cumbernauld flying school - advice
 

I have been learning to fly over the last year at cumbernauld flying school in scotland but feel as if i am not really progressing. I have 32 hours of dual flying but have not yet been solo, the main problem being my instructor keeps changing. The school does not seem to be able to keep instructors for long and i now have a new instructor who's first language is not english. its difficult to understand what he is saying (he is spanish) and his teaching is different to the last 5 instructors i have had. what should i do? i think its costing me money and time, both of which i dont have much spare!

should i change schools as there is another one at the airport? why dont instructors stay at the school and am i missing something? has anyone else had this problem at cumbernauld or anywhere else? i tried to ask the owner of the school what was going on but he didnt seem interested.

any advice welcomed.

Hi "Jimmy"

I see your first day on pprune has been marked with four posts: - three of them not adding much to the community's knowledge.

So I am wary that you might be asking questions while knowing the answers! There was once a lot of stuff said on pprune about another flying school at Cumbernauld.

It is normal in most light aircraft schools to have a fairly high turnover of staff - indeed the CAA is consulting with the flight training industry about changing the need to have a CPL before instructing for money in a bid to alleviate the staff shortages (which are caused by people leaving for the airlines where the pay prospects are brighter).

Some schools use part-time instructors which can give a little bit more stability (since the instructors' main income comes from elsewhere). However, you may find that your days off are not the same as the part-timers' days off. So back to a range of instructors.

I think, if you are wise enough to learn to fly, you should be wise enough to be able to ask questions, as you are doing, and assess the answers. pop across the corridor to Leading Edge and ask about thier instructors. Go to Glasgow Flying Club and ask about theirs. Go to Glenrothes.

Yes, you may have to travel further, but the extra time in the car, more cash on petrol, is well spent if you have more fulfilling lessons.

As well as asking to see instructors, why not ask to see their qualifications? It amazes me how so many students take everything on trust! Ask to see your student records. Ask for a copy of them. Make sure your logbook is up tp date and signed off after every lesson.

To declare my interest, I teach people to fly microlights - and used to do it from Cumbernauld. I post my insurance documents on my web site for people to read (also handy for going to places where they want to see you insurance, I just ask them to download off the net!). Not one student in eight years has ever asked to see my instructor's rating!

All the above is based on generalities. I would have written the same if you had been a student of any of the other Scottish flying schools.

Good luck with your training.

XA

xrayalpha,

i have posted 3 post before this as i couldnt post a new thread without doing so. i am not asking questions while knowing the answers, i am simply looking for advice.

i thank you for the post, and i will be visiting other clubs soon. i was not aware that the training notes could be copied, or that i needed my logbook signed by the school. i will start the ball rolling.

i was really looking for other peoples advice and experience as a fellow student suggested i might want to move schools if i was not happy.

thanks for the post.

The Edinburgh flying club has a very experienced CFI who has been there for years - they are well worth a try.

Jimmy
I have seen the operation at Cumbernauld FS and have met Ted; he is so short of FIs that the starting salary for a FR(R) with no experience is £18k
Leading edge are probably as short staffed too. I hope to do my FI renewal by 1 Oct and will be offering my services part time. ATPL holder, over 65 - been there and done it !!:)db16

Hi,

My apologies for being suspicious, hadn't realised you need to make three posts before you can start a thread.

Since I run a flying school - albeit microlights - I do want to stay away from dog-eat-dog posts.

But your concerns are common among many students, so worth addressing, albeit cautiously,

Very best and fly into Strathaven sometime,

XA

Hey there Jimmy!
 

:rolleyes:
I understand the problem but is it your problem or the other 5 instructors?
Have you understood what the other instructors have told you or are they all spanish too? Sometimes the first thing to go when your having trouble and loosing some capacity is communication!
Maybe you should request a change of instructor if there is one (English speaking)! But sounds like there isn't!
Perhaps the 5 instructors you have had, have taught you the same thing but in different styles! The thing i am getting at is! If you decide to go to another school. How do you know that this course of action would be the best for you at this stage of training!:ugh:
I agree that you should be solo by this stage in your training but is that due to teaching, ability or frequency of lessons? No offence ment!
As mentioned by others perhaps you should question the management to see if they can come up with a solution!
The main thing is to try and keep enjoying what you are doing!:ok:
Good luck:cool:
J.

Come to Glasgow Flying Club. We've even got a floatplane that you can get lessons on next year :)

:ok:

Dont even think about a float plane. You are clearly having problems. Trying to get a different rating than basic SEP (L) A is a waste of time. Ted's school is about as good as it gets. Leading edge, Tayside, Perth, etc all havre the same problems. The problem isnt new, it isnt going away until the regulations change and the PPL training world returns to how it was in the '70's and earlier.

But Glasgow & Edinburgh FCs don't.
NS

thanks for the advice everyone.i have decided to change schools and aircraft type and stick to one instructor who is full time and not going anywhere. i had a long discussion with a new school and i think i am making the right choice, current students at the school had similar experiences to myself and changing schools made the difference for them.

i think i will avoid the sea plane, not really needed right now!

sparky01, i'm afraid i simply dont agree that teds school is as good as it gets.... i tried to discuss my concerns with him (again) and got nowhere, and from what i can gleam from other students i am not the only one with concerns. some other students are also concerned about instructor shortage and lack of support for students, i'm sure they will make their own decisions.

north south, thanks for the suggestion but learning at a large airport is not something i am keen to do. delays and traffic are just another problem for me to contend with. one i dont need.

James:Fair enough - horses for courses etc. But it may well be rather different from your expectations. Delays generally don't happen, and as for traffic, at least when you're flying in controlled airspace you'll know where all the other traffic is, and don't have to worry about getting a Tornado up the jacksie! Plus if you train at a busy airport it will never be a fear factor going to one after you've got your licence.

Best of luck with your training, wherever you go.

NS

..........Quite.:E

Where are you flying from now Jimmy?

I'm curious, as I know someone in Central Scotland looking for a heads up on a flying club that the students themselves would unreservedly recommend.

As has been mentioned, Edinburgh Flying Club's instructors have all been there for years, and are excellent.

Smithy

Did you speak to the CFI before posting the thread?
 

If you read all off this thread you will read that jimmy has spoken to the CFI at least twice.

I learned to fly at Perth (Tayside Aviation) as it was then, most of my flying lessons where okay, however towards the end, a couple of hours prior to my test I too was mucked about. Like you I had to change instructor and strangley enough his English was not as good as it should have been, but a lot better than my Spanish!!!!!

I think jimmy should move.

Good luck.

Yes jimmy I think that you should move schools, and maybe gain a new experience. It wouldn't hurt to move schools as your current lessons arn't really doing you too much good. Maybe find a training partner or somthing, then maybe you two could help each other out. But there are alot of free-lance instructors out there that are top of the range I must say, so if schools don't do you any good instructors look into the other side and get a free lance instructor.
BRIAN304:ok:

Is it possible to do a ppl with a freelance instructor. I thought to do any training course it had to be via a school that was registered/licenced by the CAA to carry out the said instruction. A free lance instructor will not then be a part of the licensed school.

I would personally speak to your CFI or get a copy of your training record, show it to another school; take a lesson and ask them assess your abilities while baring in mind, you will probably be doing this in an unfamiliar aircraft type so don't be too hard on yourself if you don't seem upto speed.

Smith, many "freelance" FI's have got registered facility status themselves. It's difficut to do now, but a few years ago it was a lot easier to get, so there is no problem if they have it. They are the "schools" themselves.

I don't want to get involved with any slagging of CFS, but ideally a student should have one instructor.

I can however say that Leading Edge don't have a problem with retaining FI's. The setup is completely different from CFS. It's a non-profit making club for a start, rather than a flying school. Not having hour building instructors is a good thing. You may find that there is a "little" more experience in the FI ranks as well......
Unfortunately we have lost one FI from the books recently, but that's me as I've lost my medical for a while.

There shouldn't be any trouble getting records. Ted has never been any trouble when I've asked for records from CFS before. He wants a written request, but that is no problem and is a sensible request anyway.