Stapleford Sfc
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Stapleford is a very good school, you'll find lots of threads and recommendations here. Do a search for "Stapleford" - lots of comments and info. 
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Stapleford
I have a lot of Brit friends (I'm from the US) and they went to Stapleford and absolutely worship the place. It's a real old WWII aerodrome just oozong history with a great staff that brings you into their world. No, I have not been there but, I have never heard so many good comments about any school from those who have been there.
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federico100mt, why bother asking about a school you've already decided to go to? Have you been to the place? Have you seen the C152 fleet? Have you experienced the warm welcome the owners are famous for and the high regard they have for their customers (yes, you are the customer)?
Well, you enjoy!
Well, you enjoy!
Join Date: Aug 2007
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if he's going there for commercial training he won't touch the C152 fleet.
...and although the CFI is famously grumpy, he is professional and fair and the rest of the staff are great with some gems.
...and although the CFI is famously grumpy, he is professional and fair and the rest of the staff are great with some gems.
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And one of these gems claims to be hard up and manages to fleece one of the students by getting him to "loan" him £2000 or thereabouts to go to the USA to renew his FAA ratings!! This guy is a star as he has absolutely no intention to pay the student back - poor chap. This is the second time he has done this.
IMHO - having done my PPL at SFC...
SFC is probably no worse and no better than many other FTOs for PPL, but the commercial training is reasonably highly regarded within the industry - or so I'm told.
The C152 fleet is old but the oily bits are well maintained. The aircraft they use for commercial training are perfectly ok, especially the DA42s.
The general set-up is okay. I'll say no more than that. The usual mix of nice people and the occasional
. Whether it's value for money or not is up to the individual's expectations.
Behind the scenes, not sure everything's rosey - but have you ever worked at, or been served by, a company where everyone's happy?
Me neither.
SFC is probably no worse and no better than many other FTOs for PPL, but the commercial training is reasonably highly regarded within the industry - or so I'm told.
The C152 fleet is old but the oily bits are well maintained. The aircraft they use for commercial training are perfectly ok, especially the DA42s.
The general set-up is okay. I'll say no more than that. The usual mix of nice people and the occasional
. Whether it's value for money or not is up to the individual's expectations.Behind the scenes, not sure everything's rosey - but have you ever worked at, or been served by, a company where everyone's happy?
Me neither.
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IMHO - having done my PPL at SFC...
SFC is probably no worse and no better than many other FTOs for PPL, but the commercial training is reasonably highly regarded within the industry - or so I'm told.
The C152 fleet is old but the oily bits are well maintained. The aircraft they use for commercial training are perfectly ok, especially the DA42s.
The general set-up is okay. I'll say no more than that. The usual mix of nice people and the occasional . Whether it's value for money or not is up to the individual's expectations.
Behind the scenes, not sure everything's rosey - but have you ever worked at, or been served by, a company where everyone's happy?
Me neither.
SFC is probably no worse and no better than many other FTOs for PPL, but the commercial training is reasonably highly regarded within the industry - or so I'm told.
The C152 fleet is old but the oily bits are well maintained. The aircraft they use for commercial training are perfectly ok, especially the DA42s.
The general set-up is okay. I'll say no more than that. The usual mix of nice people and the occasional . Whether it's value for money or not is up to the individual's expectations.
Behind the scenes, not sure everything's rosey - but have you ever worked at, or been served by, a company where everyone's happy?
Me neither.
I did a few hours with stapleford a few years ago, then due to personal reasons I had to stop (My instructor then was a CAA inspector doing some part time flying with SFC and he was very good, shame he is not there now), I am in a position to re-start my training and at the time I have to admit I did enjoy my flying with SFC, it was great.
I haven't been there since, so maybe it is worth a visit to make sure it will be ok.
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I did a few hours with stapleford a few years ago, then due to personal reasons I had to stop (My instructor then was a CAA inspector doing some part time flying with SFC and he was very good, shame he is not there now), I am in a position to re-start my training and at the time I have to admit I did enjoy my flying with SFC, it was great.
I haven't been there since, so maybe it is worth a visit to make sure it will be ok
I haven't been there since, so maybe it is worth a visit to make sure it will be ok
Depending if it is PPL training your looking for and where abouts you live, I can recommend Andrewsfield as a good alternative. £116 p/h in the C152's and a friendly club atsmosphere... so it's about £32.00 per hour cheaper than Stapleford and without the shirty receptionists.
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Vone Rotate & Golfdriver: This is not the place to discuss a flight instructors personal issues or circumstances. 
The person you both refer to is a personal friend of mine and as with all these cases, there's more to the story than you guys know!
So I would suggest you stick to what the thread was originally about, ie flight training at SFC and not the personal lives of one of their ex instructors.
The person you both refer to is a personal friend of mine and as with all these cases, there's more to the story than you guys know!
So I would suggest you stick to what the thread was originally about, ie flight training at SFC and not the personal lives of one of their ex instructors.
Join Date: Jul 2004
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As an ex student of SFC who knows nothing of the private lives of any of the instructors ex or not, I would like to say that I found the school very good.
The training was excellent, the a/c were (senecas apart) all pretty new, and in the DA42s, superb.
If you go to a training school to be bathed in a warm touchy-feely glow, then SFC isn't for you; for me, it was about getting qualified and trained as well as possible, in the shortest amount of time.
Overall I would thoroughly recommend it.
The training was excellent, the a/c were (senecas apart) all pretty new, and in the DA42s, superb.
If you go to a training school to be bathed in a warm touchy-feely glow, then SFC isn't for you; for me, it was about getting qualified and trained as well as possible, in the shortest amount of time.
Overall I would thoroughly recommend it.
Yes, I'm (trouser) im-pressed...
If it is true - The poor chap was in-vest-ing a lot of money in his training so his experience must have pulled the rug from beneath his feet. He must have felt fleeced and I'm surprised more people haven't cottoned-on to the truth!
However, back to the point...I like SFC and only 1 of the receptionists was a pain, and even she had a nice side. Most of the front of house staff are great...
...and then there's the rather lovely Lisa Green...
...a great incentive for doing commercial courses at SFC...
If it is true - The poor chap was in-vest-ing a lot of money in his training so his experience must have pulled the rug from beneath his feet. He must have felt fleeced and I'm surprised more people haven't cottoned-on to the truth!
However, back to the point...I like SFC and only 1 of the receptionists was a pain, and even she had a nice side. Most of the front of house staff are great...
...and then there's the rather lovely Lisa Green...
...a great incentive for doing commercial courses at SFC...
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Heavy Wake,
Point taken but if he is a good friend of yours have a word.... Twice!!
Anyway i'll never mention the sock again. Or the tiny ditch at the end of a loooooong filed
Point taken but if he is a good friend of yours have a word.... Twice!!
Anyway i'll never mention the sock again. Or the tiny ditch at the end of a loooooong filed
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The fact that the UK has houses that are older than your country should not influence you. For the record, SFC have a good reputation.
Yeah, despite my recommendation, it's not perfect.
Take for example the fact that the owners ought to seriously invest in the main runway, which needs to be extended, and also improve the narrow, crumbling taxyways in order to cope with the numbers being trained. They really ought to provide a hard-stand for the Warrior parking area (aka The Swamp), and invest in replacing the ageing C152s!
You'll get good training despite those deficiencies.
Take for example the fact that the owners ought to seriously invest in the main runway, which needs to be extended, and also improve the narrow, crumbling taxyways in order to cope with the numbers being trained. They really ought to provide a hard-stand for the Warrior parking area (aka The Swamp), and invest in replacing the ageing C152s!
You'll get good training despite those deficiencies.
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Here's an example of the "Ageing " fleet of C152's
Click here for a larger image http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1096562/
Click here for a larger image http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1096562/
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Ahh, I had my trial lesson in that one.
The 152s are old (like 152s everywhere) but in 6 years of flying them, I never had a serious failure in any one of them. Crackly radios and blown landing lights - yes, serious faults - no. I have flown much much worse examples in the US.
And SFC has a very good reputation for commercial training. Personalities are irrelevent - human nature being what it is, you'll never hit it off with everyone you meet, be it flying school, airline or anywhere else. What matters is the quality of training.
The 152s are old (like 152s everywhere) but in 6 years of flying them, I never had a serious failure in any one of them. Crackly radios and blown landing lights - yes, serious faults - no. I have flown much much worse examples in the US.
And SFC has a very good reputation for commercial training. Personalities are irrelevent - human nature being what it is, you'll never hit it off with everyone you meet, be it flying school, airline or anywhere else. What matters is the quality of training.
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I did my PPL there back in the summer, and yes it was a good place, but was it perfect, no. everywheres got there ups and downs. altough i wouldn't know about the commercial side, you'll have to go through the PPL side to get to the commercial side. There main problem was having more students than they had instructors for, and you ended being in a constant battle for slots. but other than that, it was fine. Oh and i must agree, lisa green, definately an insentive to go back and visit.
