Stapleford

[Callsign Kilo]

CPL Pass Rate

As an SFC student I would agree with Flying Lion, the organisation does pride itself in its CPL pass rate. Whether this is measured from 2002, I don't know, but what I do know is that in the past few years SFC has maintained a 100% stage 1 CPL pass rate, whether this was first time pass or first time pass after a partial, the stage 1 rate has been maintained

As for the Head of Training, his job is not to provide you with contacts. He does not even promote that he has contacts, however I know that with those who have impressed he has helped along the way.

[Flying Lion]

Biminiflyer

Read what I wrote, first series pass. I know both Colin Dobney & Annabel Winter well & they can certainly verify that statistic.

I will also say that your comments re the relationship with Ryanair surprises me. I know for a fact that it is made clear to any prospective student that NOBODY can guarantee an airline job, that said there is a steady stream of ex Stapleford FOs coming into Ryanair. One of the senior training captains from STN put his son through the 0-fATPL course at stapleford and the LTN base captains son is going through the course at the moment. There are many students sent to stapleford by DUB training captains who are involved with the MCC at PARC as they are impressed by the standard of graduates.

There is probably a stronger link with BOND/Astraeus because of the tie up with the B737 course but there are a number of guys there on a 757 course with a job at the end of it (providing they dont screw up on course) and they certainly are there only through the efforts of Mr Dobney.

[Dicky Birded]

Originally Posted by biminiflyer

i know for a fact he is not too popular with ryanair put it this way the head of training at ryanair wouldnt take a phone call from him
bf

biminiflyer,
This would seem to be strange, as SFC state that Colin Dobney still flies occasionally for Ryanair and they show the Ryanir logo on their website.
DB.

[biminiflyer]

well i can tell you he dosent fly for themhas not done for a few years he used to when they had the 200's but left after a disagreement with head of training went to astraeus got NG rated with them flew for a while as a capt then packed it in too busy with sfc and other things

[Varun]

Has anyone stayed the the accomodation there? If so what is it like?

Cheers

[Andy_20]

Stapleford Flying School Open Day

Did anyone else come to the open day at stapleford on the 29th April? I was just wondering what they thought of it...? i thought Stapleford itself looks fantastic and a great place to learn to fly. I do have one reservation though and that was with the Astraeus Type rating, i am still not sure whether we should pay for our own type ratings or not. Nigel did make a convincing lecture on how its probably in our best interests that we did... whats your thoughts?

[kennyboy106]

Hey,
Yeah thought that stapleford looked really good. Nice set up. Got The feeling that things were a little more personal at stapleford. Going to be having a look at some other places, but overall very impressed. Not sure about the astreaus scheme. Think if i was going to buy a type rating i'd like at least some kind of promise of a job. Like ryanair for example.
Just about to start ATPL's and so confused at where to go. LMU also seemed quite good. Not heard anything bad from there yet !

[Dicky Birded]

Originally Posted by Varun

Has anyone stayed the the accomodation there? If so what is it like?

Cheers

Haven't stayed there, but the pictures on their site look ok, and £10 a night seems very good value.

[Callsign Kilo]

Living at SFC

You are getting a lot for a tenner a night at SFC if you are in the White House (6 room house on airfield with all amenities). The other accomodation is actually within the main building beside reception. Rooms are slightly smaller and you will be awake at 8am every morning when the staff get in! However it is comfortable, as well as being right beside the internet access and plannig room! There is a small kitchen, tv room and two bathrooms - all in all quite good.

When I left a temporary static home was purchased to house 3 additional people. It will be placed beside the White House. I say temporary because I think the plan is to convert existing buildings on the airfield into accomodation once plannig permission is granted. I think!!!

[planeshipcar]

Hey guys,

I was just lookin through the Stapleford Take off Magazine and noticed there was no mention of CPL students at their award ceremony. Is there a graduation/ award ceremony for CPL/IRs? I know its not a vitally important question - ,

cheers,

planey

[AreYouForReal]

cpl graduation

Originally Posted by planeshipcar

Hey guys,

I was just lookin through the Stapleford Take off Magazine and noticed there was no mention of CPL students at their award ceremony. Is there a graduation/ award ceremony for CPL/IRs? I know its not a vitally important question - ,

cheers,

planey

Apparently not. Why would you want to celebrate getting your full commercial pilots licence, that would be silly!!
It is only a graduation for the ppl people, which to mean seems alittle odd. It was the first one they have done i a while aswell by all accounts, but if you do go for ppl graduation, be reasured that you get a pikey pair of wings that are made of material, so therefore are no good to man nor beast, although they would look good on your swimming shorts next to your red, yellow and green swimming badges, and a certificate that most of the instructors didnt even sign for there students. So all in a great event.
It would be good though to get a small pair of silver wings or something you can wear with bride on your tests and as a tie clip on interviews. Most american and south african flying schools give those away. But to be fair to stapleford, at least they do that for their students, and it is a black tie event, some schools dont even give you a certificate, just a handshake. I know from experience!!

[andy_13]

Getting a place at Stapleford

Hi.
I am in the process of researching places to do my ATPL. I have been reading some of the post here and Stapleford Flight Centre seems like a very good option. My question is, how easy is it to get a place there? Is it one of those "this place looks really good but i'll never get in" kind of places?
I will not be starting my training for a couple of years as I have to finish my degree first but I thought there is no harm in doing some research now. I may do a PPL while still at uni if I have the money so would I be better doing that at my local school or doing it at Stapleford one summer?
Thanks for any comments
Andy S

[too_sleepy]

Hi Andy 13
Best bet is to check a schools reputation closer to your course commencement. It's one of these industries that can change schools overnight. I've had good and bad experiences with Stapleford, right now they wouldn't turn you down but whether you'd get any hours done is another question.

[Varun]

I have to agree with too sleepy, Stapleford seem to be biting off more than they can chew at the moment and I have had a bad experience with them.

I have since chosen to go to another Flight School and the response from my new choice has been great, I only wish I had gone to them first!

[andy_13]

Hi.
too_sleepy and Varun thanks for the replys.

I guess as you say things can/will change a lot before I eventually get to start my training. As I said I don't want to have my heart set on going to one school and then find out that its very unlikely i will get in. I'd rather know it was hard to get into in the first place then I can have a few backups as well,this would make sence anyway I suppose. I will obviously apply for the CTC wings training but this definitely falls into the "VERY unlikely to get into" catagory. But you never know!
I may also look into similar schools to Stapleford in OZ and NZ as I have heard that their training standars are very good in general, cheaper than UK and both countries are amazing! If anybody knows any good schools in OZ and NZ I would be pleased to hear about them so I can get doing a bit of research.

Cheers

Andy S

[skelly2005]

Flight Training

Hi everybody, ive just had my start date back from London Met for my ATPL theory and exams. Im then off to do my ATPL(f) at Stapleford Flight school. So anybody else starting next year at london met. I also would like to know what the current rate for my Class 1 medical is and how long it takes to do? Anybody had experiences about flying from Stapleford, any info would be appreciated.

[AreYouForReal]

Stapleford after ur atpl's

Originally Posted by Varun

I have to agree with too sleepy, Stapleford seem to be biting off more than they can chew at the moment and I have had a bad experience with them.

I have since chosen to go to another Flight School and the response from my new choice has been great, I only wish I had gone to them first!

I completely agree with the fact that stapleford have bitten off more then they can chew. Emma Drakeford has left and a chap called Brain Pepercorn is now sharing her job resposibilities, which is no mean task, but everyone i have spoken to says he is doing more then an amazing job.
I can say though that they are taking more and more people on for cpl and IR, with it looking like over 16 people doing IR at one time, and there is only 1 dimond sim. From what i can gather, you'll be doing well to be getting one sim slot a day, and as 35 of the 50 hours is done in the sim, the maths doesnt quite add up to completing the IR course in 5-6 weeks as advertised
I have also heard of people moaning alittle with the number of cpl instructors, as there doesnt seem to be enough. All in, more people then they have enough instructors for, but let me just add, I have never heard a bad word said about the standard of training, and the instructors, just the efficiency of the running.
Look around at other places if u are in a rush, but if u want the added security of possibley the best CPL IR pass rate in the country, stapleford seems to be the place.

[flightbabe79]

Stapleford,,,essex

Hi everyone,,,

Just been browsing at flight training centres and came across Stapleford Flying School...
Has anyone had any experience of them or know why their zero to frozen atpl is so cheap...well cheaper!
Any info would be great!

x

[dobbers]

Whilst I would normally let people use this forum for what it is a "rumour network" I feel the time has come to put down a few facts as it seems from some of the above that there are some who wouldn't let a fact spoil a good storey!

Here goes in no particular order,

Yes Emma Drakeford did leave the company, it was decided that the role was too important to take 'just anyone' on to replace her and so despite interviewing many people, most who had some but not all the qualities required, it has taken until now to find a replacement. Lisa Green is the new course co-ordinator & will be the first point of contact. Whilst we were filling the post it was the case that the role was shared by myself, Brian & the operations manager.

With regard to CPL/IR training, we are extremely busy but we have been commercial training for over 40 years so believe it or not we do know a bit about scheduling students/instructors/aircraft/simulators. One CPL instructor is soon to leave but 2 more are finishing training. We have trained up a further 4 IR instructors in the last 2 months & have 2 new MEP instructors.The simulators are available from 0600 until 2000 and please bear in mind the devices are FNPT2s ie flight navigation & procedural trainers. Therefore both the AL200 & AL200DA42 sims are available for basic IR training we have had good results with students that start on the generic sim & transfer to the specific DA42 sim later. Remember that we train for an airline career NOT just to pass the test.

On the same thread , we have found the best method of instruction is to actually fly 1 sim or aircraft session per day & backseat another 1 or 2. We actively discourage students from doing 2 flights a day because the second slot generally is wasted because the student is tired & hasn't digested what was learnt on the first sortie. I'm sorry but we are not & will never be a 'sausage factory' pumping out people who learn a CAA test centres routes, we put in more than that & our present pass rate (which I can substantiate) is over 90% 1st series pass rate & mid 60% at first attempt underline that fact.

As a company we never never sell our courses on 'jobs at the end' marketing as some who should know better do. I can again substantiate that there are 30+ airlines who have taken Stapleford students & instructors over the last few years so the myth that only integrated course graduates will get jet jobs is a total nonsense. We have seen a large take up by Ryanair from our courses this year, primaraly because of the standard of student they recieve from us. I do have contact from those guys in recruitment at Ryanair but I dont chase them rather they contact me for personal references. I certainly dont know where the story above re me contacting the HOT at Ryan comes from, it is simply not true. Apart from Ryanair we have 3 guys who recently finished the frozen ATPL with us walked into Astraeus & completed the B757 type rating and are currently completing line training before going on line.So anything is possible!

Finally let me add to the thread above. if you are in a desperate rush to do a CPL/IR you will not get a place with us, unless you are already booked into our schedule, until late summer & later still if you require accommodation.

Good luck to all of you doing your training either at Stapleford or any other provider.

[planeshipcar]

I would just like to say how much I appreciate the last post. I am definately a next stapleford student.

I know you can not guarantee any jobs, but I am curious as to what the current market is like. Are Astaeus still offering 'if the type rating goes well then your in' like the 757 guys and is Ryanair looking like it will remain on the look out for the next few months?

I am also curious on when the instrument rating is complete if you give career advice as to what route is best for the pilot ie, where the pilot does his MCC, jobs and possibly the move to Astareus. Also have many people now taken the Astraeus route?

Once again I realize that you don't guarantee to anyone, however one can appreciate that by seeing how the market is now and what passed students are going on to do one can make a rough judgement,

Cheers,

Planey