Captain looked up and saw Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his F/O’s shoulder as the 737 took another bashing, he said "Now THAT’S what we should be on... huge pay packet... super fast... not too many routes... not too many sectors... above the CAT... yep! What a life...!"

FL590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL570. Already the TAT was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down. That damn rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the F/E had said moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he’d like to see. Concorde descended to FL570 but the radiation was still quite high even though the Notam indicated hunky dory below FL610. Fuel flow was up and the transfer pump was intermittent. Evening turned into night as they passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the F/O could see a tiny white dot moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey Captain" he called as he pointed. "Must be the Shuttle. "The Captain looked for a moment and agreed. Quietly he thought how a Shuttle mission, whilst complicated, must be the be all and end all in aviation. Above the crap, no radiation problems, no damn fuel transfer problems... aaah. Must be a great way to earn a quid."

Discovery was into its 27th orbit and perigee was 200ft out from nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually U/S and a walk may become necessary. The 200ft predicted error would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk was to be required. Houston continually asked what the Commander wanted to do but the advice they proffered wasn’t much help. The Commander had already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10 bloody minutes to himself to take a leak. Just then a mission specialist, who had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the Commander to the scope. "Have a look at this Sir, isn’t this the kinda flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?" The Commander peered through the telescope and cried "Ooooohhhhh yeah! Now THAT’S flying! Man, that’s what its all about! Geez I’d give my left nut just to be doing THAT down there!" What the Discovery Commander was looking at? A Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield on a nice bright sunny afternoon.

Focus on doing well at school. That's all you need to worry about right now.

As a student pilot, I can relate to this so much but on a much smaller scale. During my CPL hour building trip, I landed my Cessna 172 into an airfield to visit my friend who is currently doing the same course on a Cessna 152 at a local flying school. She looks in awe at the sheer size of my aircraft, the extra row of seats and the larger engine power my aircraft had over hers. A few days later when I was back at my flying school, one of the instructors invites me to act as human ballast on a Cessna 206 doing a load check with another instructor for future charter flying purposes. The Cessna 206 will be my next aircraft on the final stage of my training so I jumped immediately at the opportunity. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to feel the high performance of being pinned back to my seat from a CSU equipped aircraft. Sitting from the 3rd row on the takeoff run, I watched in awe at the sheer size of the aircraft. From a distance, I watched as the instructor in training pushed the throttle in and I was pinned to my seat. The engine made a strange noise as the RPM increased too quickly, and the CSU kicked in to try and prevent the engine from reaching its boosted limit. After the flight, I went to congratulate the instructor who was training under supervision for his successful load check, and asked how he felt about flying such a powerful aircraft? He said he hated flying SEPs and couldn’t wait to get to the airlines, and had his application sent out tomultiple companies already.

A couple of weeks later, I met an A320 First Officer who had 10 years of service with his current airline. He said he misses the days of being in GA, dodging giraffes and cheetahs while trying to land a Cessna 172 into the dirt strips of Africa. While he is relieved to finally have a constant stream of revenue from his airline job, he doesn’t know how long it will last as rumours of the next round of layoffs are beginning to circulate amongst the grapevine. Unfortunately as of today, the airline has downsized tremendously and he’s not sure where his career will take him next.

So yeah, it always comes full circle and if there’s something I learned from this experience, I’m going to dedicate my youth to GA and enjoy it for as long as I can!

I have one word as someone who has "Been there, done that..." - Don't!

By that I mean, unless you want to make a career out of GA, and there are those that do, flying Ruffdus, or PolAir etc, airline flying is typically not "fun" flying. As a FIFO worker, I've talked to the tech crew several times over the last decade or so going back and forth and almost without exception, when I've put the question to them "would you do it again?" they've said "No", for a variety of reasons. Most of the crew I've spoken to do still enjoy the job, but they almost universally agree it isn't worth the sacrifice, the time away from home, the constant sim checks or risk of losing the medical, or the dealing with the muppets at Security just to get to work.

I gave away flying for a career about 15 years ago now, and pursued another fascination for me, the railways, and have been driving trains ever since. The roster can be crappy, but you are home in your own bed after almost every shift, but the pay is good from day 1 as a trainee, and depending who you work for, you can get an absolutely amazing roster. I know blokes working for some of the Pilbara operators that do 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off, and earn well over $110K a year, another good mate is on nearly double that doing 2/2 as a casual driver with one of the Port-Hedland operators...When you are earning more than the blokes flying you to work, and only working half the year, looking back I can comfortably say I've made the right choice.

Now I have an RV-9 that I fly for fun, when I want, where I want. IF that's 500' down Victor 1 or cruising above a thin later of stratus in the early morning, I can.

As Junior said above, forget flying for now, and focus on your studies. Doing well through year 12 gives you the opportunity to do whatever you want, and if that's flying, great, if not, you have given yourself other, maybe better, options.

Too early to tell but I’ve always advised having a backup career first.

Hello Mega. You’ll no doubt hear plenty of naysayers replying to your OP. I’ve been involved with aviation for 45 years in one form or another from the Air Cadets at school to a military career followed by the airlines. Best advice I was ever given..... don’t get married, have kids or get a mortgage. You’ll then love every minute!!

In one of the "Ask the Pilot" columns the advice given to a new FO was "only get married once."

Keep flying and chase your dream. Remember that aviation will return, maybe not the levels of recent times and the silver haired ones will retire..

The Bullwinkle nailed it: Do an IT degree. You’ll make more much money more quickly than any career pilot, and you’ll be able to fly when and where you like.

If you desperately want to do flying as a career, try to join the ADF as a pilot and get the taxpayer to pay for it.

Otherwise, get used to living in comfortable poverty and insecurity.

It's difficult to give advice of any kind in these uncertain times. So many pilots out there have been burnt of late-(
best advice I could offer is don't put all yr eggs in the one basket. Aviation always hinges on the edge at the best of times. Any medical can personally end it all right there! Have another skill up yr sleeve preferably not aviation related. I did just that and it saved my bacon a few times over the turbulent years of aviation.
As for marriage and flying? Again best advice I can give is get women out of your system BEFORE you make big money in aviation (if ever!) that way you will lose less! The two so often simply don't mix -)
I only ever went to work flying heavy metal in the end to get the $$$ to enjoy other pursuits, flying is fun but not at the top, grass roots is where the fun lies and am enjoying the full circle route these days more than ever at a 120 kts 500' AGL... Good luck, trust me you'll need it especially in these crazy times!

Combine what both Junior and TBM said. Get the best passes you can in year 12 to maximise your opportunities but keep following your dream.

I was convinced by my country flying school CFI that there was no future in commercial aviation and chose a different path. The year? 1978.

My CFI ultimately retired as an international long haul check captain with over 27,000 hours. Guess he was wrong about his gloomy forecasts.

Lucky for me I've had a good life away from aviation. I only regret my decision not to keep flying every second day now. It's slowly getting easier.

The cadets had fun, have enthusiasm, and made friends too mate.

For our young friend in year 9, whatever path you eventually do choose will have to be made at the time. You won’t be out of HS until 2024. Even assuming you go straight into flight training it could be until 2026/7 until you graduate. After doing a uni degree perhaps it’ll be closer until the end of the decade. The world will be a very different place. Some companies that exist now won’t in 10 years time. Pathways, careers will be all different. But it’s so far off for you I wouldn’t bother worrying about it now.

We has a GFC in 2008/9 but we recovered in a few years. This shock will probably go on for longer. But it will end. Don’t forget the “roaring twenties” followed the 1918 flu. The current shock will probably be at least in a recovery by the time you have left high school, and there’s the baby boomer demographic retiring in the next 5 years as well. Keep the dream alive but don’t worry about career prospects for a while mate.

Couldn't agree more
Ive been flying for over 35 years and my best memories are from the days before the airlines.
You might not end up rich like the old airline captains who were 'lucky' enough to spend their careers on big bucks with big pensions but you will have a more interesting life and better memories .... if you survive :)

Good luck!

Lapon.s storey.
 

LAPONS STOREY
 

To the ADminGuys...whats your take on the state of the future of pilots after Corona.I assume you guys are all avaition professiobals and have seen it all.
It is an extremely tough time for young wannabees. Not good for the morale. Gone all the tines when we were all full of the exciting career caree.I feel bad for eager young guys with a few hours to have their spirits and morale dashed Thank you.

Everyone says 'get a career in IT' but do they know what thats like? Everyone I know that works in that field are on hand to mouth 6 month contracts with no job security and constantly having to retrain themselves at their own expense.

Focus on getting as good an education as you can and look for other ways to develp yourself ie sports and coaching or military cadet organisations. Teamwork and people skills are a big part of airline flying.