Stapleford Flight Centre (Merged 2009)
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Stapleford Flight Centre? What do you think about this FTO?
I`m thinking to start may CPL MEP & IR in Stapleford Flight Centre, Would you all be that nice and share your any opinion about this FTO. Please.
It would be great to hear from someone who has done or still doing traning there.
www.flysfc.com
Thank you
It would be great to hear from someone who has done or still doing traning there.
www.flysfc.com
Thank you
Last edited by giertom1; 19th Mar 2009 at 00:17.
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Agreed. Top notch outfit - don't expect much hand holding though - you get what you put in. Instructors are all very busy but always happy to go over stuff if you need it.
Facilities are a bit tired but most of the CPL/IR aircraft are good, well maintained & have a high servicability record (onsite maint)
Lots of other opinions on here, have a search around.
Facilities are a bit tired but most of the CPL/IR aircraft are good, well maintained & have a high servicability record (onsite maint)
Lots of other opinions on here, have a search around.
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Agree with the posts. I searched all the past threads about SFC too. Heard that the Head of Training is a bit like Simon Cowell - which is probably good IMHO. Can't have ego's when your a wannabe. Hey-probably not good to have one either once you make it.
A little bit out in the countryside of essex but a lovely little area. And as others have written, the good looking course co-ordinator makes it a good incentive!
If you check the main SFC thread, I think there was only one who wasn't too happy-didn't give reasons though.
A little bit out in the countryside of essex but a lovely little area. And as others have written, the good looking course co-ordinator makes it a good incentive!
If you check the main SFC thread, I think there was only one who wasn't too happy-didn't give reasons though.
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hi giertom,
i have been to both stapleford for cpl and bcft in bournemout for me/ir. if i were to do it again i would have done cpl in bcft as well. it might seem cheap at sfc but its not. for example when doing my cpl i went to south end for touch and gos , on one trip did 9 which cost about 160 pounds in addition to lesson cost about 450 pounds more or less, in bcft no matter how many t and g you do you pay the aircraft hourly rate cos it icncludes tandg. i enjoyed my time at sfc nice people but got fustrated with weather , uncrontrolled airspace, but instructers are newbies and they leave you drift through course , where as in bcft you know where you stand, i went big time over hours on cpl but did me/ir on hours. pre and post briefings at bcft done in a class room whereas in sfc while instructer munching a sandwich in caanteen. also has a head wreacker of a circuit, runway part grass and else,went soley on price , pop down to bcft for a quick look, i wasnt only guy from sfc that went there. now here come the missles.
macflea
i have been to both stapleford for cpl and bcft in bournemout for me/ir. if i were to do it again i would have done cpl in bcft as well. it might seem cheap at sfc but its not. for example when doing my cpl i went to south end for touch and gos , on one trip did 9 which cost about 160 pounds in addition to lesson cost about 450 pounds more or less, in bcft no matter how many t and g you do you pay the aircraft hourly rate cos it icncludes tandg. i enjoyed my time at sfc nice people but got fustrated with weather , uncrontrolled airspace, but instructers are newbies and they leave you drift through course , where as in bcft you know where you stand, i went big time over hours on cpl but did me/ir on hours. pre and post briefings at bcft done in a class room whereas in sfc while instructer munching a sandwich in caanteen. also has a head wreacker of a circuit, runway part grass and else,went soley on price , pop down to bcft for a quick look, i wasnt only guy from sfc that went there. now here come the missles.
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I'm at SFC on my IR.
Passed my CPL and MEP first time and bang on the min hours. I don't agree with the unexperienced instructor comments at all. Most are and the only two I can think of are PPL instructors. We all have to start somewhere!
I think if you are going to struggle with the CPL course, you'll struggle which ever school you choose.
Yes it's a small airfield but taxing takes no time at all. I completed my PPL and Cranfield and spent up to 20 mins taxing and waiting etc. I think I would crumble if I had to do that on my IR in a twin costing around £5 per min!
Great school, good vibe about the place too. Go visit and decide on what you see. I don't work there either before anyone chucks it in
Passed my CPL and MEP first time and bang on the min hours. I don't agree with the unexperienced instructor comments at all. Most are and the only two I can think of are PPL instructors. We all have to start somewhere!
I think if you are going to struggle with the CPL course, you'll struggle which ever school you choose.
Yes it's a small airfield but taxing takes no time at all. I completed my PPL and Cranfield and spent up to 20 mins taxing and waiting etc. I think I would crumble if I had to do that on my IR in a twin costing around £5 per min!
Great school, good vibe about the place too. Go visit and decide on what you see. I don't work there either before anyone chucks it in
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more please :)
Thank you few opinions. All of them are helpfull.
But can I have some more. Please.
If its not a problem, can you all tell me how long it takes you to finish CPL, MEP, IR courses, run over hours and £ etc...
But can I have some more. Please.
If its not a problem, can you all tell me how long it takes you to finish CPL, MEP, IR courses, run over hours and £ etc...
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Tom,
Looking at your location Stapleford is the best place to go. The flexibility you will have due to the short distance is a very big factor. Also, if you read the 16 of pages on Stapleford Thread, there are really great views on the flight school (apart form one). Now in my opinion, that is excellent odds!
In terms of time to do things, that can vary widely. Weather being a big factor. I'm not even at that stage yet so probably can't give that much advice. The website has the full brochure which tells you the average time for each section:
CPL=3-6 weeks
ME/IR=8-12 weeks
as i said all dependant on weather, and if you do full-time, partime.
Looking at your location Stapleford is the best place to go. The flexibility you will have due to the short distance is a very big factor. Also, if you read the 16 of pages on Stapleford Thread, there are really great views on the flight school (apart form one). Now in my opinion, that is excellent odds!
In terms of time to do things, that can vary widely. Weather being a big factor. I'm not even at that stage yet so probably can't give that much advice. The website has the full brochure which tells you the average time for each section:
CPL=3-6 weeks
ME/IR=8-12 weeks
as i said all dependant on weather, and if you do full-time, partime.
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Was there in 2005 for my PPL/IMC and 2007 for my CPL/ME IR.
Great place. Great atmosphere. Great attitude. There is no ego massaging, no bullsh1t hype and no hand holding. You put in the work, get the head down and get on with it - do this and the instructors, admin staff and the lovely Ms Green will bend over backwards for you. Don't and well....you deserve what you get because all you are doing is wasting your money and their time.
I (and my fellow mates who went to SFC at the time) all share very fond memories of the place. Good friendships were formed and there was always a feeling of 'togetherness' in our group. Not sure everyone can lay the same claim, however we were lucky. When passing over the 'LAM' VOR at FL370 I often look down at the old place, tune in to 122.80 Mhz on Box 2 and think fondly of being 'downwind left for runway 22'
Great place. Great atmosphere. Great attitude. There is no ego massaging, no bullsh1t hype and no hand holding. You put in the work, get the head down and get on with it - do this and the instructors, admin staff and the lovely Ms Green will bend over backwards for you. Don't and well....you deserve what you get because all you are doing is wasting your money and their time.
I (and my fellow mates who went to SFC at the time) all share very fond memories of the place. Good friendships were formed and there was always a feeling of 'togetherness' in our group. Not sure everyone can lay the same claim, however we were lucky. When passing over the 'LAM' VOR at FL370 I often look down at the old place, tune in to 122.80 Mhz on Box 2 and think fondly of being 'downwind left for runway 22'
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I did the PPL and most of my hours building at SFC. Went elsewhere for the CPL/IR, but no criticisms of Stapleford as a school. It's a professionally run outfit with a very long track record.
You won't find many negative comments about them, and you certainly won't find a commercial school closer to Chigwell!
BSmuppet - love the Simon Cowell comparison, spot on.
You won't find many negative comments about them, and you certainly won't find a commercial school closer to Chigwell!
BSmuppet - love the Simon Cowell comparison, spot on.
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I just finished my PPL there are my opinion is that this is the best modular school there is right now. I lived onsight so alot of my house mates were doing CPL/ME/IR. Everyone was and is very happy. The professional instructors are ALL career instructors so they give everything to their job, excellent pass rates, you dont spend money taxiing. You get in the airplane and t/o. Its a relatively small school so you get to know EVERYONE sooner or later, which is very helpfull. One of their IR instructors is also a CAA IR examiner. He does the 170A's for the IR so youll know you can pass if he recommends you to test. VERY good school, and personally im definately going back for cpl/me/ir. I highly reccomend it to modular students.
SVoa
SVoa
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EDITED
Point taken Kangy - unprofessional comment. My compliment should have been a more professionial one.
Apologies to Pprune.
Point taken Kangy
- unprofessional comment. My compliment should have been a more professionial one.Apologies to Pprune.
Last edited by BSmuppet; 24th Mar 2009 at 09:06. Reason: Unprofessional Comment
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Did my CPL/IR & MCC all at Stapleford, a very professional outfit with great instructors and staff.
The circuit will definately teach you a thing or two about steep/shallow approaches and crosswind landings.... if you can land at stapleford you can land anywhere lol
Theres a fantastic atmosphere within the club and all the instructors are usually more than happy to help if you need a hand with any of the training.
Lastly on a personal note - Ms Green is a very good friend of mine, yes she will help co-ordinating your courses and if you have any problems with your training but then theres no need to talk about her degradingly.... lets not take comments out of context huh?!
I mean after all we are professionals aren't we?
The circuit will definately teach you a thing or two about steep/shallow approaches and crosswind landings.... if you can land at stapleford you can land anywhere lol
Theres a fantastic atmosphere within the club and all the instructors are usually more than happy to help if you need a hand with any of the training.
Lastly on a personal note - Ms Green is a very good friend of mine, yes she will help co-ordinating your courses and if you have any problems with your training but then theres no need to talk about her degradingly.... lets not take comments out of context huh?!
I mean after all we are professionals aren't we?
Last edited by kangy; 23rd Mar 2009 at 19:59. Reason: Typos
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Pilots Who graduate with SFC?
I will be so happy if any Pilots (not only CPL-ers) who graduates with SFC share your experience.
Which "airline"(job) did you go for after you finish??
How long it takes you to get to fliight deck?
Any info will be helpfull
Thank you
Tom
Which "airline"(job) did you go for after you finish??
How long it takes you to get to fliight deck?
Any info will be helpfull
Thank you
Tom
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Hey there I hope this help’s.
Yesterday (sat 28th march 2009) I thought I’d pop down to stapleford flight centre to check out the establishment, I’m thinking of doing my commercial flight training there.
I rang up in the morning to make sure it was all ok (which it was), so off we went.
We got there and was greeted at the reception by Brian Peppercorn, we went to his office and had a good chat, he explained the whole course to me from cpl to me/ir, he told us the pros and cons which was really helpful, I was surprised because he gave up like an hour of his time to talk to us.
Once we had finished our chat he handed me over to Scott because Brian was due to fly, Scott gave me a tour of the facility and all the aircraft, the aircraft are second to none, the facilities are top notch the accommodations are amazing well worth the money, Scott also gave us a tour of the simulators.
From what I have seen the place is amazing and I will recommend it to anyone, and I will certainly be doing my training there once the ATPL have been completed.
Thanks to all the instructor’s.
Adam
Yesterday (sat 28th march 2009) I thought I’d pop down to stapleford flight centre to check out the establishment, I’m thinking of doing my commercial flight training there.
I rang up in the morning to make sure it was all ok (which it was), so off we went.
We got there and was greeted at the reception by Brian Peppercorn, we went to his office and had a good chat, he explained the whole course to me from cpl to me/ir, he told us the pros and cons which was really helpful, I was surprised because he gave up like an hour of his time to talk to us.
Once we had finished our chat he handed me over to Scott because Brian was due to fly, Scott gave me a tour of the facility and all the aircraft, the aircraft are second to none, the facilities are top notch the accommodations are amazing well worth the money, Scott also gave us a tour of the simulators.
From what I have seen the place is amazing and I will recommend it to anyone, and I will certainly be doing my training there once the ATPL have been completed.
Thanks to all the instructor’s.
Adam
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Almost finished with the IR at Stapleford and completed the CPL in minimum hours. I couldn't recommend them highly enough, brilliant instructors and approachable, friendly staff. Visited Bonus and Bristol, Bonus seemed ok but Bristol seemed a bit corporate for me personally. Stapleford gets a bit muddy in winter, but if you can land a seneca downhill on wet muddy grass, you can hopefully land just about anything anywhere!!
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Hi Adam,
Funny that - I went to Staplford on Saturday as well, I was also greeted by Brian. He did exactly the same for me too, a long lengthy honest chat, then took me round to see the aircraft which are in top notch condition. Trust me on this, i went to Cabair in Bournemouth before going to stapleford, and their a/c were really tatty.
I'm going to start my CPL / ME IR at stapleford after i have done my ATPL's as well. Where are you going to do your ATPL? i'm starting the course in June at the Met London Uni.
Thanks
Mitch
Funny that - I went to Staplford on Saturday as well, I was also greeted by Brian. He did exactly the same for me too, a long lengthy honest chat, then took me round to see the aircraft which are in top notch condition. Trust me on this, i went to Cabair in Bournemouth before going to stapleford, and their a/c were really tatty.
I'm going to start my CPL / ME IR at stapleford after i have done my ATPL's as well. Where are you going to do your ATPL? i'm starting the course in June at the Met London Uni.
Thanks
Mitch
Stapleford gets a bit muddy in winter, but if you can land a seneca downhill on wet muddy grass, you can hopefully land just about anything anywhere!!
Also fun are take offs and landings in the DA42 downhill on 04R using only the 600m of tarmac...I also remember take offs from O4L in the DA42 where full power with brakes on would leave the aircraft sliding sideways across the muddy grass. 
SFC is a good FTO and I would recommend it to modular students.